You can make your own non-greasy vanilla fig body butter for you, your craft customers, or the ones you love! This body butter adds moisture and quickly absorbs into your skin. It can also heal and protect skin with vitamin E and lanolin. For a full recipe, click here:: Vanilla & Fig Non-Greasy Body Butter Recipe
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Want Repeat Craft Shop Business? Sign Your Work!
Have you ever been complimented on a shirt you’ve worn, a scent they smell on you from a luxurious soap, or an art piece on your mantle? Usually the follow-up question after the compliment is “Where did you get that?” Well, what if you forgot and the shirt had no tag, the soap’s wrapper had no name on it, or the art piece wasn’t signed? You’d have no idea what to tell your friend.
So don’t let that be your shirt. Don’t let that be your soap. Don’t let that be your artwork. Too many craft and soap sellers don’t label their wares and it hurts them. Many miss out on so many word of mouth sales because they didn’t pack in a business card with the package they shipped, they didn’t sign their name somewhere discreet on the artwork, or they didn’t stitch a label with their brand name on their clothing. “Label” isn’t a bad word; it’s a good marketing strategy. For more on the importance of labels, click here:: Label Maker: Don’t Orphan Your Micro Brand
Write a To-Do On Your Coffee Cup; Make a DIY Chalkboard Mug
Add little bit of creativity and design to your coffee mug by doubling it up as a chalkboard. Draw pictures, make notes, write phrases, etc. with chalk by adding some porcelain chalkboard paint onto the outside of it. For a full how-to with pics, click here:: DIY: Chalkboard Mug
Get Festive, Get Clean with Cranberry Orange Soap
Homemade cranberry orange soap makes a nice, quick last-minute stocking stuffer for this holiday season. Using melt and pour soap with orange zest, walnut shell powder, and a little bit of red glitter, you can make enough colorful and sweet scented soaps for friends and loved ones alike. For a full recipe, click here:: Festive Holiday Homemade Cranberry Orange Soap Recipe
Give Craft Customers Another Option: Gift Certificates
Let’s say that your online craft or soap shop is doing well and word of mouth is spreading. Customers love your wares and want to send a gift to a friend or family member. However, you know that there are people in your life that are IMPOSSIBLE to shop for. That’s where gift certificates come into play.
Offering gift certificates for customers to buy at your online shop allows a great opportunity not only for a sale, but also allows the recipient to browse around your website to see all your wares rather than just receive the single gift from their friend or loved one. Just be sure that you offer an actual, tangible certificate and have methods in place to redeem balances if an item they use the certificate on is less than its worth. It’ll be a win-win for both the prospective buyer and your craft shop. For a full article on this topic, click here:: How to Offer Gift Certificates in Your Etsy Shop
Make Your Coffee Break More Creative with a Spray Painted Mug
Time to take your normal, drab white coffee mugs and spruce them up with spray paint! Using metallic paint, paper templates, and masking tape, you can take an ordinary mug and add your own personal design on the side. You can make animals, crosses, or whatever your imagination wishes to drink out of. For a more detailed tutorial on customizing coffee mugs, click here:: Spray Painted Coffee Mugs
Sweeten Up Skin with Honeycomb Soap
You can make your own honeycomb soap at home easily and give yourself a lovely, sweet scent. The natural bee pollen within honeycomb soap has been praised for its skin soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. The soap can also aid in skin cell regeneration. For a full how-to on this sweet soap, please click here:: Homemade Honeycomb Soap Recipe
Perfecting Policies for a Better Online Craft Shop
There are many important factors when setting up shop online. There is the obvious need of making sure you have quality craft products and soaps worth selling and have a stock of them. Marketing also needs attention. However, many budding craft shop owners neglect setting up a policy for their shop.
While it isn’t as fun as making soaps and shipping orders, a solid policy is necessary in order to protect yourself along with letting potential customers know what to expect when they place an order with you. Taking the time to write a simple and fair policy for sales and returns that are in line with local laws helps everyone involved. The sooner you do that, the sooner you’re protect, and the sooner you can get back to the fun business of running your shop. For a full article on this topic, click here:: Service Tips for Sellers: Creating Policies That Work
Make Bath Time a Fun Time with Homemade Bath Crayons
Let the kiddos have fun while getting clean by making your own bath crayons out of melt-n-pour soap! These bath crayons can be made with a variety of colors for kids to doodle on the shower walls and tub without staining them. They make a fine Christmas gift for the little tykes in your life, too. For a full tutorial, please click here:: Melt & Pour Bath Crayons
Selling Handmade Soap at Markets
One of the best ways for selling handmade soap is at local public markets or fairs. This article gives a ton of great advice for new soap businesses to help them achieve a successful, stress free booth! If you’re still new to fairs or markets, set up your booth at home so that you can estimate how much time you’ll need to set up, and also so you’ll know how to do it.
Once you’re there, check out the competition, and also bring someone with you for when you need to take a break to do that, or when you have to go to the bathroom. Another piece of advice is to dress for success; look presentable, but also invest in branding like an apron with your logo on it. Consider how you’ll accept payment, do you have a Square reader, or are you cash only?
Don’t forget that customer service is key, and that you can make a sale just by creating a relationship with the customer. Sell to the customer’s needs by asking them open ended questions instead of bombarding them with facts. See the rest of the article for more tips!
Read the full story here :: Selling Success at Fairs and Public Markets