Incentive Trip 2013 -- St. Kitts!

I am so excited to find out that Dove Chocolate Discoveries' incentive trip this year is to St. Kitts! I earned the first annual trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and had such a wonderful time that this year, my goal is to take my husband.

Every single chocolatier can earn a trip to St. Kitts.  It is possible to earn the trip simply through selling chocolate alone.  It will take hard work and perseverance.  However, drinking a pina colada on the beach surrounded by sand and fantastic friends will make everything worthwhile.

Contact me now if you want to get started and earn your trip! Certainly, there are other rewards, but right now I can't think of anything more exciting!

Taking My Work With Me

For the last hour, I have been working on my DCD business.  I have made some phone calls, answered some emails from potential chocolatiers, and actually booked a  party!  This hour has been really very productive for me.  The exciting part of this hour, though, is that I am about 900 miles from my home.  My brother is getting married next weekend, so I am visiting my family.  In fact, right now, my dad is watching westerns on tv, while I'm drinking my tea and working on DCD.

I've also booked a party here in town with my parents.  Whenever I travel, I try to make a few phone calls and book a party.  Generally, people are more than happy to host a party, especially when chocolate is involved.  These out-of-town parties can be my favorites, because they are a great opportunity to sponsor other chocolatiers.  I'm always looking for a way to expand my team and certainly I can't book any parties out of these parties.  Also, they tend to be much more low-key for me.  I tend to just put out chocolate and we just chat and talk the entire time.  I love it.

I earned DCD's incentive trip!

Last year at National Conference in Baltimore (yes, it's a chocolate conference...pure awesomeness), DCD announced their first incentive trip would be to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  We could earn points through sponsoring new chocolatiers and sales.  I am so excited that I was able to earn my trip in January with a full two months to spare (the promotion runs from August to March).

As soon as the trip was announced, I made a game plan.  Initially, I figured out how much in sales that I would have to do every month and realized that I probably wouldn't be able to make that quota.  I would need to also sponsor some new chocolatiers.  The best way to conduct sales and meet new people to tell them about our opportunity was to book parties.  I starting booking as many parties as I could.  In fact, I was able to have some personal bests for selling and sponsoring.

Ultimately, I earned the trip through a lot of dedication and work.  It didn't happen magically, but I think my trip will be magic.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate my hard work than on the beach with a white chocolate mango mojito.

Changing my "why"

When I originally became a chocolatier, my reason for joining was fairly simple.  I wanted to get out of the house and meet good people.  I felt under-appreciated at work and really enjoyed all of the accolades you could receive through DCD.  However, recently, my military husband has been transferred to a new post.  While I'm extremely proud of him, it has left me in a career limbo.  Ultimately it has changed the reason I joined DCD or my "why" story.

Now, I have started selling DCD as a source of income.  It has really changed the way that I look at my business.  While I still consider it a lot of fun and enjoy myself immensely, I have been thankful for the income that it has generated.  Further, because of the transfer, I have been able to take my DCD business with me to the new post and continue where I left off.

I have learned that DCD can evolve with me.  When I move, I can take it with me.  It can change as I need it to change to fill different areas in my life.  I expect that my "why" will change again in the future.  I'm looking forward to seeing what DCD can bring me in the future!

DCD Featured on Food Network's "Unwrapped"

Food Network had a segment on their show "Unwrapped" which featured DCD products.  The segment itself showed a little mini-party with the chocolatier making truffles and mixing martinis.  The show really showed off DCD products and introduced DCD to a whole new group of people.  Right now, I know that calls are pouring into the corporate office from potential recruits and hostesses.

When I was watching the show, I just wanted to point out a few things.  First, the chocolatier who was featured was really fantastic and did a wonderful job.  However, the parties do not have to be as intricate as what was featured on TV.  For me, I keep my parties very simple and don't make any reindeer truffles (although, if asked by my hostess, I would be willing to do a special truffle party).  I make a few baked goods and talk about the products.  The products really sell themselves, so there isn't much "showmanship" involved.

Secondly, Betty Palm, the president of DCD, pointed out that there are only about 6,000 chocolatiers across the United States.  This is still a ground floor opportunity.  Many, many people still haven't heard of DCD and the market isn't saturated.

I'm sure as a watch re-runs of the program that more thoughts will occur to me.  I encourage you to watch the show and let me know your thoughts!

DCD Ordering Portal - "How-to" Guide (For chocolatiers)

I've had numerous questions about how to use the new ordering portal. I have created this guide, specifically for chocolatiers, to assist them in placing orders for customers. If you are a customer and are looking to place an order, please go to www.chocolatewithkristine.com or send me an email chocolatewithkristine@gmail.com and I will be in contact with you!

To place a customer order with Dove Chocolate Discoveries, it is necessary to use the ordering portal which is available on their website. The following pages are intended to be a step-by-step guide on placing an order. After consulting this guide, if you still have ordering questions, please contact your sponsor or your team leader to help you!

1. To begin, make sure that your browser can support the DCD system. Your browser should allow pop-ups from DCD. If your system is not allowing the pop-ups to appear, try downloading Firefox. This is available at www.firefox.com. If your browser is allowing pop-ups, skip to step 2.

Tasting Tips for Chocolatiers

The key to Dove Chocolate Discoveries is having a successful tasting party.  The best thing about DCD is that the parties are a snap.  In and of itself, tasting chocolate is fantastic and fun.  As long as you have your samples in order, the party and fun will mostly take care of itself.  So, the question becomes, how can you best present and sample the chocolate at your parties?

First, make sure that you are giving out SAMPLES.  For example, when I taste the Cinnamon Dusted Almonds, each person gets to taste one almond.  There will be plenty of chocolate for everyone to taste.  At the end of the party, nobody will think that they haven’t tasted enough.  For me, I tend to have people taste more items, but smaller portions.  For an example such as cookies, make small cookie balls about half the size that you normally would.  Then after they come out of the oven, cut those cookies in half. 

Second, show some different and easy recipes that can be made with DCD products.  I always sample some chai tea with cool whip.  Everyone loves this.  Buy a container of Cool Whip and let it completely thaw.  After it has thawed, stir in a packet of chai tea and mix it in completely.  I usually bring some teddy grahams for people to dip into the chai tea.

Third, our best selling product is the chocolate martini mix! Show it off.  It’s delicious and a great buy.  When you make the martinis, don’t use the directions on the bottle.  Add some sort of dairy.  At my parties, I use the following recipe:  3 oz mix, 3 oz ½ & ½, and an ounce of vodka.  I usually tell my guests that they can increase the vodka, depending on how bad their day went!

Fourth, have fun and don’t pressure people!!! Everyone messes up.  It’s ok.  Don’t worry about it.  Remember, your parties are about your guests and how you can provide them with a wonderful time.  Don’t worry about how much they buy or how big the party is.  It’s more important to develop a relationship with people.  You don’t know what is going on in a person’s life.  Meaning, even if they don’t buy anything, maybe they will host a party or refer someone to you.  Or, maybe, next time they will come in and place a $200 order!