1000 Beautiful Bracelets: The Book!

From time to time Radio 702 stirs up interest again via its Facebook page and if you are one of those who read it, and would like to find out how to get hold of the book please add a comment below (which won't be published) and I will reply via email with info on how you can get a copy delivered...either via me, the author, Valerie Pole (I have limited copies available) or directly via the Publisher.

This is the article which appeared today via Facebook:

1000 Beautiful Bracelets Celebrates its First Birthday!

An amazing day! If anyone had told me ten years ago I'd be starting a business based on accessories, especially "bling" type accessories I would hardly have believed it. And now that business has turned the first corner, and is growing from strength to strength, having survived its first year of operation, which already puts it in a category of possibly only 30% of startups still operating after one year. Another surprise for me is that for years I never even wore jewellery; ironically, after moving to Johannesburg, the "City of Gold"..I developed an allergy to wearing anything but Gold accessories which is actually why I work hard to choose components and materials that make up the "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" accessories that are hypo-allergenic. So that I can wear my own creations!

To celebrate the day, we are launching a Competition for this Birthday Celebration for all our Fans (enter via our Facebook Page here - click on the "Birthday Competition" tab*).. you could win a lovely Gift set similar to the photo featured here:

Beautiful Bracelet & Pendant with Luxury Chocolate Gift Set

Included in the Prize will be the "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" Book (on How I made a Profit from R1000 in just Six Weeks and You Can Too).. the book should be published by the time the Competition Closes (30 November), if not, a Voucher redeemable on publication will be delivered with the Gift Set. You can Pre-order the Book via the 1000 Beautiful Bracelets website.

*Terms and Conditions apply.

Soweto Festival Expo Competition 2013

1000 Beautiful Bracelets was privileged to be selected as one of the SMME's to be part of the Soweto Festival Expo SMME Program which comprised a Stand at the Soweto Festival Expo as well as seven invaluable full-day training sessions with Bill Gibson of Knowledge Brokers International over the next six months to assist the business in marketing itself.

Many people visited our stand, where we hosted a competition which was very popular.We are thrilled to announce the Prize Winner of the "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" Gift Set today: The Winner is Gordon Leeuw, of  Molofo Village, Soweto who was very excited when we called him to notify him that he won the Competition, he said he would give the Gift Set to his wife, Ntombi!

"1000 Beautiful Bracelets" Prize Gift Set comprising two Beautiful Bracelets and Luxury Chocolates...

On Sunday, the Soweto Festival Gospel Concert attracted at least 15,000 people and there was the most amazing vibe, the music was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Gospel Music is the most popular genre of music in South Africa: there are more sales of Gospel Music at the music retail stores than any other genre!

The CathSSeta Bus - the Kind Sponsors of our involvement at this event...

Open Letter To Bruce Whitfield

Dear Bruce,

I think no one is as surprised as I am that my life could change in a spectacular way through "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" and a phone call to the Radio 702/Cape Talk Money Show a year ago.

What surprises me more is that the business seems to have developed a life of its own and continues to grow (with a new product launch at the Soweto Festival Expo this weekend) and to push the boundaries, and also that it reaches its 1st Birthday on 1 October which means it falls into a special category of between 30 and 50% of micro startups that survived longer than a year.

Over the past year "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" received wonderful publicity not just on Radio 702 and Cape Talk but also in the printed media: through articles in "The Saturday Star", EntrepreneurSA magazine (January and July issues) and elsewhere..and tonight it reaches a new high: Television exposure!

Tonight at 9pm "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" has its first TV appearance in a half hour feature on "The Big Small Business Show" on Business Day TV (DSTV Channel 412) which will air to 100,000 viewers in Southern Africa. This is an amazing milestone for a micro enterprise.

1000 Beautiful Bracelets was recently at Decorex and a couple of weeks ago received a CathSSeta (DTI) sponsorship valued at R20,000 for the SMME Program at the Soweto Festival Expo. This comprises a stand at the Expo this weekend 20=22 September, as well as substantial Business Marketing Training over the next 6 months that will really help take this business forward.

I think my favourite part of this journey is that I have been invited as a (paid/professional) Speaker at the 5th Annual Vaal SMME Conference on 2 October to speak on how I started 1000 Beautiful Bracelets with very little.

And the Book "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" should be out soon...

So I really want to thank you, Bruce, for being a catalyst for so many dreams I'd actually forgotten about..to write a book, to speak and inspire others at Conferences*... but most of all to lead an interesting life and have fun on the way. "1000 Beautiful Bracelets" and the Money Show R1000 Challenge put me on a path to achieving all this in the most amazing and unexpected ways.

Thank you, Bruce Whitfield!
(and Radio 702/Cape Talk Money Show)

* I trained myself in public speaking years ago at Toastmasters, and I'm actually a Charter/Founder member of Midrand Toastmasters: won their Humorous Speaking Contest two years in a row - I'm funny by accident..

How to Ensure Better Success at a Flea Market or Farmer's Market

You can determine the level of success you have in selling on Flea Markets or Farmer's Markets! The first thing is to have a product or products that people actually want to buy in the first place. But there are ways you can improve your sales percentages on these markets. Here are a few tips that should help you to increase your chances of success.

On the day:

1. Plan to arrive early. The organizers usually give a window of time for traders to set up, there is nothing worse than feeling stressed and sweating to get everything set up and ready whilst customers are already trying to purchase items off your table. Rather be early at the start of the window period given by the organizers for setting up. If you finish early you can always go buy a coffee from one of the traders..
2. Decide if you want to actually sell your stuff or not. Seriously! You could sit in the back of your stall or in a corner reading a book or texting/SMS'ing people all day while assuming people will buy something if they like it, or you can stand up and sell your products to people. People don’t usually come to flea markets to buy stuff they NEED, they come to see if there’s anything they WANT. It’s your job to show them why they want something. Personally when I do flea markets, I never sit down unless it’s a really slow period. I don’t hover over people though, I just re-arrange or neaten the table or sort through excess stock, something menial so people don’t feel they’re interrupting if they have a question. Standing behind your table makes people more comfortable asking a question about a product, and thus, more comfortable buying from you. If a person browses through things for a while, or fingers an item like a bracelet, I’ll casually mention they are welcome to try it on if they’d like or recommend a pair of earrings or pendant I think might be a good match. Be honest! If someone tries something on that doesn’t look good on them, clashes with their face shape or hair color, say it! But recommend something new in its place. They’ll appreciate your honesty and be more inclined to try more things on. Now, rather than deciding WHETHER to buy or not, you have them deciding WHICH product to get. And that’s the key to a sale.
3. Unless you have a lot of stock on multiple tables or it’s a busy flea market, you probably won’t need someone else there all day. It’s more fun if you can get a friend to help you out, but it isn’t necessary. It DOES help though, to have friends pop in throughout the day either to chat, break the monotony if things are slow, or watch your table and attend to any customers when you have to go to the bathroom, grab something to eat or even just get out for a short break and browse other stalls. It’s better not to ask the trader next to you to watch your goods while you take a break. It’s difficult for both of you because you’re entrusting them with your things and they’re stretched enough trying to handle their own business. Plus, with no one behind the table, you’ll lose potential sales anyway. If you have no choice and have to ask them though, realise they’re doing YOU a favor and perhaps bring them back a bottled water or hot dog or something.
4. Packing up: Be careful to watch the money. This can be just as frantic a time, because you might have been holding out for the last possible customer or sale, and there’s a panic to get everything out of there before the market closes or, if it’s an outdoor market (which is a great feature of Sunny South Africa) before the rain comes down. 

Lastly, treat a market not as a chore, but a joy. The kinds of people who are traders are usually lovely personalities (although they can be very busy, stressed and unable to chat), and it is a wonderful outing and a chance to meet the people who really LOVE your stuff (or hate it, in which case you might need to think of a new business!). It’s a very good leveler, and will also help to give you a good idea of which of your products are “hot” and which are not. If your aim is eventually to get into retail stores or even have your own branded retail store, being “out there” on a market could be one of the best market research tests you can do.  If you want an excellent checklist for preparing for a Fleamarket, check out yesterday's post here.

Have fun!

Check List for Selling on Flea Markets or Farmer's Markets

Christmas Night Market at Kyalami Estates, December 2012

If you would like to get into Flea or Farmer's Markets to sell your products: Do an internet search, get recommendations and referrals from friends, go to existing markets and find a way to chat to the organizers. Once you manage to get onto one market, you usually end up meeting other traders who can help you get onto other markets if you want to. Some markets in Johannesburg/Pretoria have a 3 year waiting list!!

Tips and Preparation List

Having done a few of these markets I have some tips. Unfortunately if you’re new to the Markets, it isn’t easy to know what will sell. I have had good days, and bad days. But the reason people keep doing them, is they do work, as long as the Fees are not too high and the Organisers have marketed the Event properly. 

It helps a lot to be prepared ahead of time. Here is a list of what you can do (not on the day!): 

1. Organise your products (jewellery, accessories, clothing, food items). It helps to have everything you sell in one container or several. If your things are too heavy, use a suitcase with wheels.
2. Do a test run. Set up your table beforehand in case you might be missing something. I find it’s always good to have these items just in case needed: a ball of string, clothes pegs, long nails and hammer (useful at times), sellotape, packaging tape, glue, prestik (aka Blue-Tak, Fun-Tak, pattafix), scissors, marker pens, ballpoint pens, paper, notebook, invoice book and business cards. Once you’ve done one Market, keep these items in a box or container solely for the purpose of Markets, so it’s easy to grab and run. You need a nice table cloth or cover to show off your products to best advantage. Essentially this cloth should touch the ground! Work with the season (eg Christmas / Valentines / Easter decorations for the table). Practice setting up your gazebo if you have one you’ve never used before.
3. Be sure to put price labels on each item. People seem to prefer it (although some traders swear by not putting prices on the products.)
4. Wear a moneybag or an apron with large pockets for the cash. It can become pretty hectic at times and some people are at the market not to buy from you but for easy pick pocketing of your cash or your goods! One woman at a table near me at a recent market was throwing all the cash into an open basket with people brushing past it all the time. Unwise!
5. Pack everything ready to go and if your car is secure and unlikely to be stolen, load the car.
6. Make sure you have plenty of change in the right notes or coins. Get it at the bank the day before if necessary.
7. Try to prepay your stand, it’s easier, and ensures you get a better spot on the day.
8. Work out your route to get there beforehand, take extra cash in case needed for parking. 

This covers most things you can do beforehand. Tomorrow I will give tips for how to handle the day of the market to ensure greater success.

Creating a Free Website for your Business

This is so easy I never actually got to doing a "how to" but over the months, I've realised that although I found it simple and easy (and I'm sure you will too if you haven't already), some people need guidelines. Wozaonline.co.za has a wonderful service. To access this, you first need to set up a Google account (just go to www.gmail.com and set up an email address that syncs nicely with your business idea: I got 1000beautifulbracelets as a username, which was great. Actually I wanted "beautiful bracelets at gmail.com" but that was taken, which led to the next idea... you may have to play around a bit with words that best describe your own new business.

Once you are logged onto your gmail account, open another window and go to Step 2 on the http://www.wozaonline.co.za/getstarted page. One person who asked for advice had a problem with the "Add Products" page. I have to admit, since I am a complete layperson when it comes to IT, I actually have to "re-teach" myself each time I do it. But it isn't that difficult, and if it's taking too long, try the FAQ page  which may answer your question alternatively you could go to the Sitebuilder Help Centre, or Email the Support Staff or go to the online Support Forums. Although I have set up my own website (it took me 3 hours, others boast of setting up the whole thing in half an hour), please don't ask me for advice, I would have to refer you back to the help systems already in place that I just listed!!

There are many other "free websites" offered out there (do an internet search) but what I like about Wozaonline is you get a free domain for the first year of your business, which is very useful for a start up operation. Request the domain you want when you set up your Website. I first did a quick search to see if the website I wanted was already taken by anyone, amazingly, www.beautifulbracelets.co.za (my first choice) was available!! So within a few hours I had the website up and running on my own domain!