[Emma C]

Hello. I am really glad I have found this forum and I hope I can get advice & help here as well helping others. I have started to make natural handmade cosmetics like body butters and face & body scrubs without any preserves( just organic unrefined butters, 100% cold pressed oils, essential oils, no paraben or nasty stuff) or added chemicals as they do not contain any water and aloe vera face creams. I have them approved and some had to pass challenge test ( aloe vera water based products). I do everything here, from materials to packaging, photos, advertise, ebay, facebook, tweeter, postage, customer service, so I guess it is a pretty hard job to do all.. I have been disarmed today when someone asked if the products are safe and if I can guarantee that my products will not harm their health.
SO I wonder, does anyone get a health guarantee from any cream or soap or shampoo products, from any shop? A guarantee that the ingredients will not harm their health? I don't know if I am allowed to put here my website address.
And also, I have found that people are soooooo reluctant in buying handmade cosmetics as they prefer to buy things from a shop or a recognizable name brand.  I guess all it goes down to advertising.. isn't it?

[Bionic]

Plumseverywhere will hopefully be along to answer some of your questions as this is her field but I do know that she does a very good job of advertising by putting nice pictures and things to prompt people on facebook, without being too open about it.
She also seems to be spending a lot of time lately at local events i.e. festivals, fairs etc. where she gets her products known.

[Emma C]

I suppose that fairs, festivals are the best way to promote products like mine, but having 2 small kids( now holidays too) around it is not always easy to set up days out. Definitely it is something I will be looking for starting this September. Thank you for your reply, hopefully Plumseverywhere will be around one day.

[HappyHippy]

Hello 
I make cold process lard soap (using excess lard from our pigs  )
Do you have a cosmetic safety assessment? If not, that's your first requirement. Google Scott Grainger and cosmetic safety and you'll find the website. The cost varies depending on how many products / ingredients you use.
Once you have this and have your labels and packaging sorted you'll need to register on the European cosmetic notification portal - on this you need to list your products, ingredients and upload photos of your labels and finished products.
Once all of this is completed you'll be able to get your makers insurance sorted (Ian Wallace craft insurance is good)
I sell on a local basis, supplying a few gift shops/cafes and via the internet/word of mouth.
I'm not going to say it's easy (I've got 4 kids, various livestock, lots of stuff going on and a part time job too) and it does take a wee while to get everything sorted out, but it's not impossible by any means.
HTH
Karen

[Emma C]

Hello Karen
I have all except the EC where I just made account to register my products. All done approved and tested,( some by Scott too) labels, packaging. I feel a bit better now that I know others are working as hard as me( superwoman!!! hehe   )

I managed to get an advert in a natural magazine which is meant to be distributed to 100 000 registered users and after 2 weeks I had only one click on my advert, actually there were two( one was mine to check the link ) so I wonder, what do I do wrong, as I do not have any advisers or promoters  to help me - you know I am a bit really low on the finance part

[Lesley Silvester]

Have you actually set up a Facebook page for your products? Plums has one for her 'It's Baaath time' soaps and quite a few people on here have liked it so that helps to promote it.

[shygirl]

what country are you in? in scotland there is the "business gateway" thats helps small businesses etc for free,
very recommended for advice, training courses and contacts etc.

[Emma C]

yep, facebook, tweeter, pinterest, google, youtube, wordpress, name it... some friends websites, my website still has 13-20 visitors a day.

don't take me wrong, I have sales but they are with my friends and relatives, I just wanted to look to wider perspectives - internet shopping/sales is such a nice opportunity to expand; and I feel like I look outside but there is a big concrete wall and I don't know how to pass over it.

 I am in England. I will check It's Baaath time' soaps, it sounds so exciting!!! you could have a look, not for the sales purpose, but just a critical look to my website? precious-cosmetics.co.uk ( i hope I won't get banned for this)

[Fleecewife]

What's your connection with smallholding Emma?

[Emma C]

there is no icon    red faced

is it for small holding only? ( I have a rabbit in my garden...I don't know if that counts) but I do my own handcrafting( there is a craft tab here)...and I need help.

[Fleecewife]

There is: 

I have no idea what constitutes a suitable amount of livestock to qualify.  Probably one rabbit    or a garden     We love talking about crafts anyway.

[HappyHippy]

Your website looks okay (I'm viewing it in my phone though, so might not be getting the whole picture) my only criticism is that it's not very attention grabbing, maybe some bright colours and arty natural ingredients photos would help with that? You need to shout your USP (unique selling point) harder  These are NATURAL products, maybe a page detailing the benefits of beeswax and the oils/butters - they've all got great skin loving properties! It might also be worth mentioning some of the EO's too and what they do.......maybe an 'ingredients' page?
I'd also add an 'about us' page where you write about why you started making and what drives you, this lets people know that they're buying from an individual and all the goods are HANDMADE :-)
Get some posters/flyers made and get them up in local shops, hand out to mums at school/nursery. If it's difficult to get out to sell, why not have a 'home preview' or skincare party at your house? Invite a few friends and ask them each to bring someone. Send little sample packs to local businesses with a flyer/business cards.
Ask other businesses in your area to add a link to your site in return for you doing the same (this boosts your search engine rankings) as does making sure you've got good keywords set on your search.
Local networking works best to begin with, think about your target market and target them  ;-) Local hairdressers, gyms, toddler groups -tap in to all of these. Add links to local Facebook pages, make funny photos or relevant posts for Facebook and share them too. Consider running a 'like & share' giveaway on Facebook - it can be hit and miss sometimes, but it doesn't cost anything ;-)
If budget is limited (and mine always is lol!) just build it gradually and look for sources of free publicity. Could you give a talk on the benefits of natural skincare? Ask your local newspaper if they'd like to run a story on your business, join craft and sellers groups (in real life and on Facebook ;-)) and talk to as many people as you can (that's my favourite bit :-D)
Karen

[shygirl]

what is the website address? curious now!

[plumseverywhere]

Hi Emma

thank you for your email last night - have found this thread now so will answer here if that is ok?   I've seen your website which I like very much     I would suggest getting some customer testimonials on there - show potential buyers what the current buyers are saying, it goes a long way.

I started with small fairs (eg school or craft fairs) but have abandoned them now because I personally found that I was selling more online (after heaps of media that is)  and it was something that I no longer had time for.  Having said that I still support the schools that my 4 young children go to.. Yes, 4 little monkeys     I also have a disabled mum (MS and broken back) who suffers with dementia and a working smallholding to run so I reckon if I can do it anyone can 

We've decided only to go to large music festivals now - my husband is a musician so it means we spend time together (and he can put my gazebo up that way for me!!)   footfall at these is usually around 5000 people in 6 hours.   In order to lure people to our stall we have a wooden milking goat that children insist on having a go on (it has water in her udder) and whilst the kids play on that the parents invariably decide to ask questions about the benefits of goat's milk soap.. quite often buying some 

Media - in the past 4 years we have appeared on 'Escape to the country' (they approached us)  and in the Daily Express, Worcestershire Life magazine, several local papers and many online blogs.   The power of media has been amazing - after Escape to the country, I was working 20 hour days to meet orders and employed 2 full time staff (!)

On our FB page I use a few differents tactics, one is to promote each individual product from time to time - say what the virtues of the ingredients are, share some customer feedback etc
two - pop a funny video of goats on (this is relevant to my business obviously) and you get loads of people 'like' it or share it and then their friends are drawn to see the page...
three - something a bit random - eg. our friends manage an awesome local rock band, we might say "and this is Ronin performing at such and such festival..." - again this draws in new people but its still linked as we were selling soap at that festival and Ronin (bless them) will retweet us as our FB page feeds into our twitter....
when we hit 800 likes we did a little comp, sent selections to the winner.
On twitter - put a tweet out asking for bloggers to review some of your products - they jump at it!


Its taken 4 years but we have reached a place that I'm really happy with now business wise, a lot of it has involved giving out a few freebies in return for reviews, sitting in the pouring rain at a fair that's cost me £10 a table and I've only sold one bar of soap & dragging children to events and spending every penny of profit on food and toys to keep them out of mischief but its worth it
hope this helps a bit
lisa   

[Emma C]

I have always mentioned that people have their own abilities and I know I am missing the "sales person" ability.

But you know what, Karen? I think your ideas are more than just advice, I should just get out there are like you said, shout about my products not just showing them. I have to rethink all my strategy. 
Of course I am limited on my finance, I pay every single penny from my pocket; here its not about profits...its about these little things I make with so much passion and I wanted to share with others. ( but I need to sell more to keep going - or else I have to go back to work).
I have started already to look an how to make a large poster and I will rethink the ingredients page with more details. Thank you Karen!

PS the mobile version looks really empty/dull..isn't it?