Interestingly, the top 3 retailers for December are all located within 3 miles of the corporate headquarters!

Testimonial:
"You cant sell out of an empty wagon! We always have product on hand (whether its on the road, in our car or at work) to show and sell. Our main emphasis on marketing the candle is through walking and talking. Wherever we go we carry votives, pamphlets and cards. We talk to anyone and everyone and if we go into stores we politely ask if we can leave some pamphlets on display".
-Carol and Dave Lewis, Wilkes-Barre, PA
(Note: We recently received a phone call from a prospect who was very impressed with Carol and Dave’s politeness and professional attitude)


Testimonial:
"I was looking for an easy and fun way to make some extra money and met another distributor at a festival. Being a candle lover myself, I knew these candles were top quality. I decided to give it a shot and signed on. I've done several festivals, craft shows, even car shows, not to mention a few fundraiser's. One thing I've found out is people who try them, love them, and will be repeat customers."
-Sharon Ferdinand, Zion Grove, Pa


Testimonial:
"I was contacted by a friend last year to sell candles, and my first thought was how will I ever find the time. So needless to say I did nothing about it and just put it on the back burner. What a mistake!! This year I was looking at the candle he gave me and the business card he left, and of course I have two kids who are very high maintenance (they think the green stuff grows on trees)...Well guess what the green stuff grows on Parrish Street. The Mia Bella Candles are the best thing that has happened to me. I just start talking about them and of course I always keep some with me whereever I go. I took candles to my doctors office, I got a friend of mine who owns a restaurant to purchase some, she burns them in the ladies room, I even give out brochures to the gas station attendants where I get my gas. I tell them that the smell of the candle is much better for them than the smell of gas, and they are usually young kids who want to impress their girlfriends....The bottom line is just about everybody loves to burn candles...the way my kids burn money...so this is the best and most fun opportunity I ever had. I know this is a business I will be in for a very long time....Thanks to the folks at Mia Bella's, they are always so friendly and always there to help in any way they can."
-Jo Ann Semenza, PA
P.S. I also did two fundraisers and they were exceptional, and I have two more fundraisers in the works. This is really a lot of fun :)

Jan & Shep Kuester
Member #3
Carlton, Washington

Most of the Scent-Sations distributors who have been on the weekly conference calls know about the success that Jan and I have had with the Scent-Sations opportunity. Many want to know how we were able to become “semi-retired,” living on a farm in the Washington mountains, next to a beautiful river. As Paul Harvey so often says, here is “The rest of the story.”

I am a disabled veteran, retired from the Navy in 1988. I became a stay-at-home dad for our son Lew. Jan is a disabled veteran, retired from the Navy in 1997. She continued her profession as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in a small rural Utah community hospital. However, because of her disabilities, as the work-load increased, she had greater difficulty with her physical capabilities. In early 2001, she had come to the conclusion that she was becoming less able to keep up with the increasing work schedule.

In March of 2001 I received a phone call from an internet marketing forum co-writer, Charles Umphred, about a new product that he and his partner, Bob Scocozzo, were marketing for a local candle making team, Carmen and Lynn Milazzo. That product was soy scented candles.

I told Charlie that I have asthma, and that candles really bother me. He told me that these probably wouldn’t, and asked me to give them a try. I asked him to send us a case of the candles and when they arrived I pulled out an Orange Creamsicle and a Fresh Apple and immediately gave them the “sniff test” (they were wonderful) and then lit them for the “real test!”

I placed the both lit candles on my desk and as the wick started melting them I was amazed at how wonderful they smelled. Better yet, I had no asthmatic reaction to them! I was sold and when Jan got home she was amazed to find out that there was a scented candle on the market that had so many “benefits”…including “NOT” bothering my allergies!

We then went on a broad internet search to see what we could find out about this new product. There was almost nothing on it, it was so new. However, I found an article on the 3 students that had created soy wax, and an EPA report that talked about the composition of paraffin, and chemicals associated with it.

As a test, we asked a friend to hold a candle party to see what our neighbors thought of these soy candles. We sold over 4 cases that evening! Everyone that smelled them was excited, and all were thrilled that this new candle produced no discernable soot. Jan and I talked about the possibilities of this candle the rest of the evening, and made a decision to jump on this with all our energies. We realized that this was a product that was going to revolutionize the whole candle industry over the next several decades, and we wanted to be at the front of it. I had missed two huge investment opportunities before, and I was determined that I wasn’t going to miss this one!

The next morning I was introduced to Bob on the phone. If I remember right, I ordered $7,000 in candles. They arrived a couple weeks later. We didn’t have money to spare, and this had been charged on our credit card. To avoid the high interest fees, I HAD to sell $7,000 of candles in 3 weeks. To make this short, we did, and ordered $10,000 more shortly thereafter. According to my records, we sold over $100,000 over the next 12 months. This confirmed that this was all that we had expected, and more. We were on our way to letting Jan reduce her work schedule. I showed the candles to everyone that we talked to. I handed out flyers, put signs on all of our vehicles, and even talked about soy candles in the grocery checkout line.

People started calling asking for more “soot-free” candles. They burned cleaner, they burned longer, and then we discovered that spills cleaned up with simple hot soapy water. Only a few people, like me, were interested in the non-toxic aspect, so we really didn’t push that too much. Then customers started asking how they could start selling these phenomenal candles. There wasn’t a sales plan for this, so we simply marked up our cost per jar by 50 cents, and sold them candles at wholesale. In late 2001 I asked Bob to start making votives for me, and that market just went crazy.

In the summer of 2002 we all got on a conference call to discuss taking this business into a network marketing business plan. It was a lot of fun designing the program with Bob and Charlie! Scent-Sations was introduced officially August 1, 2002. People in other network marketing companies thought we were crazy, and fully expected us to fold within months. Instead, the company has experienced continual growth, in spite of the after effects of 9/11 and a weak economy.

People love candles, plain and simple. You’ll find candles in 90% of all American homes. And customers are thrilled at the idea of getting this great “soot-free” candle delivered right to their door at a discount, and that they can order more at wholesale. Better yet, many have been excited about introducing their friends, family, and work associates to these candles, and making really good money while doing it.

Our presentation technique has changed little since that first test. All we have added is an introduction to the Candle of The Month Program and the income benefits of showing these candles to others. A growing number of our members are already making a combined retail & commission income that exceeds the income from their day job, from fewer than 5 hours a week.

Sitting here in our new custom designed home, looking down a snow covered valley on a sunny day, and thinking back to the turning point in our financial lives, I’m so glad we saw the potential for this unique new product immediately. Jan is home all the time, spending time with me and our critters (2 horses and 3 llamas – so far!), and her health is getting better every day. We are not making a ga zillion dollars; we don’t spend 10 hours a day on building our business; but we are comfortable in our newfound lifestyle. My responsibility now is to teach others to attain or surpass what we have done since Scent-Sations started 16 months ago.

From this article you can see that we weren’t rich, and weren’t special or super talented in sales or recruiting. We were simply two disabled military veterans determined to make a better life for ourselves, and that gave us the drive and ambition to build our candle business into a successful income. Anyone that really wants financial independence can achieve it with Scent-Sations. And now you know “the rest of the story!”