Category Archives: Commentary

Grab Those Last Minute Holiday Soap Shoppers!

Christmas is less than one week away, but it is still the prime time to get some last minute holiday sales before the end of the year. Many people have procrastinated and would love to purchase some of your soaps if the package can make it to their loved one in time. So what can you do?

You can consider expediting shipping orders for last-minute customers for an extra fee or offset the shipping fee if the customer purchases a certain number of your items. Be sure that you have the materials needed if you agree to either policy (Priority Mail boxes, tape, customs forms, etc.) and a nearby shipping station. You can turn into a lifesaver for procrastinators and win more business this way. For more information about last-minute shipping for shoppers, click here:: How to Lure (and Ship to) Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers

Product Pricing Guide for Soap Business Owners

Whether you’re making your own soaps and buying the raw ingredients or reselling wholesale soaps, you’ll want to know how to have accurate product pricing for your soap business. Are you considering your labor and overhead? Small costs are everywhere, even paper towels, so you need to be sure to account for everything.

In this guide, you’ll learn why if you don’t understand your product expenses and price your soaps accordingly, you’ll become very frustrated. You’ll learn how to determine your distribution model, which describes how you plan on selling your product. Then you’ll learn how to calculate the cost of goods, which is either the raw ingredients, materials, and labor, or the cost of pre-made soaps.

The final step requires a bit more math, but it explains how to determine your pricing strategy. Essentially you add the product cost of goods to the profit you are expecting to make and that’s how you get the price!

Read the full story here :: Guest Post: Pricing Your Products

Advice For New Soap Businesses

Starting new soap businesses can seem overwhelming at first, but creator of Bellabrice Body Care gives her advice on how to do it. She says that her advice to soapers just starting out is to take your time, and learn about the soap business before you start.

She said watching YouTube videos on how to make soap helps, and once you understand the safety precautions, it’s a fun and rewarding craft. You should also know the different types of soaps such as cold process soap, hot process soap, liquid soap, and melt and pour soap.

For inspiration, she turns to Facebook, Pinterest, and soapmaking blogs, and says her confidence was boosted by following the Soap Queen blog, Soap Queen YouTube, and the many projects made by Anne-Marie. Her goal as a soap maker is to make beautiful products, give back to the community, and run a successful company.

Read the full story here :: Turning Gifts into a Business

Turning Your Soap Hobby into a Business

Making the transition from soap being a hobby to soap being a business can seem a little bit intimidating, but these 5 tips can help you make it happen. You’ll first need to decide important questions like if you have time, where you’ll sell, how much business knowledge you have, will you need assistance, and do you have a vision for your brand?

Next, in order to turn your hobby into a business, you need a plan, passion, and a little patience, it won’t happen over night. To start planning, you’ll need to determine the cost of goods sold. That includes raw materials, labor, and overhead to actually produce the products. Next you’ll want to find your nice! That means determining what makes you stand out from the rest of the competition. Focus on one pinpoint, and develop it.

Then you’ll need to develop a strong brand identity that people can recognize. Use this for branding, packaging, marketing, etc. This will also be important to use when posting on social media. Social media is a crucial part of your soap business, and you should be posting on numbers platforms every day. Check out the tips in the tutorial to get you started!

Read the full story here :: 5 Tips to Take Soaping from Hobby to Business

Where To Sell Your Soap

So you’ve gotten your products ready to sell, now the question is where to sell your own soap? Some options include community markets, online shops like Etsy, or inside actual retail shops, although that may be a bit trickier. It’s important to research your target market first to make sure you are reaching out in the correct way.

One of the most popular ways to sell soap is online. You have a large customer base and you don’t need to invest in additional costs for displays. Two of the most popular sites are Etsy and Ebay, then you can use a Facebook page to help promote them. There are many tutorials on how to set up shops and promote them with social media or a blog as well.

Selling at a market or craft fair is a great way to sell to your local community, and often has it’s advantages since people can see, touch, and smell the soap products. You’ll also get the opportunity to make relationships with people so that they’ll come back for more.

Read the full story here :: Where to Sell Products: Online, Markets and Retail

Keys to Get Authentic & Effective Craft Customer Testimonials

One of the better ways to entice potential buyers of your craft is to include testimonials from previous customers. However not all testimonials are created equal. In fact many testimonials can hurt more than help. So what separates a good testimonial from a poor one?

First, when picking a good testimonial, include any skepticism or initial uneasiness the customer might have had. It isn’t to put your product in a poor light, but this might hook readers who may have similar feelings like the ones being described. Writing purely positive things and using “!” after every sentence comes off as phony even if the writer is being sincere. Since obviously the testimonial will end up with a satisfied customer, including the initial concerns or skepticism will have the reader see that it is ultimately unfounded. This eliminates roadblocks that could lead to a sale. For more tips on effective craft product testimonials, click here:: Getting Great Testimonials

How to Train Other Craft Employees

There may come a time when your online soap shop might become so successful that it starts to slip through your fingers. Obtaining some hired help can ease your personal workload while making room for additional growth. However, what is the best way to train your new worker?

Before getting your employee into the full swing, be an example. Display your techniques thoroughly and allow your trainees to work hands-on to make sure there isn’t any misinterpretation later on. Give specific instructions on how certain tasks are to be done. In the beginning weeks, set aside some time allotted for training so they don’t feel rushed by learning “on-the-job.” With this in mind, you’ll create a great, dependable helper for your online business. For more about training, click here:: Training People to Be Trained By You

Protect Your Craft Customers, Protect Yourself

Selling your items online can be a thrill. It’s great to see so many people willing to purchase your craft or soap. Sadly, there are many x-factors that could turn a sale sour and could potentially get you in legal hot water. That is why writing a thorough yet easy to interpret privacy policy, terms of service, and disclaimers page is essential.

This isn’t the fun part of running you own business, but every smart business has privacy policies, TOS, and disclaimers to make sure that the customer knows exactly what to expect and how their information is to be used. This will educate the buyer on what scenarios where you won’t be held accountable. It will also spell out return policies and answer other questions without doubts. This way both your customers and you will be able to do business without an unknown issue. To read more about TOS, privacy policies, and disclaimers, please click here:: Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Disclaimers

Crafting Your Online Business’ New Year

2014 is coming to a close. This month is a time of reflection and analyzing what we have learned and accomplished the past 12 months. It is also a perfect time to set goals for yourself and your online craft store for the upcoming year.

Grab a yearly planner and start setting goals of what you want to accomplish in the upcoming year. Set up what events you want to attend to sell your wares, what new crafts you’d like to introduce to your shop, and anything else that feels attainable within a reasonable timetable. Next, think of one big thing, whether it’s going fulltime with your craft business, expanding into a brick-and-mortar store, or whatever that may be and set up a daily, weekly, and monthly goal to slowly turn that daunting monster of an idea into a easy-to-attain reality. This is how you can honor the lessons of 2014 into the potential of 2015. For more on goal setting, please click here:: What Do You Want Your Business & Life to Look Like in 2015?

Write Clear Titles for Your Soap

Let’s say you have a wonderful soap or craft product and sales aren’t what they should be. The people who have used the product love it so what’s the product. The issue could be that your craft’s name is too fancy or ambiguous.

Clever puns or catchy names serve big companies well, but that’s because they have an established name and brand. “Dark Midnight Soap” might sound good, but ask yourself “What does it tell me?” I don’t know what’s in “Dark Midnight Soap.” Is it meant to wash my body, my hands, or my dishes? What does it smell like? So if your soap isn’t selling, try altering its name to something clearer. It might create a major difference in sales. For more about clearer titles, click here:: Clear, Not Clever Titling