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A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 2, Issue 34

1. HBN Update: Welcome New Members & HBN Members On The Move!!
2. HBN Member Success Spotlight: Greenridge Herbals
3. Create The Life You Love Audio Tapes Now Available!!
4. Create The Life Your Love Tip: Are You Confusing Your Customers?
5. Handmade Beauty Product Recipe: Foaming Oat Facial Cleanser
6. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria

2. HBN Member Success Spotlight: Greenridge Herbals

This week's HBN Member Success Spotlight shines on HBN member Greenridge Herbals, a manufacturer of herbal bodycare products in Carbondale, Illinois.

Member Success Spotlights are one of the many benefits of HBN membership. To learn more about Greenridge Herbals and all of the other HBN members profiled in HBN's Success Spotlights, click here.

3. Create The Life You Love Audio Tapes Now Available!!

Designed to inspire, encourage and coach you to create the life you love! Tapes Now Available:

1. Legal & Regulatory Challenges Facing The Handmade Toiletries Industry Today: Applying Yesterday's Laws To Today's Marketplace. Includes the latest on cosmetics, trademark and Internet law. Perfect for online toiletries and aromatherapy businesses! 2 90-minute tapes. To order, click here.

2. Planning NOT To Fail: How to Prepare A Business Plan That Positions You For Success!! Handmade toiletries/aromatherapy centered business planning tape with tips for making the most of your small business. Selected by the College of DuPage for use in their continuing education aromatherapy course!! 1 60-minute tape. To order, click here.

3. Audio Tapes Of Several HBN Beauty Calls™ are now available, including Aubrey Hampton (preservatives & the FDA inspection process), Melody Upham (transitioning from manufacturer to supplier, general business tips) and Kristen Leigh Bell (selecting a logo and graphics artist, helpful marketing tips). For details on these tapes and how to order them, click here.

4. Create The Life You Love Tip: Are You Confusing Your Customers?

There are a variety of different reasons why a customer that would otherwise make an online purchase will decide not to do so. They may abandon their shopping experience because the shopping method is frustrating, such as a difficult to use or inoperable shopping cart. They may get interrupted in the middle of a purchase and just never get back to it.
 
But another reason customers choose not to make a purchase is directly related to something within the exclusive control of the online merchant, and that is "customer confusion." And customer confusion can ruin your online business.

* confused customers are unlikely to make a positive purchasing decision
* confused customers are not sure whether they can trust you

Here are some tips to minimize the possibility that your Web site visitors will become confused while browsing your site.

1. Don't Use Confusing Or Unfamiliar Terminology Without Explanation.
I have visited lots of soapmaker sites that describe a bar of soap something like this: "Made from saponified oils of olive, coconut and palm." Why use the word "saponified" in the soap description? Your customers have no idea what it means!! And do they care? I doubt it!! So why waste valuable Web page space using the word, particularly if there's no link on the page for them to find out what it means? If you make and sell handmade soap, how much time do your paying customers spend making soap or learning about the chemistry of soapmaking? Maybe a few do, but most come to you just to buy your soap, right? So give them soap!!

It's fine to have a link on your order page or elsewhere on your site with soapmaking instructions or a "FAQ" link to
explain some of the chemistry of soapmaking. But why put that kind of information smack in the middle of a page picturing and describing your soaps? Why not use that chance to describe the benefits of the soap, its smell, the way it will make their skin feel, the pretty swirled colors or its attractive gift packaging or special sale price. "Saponfified" oils is not going to motivate a purchase so why take up the space, especially if it's not linked to a page that explains exactly what "saponified" means? This only mixes the message and places a distraction between the customer and their purchasing decision.

2. Concentrate On The Benefits Of The Product Being Sold.
I visited a Web site recently which pictured beautiful translucent soaps, and next to them, this phrase: "These are not M&P soaps, but are made by hand from scratch ..."  What does that mean to a consumer that is uneducated about soapmaking? Well, if it means anything, it means that "M&P" (whatever that is) must be undesirable for some reason, but does that really tell her anything? Again, why use terminology that is not necessary to sell your product? A sales pitch designed to encourage an impulse purchase should concentrate more on the benefits of the soap being sold, rather than the drawbacks of the soap not being sold. That's what will sell them in the first place!

In sum, the idea is to incorporate your customers into your Web site in a way that encourages them to take the actions you want them to take. Think about what your business goals are and design your customers' shopping experience around it. Your customers will thank you for it!!

5. Handmade Beauty Product Recipe: Foaming Oat Facial Cleanser

This easy to make recipe will leave your skin feeling clean, soft and refreshed. Use morning and night. You can double or triple this recipe and make ahead of time and store in an airtight container. Makes 2 applications to face/neck area.

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon honey powder (or honey)
1/2 teaspoon cosmetic clay (I prefer bentonite or China clay)
2 teaspoons finely powdered oats
1 teaspoon ground almonds
1 1/4 teaspoon Castile soap (sold at most natural foods stores)
1 drop myrtle essential oil
1 drop lavender essential oil
2 drops geranium essential oil

Blending Procedure

Step 1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to ensure an even mixture.

Step 2. To use, place mixture in a wet palm and massage palms together to create a light, milky, soothing foam mixture. Apply to face and neck area to cleanse. Rinse well. Follow with toner and moisturizer.

6. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria

~ Wild Mesquite Facial Scrub by Of The Earth Soapworks
8 oz. | $10.50

An amber bottle brimming with Texas-themed grains to naturally and gently scrub my facial skin. Dubya would be proud!!

Wild Mesquite Facial Scrub is a unique product that contains an ingredient that is new for my skin: mesquite bean meal. Who would have thunk it? I have always associated mesquite with the backyard bar-b-que, but now, I'll
also associate it with this product, which also contains prosopis (the botanical name for mesquite), oats, stone ground corn, yucca root and other gentle scrub ingredients. Yum!

I mixed it ahead of time (before getting in the shower ... it's packaged in glass so I didn't want to take any chances!) with whole milk into which I had placed a drop of lemon oil. I stirred it up into a paste, wet my face and scrubbed. I could smell the mesquite, which was kind of odd since I've never smelled it on my skin before. It felt so good I wished I had prepared 2 applications! You can try this product with sour cream or yogurt (for oily skin), whipping cream (for dry skin), or just about any other food product you can think of that is beneficial for your skin type. I'm thinking mashed banana, lemon juice, aloe vera, rose hydrosol ... the possibilities are endless.

Wild Mesquite Facial Scrub is one of the products that HBN submitted to Global Cosmetics Industry Magazine earlier this month! This is a nice product to try, and the packaging of amber glass with a distinctive, educational label makes it an especially attractive gift to introduce someone to the use of natural facial scrub grains.

You can find Wild Mesquite Facial Scrub and other Texas-themed bath and bodycare products by visiting Of The Earth's Web site, which you can find through HBN's Online Member Directory.

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