We’re a couple weeks into the New Year, but that doesn’t stop one from reflecting upon the previous one. Many successful business-minded crafters have gained some wisdom from last year to apply to this one. What are some things we should be mindful of as we continue to pursue crafting for a living?
Many believe that slowing down to enjoy and take assessment of your life breeds not only good results, but less burnout and more creative inspiration. Work and life balance it key. The whole point of pursuing crafts as a vocation is to do what you enjoy for a living instead of a job, right? So don’t let your love become a job. For more things to hold dear this year, please click here:: 10 Lessons Gleaned From 2014 For a Better 2015
Winter can leave hair dry and crackly. Fight against it by making your own hair mask that can moisture your hair and leave a refreshing mint scent. You can plenty for yourself, your friends, and some leftover to sell to craft soap customers. Get the full recipe here:: DIY Winter Mint Intense Moisture Hair Mask Recipe
Bath time can be a little more fun and have a great scent by making heart shaped bath bombs for your home. With some baking soda, citric acid, cornstarch, and few other ingredients, you can bubble up with you bath with a lovely added scent. Get a full recipe and how-to here:: Happy Soaking Bath Bombs
One of the most important aspects when you’re selling anything online is web traffic. Yes, that includes soap. Getting your soap product or your soap shop’s website popping up on Google, Bing, and other search engines is key in order to get more people to see your wares. How can you improve that?
Be sure that you create strong names and titles for your soap that contain certain keywords that people would use in an online search. Try to establish links to your website or soap product in websites that would be visited by your ideal customers. You can also use your social media to display content and link to your products. With a little bit of time and effort, you’ll be able to increase your web traffic, which will increase your sales. For more on this topic, click here:: 4 Ways to Improve Your SEO and Increase Your Traffic
You can make your ordinary serving tray look like a stylish glass tile table. With some resin, glass stones, and your creativity, you can make an imaginative but classy serving tray that you can show off. Get a full tutorial here:: Simpe DIY Glass Tiled Tray
A long day could use sweet aromatherapy and a hot shower. Why not combine both? Make your own aromatherapy shower fizzies with different scents to ease your mind and treat your body after a stressful day. They also make a great item for your online soap shop. Get three different scents and recipes here:: Aromatherapy Shower Fizzies
You have some traffic on your soap shop and have made some sales, but they seem sporadic. There are some items that sell really well, while others don’t seem to move. This could be because your soap business needs more focus and cohesion.
Take a look at your inventory. What style or mood are you going for? Gorgeous beauty? Natural, organic soap? Rustic scents? You might be trying to aim for too many demographics. Pick the style that fits you and your ideal customer, the rest should fall into place. For more on craft/soap shop cohesion, click here:: How to Create a Cohesive Shop
Achy, stiff muscles from working out or sleeping wrong need a salve to get back into shape quickly. Treat yourself to a massage using this salve made with cocoa and cayenne extract that treats it both with a pleasing scent and muscle soothing heat. Get the full recipe here:: Warming Chili & Chocolate Natural Homemade Sore Muscle Salve Recipe
Sore and cracked heels on your feet need a little extra pampering. You can give them the moisture and treatment they need with this refreshing heel butter. You can make it at home cheaply using shea butter, castor oil, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and avocado oil. Get a full recipe for happier feet here:: Moisturizing Heel Butter
It doesn’t make sense. You’re selling a lot of your soap but you’re not moving forward. It’s keeping afloat, but things could be better. If this sounds like you, then you need to rework your craft soap shop’s finances.
Take a look at your prices and see if you can increase profit margins. Be sure to budget in such a way that you account for taxes and deductible expenses. Lastly, kick aside some money to reinvest in your business so you can expand in the future. It’ll be work, but it’ll be worth it. For more on craft shop finances, click here:: Four Lessons for Financial Success