While surfing through my Twitter followers, I came across Soapy Blessings. Trish caught my attention because of her tweet on Gardinia Soap. My very favorite flower scent. In fact, I picked a fresh blossom that every now and then I pick up to smell.

Trish has a unique profile: Soapy Blessings by Trish started with a fictional story written several years ago. To survive a civil war in a Latin American country, a character in the book made soaps . She prayed over every soap in to bring …… read the  rest here

This tells you that you never know what one word or phrase will catch the attention of a potential buyer.

  Lovely handcrafted soap that is, lovely translucent, creamy off white in color and with the heavenly scent of Gardenia; sweet tropical floral.

Lovely Rose soap that is bright and beautiful. Contrasting colors of fuschia and ivory combined give this soap the look of one of my favorite roses “Double Delight”.        

Visit Soapy Blessings on her Etsy shop or at an upcoming show.

Uptown Village First Friday Celebration in Vancouver, WA on August 6th
Camas Days in Camas, WA. on July 23-24th. Stop by at any of these sites and say HI!

Have a Happy Day,

Barb

Tips 1 – 5 were posted yesterday. Perhaps these and my past writings will help you to have successful shows.

  6. Take Someone to help – If you work your show right, you should never be sitting down when someone is at your booth.  Sitting says, “I don’t want to bother getting up for you, sell yourself something, then I will get up to take your money”. Observe the other vendors, you will quickly see who is selling and who is not and why not. 

This means you will need someone to relieve you. If they know nothing about your stuff, make it quick. Grab a fast bite or a quick potty break. Never be away from your booth to long. My husband always worked with me and knew as much about our soaps as I, so this allowed us to take breaks, walk the show and see how and what the other vendors were doing.

 7. What to Pack – Hopefully you will be able to foresee the day and pack all you can sell, but not your whole inventory.  At the end of the day, packing up is a chore when you are tired.  

Make a check-list, it will save you much stress in the long run. Be sure to take a calculator, credit card machine, receipt book (for all those sales) bags for the many sales, small table for all this, chairs, water and food, especially if you have no one to help you, and marketing material. Never let potential customers leave your booth empty handed.

 8. Be a show stopper – You have got to give the buyer a reason to stop at your booth. People love to see you creating your works, but don’t get so involved that you forget to stop and sell that customer something. Make your booth attractive without overdoing it. Remember your creations should take the spotlight and besides, you have to haul all that stuff.

Many times the rooms are not well lit. Pay the extra for electricity if necessary, and bring lights to show off your work.

 9. Building your customer base – People love something free. I bought candy molds in the shape of animals and used them for soap. Each one was put in small zip lock bags with our business name, email address and the scent used in that particular sample. I would tell them to keep them handy in their purses for that emergency use. Have a gift basket or one of your art pieces as a giveaway. Of Course, they need to sign up with their name and email address to have a chance to win. Now a days people are leery of giving out personal information. It is easier to get an email address than it is to get a mailing address. Especially if you will insure them that you will not give or sell their  addy to anyone. I did not have contest, but had them sign up for a newsletter on beauty tips.

Keep in touch with these customers. Let them know your show itinerary and always make them feel special. I always addressed them by name. Everyone got the exact same newsletter, but I addressed each one as Dear ______. Time consuming, but well worth it.

 10. Count your money – As soon as you can after the show, count your money, amount of sales, etc.  Did you pass that breakeven point and make a profit? Analyze the show – Is it worth going back next time? Did the promoter do all they could to make it a good show?

You may not make a lot of money, but remember shows are a great form of advertising. You are building a customer base that will serve you well into the future.

If these tips were helpful or if you can add your advice to them. Please do so in the comment section.

Have a Happy Day,                       

Barb

Do not waste your money by choosing a show, paying the fees, setting up a table, then sitting your butt down and waiting for the money to roll in! It just does not work that way. Plan, think, and plan some more. Here are a few tips that will help you to be successful.

    1. Walk a few shows- Check to see if your work is a little different or a little more unique. Do the show sponsors work with you or against you? By that I mean-do they just take your money or do they limit the number of booths that will be selling the same thing as you?  

Talk to artist and craftsman at the show. Most are more than willing to talk and tell you what shows are good and ones not to bother with. Of course, step aside when they have a customer. And never asked for advice from someone that would be your competitor!

 2. Do a Little Homework – Find out the type of people that attend and the amount of attendance. You need to factor in the booth cost, tables, decorations, shipping, and travel cost. What about your material costs? Do you need a license? Some states require you to buy a yearly license and others require a separate one for each show.

Find your breakeven point – the amount of sales you will need to cover your expenses-  before you start making a profit. This alone could be the determining factor!

 3. Start Small – Build up your customer base. Many go to the same show year after year and can become your repeat customers. (I haven’t done a show in nearly 5 years, but still have many of my show customers) Keep your expenses to a minimum.

 4. Price it right- You worked very hard on your art or craft, and it is priceless to you, but….If you sell to cheap, it takes a lot of sales to reach your breakeven point. On the other hand, if you sell to high, will you sell enough to reach the breakeven point? Pricing is important, think it through throughly.

 5. Bring your credit card machine- It is more important than in the past to accept credit or debit cards. More and more people are not carrying cash. You definitely do not want to loose a sale because you don’t accept credit cards! I have always used a company called ProPay. Similar to Paypal, but you can post the credit card number yourself on your computer. Now they are offering a swipe machine that can be used at shows. This way you can get instant approval.  For a small business, you might find it is the cheapest way to go. But do check out all your options.

This is getting to be a bit long, so look for 5 more tips tomorrow.

Have a Happy Day!

Barb

 I had another thought about picking shows.

Like I told you in the  last couple of post that First Monday Trade Days IS the whole town of Canton. There are areas that do extremely well and others that are total flops.

When people are at a show that is primarily designed to be a flea market, they do not want to go into a building. Even when it is air conditioned. They can go to a mall for that. The city built one. Vendors were excited. Air conditioned and on the city side. They failed to notice that it was indoors, and to far to walk from the main area. Also, you can not see the goodies. Nothing to pull you there. It is a flop.

First Monday is in sections. The city owns the original, and a major citizen owns a section that connects to the cities. Then there is an area called Old Mill Marketplace.

Old Mill has 7 nice pavillions, buildings that have individual store/booths that each open to the outside and outdoor booths. Old Mill is just about a ghost town. I could not believe the difference in the amount of people compared to just across the street! What a shame. It really is a nicer area than the cities. But, nice doesn’t pull the crowds and put money in your pocket.

Getting away from First Monday – Charity shows are usually very good. Especially ones that are supporting their church or school.

I once did one that had been very sucessful, so they added more booths to a room that was already crowded. The booths were very small, all you could do is have one table and it has to be on the edge of the aisle. Which were so narrow, in order to get one more row of booths in, you see! The crowds were there, but they could not stop to look at your booth, because they would be run over. NO SALES!

There are many other points in picking a good show, I could go on and on. The best advice I can give you is to look at the show as a customer and not as a vendor.  And Think!

Have a Happy Day,

Barb

Did you read the article that I posted Sunday, May 30? If so, you know that “A Wild Soap Bar“  may not have read the article, but she certainly subscribed to this philsophy.

Her blog is entertaining and not constantly selling soaps and skin care. But, you know what the business is by the name, which is catchy and yet tells you what she sells. All of which, in stills confidence in the company and the products.

Below is a small sampling of A Wild Soap Bar soaps

                      

Lost River Rags is having a big store wide sale on her Etsy site. You will find candles and natural soaps.

Many of you do shows. Funky Chunks is doing a Jazz festival. This is not the usual craft show. Will be curious to know what type products Funky Chunks is taking and how sucessful she will be at a Jazz Festival? Good luck and let us know.

Have a Happy Day,

Barb

Small Dog Jewelry on Sale by Barb

If we’re to improve as soap makers, each of us needs to catch a glimpse of our art at its best.

Look through what you created in 2009 and pick out the best one. If you have an Etsy store you have the ability to see how many views each of your soaps received. Views do not mean sales. If your views did not, then what was wrong? Check your picture. Was it out of focus, background distracting, color bad, etc.

What about your description copy? Try to look at it in the third person. Would you buy that soap? Name. Is it catchy or ordinary? Saying “Shea Butter and Rose” is the description and should not be the name. If you are not good at picking out catchy names, ask a friend who is or research other soap makers. Do not copy, but look for inspiration to create your own.

Something else I have noticed. Read other peoples “about me” page. So many are exactly the same. The curious want to know where you live, are you married, children? Then they NEED you to sell them on what your soaps will do for them. They really do not care that you started making soaps for yourself and family and then turned it into a business!

January is the time for planning for the year. If you made your plans last January then your valentine soaps will be featured on your site now.

I noticed many are having end of year sales. Be different have a January sale. Make it worth while to the shopper. The big stores have made it impossible to just give 10% or even 20% off. Even if your sales are below your cost, you will be getting old inventory out, gaining new customers, and keeping the old.

My first few months with Soap n Stuff Daily has been great. I thank all of you for making it a success. Readership is growing each day and I certainly hope it is helping you to promote your site. After all that is the objective of Soap n Stuff Daily.

May this year be great for you.

Barb

With less than a week to go, I hope all or most of your orders are shipped, shows are over, and you can now relax. 

A thought occurred to me about packing material. What do you use? I wish I had thought of this earlier. It may have saved you a little money.

 I hate to receive or send those pesky peanuts.

I not only not spend money on packing material, I help by recycling! I use the plastic bags from Walmart, Grocery stores, etc. They are light weight, go in the nooks and crannies, and crush easily. What better packing can you find? Just be sure to take out the receipt, so you will not be telling everyone what you eat!

There are many big and expensive shows during the holiday season. That doesn’t make them good. Think about how much you will have to sell just to cover expenses. Ask how many other soap and skin care booths do they have or allow. How are they placed? You don’t want to have your competition right beside you! Is everything handcrafted or are commercial booths allowed? Many times the customers are not customers, but are there to get ideas.

A large show was featured on the news a couple of nights ago. Yes, it draws huge crowds, but can you compete? A semi-famous actress was shown with multi booths. It was set up counter style with many women sitting there ready to take your money. The actress was outside the booths showing her jewelry. Of course the aisle was crowded. You are set up across from her with no customers. The people are totally focused on jewelry, no one can get by them, and you see people stop and go around your crowded aisle.  Yikes! You just wasted your time and money and are very disappointed.

I always found church and school bazaars are very good. The customer base want to buy to help their school or church. Your rent will be pretty low. If you have to give a percentage, prices can be raised to offset it.  Since these shows are normally all handcrafted items, it will still pay you to check out how many soapmakers are signed up. A good show co-coordinator protects the vendors.

My two cents, hope it helps. Don’t forget to submit you soap to be featured. Working on next week.

Barb