return to archives home

Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection Newsletter
July 29, 2002
To subscribe to our newsletter, click here.

This Week's Sponsor: Fallen Muse WebWorks

If you want an exceptional online business, you need an exceptional Web site.

If you want an exceptional Web site, you need Fallen Muse.

Fallen Muse WebWorks | info@fallenmuse.com | Phone: (718) 504-4341

1. HBN Member Update: Welcome New HBN Members & HBN & Members In The News!
2. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question
3. Create The Life You Love™: Making Yourself Memorable, Part IX: Be Calculating
4. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com: Green Tea Healing Mist 

~ Welcome New HBN Members!

In Toto Aromatherapy Education | Carolyn Sajdecki | North Carolina
* comprehensive True Aromatherapy educational and consulting services to spas, practitioners, product developers; Carolyn has been a guest on HBN's Beauty Call, providing information for members on the benefits of essential oils and how to incorporate them into skincare products. Carolyn has also consulted with spas and providers of products to spas on how to use essential oils in their lines.

Alma Grace | Mitoko Yaguchi | New York
*natural handmade soap

Naked Sudz | Gillian Brody | Georgia
* bath salts

~ HBN Members In The News!

As a wise person once said, "the pen is mightier than the sword." To test this old adage, HBN has stepped up efforts to reach out the media about the benefits of handmade toiletries!! If your handmade beauty products are "ready for prime time," then HBN can help you reach thousands of potential customers with the stroke of the mighty pen! HBN has facilitated media interviews for several members, both through direct contact with the media and by virtue of our easy to use and informative online member directory.

Last month's "Botanical Bonanza" (Washington Times 6/21/02) featured HBN and several members, describing them as "Mother Nature's Beauty Consultants".

Now, here's even more!!

HBN and Member Featured in Pacific Coast Business Times

The July 26, issue of the Pacific Coast Business Times features a fabulous article about the handmade toiletries industry. It features excerpts of an interview with me as HBN's president and also features a fabulous photo of HBN member Charlon Bobo of Utopian Garden Soap Company in her California soapmaking facility. Among other things, the article highlights the aspects of transitioning from toiletries maker as hobbyist to toiletries maker as business owner! Check the article out here.

HBN and Member Featured in Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette!

Along with me as HBN president, HBN member Joyce Sawicki of Harmonious Gardens is featured in the July 19, 2002, issue of the News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois. The article features color photos of several handmade toiletries products and women making them. Those interviewed described the many benefits of handmade toiletries products including a large proportion of natural ingredients and the fact that handmade toiletries makers are often set up to customize products to client requests. The article features handmade soaps, bath bombs, shampoo, cream, body lotionOther companies featured include. The article is not available online.

HBN Member Blue Moon Herbals Launches Re-Designed Web Site!!

HBN member Debbi Quinn of Blue Moon Herbals is pleased to announce the launch of her newly re-designed Web site featuring vibrational essences, chakra oils, aura mysts and other bath pleasures inspired by nature's healing energies. She would especially like to thank Kim Baron of Fallen Muse Web Works, who Debbi says is fabulous to work with. Congratulations Debbi!

Learn more about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through HBN's Online Member Directory!!

Last Week's Question:  I am a chronic, aggressive disease of the skin which can cause unsightly swelling and discoloration to spread across the face, especially cheeks, nose and chin. Though I have no specific cause, some say stress exacerbates my condition, and so does alcohol. I tend to strike people (largely women) between the ages of 30 and 60 and I have been known to lessen in severity with certain dietary changes. What am I?

Last Week's Answer: rosacea

This Week's Question: I am a most fragrant flower petal and while many perfumers and fragrance experts have tried to duplicate my aroma, nothing can compare to a whiff of my blossom. I am a white petal with a splash of bright color at my center, usually a golden yellow or fiery orange. In locations where I bloom, early morning is the best time to catch my scent as it wafts on a soft breeze. I am native to tropical areas, especially the Caribbean and Pacific Island. What flower do I come from?

Be the first to answer this week's question and you'll win a Green Man Bliss bar (one of my favorites!) made by HBN member Leslie Plant of Leslie's Garden Handcrafted Soaps!

Please read the contest rules here before submitting your entry.

While time does not permit me to respond personally to all entrants, the winner will be notified by email and their name posted at HBN's home page.

For the past few weeks, I've been sharing a series of articles on things you can do in business to make yourself memorable and therefore, generate confidence and repeat business. The first 8 installments were:

1. Be An Expert here.
2. Be Consistent here.
3. Be Internet Savvy here.
4. Be Extraordinary here.
5. Be A Leader here.
6. Be Calm Under Pressure here.
7. Be Honest here.
8. Be Positive here.

When we hear the word "calculating" used to describe someone, we don't necessarily have a positive reaction. If someone is calculating, they are often thought of as shrewd to the detriment of others. Or they are seen as people who easily take advantage of others. But when I use the term here, I don't mean being mean or underhanded. Instead, I mean simply being a person who looks ahead to the future and "calculates" her next move in business to create maximum benefit for the business and its customers.

A business owner who calculates and assesses the future before plunging forward into it will be memorable if for no other reason than that they will seem more organized than those who fail to look before they leap. A calculating business person assesses the marketplace and aims squarely for the part of it that would seem to produce the most profit for the least price, consistent with quality. Here are some examples of

1. Look Before You Leap. I have at least one conversation a week with small business owners who bit off more than they could chew. In hindsight of course, they always see that, but going in, it looks like so much fun that they just never looked before leaping happily into debt without a single customer in sight. Just last week, a small business owner told me that he quit his job and sent a product announcement to 30 of his former co-workers. Sadly, it resulted in only one order ... but that was not a bad response ratio for 30 email announcements. He was bitterly disappointed. But if he had read a little about marketing before taking the leap, he would not have been surprised that only 1 in 30 people made a purchase in response to his marketing message. Not only that, he would have known that launching a new business is much more involved than hoping your old friends and co-workers will buy your products. Never go into business or a new line of business without first calculating the costs and potential benefits. By doing this, you will make an orderly and planned entry into the marketplace,  presenting a professional and polished image, and people will remember that favorably.

2. Grow Slowly Yet Steadily. Sure, some solo business owners can make 20 fragrances of soap, 10 different lotions and a slew of other products and have them all at their Web site for sale. But when push comes to shove and someone places a large rush order, they can't fill it because there are only so many hours in a day and they can't make everything all at once. It's tempting to create a new product every week and immediately offer it for sale. But not only is this potentially dangerous from a products liability perspective, it's also a poor calculation. Launching a new product requires planning. Planning for new labels, new potential customers and retail outlets, new brochures and color photos, updating a Web site, etc., and that's just for starters. A few weeks ago when I asked someone why they had so many products for sale when they had not even found a market for one product, she said, "it's just so much fun to make new stuff." Yes! I agree! It's great fun ... but you're in business!! And while it's great for business to be fun, unless it's on its way to profitability, it's not much of a business. So select one or two products that you make well, find and grow market for them, generate repeat loyal customers for those few products and THEN introduce your latest new creation. That way, you can start pocketing some profit instead of pouring every scent you make down the endless "New Stuff" hole!!

So to be memorable, be calculating ... plan for the future and take measured steps toward it. Your careful preparation will stand out from the crowd and people will remember you. Those positive memories will translate into repeat business and increased profit.

Next Week: Last But Not Least, Be Grateful

This new recipe for Green Tea Healing Mist submitted by reader Francoise Rapp is a cooling, healing mist that is perfect use after sun use on face and body to tone and soothe. The rosewood and lavender essential oils are a fragrant combination which is also good for the skin.

When you visit MakeYourCosmetics.com, it's easy to buy the ingredients you need to make your goodies by clicking on our Partner links:

Essential Wholesale: natural unscented cosmetic bases, pure essential oils, absolutes, carrier oils such as avocado, virgin coconut, sweet almond, jojoba, shea butter and specialty packaging supplies!

Bramble Berry, Inc.: over 80 different, fully tested fragrance oils (including the exclusive "Relaxing" and "Energy" blends), over 250 soap molds, essential oils and unscented bases.

Lynden House International, Canadian supplier of soap and candlemaking supplies such as fixed oils, perfumes, essential oils, molds, powdered milks, colors, pre-made bases, candle wax, wicks, embeds and more!