Choosing a modeling or demo agency to represent your company is an important decision. The people who do the actual event could be the ONLY representative of your company that your potential customers get to meet. It is essential that the promotional models meet your target demographic and completely understand your product. When retaining a demo or modeling agency, here are some questions to ask:

1. What experience do your models have?
2. Can I see pictures of the models?
3. Is your agency open the day of the event?
4. How do I know that your model has shown up to the event?
5. How do you train the model on my product?
6. What feedback reports do I get from you on the event?
7. Can you provide models that match the demographic of the event?

CosPro Agency was created as there was a need for professional makeup artists nationwide. Most agencies do not specialize in the beauty industry and use one model to do everything from food to foundation to foot powder. For every model we book, we can provide a photo and brief resume so you have the comfort of knowing your product is appropriately represented in each store. In addition, all of our artists have at least 2 years of experience not only with makeup, but with retail sales as well. In short, we provide competent, attractive models that are familiar with the beauty industry and trained to sell your products.

Our standards and results are higher than any other agency.

Do you have a specific target market you want to reach? CosPro can help! Whether you have products that are targeted for African Americans, need Spanish speaking makeup artists, or just need models that are all a certain ‘look’, we can help. We are completely turnkey leaving you with minimal involvement for a stress free promotion experience. If you want the best, you want The CosPro Agency.

Visit us at cosproagency.com or contact Kristin Bocox at 877-COSPRO3 Ext. #501 to schedule your next event. New customers receive a 20% discount* off your first event!

*Not valid with other discounts or offers.

The other day my oldest client somewhat jokingly said I didn’t “love her” anymore; that she hardly spoke to me these days. Of course, relating to clients is very important and I took her comments to heart. So what am I doing that is so important I don’t have time for clients? The answer is simple — I am running a small business.

The “new” great American dream is to own your own business. More entrepreneurs launched new businesses in 2009 than at any other time in the past 14 years, according to a study released in May from the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity report. This could be due to the fact that so many people have been downsized that they feel the only way to earn a living or be secure is to be their own boss.

The problem is that it’s just not that easy! One of my favorite expressions is “you don’t know what you don’t know” and there isn’t one easy source out there that can feed you all the information you need to know in order to stay on top of the laws and intricacies to running a business – you find out when something happens how to handle it.

SO what was I doing last week instead of touching base with my (very important) clients? Well here is a little run down.

On Monday, I had back to back conference calls with my 4 managers so I knew what was going on in their departments that week and update our deadlines. A catch 22 for small business owners: you hire people so you don’t do all the work and then you end up managing people and creating another category of work for yourself. My company has 10 employees — not enough for me truly delegate everything other than working with the clients, but just enough to add a few hours to my workload each week dealing with them. You need to train them, mentor them, talk with them and, of course, manage them. Once you delegate things to them, you have to go over the results with each of them. This is why so many bosses fail to delegate because sometimes it takes the same amount of time to give the task to someone else then to do it yourself. Ongoing tasks can easily be assigned to an employee, but the weird things that pop up daily (and, trust me, they do) have to be handled and usually you are the only person left who can handle it.

Monday afternoon I spent over 3 hours researching the “use tax laws” in Michigan and discussing the inquiry we got from that state with our CPA and internal AP person. We are a service company and we don’t sell products so why would Michigan ask us to pay taxes in a state where we have no office, no sales, no employees? Because we issued some 1099′s to independent contractors to do in-store demonstrations in a few stores in that state. Each state has different tax laws. We can’t afford to go to an attorney on every issue that pops up and, unlike large corporations, have no one person who can deal with these things. So the small business owner ends up handling these issues one by one.

On Tuesday, I was dealing with my warehouse manager’s neck and back problems. We only have one warehouse manager and the fact her doctor put her on light duty meant the warehouse basically shuts down. We had to find a person immediately to go in and do all the heavy lifting plus deal with the insurance issues.

On Wednesday, I was dealing with another legal issue and this one was really fun. When we starting doing a lot of shipping, we began using a ship broker who was referred to us by another company. For the first 3 or 4 years, it was great – no problems and good rates. Then the broker, Doreen Dillon, sent out a change of company name correspondence assuring us that we would still be dealing with her, but she was working for a different company. It seemed to be business as usual, but then things got strange; she was using different shipping companies for each shipment, she was hard to reach, some invoices were coming straight to us saying they were not paid – she always had a plausible excuse for each. Finally, Doreen disappeared (with 2 years worth of payments) and the shipping companies started coming after us for payment.  It was and continues to be a nightmare; every few months another shipping company pops up and we have to settle with them. Basically we have paid TWICE for all the shipping that occurred during those couple of years. I put her name in this blog in case anyone reading this is doing business with her! Trust me, there are a lot of people who would love to find her.

Other things I handled last week included managing all our projects; making sure that nothing falls through the cracks and that we get everything done on time. We are also in the middle of redeveloping our website and working on a new part time PR position so we have one person monitoring all our social media, press releases and contact lists (something I pretty much handle alone at this point). I get hundreds of emails each day from clients and associates and make a point to respond quickly to everyone. I also invoice most of the projects myself because I do most of the quotes.

I feel extremely lucky (and proud) that we have been in business for 20 years and keep growing.  I hope other entrepreneurs find as much success as I have. But I laugh when someone thinks owning your own business is “freedom” and you can take off whenever you want to. My biggest piece of advice – realize it is going to be twice as hard as any job you ever had and then maybe you won’t be as unprepared for the demands that reaching the great American dream will bring. Oh and yes, stay in touch with your clients because you really do work for them.

Los Angeles, CA – As Taylor Swift fans exited the Staples Center after the sold-out April 15^th Fearless Tour concert; RITE AID was on hand distributing their Teen Glam Camp bags. The brand ambassadors gave away nearly 2000 bags to lucky teen girls. The FREE “Glam Camp” tote bag was filled with beauty products and bounce-back coupons from brands such as Jergens, Jesse’s Girl, Clearasil, Veet, Colgate, John Frieda, Hawaiian Tropic, Maybelline, Wet n Wild, Ban, Yes to Carrots, L’Oreal, Playtex, and Got2Be. Taylor Swift, widely hailed as the first bonafide country music star of the MySpace generation, currently has singles climbing both the country and pop radio charts. She currently holds the Billboard all-genre record for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year.

That same week, RITE AID was on hand at the Miss Teen Ohio-World pageant to reward the participants with the Glam Camp bag. More than 300 contestants eagerly accepted the tote bag and many began using the products right away. This is the first full year for this new pageant, which is the official preliminary event to the Miss Teen United States-World and Miss Teen World Pageants.

Teens (ages 12-17) comprise more than 11% of the U.S. population, and spending by American teenage consumers is expected to reach $208.7 billion by the year 2011. The RITE AID Glam Camp program consists of sampling events that are held in the five strongest RITE AID markets that match up with a high teen population 10,000 bags are distributed each year. The program is coordinated and executed by Cosmetic Promotions Inc, a national marketing company specializing in the beauty industry. The company secures the vendors, the bags and all the venues for distribution.

###

For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproagency.com.

Cosmetic Promotions Donates Money and Time to Different Charities

Winter Park, FL - Cosmetic Promotions Inc, a national marketing company specializing in the beauty industry, is celebrating 20 years in business. As part of the celebration, they are offering quarterly specials and also giving back to the community by donating money to their clients’ favorite charities. The special for August includes a 5% charity “rebate” to the charity of their choice on any 100 (or more) store event the client books. The offer expires July 6^th. During Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, they donated 5% of all demo revenue to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, raising almost $4,000. They are encouraging their clients to let them know which charities they would like considered for a donation by asking them to fill out a short survey at http://www.cosproagency.com/survey.

                Cosmetic Promotions CEO and founder Joann Tyson believes strongly in volunteering. She gives at least 5 hours weekly to her charities in addition to the cash donations. “If every person who COULD volunteer did, charities in this country would need less federal aid and arts organizations would be able to survive,” says Ms. Tyson who is on two city boards, volunteers at the Florida Film Festival, and served as president of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Associate Board for 2 years. She also chaired the Winter Park Library’s 2010 annual fundraiser and was the community liaison for Toys for Tots for 5 years. Her employees are also big on volunteering. Agency Director Kristin Bocox has been delivering Meals on Wheels to local Dallas shut-ins for more than 2 years. Sunny Wilmot, Contest Administrator, went to Africa for 2 weeks last August to help develop a well and a housing project in a village near Naivasha, Kenya. Diane Burge, Teen Event Coordinator, served on the Orlando Shakespeare Theater Associate Board as well. Kate Crockett, Regional Manager, donates time to political campaigns and Ted Bondhus, Art Director, donated many graphic design hours to the Winter Park Library and Orlando Shakespeare Theater projects.

                In addition, Cosmetic Promotions frequently donates extra products from events to women’s shelters and local silent auctions to help those charities raise more money. According to Tyson, “We have been so fortunate to be successful in business for 20 years; we feel it is our duty to give back. Plus, it feels so good!”

###

For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproagency.com.

Summertime is the season when women use less makeup and with the downturn in the economy that could mean even lower sales this next quarter. However, by promoting the right products you can help recover, or even increase your summer cosmetics sales! Here are five products to focus on promoting this summer.

1. Nail Polish

Overall cosmetic and toiletry sales were down by 0.8% last year. But nail polish is the only cosmetic to see a double digit increase  – 14.3% since last year -  because many women are giving themselves manicures and pedicures at home and skipping pricey salon visits. Summer is also the season when nails see the most exposure, so make sure your consumers have plenty of bright summer shades to choose from.

2. Bronzer and Sunless Tanners

Sun-kissed skin is always a fashionable look and is especially sought after in summer months. Stock your shelves with sunless tanner products since consumers often want to give their tans a jump start before appearing at the beach or pool in their swim suits. Bronzers also contribute to looking more tanned and summery so be sure to have plenty on hand.

3. Lip Protection

Frequent sun exposure can cause burnt, chapped, and uncomfortable lips. Make sure you are promoting lip products with SPF, aloe, and other cooling/healing ingredients. Lip balms are among consumers’ top impulse purchases, so make sure to have a display somewhere near checkout as a reminder for them.

4. Sunscreen

Sunscreen is a must-have when the summer months roll around because skin protection is important, not just for women, but for the whole family. Have a wide variety of sunscreens to choose from and feature them prominently in your store and remind associates to suggest it with every other summer-type purchase.

5. Moisturizers

Consumers have more exposed skin in summer than any other time of year. After all of the sun’s exposure to bare skin, you can bet your consumers will want to keep their skin hydrated. Moisturizers that contain sunless tanner are great to promote because your consumers get two products in one, making them feel the great value of the product.

COLD CALLING. Brrrrr. Yes, it is a dreaded task that only the certifiably insane enjoy, but there are ways to make the process smoother, reduce your chance of sticking your foot in your mouth and increase your chances of actually acquiring a new customer. Read on for 10 simple, easy to use tips for talking to strangers:

1. Be Prepared. Simple, right? While most of us insist that we know this Boyscout motto, not many actually do it properly. Now, don’t get discouraged that this is not some amazing new trick. But it is listed here as tip # 1 as it is THE most important tool you have that will make a difference. There are a wide variety of ways that you can get prepared – research your markets and prospects, prepare an opening statement, loosely script the rest of your call, be prepared with specific requests, KEEP IT BRIEF AND END THE CALL.
2. Re-Re-Research. Take advantage of the wide variety of information available today and find out as much as you possibly can about your cold call contact in advance. It can be a huge advantage to be able to talk about their business and their needs when you call them, making the call personalized and not quite so cold. It also demonstrates your knowledge and commitment about their problems and the opportunities to solve them.
3. Opening Statements. This lets you organize your thoughts before cold calling and helps you avoid common mistakes in the call opening that would give the person you’re calling the chance to terminate the conversation. DON’T read your opening statement into the phone, but use it as a framework to get the conversation off to a good start. The approach can vary depending upon what your research turned up, but your appointment rate should go way up when you show prospects you are interested enough in their business to have done some homework and personalize your introduction/call.
4. Loosely Scripted. Lay out the benefits of your product or service and the reasons your prospect should buy. Write out possible objections and your answer to them. Once again, DO NOT read your script word for word when you call. You do not want to be so focused on your script that you are not paying attention to the customer’s reaction to it. A script’s purpose is to organize your thoughts so that you do not ramble, customize your conversation to your customer and allow you to highlight your main points while keeping the call BRIEF.
5. Converse, Don’t Pitch. In most of our daily interactions, we simply want to get to know and communicate with others. But when we go into sales situations, we have an agenda – to make a sale. And because a pitch can trigger the perception that that’s all we want, many people will sense this immediately and put up their guard, limiting your chance for real, honest communication. If you instead create a conversation around the problems or issues you know they’re facing and have a conversation about how to solve those problems, leaving off the sales pressure – prospects will share their truth with you. They’ll tell you whether solving the issue is a priority, whether they have the resources to commit to it and anything else you need to move forward.
6. Perfectly Purposeful. The cold call is NOT about making the sale, as many sales people tend to think. It’s about getting the chance to make the sale. In plain terms, the purpose of a cold call is to set an appointment to make the pitch. Be specific, “Would Wednesday at 11 a.m. be a good time to meet/call?” instead of saying, “Can I meet with you to discuss this next week?”
7. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect their time. Keep your call as brief and precise as possible — generally less than a few minutes. Remember, you are calling them out of the blue and need to realize that you cannot just assume they have free time to listen to your pitch; you need to do your intro, get them interested, then schedule that time with them. If you promised them any additional information during the call, then make sure you send it before your scheduled appointment.
8. About time. Set aside a time each day to make cold calls. By setting a time to make your cold calls, you are creating a new routine for yourself, limiting the chance of procrastination. Generally, the best times to call are either early or late in the day as potential customers are less busy and more likely to answer their own phones.
9. Cut through the clutter. With cold calls, it is all about attitude and how you react to the customer and situation. Don’t be just another drone. Whether using honesty (I realize you probably get 100 of these calls a day. Well, buckle up – here’s one more!), an industry article they may find interesting (Did you see the recent article about xyz?) or humor if the call is not going well (Mr. X, are you about to hang up on me?) – make sure you distinguish yourself and keep it light and energized.
10. Persistence Pays. “Eighty percent of new sales are made after the fifth contact, yet the majority of sales people give up after the second call” (AllBusiness.com). Keep it up! Just remember that people are having to do more and more with less help these days and it may take a while to find some free time. Don’t be annoying, but routinely follow up to show them that you are reliable and willing to go the extra mile in order to help them with their problems.

There are a million sites out there for tips, tricks and even scripts for cold calling. Use them, make the cold call your own and warm up to this area of sales. While cold calling may never be your favorite sales tactic, you can get better at it. The more you practice, the more effective it will be. The people who want to do business with you are out there – but you have to let them know about you first.

“Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Winter Park, FL - 100 Walgreen’s stores recently hosted a Maybelline makeover event introducing new eye and lip products to their Florida consumers. A professional makeup artist was on hand at each store to apply Studio Pearls Shadow, Lash Stiletto Mascara and Shine Sensational Lip Gloss in mini eye and lip makeovers to delighted customers. In just 2 days, over 800 makeovers were performed resulting in more than 1000 pieces sold. According to a survey consumers took during the event, over one-third had never tried Maybelline products before, 33% purchased something that day and another 62% said they would make a Maybelline purchase in the future because of this event.

While there, the makeup artist personally trained the store’s Beauty Advisor on the brands so that they may assist future customers. Walgreens stores have an average of 3 beauty advisors per store – the only drug chain with beauty help in all stores.

The event was facilitated by Cosmetic Promotions, Inc – a promotional and marketing company headquartered in Central Florida who handles a slate of marketing programs for the #1 drug chain. As budgets get cut and staff is reduced, Retail stores are utilizing more third party companies to assist in building sales. By hiring outside firms to fill out their lean marketing, chains are finding great results with less time investment.

Cosmetic Promotions prides itself on providing totally turnkey programs for retail chains. For their in-store demo’s they create an “event in a box” kit that is sent to each demonstrator to bring into the store, eliminating the chance of items getting lost before the event. A standard kit includes the products, custom made signs and a beauty basket giveaway that customers can enter to win. “Our makeup artists have a minimum 2 years experience applying cosmetics and we do live telephone trainings before each event” says Joann Tyson, the company’s CEO; “We also train them on selling tips and give them the proper tools so each artist can execute the event. This is why a standard rate of sales at one of our events results in selling about one week’s worth of product in just 4 hours”

###

For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproageny.com.

Winter Park, FL – The prestigious women’s magazine, Vogue Magazine, sponsored Cover Girl makeovers at 14 Florida market Walgreens stores. The professional makeup artists were demonstrating the new Lash Blast Mascara and promoted the Magazine’s latest sweepstakes – a chance to win an Andrew Marc Salina Handbag – by distributing trend sheets to attendees.

The event offered customers a wonderful Cover Girl gift-with-purchase cosmetic bag, which helped sell over 152 pieces during the event – a 62% closure rate. A survey conducted during the event showed that a whopping 81% of customers surveyed had used Cover Girl before and 99% of them wanted more makeover events at Walgreen’s. Over 59% of the customers were within the target age group (25-50) of the brand and magazine.

Cosmetic Promotions, a promotional and marketing company based in Central Florida executed the event. They handle many programs for magazines at retail stores. Their trained makeup artists have a minimum of 2 years experience applying makeup and execute events all over the United States. The magazines offer the makeovers as a bonus to their clients who purchase more pages in the publications.

“Customers were thrilled with the event, these are good results” says Rachael Cohn, Beauty Promotion Director from Vogue Magazine.

###

Most bronzers go on way too thick, leaving you with a muddy, unnatural-looking complexion. But Physicians Formula Bronzer Booster is specially formulated with Glow Activators Technology to give you beautiful, sun-kissed skin without looking muddy. Plus it contains a little sunless tanner so it even lengthens the life of your tan! There are three shades to choose from (Fair to Light, Light to Medium, and Medium to Dark) to ensure the most natural color for your skin. Simply apply product to the brush and glide over face and neck for a shimmery, sun-kissed look. We really liked how nice it looked over bare skin without makeup, which makes it great for summer when we use less. We also loved the full brush and mirror that came with it because, let’s face it, most powders don’t come with a high-quality brush!

The only thing to watch out for is that this is an ultra-shimmery bronzer, so if you are looking for one with a matte finish, this one may not be for you.

Overall, we give Physicians Formula Bronze Booster a 9 out of 10 for high quality, reasonable price, sunless tanner add-in, and great accessory brush and mirror. In our opinion paying $15 for this product is a risk-free and smart investment for your summer cosmetic bag.

Short, sparse eyelashes are never what we want, but often what nature gave us. However, there is a new way to combat limited lashes and it costs less than you’d think. CoverGirl Lash Blast Length mascara goes completely above and beyond our expectations of what an $8, or less, mascara can do. It comes in both regular and water resistant and has three colors to choose from: very black, black and black brown. To apply, place the wand at the base of your lashes and brush through to the ends. The ultra long brush bristles and the unique nylon formula equal fantastically longer and separated lashes. It never flaked, clumped, or smudged all day and when it was time for removal, it came off completely and easily. We even liked the look and feel of the packaging.

We loved how it glided on with no clumps and gave us sky-high length! The downsides were that we had to use three coats to see those great results, and it only created length, not volume.

All in all, we give CoverGirl’s Lash Blast Length mascara an 8 out of 10 for low price, ultra lash-length, easy removal and zero flaking. At just under $8, it’s a very budget-friendly option for those looking for wondrously long lashes.