return to archives home

A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 7, Issue 15
To subscribe, click here

-- Sponsor --

1. HBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
2. Lifestyle CEO Report: Leslie Morgan Steiner Joins Me!
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win something wonderful!
4. Feature Article: Beauty and the Box
5. Handmade Beauty Book Review: Four Seasons of Mojo by Stephanie Rose Bird
6. Products Liability Update: HBN Member Products Liability Insurance Database

\Life.Style CEO\n. A person who owns and manages a business, not solely for financial gain, but also to enjoy the personal rewards of entrepreneurship, independence, flexibility and fun.

Leslie Morgan Steiner, Washington Post executive and editor of the newly published anthology Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families, joins me today to discuss the issues facing people (that's gender neutral, in case you didn't notice!) who are juggling parenthood and something else. What is that "something else?" Well, it's different for everyone but for some reason, it seems to generate quite a bit of unpleasantness and controversy among the jugglers. Leslie will join me to talk about why this is, and how choosing self-employment might be a good middle ground for parents everywhere. 

Join us LIVE at 1:00pm EST at Global Talk Radio.com. Just click on "Listen Live" at the home page to join us!

Mark Your Calendar For These Upcoming Lifestyle CEO Internet Radio Shows:

April 10: Amy Robinson, Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Direct Selling Association, joins me to talk about how you can use the direct sales business model to grow your brand. With annual sales at nearly $30 billion, direct sales just may be the way to expand consumer awareness of your products and services.

April 17: Jim McCaffrey of Sand Hill Advisors, joins me to talk about how important it is for small business owners to transition from merely "running" a business to actually "growing" a business. If you're struggling with the "no-man's land" between hobby and business, and are wondering what you really have to do to move to a full blown business, this is the show for you.

Please read the contest rules here before submitting your entry. Put "TRIVIA CONTEST ANSWER" in the subject line or your answer will not be considered. While time does not permit me to respond personally to all entrants, the winner's name will be announced in the next newsletter!

John Green and his company The Box Co-op is not your usual HBN member. First, well, he’s male, and not to discriminate, but dM says that about 95% of HBN members are female. Second, like HBN member Anne Kremer at Bottles and Jars.net who was featured in the March 20 issue, John sells the packaging for what goes inside, not the handmade beauty goodies themselves.

John’s going to share with us some educational information about how to package soaps, candles and other items, and the importance of the packaging, but, first, let me tell you about the box John lived in and why he started The Box Co-op.

Boxed In

John, whose degree is in Computer Science, was a computer systems engineer working in large defense companies on military projects, as parts of a systems team, designing command and control software for the tomahawk cruise missile and the B2 bomber. “The defense business runs in boom and bust cycles,” says John. “When defense contracts come to an end, if there are no follow on, or other open contracts, you’re looking at a layoff.” And so it was for John, who was living his career locked inside a box -- well, actually, he was locked in secure vaults, spending his days looking at computer screens.

John was tired of being boxed in. “I was on a project that was ending and I was tired of being locked in secure vaults,” he says, “so I decided it was a good opportunity to try something different. My brother worked in the printing industry, so we decided to team up to sell print. That was 12 years ago.”

Today's Box Specialist

John says he didn’t intend to make boxes from the start, “it just evolved.”

“One of the projects we did early on was make boxes for a customer,” he says. “The box process is different from the brochure and label printing business. I found the box more interesting to make and present than conventional printing.”

“I also got a lot of satisfaction and kick when I saw my boxes in stores,” he adds, “so I became a box specialist. That’s all we do here -- print high end retail boxes for customers all over the United States.” John has a diverse client base that he says is probably 80 percent small and medium-sized companies, with roughly half of those one considers micro-sized companies with between one and ten employees. It’s just him and his wife now (and their ten employees) since his brother moved on to other endeavors. And they make a lot of cosmetic and soap boxes for HBN members.

It's All In The Packaging

The box is you and you are the box, says John. “The package around your product serves as your proxy in a store. Because you usually can’t be there to sell in person, the packaging needs to do the selling for you.”
“Designing effective packaging isn’t difficult if you adhere to a few basics,” says John. “As with all good designs, attention to detail makes a big difference in the final product.” He continues, “A good design catches a consumer’s eye and make them want to pick up the product for a closer look, and, eventually, head to the register with it, which is the whole point of the package.”

John says you need to approach the design from a consumer’s standpoint, not yours. He says ask the question: what will draw the consumer to my product? “Spend some time writing down the benefits of your products and how they will appeal to customers,” says John. “Short concise points make for the most effective presentation, so rework your sentences and points until they flow well with very few words. Then give some thought as to how the graphics and pictures will support your points.”

You’re got to balance your design mix of colors, text and pictures until it flows well, John cautions HBN members. “Get feedback from colleagues. They can be your best critics and can give you idea you hadn’t even thought of.” Don’t think you’re finished there! John says you need to, “Refine, refine, refine, until you get just the right mix of design, colors and list of benefits that will make your product irresistible to the consumer walking down the aisle.” The last thing to keep in mind is that quality packaging creates a higher perceived value in the mind of the consumer,” says John. “This implies a premium product which allows you to charge higher prices and move more merchandise.”

Your Business, Your Box

The custom, full-color, high gloss printed boxes and header cards made by The Box Co-op come retail ready built to HBN members’ specifications. John's has a great website includes the information you need to design your box, including specifications on what you need to do to order boxes from him. I found his website professional and user friendly, but John (here he shows his roots in computer science) says he’s updating it. “Wait until you see the new system!” says John, “It will make this one look quite dated. There will be a new look, new products and whole new categories, but the system will continue to be easy to use, giving the user -- in one eyeful -- , all the information needed to make a decision on a box.”

John’s also working on new equipment that will allow him to economically print small volumes. “One of the things we are trying to address is being able to print smaller quantities of boxes. Right now it’s very expensive to print boxes in volumes under 1,000.” “The new equipment will also allow us to custom imprint on already-printed boxes,” says John. This will allow HBN members to get 5,000 to 10,000 generic boxes imprinted with their own product name and the ingredients unique to that product. “Currently, it’s too expensive to individually imprint boxes if you have 10 to 20 different scents as is the case with most soap manufacturers,” he says, “ We’re hoping to change that.”

Your Business, Your Box and Your Bottom Line

In addition to packaging your products as attractively as possible to appeal to consumers, John also has other pieces of sage advice. “Don’t charge the lowest prices in town,” he says. "Use quality ingredients and market your product as a premium product. He says that if you do so, you’ll be surprised because you'll actually sell more and have a higher quality clientele.

“Carefully check your target market,” he advises. “Find innovative ways to market your product. If you’re marketing through the Web, make your website easy and intuitive to use,” says John. “Use toll-free telephone numbers. They aren’t expensive and this may be just the push a potential customer needs to pick up the phone and call.”

It’s not easy running your own business as everyone knows. Like many other HBN members, John didn’t know anything about retail and sales until he got in the print business. He had to learn “on the job” and he says he was naïve about how ruthless the business world can be. “Be prepared to work long hours,” says John,” The rewards are worth it. I still get a kick whenever I see my boxes in stores."

Find out more about how you can quality boxes for your soaps and other products at The Box Co-Op, or call them at (800) 555-1778.

---

This is not my typical book review. And why should it be? This book is not your typical book. As the author of a book containing recipes on making natural body care products, I like to think that I have changed lives or made an indelible positive mark on someone somewhere. Yes, I know I'm asking for too much from a recipe book, but I'm here to tell you that Stephanie Rose Bird can rest assured that she has done just that, at least for this reader. One particular section of Stephanie's new book, Four Seasons of Mojo, brought me to tears in quite an unexpected way.

I love to read books. I don't always even much care what kind of books they are because I like to learn new things. Of course I especially like to read books on using natural things to care for mind, body and soul. So when I picked up Four Seasons of Mojo, like all other books I read for possible review, I figured I'd enjoy a few chapters and find a fun recipe or two. I did that, and so much more.

To read the entire review and get your copy of the book, click here.

In order to help members share feedback and contact information about products liability insurance brokers who have helped them, I have launched the HBN Member Products Liability Insurance Database. (The database is password protected for members only.) Now that the infrastructure is there, I need your help members!

If you have found products liability insurance in your state, please send me the names and contact information other members need to learn more and contact them. I've already received a few entries and you can see them at the site, but have a long way to go to populate the database with the most up-to-date information available. Soon, we'll have a database covering all 50 states!

Also, our HBN Member Task Force State Leaders are serving as contact persons on this important issue with their state insurance commissioners. Here they are:

District of Columbia: dM
Georgia: Ellie Trinowski of Moonshine Soap
Maryland: dM
Massachusetts: Renee Deal of Deal Farm Soap Co.
Missouri: Barbara Freeman of Soapers Market
Texas: Susan Soros of Soap Goddess Handmade Soap Co.

If you have questions about the issue in your state, contact your Task Force Leader. If you wish to contribute to this important effort by becoming an HBN member Task Force Leader in your state, please contact me for details.

Please visit our Task Force link for other updates, and stay tuned for an in-depth look at the issue in the upcoming issue of the Handmade Beauty Business Magazine (due out this month).

Member Benefit of the Week

Best & Success!!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Handmade Beauty Network | www.handmadebeauty.com