Partying with eLeMeNO-Pee!

You may know your local eLeMeNO-Pee representative as someone who provides one-on-one cloth diaper education and support. Maybe she was invited to speak to your childbirth class, maybe you were connected to her through your doula or pediatrician, or maybe you just ran into her on Facebook.

But did you know that she can party like a cloth diaper rock star?

You can read about the basic structure of an eLeMeNO-Pee home party here, but I thought it might be fun to show you a recent party that I was able to attend and document!

(Please excuse the cell phone photography. Ahem.)

We started just after 4 pm after munching on chips and salsa, fresh pineapple, and bakery cookies. Our hostess had arranged for extra seating in the living room for her 13 guests, who were all pregnant mothers, mothers of young babies, and mothers of these mothers! (However, many of our parties also include daddies--it's a lot easier for the couple to make the leap into cloth diapering when they receive the education at the same time.)

Jenny H., the consultant for the party, kept a small stash of demo diapers nearby as she introduced and explained each system and style of modern cloth diaper. She began by explaining that everyone knows why cloth diapering is a smart choice, but what's so overwhelming is the how. Guests agreed and sat forward in their seats, waiting for their questions to be answered!

Goodies galore sat waiting on the dining room table for curious hands; meanwhile, guests chuckled their way through Jenny's "Reader's Digest" version of the journey cloth diapers have taken from old-fashioned flats, pins, and pull-on plastic pants to the many inventive, convenient, and fashionable styles available today.

Jenny demonstrated laundry for the group, loading a FuzziBunz hanging diaper pail and unzipping it into an imaginary washing machine to demonstrate the mess-free method for transferring dirties from pail to washer.

A cloth-curious guest got her hands on a modern cloth diaper for the first time while her mother looked on, curious and then amazed. Having some of your support system at a showing with you is a wonderful way to get your team on-board.

After the brief demonstration, everyone headed to the 'showroom' to get a second look at the styles and accessories that interested them the most. This is when mamas really get a feel for the 2-3 styles they want to try. Jenny had her Kindle Fire available for any guest to browse our Web site and check out all the available color, print, and laundry scent options!

Jenny and a guest discussed newborn diapering in further detail; some mamas were interested in cloth from Day One, while others thought they might wait until one-size diapers fit to get started. Jenny's job is to validate that both of those paths are great options--cloth diapering is a lifestyle choice, but it's one that can be seamlessly integrated into family life!

As Q&A wrapped up, guests sampled the delicious scents of our Hosie Naturals product line, which features organic, plant-based mom-and-baby skincare ranging from cloth diaper-safe "Butt Balm" and wipe solution concentrate to a labor-augmenting body oil and a stretchmark-reducing belly butter, while Jenny was available in the next room for guests who wished to purchase products or receive a complementary eLeMeNO-Pee registry consultation.

Looks like fun, doesn't it? It is, and hosting an eLeMeNO-Pee party comes with lots of rewards that graduate based on the party sales total. In fact, our Home Office is currently developing a quarterly 'specials and hostess incentives' schedule that will make hosting a party even more rewarding!

Here are some tips for hosting a successful eLeMeNO-Pee cloth diaper party:

1) Invite dads, and encourage them to come by letting them know that your partner will be present. Your guests will be more likely to invest in a starter stash if they are able to talk over the financial benefits with their husbands.

2) Invite from lots of circles. Chances are you know expectant and brand-new parents who don't know each other. eLeMeNO-Pee parties are a great way to introduce potential new friends and to get questions answered that you might not have thought to ask.

3) Have some munchies available, but don't stress about the snacks. Everyone will be focusing on the products, anyway, and you'll find you have leftovers no matter how little you think you're preparing. Go for ease for yourself and pregnancy-friendly for your guests.

4) Be ready to start your stash. Look over the current hostess incentives. Have a sales goal in mind and invite other friends and acquaintances who are motivated to jump in! Party attendance carries no commitment, so it doesn't hurt to have guests who are early in pregnancy and just wanting to get a feel for cloth, but your party total will be higher (and you'll receive more rewards!) if your guests are the adventurous types who are ready to order 'a starter stash.'

Ready to host a party? All it takes is contacting your local eLeMeNO-Pee consultant or setting up a virtual party with the Home Office. Simply book, invite, learn, and earn your rewards!

So what is eLeMeNO-Pee, anyway?

Hi, there! Welcome to the eLeMeNO-Pee blog. You may have stumbled across us lately because of Pinterest or DiaperSwappers or because one of your Facebook friends "liked" us. Maybe one of your local or online friends told you that she applied to be an eLeMeNO-Pee consultant and you were curious, or maybe you found us the old-fashioned way: Google!

So, who are we? 

Well, we're a (1) cloth diaper retailer, in some ways just like any other online cloth diaper retailer. We have a Web store that offers same-day shipping, a Facebook Page, a blog. We run sales and specials from time to time, we stock several major brands of quality modern cloth diapers that come with good warranties, we offer our clients support and answer questions or help them process returns and warranty claims. We also carry the usual array of cloth diaper accessories, like wet bags and diaper sprayers and clean-rinsing detergents, and, of course, that most wondrously wonderful wonder of the natural parenting world, Baltic amber and beaked hazelwood jewelry.

But we're also a (2) direct selling company, much like Thirty-One or The Pampered Chef. We have local consultants all over Louisiana and Texas, and we're currently processing applications for potential consultants all over the United States, from California to Maine! Like most modern direct selling companies, the eLeMeNO-Pee "opportunity" is commission-based, and, after a thorough education and training process, and with the support of the home office and veteran consultants, our local consultants have the opportunity to successfully open their own cloth diaper businesses without encountering the massive overhead involved in owning a brick-and-mortar store... and with the highest commission rate we've seen from any cloth diaper direct selling opportunity. This means consultants are free to earn an income simply by geeking out over cloth diapers with their friends who are in the market and introducing their communities to the benefits and how-tos of cloth all while working from home or on-the-go with their babies in tow. Our consultants' clients can choose to host a party to receive awesome hostess rewards, have a cloth diaper baby shower, or just meet one-on-one with a consultant to learn more about cloth diapers, see and touch and try diapers on their babies, witness a cloth diaper laundry demonstration, collaborate to come up with a "dream stash," and then start making that stash happen! Additionally, each consultant has her own Web store, so that you can continue to support her business when you need to make a purchase but know what you want without requiring a consultation.

The store: 2102 W. Prien Lake Rd.

We are, finally, a (3) local brick-and-mortar store in Lake Charles, La. The "store" is technically our home office and warehouse, and it is staffed by our Lake Charles consultant for the convenience of her clients. As such, it is open for limited hours that change a little with each season. Summer hours are Tues. and Thurs. from 10 am - 2 pm. Lake Charles clients are encouraged to come in and shop during those hours or to shop online and select "in-store pickup" to avoid paying for shipping.

Why are we all three of these things?

So that we can be as mom-friendly as possible! Founded in 2008, we are still a relatively young company, and we are truly passionate about allowing moms to supplement their families' incomes by helping other families save money and green up their lifestyles by switching to cloth diapers. Each of our consultants is a talented woman committed to providing excellent customer service and product support to her clients. In order to keep things as low-pressure as possible for our consultants, who have no "quotas" to meet in case they need to take some personal time away from working, we also accept sales from our Web store to increase our volume of sales in regions where we have not yet hired consultants. But our goal is for every client--you!--to have her customer service needs met with the personal touch that can only be offered by an expert consultant!

Want an insider's perspective?

Several of our Louisiana reps at a training session.

I may be a tiny bit (ok, or a huge bit) biased, but as an employee and a client, I have huge admiration for each and every person who makes up the eLeMeNO-Pee family. The dynamic husband-wife duo, Allison and Todd, who own and run the company, work hard to make sure that our consultants feel supported and have an easy time learning the ropes. Our consultants, both veterans and newbies, are a true team, offering each other ideas and tips, celebrating each other's business and personal victories, and offering sympathy tears and comfort during each other's times of personal tragedy.

Lest you think eLeMeNO-Pee is just one big self-contained lovefest, I will also iterate that eLeMeNO-Pee exists for the clients just as much as for the consultants; after all, without the clients, there are no consultants! We encourage our consultants to host annual cloth diaper resale events in their communities, to offer free and open-to-the-public cloth diapering classes, to keep handy a list of resources and professionals for clients, who are often brand new parents, to be referred to when they have big parenting questions. And we continue to update our party hostess benefits (including the recent addition of free shipping for an entire party's order where the party sales total $400 or more, no matter how heavy the box!) as our company grows and our budget allows for it.

Each of our consultants has also shared with me instances where she has been willing to go to bat for her clients, so, for example, if you're also in direct sales or you own your own small business, know that your consultant is happy to learn what the products and concepts you represent can do for her. As one of our veteran consultants, Jenny H., is known to say, "It all comes full-circle when work-at-home moms are supporting each other."