Tastefully Simple

Part of what I do is to research MLM companies to see if they are worth the time, money and effort. Tastefully Simple is a company that I accidentally stumbled upon as I was researching several other companies.

Tastefully Simple is a company that probably got started a lot different from most MLM companies. It has very humble beginnings and it’s roots are in the gift basket business. It’s founder, Jill Blackash Strahan sold gift baskets. One day at a local event, she decided to give food samples from her basket items and the food out sold the baskets 10 to 1, thus the seed had been planted.

Tastefully Simple is a direct selling company that attempts to provide convenient, easy to prepare foods that help people to get out of the kitchen and enjoy life. The company’s growth has been amazing. It has gone from a little shack in the back yard to an Inc 500 company. It’s founder was also awarded all star status in 2005.

I believe one reason for the success of the company is as the name implies, it is a simple concept that makes people’s lives easier. It is modeled after the Tupperware concept where you invite people to a party and share the company products.

Tastefully simple products are mainly food items. You can find anything from beverages to breads to soups and sides to dips, and deserts. You name it, they have it. One of the most popular selling items is beer bread. You can also find lots and lots of recipes using Tastefully Simple products to keep you going.

Can you make money with Tastefully simple? The answer to this question is an empathic yes. Not only can you make money with this company, but you can make lots of friends. With the party concept, there will be lots of fun and good times. If you like parties, can cook a little bit you stand to do very well in this company.

So what are the down sides, the one that stands out to me is that it seems to cut most men out of the equation. Mary Kay and Avon have done very well mainly focusing on women, but that part of the population is pretty much eliminated from your customer market.

Now what?

The other potential pitfall that I can see with this company is that you can quickly run out of friends and houses to have parties. In order to build an organization of any size, you must continually be recruiting and your neighborhood is only so big. Not too many people that I know these days are going to go around inviting perfect strangers to their homes, so you will eventually need a way to reach beyond.

The intimacy and closeness are obviously part of why Tastefully Simple works, but I believe that you will also need to employ social media marketing strategies, such as twitter and face book to position yourself ahead of the crowd. It is also a good idea to employ a system that helps you to get to know new potential customers slowly before you try to sell to them and that will allow you to have multiple income streams while you try and build your Tastefully Simple business.