It is possible to earn several hundred dollars from each home jewelry party you attend, if you follow these tips and techniques by experienced direct sellers.

Use the Right Structure for the Party

First of all, it's important that you structure the parties correctly - because they are unlike most other home party plan opportunities. For example, at most home shopping parties, the hostess invites between 7 and 10 guests and the party lasts for approximately 2 hours. During the party the representative demonstrates the products, the guests will play a variety of games and compete for prizes (usually products) and the hostess provides food - anything from a sit-down meal to light refreshments, depending on the type of party and what the hostess wants to do. Towards the end of the event, the party representative pulls out the brochures and takes orders.

At a jewelry home party however, the most effective party is structured differently. First of all, the most effective parties are set up as an "open-house" for approximately three hours - which means guests can come any time during the party, which often works better for people with very busy schedules. This means that the hostess can invite three times as many people, because no one plans to stay very long. (The more guests you have at a party, the more jewelry you have a chance to sell, so it's important that you do everything you can to encourage your hostesses to invite as many people as possible!)

Because guests are coming to the party with the specific objective of being able to look at and try on different pieces of jewelry, they're not interested in playing the games used at other parties. They usually just want to get right to it! This means that you as the jewelry consultant won't need to provide any demonstrations. And because buying jewelry is a very visual experience, and in addition to wanting to get their friends' opinions, everyone will need to see how each piece looks on them - so make sure you bring lots of mirrors with you.

But just because they're not interested in playing games, doesn't mean that guests don't want the opportunity to win a prize. Experienced jewelry representatives suggest that you give away jewelry at least once an hour during the party - this helps to guarantee that more people show up for the open house. You can choose if guests must be present to win - but remember that your hostess may get stressed out if she's got 30 people in her home, waiting to see if they've won the prize.

Here's another tip that can help you to increase the number of people who attend the party - offer free jewelry or discounts for every person a guest brings with them to the open house. (Remember, the more guests that show up, the more potential customers and future hostesses you have!) Just print that on the invitations, and you'll see your sales and additional party reservations soar!

Tell your hostess that if she decides to serve refreshments, to choose something that's simple and light - wine and a selection of cheeses or coffee and cookies are great, but that they shouldn't be served until after everyone has ordered their jewelry. There are two reasons for this - first of all, you don't want crumbs or sticky fingers touching your beautiful jewelry, and secondly, after the food has been eaten, it's a signal that the party is over - especially if you're packing up and putting away your supplies while everyone is finishing.

Do the Majority of the Pre-Party Set-up at Your Home, Not your Hostess'

Use jewelry display cases to set up rings, earrings, necklaces, etc. ahead of time while you're home. Set aside a set of your best jewelry for your hostess to model during the party, and also set aside the pieces that you'll be giving away as prizes. Don't forget to bring lots of extra mirrors with you. You'll want to have a variety of sizes and place them all around the room - after all, being able to see how beautiful the jewelry looks on them is what helps your customers to talk themselves into buying it!

That's a Wrap!

Make sure to take your gift wrapping supplies and provide free gift wrapping. Providing this small service takes away so much of the hassles involved in shopping for gifts that many guests will make impulse decisions and purchase several gifts all at once, just to have it done with.

Top Tip: One experienced jewelry representative keeps her gift wrapping supplies in a plastic Rubbermaid box. She has a portable card table and a dark blue velvet tablecloth, and sets it up in one corner of the hostess' living room when she gets there. She always precuts the wrapping paper at home in sizes that fit her gift boxes, and even has little gift tags that the guests can personalize with the recipient's name.

Have a Table for Impulse Buyers

Don't forget to include a wide selection of "impulse" buying items that includes chains, earrings, charms, lower cost rings, ring-sizers and necklace extenders, jewelry cleaning supplies, small jewelry or watch repair kits, and an assortment of boxes, jewelry cases or travel bags. Many of your customers when seeing these items will buy them on impulse, remembering that they needed new earring backs, or have a necklace that they seldom wear because it's too short. This can bump up your income at each party, and is simple to do.

That's all there is to it - just follow those simple tips and you'll find that your next home jewelry party sparkles - and so will your bank balance!