advertising and customers

[Emilee]

or those of you who sell your soap and have done for a while....

what has been the advertising that has helped you get the most customers

is it a website, word of mouth/samples, flyers, markets, magazine/newspaper ads/.....?????????????

i've been making gmcp for approx 2 years, and giving away to friends and family. i've got a few repeat buyers in both sections, and have only just made my own website, and got my first major ad going in a major mag in June, and I've done one market, which I got one good feedback from but they didn't buy any more....

and do you think its the product thats the most important, or the packaging or are they of equal importance in selling and getting repeat custom?

i've realised that 50% of my soap is geared especially towards eczema and psoriasis etc, but most of my advertising covers parents and children, and i don't know how to specifically market people with skin problems as most of these people go to the doctor or chemist to get their stuff, unless they are really looking for something natural online......

I often read about how some of you have orders on your soap before you've even made it. How did you find people who wanted to do this?

I wish it would all happen faster and I would get 100 people on my customer base just like that..... but thats not exactly realistic.

How long did it take you all to build up a good base of people who love your soap and continue to buy it over supermarket products?
anyone with any help on these topics... info much appreciated.

Emilee

 

[Val]

Emilee

I would definitely say something in your ads about the soaps for problem skin such as eczema and psoriasis. I know someone in KY that is not happy with his treatments from the Dr and I have told him I will try to make him a soap for his psoriasis. He says he has tried everything with no luck.

Any tips you can pass to me on a soap for that would be appreciated.

Val

 

[donniej]

I don't have much business experience, but the little that I have has tought me that you can never give away too many free samples. Even if they're smaller "trial size" bars.

I occassionally give BioDiesel presentations to fleet owners, schools, etc... and everytime I give away samples of fuel or soap, people always get excited. Sometimes surprisingly so.

 

[honor435]

samples!!!!, I have sales at work, where i will sell 2 bars for 10$, i gave out 50 small lotion bar samples, The product is way more important that the packaging, although you want it to look opresentable, thought about a craft sale?

 

[Emilee]

thanks guys, i'm gonna do more giving away and more samples )

Val: i started making goats milk soap after buying some for my hubby who has psoriasis, and had never got relief till using the one we bought.

i'm guessing its the combination of ingredients/oils/goats milk and the fact its got no bad chemicals and crap in it thats good for his skin, rather than one ingredient or the other....

have had a few people with eczema say they can only use my soap too, so i think i'm on the right track, but as i say, my marketing is lacking in that area, its hard to find people to try it sometimes..

anyway, for the soap i specifically market for psoriasis and eczema, i use goats milk, aloe vera juice, and then for my base i use a combo of olive, coconut, palm, sunflower, jojoba, sweet almond, avocado, castor and shea butter, and i also add kukui nut oil, hemp oil, flaxseed oil and evening primrose.

i've played around on the program called soapmaker with different measurements of each oil to find a good mixture that seems to make a good bar for psoriasis and eczema. I don't add any essential oils to this particular bar.

hope that helps.

 

[reallyrita]

Advertising and cusstomers

I need to say first of all that I don't sell...so this is a bit off topic...but I make a soap for a toddler who has terrible eczema (almost since birth). His mom could only wash him in warm water until I developed this soap for him. I worked on this recipe for about three months and now I have 6 people across the country to whom I send this soap on a regular basis...some are kids. Most are adults. I make six pounds at a time. It is a non gelled gm soap that is olive oil based with colloidal oatmeal and jojoba oil. Jojoba oil is the key to this, I believe. I never scent or color these soaps. I use lard and PKO. It is a very soothing soap. I don't think for one minute that it "helps" the skin condition to improve or get better in any sense...but it does make bathing more soothing and seems to do no harm. I love to fulfill these "orders" even though I don't get reimbursed for them. My newest customer is my MIL who, at 93, has developed bad eczema on her face and neck. Her doctor has recommended that she use only my soap ( I sent him the list of ingredients). It is very soothing for her and allows her to use a soap instead of just some water. These kinds of endorsements keep me going as a hobbyist soaper.

 

[kaseencook]

I guess the thing about websites is that they are generally not an advertising medium per say, because it is hard to get people to actually find your site, so the site it's self needs a LOT of targeted advertising. I have found that the "Australian Craft Network" as got me tons of visits and has been very worth while, and I saw one in North America but can't find it again.... they are good because they are targeted visits. There are other sort of programs, including Google Ad Words that can work well. There are so many soap sites though, so there is lots of competition, definitely good to have a niche market like your exema soap to stand out and serve a more specific market. Niche products are definitely the way to go with such a broad market like soap.

But websites can definitely be good, even if you are selling person to person, if people buy your products, really enjoy them, and what to learn more or order whenever they want it can make things really easy for your customers.

 

[Guest]

I don't officially sell yet , but giving out samples and talking about my soap have gotten me orders .I have a request for wholesale for when I get going , so for me it is totally samples and chit chat .

Kitn

 

[Becky]

I would definitely say something in your ads about the soaps for problem skin such as eczema and psoriasis.

Val

Be very careful of the wording that you are using regarding claims to help skin conditions. I know in Oz I can't say that my soaps will help. I can say something along the lines of 'may be beneficial', but I have to be very careful, otherwise I have gone from selling a cosmetic to selling a drug.

 

[Lindy]

I totally agree with Becky - you simply can't make those kinds of claims even if they are true unless you want to change your licensing to that of a drug manufacturer. You can say it may help soothe the symptoms of certain skin conditions but personally I won't make that claim in writing even though the Home Care workers in my area recommend my soap for exactly that use..... just saying....

 

[Val]

can she use the phrase " helpful with " problem skins such as ....

Val

 

[Maria]

I found I did not need to make claims. Consumers looking for this kind of soap are aware of the benefits. They know the reputation of oatmeal, aloe vera gel or milk. Some even remember grandma's old fashion lye soap that so many claims have been made about.
Cocoa butter helps prevent the skin cracking with eczema. Beeswax and honey help too.

 

[ChrissyB]

The soap that I made with jojoba in it was so lovely, I agree with rita that the jojoba is the key ingredient for these skin conditions. My DH also has psoriasis, and he can't use regular soap, shaving cream, anything like that. But he can use my soap, and the one with the jojoba really soothes his skin. Goats milk with jojoba is next on my list for him.

 

[madpiano]

Have you tried Facebook adverts ?

Seems quite a good thing and not too expensive