Becoming a Stella and Dot Stylist – What Is The Best Way to Get Started

Fancy starting a business in the jewelry niche? Then you’ve probably thought about becoming a Stella and Dot stylist. Well, there are actually two ways to go about this. In this review, we’ll see what they are and which is the best way for you to get started.

Stella and Dot at a Glance

Debut in the year 2003, S&D is essentially a direct-selling company that focuses on women wear such as jewelry, bags, and clothing. It’s co-founded by Jessica Herrin, a self-made female entrepreneur who has appeared on several talk shows over the past couple of years.

Interestingly, the brand also has a very professional looking online store that boasts a lot of (positive) customer reviews. Orders that are more than $150 are entitled to free shipping in the US and other types of rewards can be found through their new loyalty program called ‘Style Club’.

To make money selling their products, one can either be a consultant or a marketer, but each will have its pros and cons to consider.

The Consultants

Also known as a stylist, this business opportunity encompasses selling in-person as well as online. Like most MLM companies, it usually starts with the purchase of a starter kit and in the case of S&D, there are currently two types of packages available;  

• Starter Kit $99 – contains your own chosen products, worth $500.
• Starter Kit $199 (previously $299) – contains best selling products worth $1000.

The composition and pricing of these kits appear to change periodically, so do expect some variations within a couple of months or so. Now, let’s see what are the perks you can get as their official stylist.

The Advantages

1 – Along with the starter kits, you’ll receive a lot of training materials from the sponsors (or upline) to help get your business rolling. So even without any marketing background, you’ll still be surrounded by a lot of support systems.  

2 – The commission earnings are very good, ranging between 20% to 35%, which is quite generous for physical product sales. If you want to build a team, you can earn an additional 18% of the group’s sales.

3 – The payout is processed on a weekly basis, so there’s a shorter waiting time to enjoy your cash earnings.

4 – Within the first 30 days as a stylist, you also get to enjoy a 50% discount from all purchases and 25% discount all year round.

5 – The company will provide a website under your name so that you can start selling and receiving orders online immediately.

6 – Unless you are planning to build a team, it isn’t required to make a minimum sale to remain as an active independent stylist.

The Disadvantages

Like most MLMs, there are always circumstances that will work against your benefit and here are some disadvantages to keep in mind when associating with this company as a consultant.  

1 – Planning home parties aren’t really the thing anymore when it comes to marketing a product on a large scale. It’s time-consuming and people are generally leery due to the fact that they are obliged to buy when attending an event. Modern consumers seem to prefer buying online and can do so comfortably without actually needing a consultant to teach them what to wear.    

2 – Where discounts are applicable, one can get carried away stocking up an inventory and not having a solid marketing plan on how to sell them. Many members who found themselves caught in these situations have expressed frustrations to the point that it feels like the business is running at a loss.

3 – There’s a membership fee of $59 that must be paid in order to continue enjoying the perks of an active independent stylist. If you want to earn from team bonuses, then you must achieve a minimum of 500 points in retail sales at least once every 3 months, on a rolling basis.

4 – The website that was built under your name is in fact just an extension of their eCommerce site. It’s merely a referral domain and there’s nothing personalized about the entire setup. As such, you have no control such as editing or adding content to the site.

5 – Based on the latest news, the direct-selling of S&D will no longer be active in the European market due to the devaluation of the British pound and Euro against the US dollars which causes the business operation to run at a loss. If you are from this region, it’s better to look into other jewelry brands.

The Marketers

Not all is gloomy in the US market though, and if you prefer to run a 100% jewelry business online, then you’d be happy to know that now, one can also sell S&D by becoming a marketer. This is made possible since the company launched its affiliate program two years ago with the ShareASale network.

It’s uncommon to have an MLM company remodeling its marketing through affiliate channels, but it seems like S&D is catching up with the current consumer trend. Earlier, I mentioned the rise of online shopping behavior and this is one area where I feel affiliate marketing can have a strong influence on the consumer’s purchasing decision.

In case you don’t know, here’s how it works. Thousands of people search for jewelry to buy online – some will go directly to an online store and some will read blogs or watch videos to get more ideas. The latter part is where you come in as an affiliate marketer, providing textual or visual product reviews for potential buyers.

In other words, you are also a niche blogger or a V blogger who monetizes through affiliate links. When people come across your content online, follow the links and then purchased on the merchant site – in this case, Stella and Dot – and you’ll earn from the sales commission.

The Advantages

1 – Unlike most affiliate programs, S&D doesn’t require one to have a website set up in order to promote as a marketer. You can use text links in emails or social media and still make money. However, I personally don’t recommend this method as there’s a high tendency for spamming without providing any valuable content.

On the other hand, a website that is packed with useful information has more potential to acquire constant online visitors and hence, making long term income. Nowadays, you don’t need to be a techie to create a website, especially when there’s a powerful technology like SiteRubix WordPress.

If you are an individual who is interested in jewelry, fashion or even wedding planning, you should definitely have a site to leverage from these popular niches. Simply use the builder below to get started for free.

2 – While other merchants don’t usually allow this, S&D actually permits you to make purchases through your own links and earn commissions from personal sales. It’s almost like making money with cashback and this is particularly beneficial when you need to review their products physically to get a better idea.

3 – As an affiliate, you’ll make a 12% commission on qualifying purchases from new customers, and 5% commission on all qualifying purchases from returning customers. When any of your referral becomes a new Independent Stylists, you’ll make an additional $100 commission. Not bad at all, right?

4 – Even though a visitor clicks on your links and ends up buying something else, you will still earn full credit for the purchase. This advantage is similar to the Amazon Associate program, whereby you can potentially earn more when customers add other types of products (besides the recommended one) during checkout.

The Disadvantages

For the most part, being an affiliate marketer is pretty straightforward except for a few situations which you can’t really control. Some people may see them as disadvantages.

1 – Firstly, the payout schedule is every month and you will not receive a commission check unless there’s a minimum of $50 in the account. This can be a bit slow if you are in need of fast cash.

2 – Getting online visitors to convert into sales can take time, especially if you are relying on organic traffic. This is because creating an optimized website and mastering Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a learned skill – the more time and effort is invested, the more positive results you’ll get. There’s no such thing as creating a passive income overnight with this program for sure.

3 – As you would have been aware by now, there are many online competitors in the jewelry niche, from exclusive handmade like those on Etsy to dropshippers in the Amazon marketplace. A brand new blog like yours will not stand out immediately hence, it’s prudent to conduct some research and focus on promoting certain products that are highly attractive yet low in competition when entering the market.

What Is The Best Way to Become a Stella and Dot Stylist?

It depends. If you have a large network of female friends or have some direct-selling experience previously, joining as a consultant will feel like second nature unless you are based in Europe. If you aren’t interested in building a team and prefer to check out what different brands have to offer online, affiliate marketing is going to equip you with valuable web skills and reveal what modern consumers really want.

You can learn about all these in my recommended training platform here.

Even though S&D is an MLM business at its core, it doesn’t over promote the unnecessary hypes that often mislead people about the idea of income generation. Judging from its marketing strategies, it’s obvious that the company is already adapting to modern changes. As long as the quality and product innovation isn’t compromised, I think there is plenty of room to make money with this brand in a niche that is worth $25 billion dollars. 

I hope this review was able to show you the difference between an S&D consultant and a marketer. Let me know in the comment below if you have any questions or what you think about this brand and its business opportunities.