A perfume party is one of the easiest types of parties to do. Anyone can do them, male or female, no special training is needed. However, as with any party, planning is important and I can not stress enough the difference good host coaching can make to the success of your party (see separate page about Host Coaching ).

Amongst the items you will need to take with you are a display cloth, your diary, a calculator (not solar powered), plenty of pens and paper, your Starter Kit, some full size products if you have them (and make sure that any fragrance you take along is full or almost full, as a half empty bottle on the display does not look good), order forms, a supply of change, tester strips, catalogues, opportunity leaflets and application forms.

Make sure that the catalogues and opportunity leaflets have got your contact details on and have some of the applications already prepared with your sponsor details on. It is worth also having some without your sponsor details on as sometimes guests want to join up under each other.

Your display should be kept as simple as possible, using the Starter Kit, examples of the full size products if you have them (it is worth investing in some as you will increase your party sales by having them there) and some catalogues and opportunity leaflets. One good idea is to do up a basket with a perfume, shower gel, body spray and roll-on deodorant in.

Hand every guest a catalogue, pen and paper, and a dry tea bag or small container of coffee beans. Yes, you did read that right, I will explain why in a minute but it does normally amuse the guests as to why they have been given a dry tea bag or coffee beans.

The Presentation: Begin the party by thanking everyone for coming and the host for arranging the party. Introduce yourself, just something simple like "My name is Roy, I been working with FM Group for a few months and I have found it a great, fun and easy way to earn extra money".

Explain that at the party they will learn a little about FM Group, our products and of course have a chance to try our wide range of fragrances for themselves.

Tell them that our founder Artur Trawinski, whilst on holiday in Australia, had the idea of creating a perfume business that would offer high quality fragrances to people at very affordable prices. That on his return from holiday he spoke to his father who already had many years of experience in selling perfume about his idea and together they decided to ask Drom to produce the fragrances for FM Group. Drom is one of the largest and most respected fragrance producers in the world today, and has been trading for more than 100 years, it has bases all over the world including France, USA, Australia and Germany. Drom's plant in Germany creates our fragrances ensuring they are   produced to the very highest standards.  

FM Group itself began in September 2004 in Poland and because of the huge demand for our products has expanded rapidly into twenty five other countries with more planned. The UK office opened in January 2006. Worldwide there are now more than 150,000 FM distributors earning money running their own FM perfume business.

Continue by explaining that most people today tend to purchase Eau de Toilette strength fragrances, which usually contain between 4% to 6% perfume oil which is why they often do not last very long. Our fragrances are much stronger, with 20% perfume oil in our Ladies' 30ml Parfum and 16% in our Gentlemen's Eau de Parfum, which means they last longer.

However, whilst our fragrances are extremely high quality, we are able to sell them at amazingly low prices, just £8.99 a bottle. This is because of how they are sold, exclusively via independent distributors. Meaning that we avoid the costs of expensive advertising, shop overheads etc.  

You will now give everyone the chance to try our fragrances for themselves, ask them to look at the catalogue and select the four fragrances they would most like to try. If people are not sure direct them towards the ones that we sell the complimentary items for (i.e. shower gels, deodorants).

Ask them to roll up their sleeves as they will be trying one fragrance on each wrist and one on each lower arm just below the elbow. They should also write on a bit of paper which fragrance they wish to try where so they do not get confused afterwards which fragrance is which.

Tell them not to rub the fragrances at all when they are trying them, a lot of people when they are trying fragrances rub their wrists together which in fact will damage the fragrance.

You should also explain that they should not sniff the fragrance immediately but let it settle for a few minutes. You could even say everyone who does it correctly can have a sweet or something.

The fastest way I have then found to work out who wants what is to read the numbers in order and ask them to stick up their hand when one of their fragrances is called out. This can be quite comical and adds to the fun of the evening!

Once everyone has got four fragrances on, and whilst they are letting them settle you can mention that we have fragrances for everyone, men, women and even children and that FM fragrances make great gifts for birthdays, Christmas, mother's day, valentines or whatever events happen to be coming up.

You can also add a few hints about perfume, for example that they will last longest kept in a cool, dark place, inside the box and away from direct sunlight. That the best way to get the right amount of fragrance is to spray a couple of times just in front of you and then walk   forward, this also avoids spraying directly onto clothes. You could mention the best areas of the body to spray, wrists, behind ears, neck etc.

Once everyone has let their fragrances settle for a couple of minutes it is time for them to smell them, and this is where the tea bags or coffee beans come into play. Explain that whenever people smell more than a few fragrances the scents all begin to get mixed up and smell the same, by smelling the tea bag or coffee in between each fragrance will help to take away the fragrance they have just sniffed and allow them to try the next one more clearly.

It is also worth pointing out that fragrances do smell different on different people so whether you like a fragrance on someone else or not it is best to try it on yourself before you decide.

Get them to give each of the four fragrances a mark out of five on their piece of paper, this will help you see if there is one fragrance or a couple of fragrances they like best.

Now they selected their favourites you can talk about the advantages of layering.   Explain that it someone's is using a melon shower gel, coconut shampoo, marine deodorant and a floral fragrance for example the combined smell may be somewhat strange as all the scents are competing with each other. It is much better, where possible, to use shower gels and deodorants that match and enhance the   perfume or aftershave they wear.

You can then introduce our range of complimentary products, in many of our most popular fragrances. Mention that just like our fragrances our shower gels, deodorants etc are designed to be of the very highest quality and are far cheaper than people would normally expect to pay for luxury fragranced products.

Talk about our shower gels being ideal for delicate skin, with  a special blend of caring active ingredients to moisturize and nourish the skin. This is where personal endorsements are handy, I know personally that the FM shower gels are better than others I have ever used, you really can feel and smell the quality. I was stunned how good they are considering how little they cost.

The deo roll-ons are also very good, they are antibacterial, do not clog pores or irritate the skin. Designed to keep you fresh all day. Again I have to say they are far superior to any other brand I have ever used before.

For women we have deodorant body sprays and body lotions too.

A number of our men's fragrances have matching aftershaves, and again the quality of these is superb.

Pass around these complimentary products as you are talking about them, if you have some there with you, but stress that these are just examples and they are available in a variety of fragrances.

Close the presentation by thanking everyone for coming and explain that anyone who wants to try any of the fragrances they have not yet tried can now do so and that you will be coming around to everyone to help them with selecting the products they may like and complete their order forms. If anyone has to leave early tell them to let you know so you can go to assist them first.

Collecting Orders: Inform the guests that they can pay you by cash or credit card. Whether you accept cheques is entirely up to you, as the cheques would be made payable to yourself. Give the delivery date, I normally say a week as this gives you time to put the order in and add on the orders of anyone who could not attend but the host may be able to speak to afterwards and therefore increase the party total. As we know delivery from head office is incredibly fast to us.  

Thank the host again for organising the party and explain that the host will be receiving their rewards based on the total sales and bookings made. And state what rewards those booking will receive. One good trick is to have a cheap, but nice looking bottle of wine on the display with some ribbon nicely tied on it (if you are more creative than me!) and offer that to the first person there who books a party. You do run the risk of someone booking just to get the wine then cancelling but once someone has booked other guests are more likely to as well.

Mention that as you go around if anyone would like to book a party or is interested in finding out about becoming a distributor to have a word with you. Make sure you ask every guest individually as you go round if they would like to have a perfume party themselves.

Collect the orders and the payments, plus arrange any bookings and tell the host the total, mentioning that there is still a day or so to increase it from people who could not attend if the host wishes to speak to them.

You do sometimes get new recruits join the business at the party  but usually anyone who is interested in the business will give you their number so that you can then give them a call the following day to arrange a time to chat to them about the business. Remember to speak to the host about them becoming a distributor themselves when you delivery the order.