Marketing a Craft Product

There are many ways to market your soaps and homemade bath products.
I have found that giving free samples is one of the best methods for
getting new customers for my soaps.

You can cut 16 samples from one basic 4 oz. bar of soap by cutting
the bar into 8 pieces, then cutting those pieces in half. Next, place a
piece of the soap in a small craft bag (you can get these at Stores in
the Crafts section) and label it with your business information using
regular Avery mailing labels.

To distribute your samples, place them in attractive baskets and
visit a few non-competing stores to see if they will let you leave your
baskets on their counters.

You can also staple these to your business cards, and hand them out
as you normally would a business card.

Yet another method that works better than the above two would be to
make what are called “fish bowls” and leave these at area
businesses. To make a fish bowl, first print out some cards for customer’s
information such as name, address and phone number. Next, purchase a
few containers that are clear, and that has a secure lid on them, that
are about the size of a regular fish bowl. Some people actually use fish
bowls, but I have found this causes problems because the fish bowls
break easily, and cannot be closed to prevent theft of your customer’s
information.

Now take the lid of your container, and cut a slot that is big
enough for your slips of paper that you printed off earlier to slip into
when they are folded in half. Secure your lid onto your container with
tape and then cover the tape with attractive ribbon.

Next, make a sign stating that anyone that enters your drawing for
a free “whatever” will receive a free soap sample in the mail. The
“whatever” can be a gift certificate from the store that lets you
place your fish bowls on their counters (this helps promote the store,
thus making the store owner more agreeable to letting you use their
counter space), or it can be a few bars of soap from your inventory or both

Next, locate stores that do not mind sharing some of their counter
space with you. This is where you'll place your fish bowls.

Although this method costs a bit more because you are offering a
prize, and because you will need to mail your samples, it also produces
better results than by just handing out samples.

You will get potential customers addresses and phone numbers, when
you mail your sample you can also include information about your
products, and you can also send them a follow up mailing asking for their
input on how well they liked your sample. This information can be very
valuable towards the growth of your business.

You can also package samples of your bath salts and scrubs in the
small zip lock bags as well, and use these instead if you do not make
soap.


About the Author

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation with
a wealth of experience in personal development, management development,
e-learning and operational management. In addition he owns PK eBooks
(http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) and has just published a Guide to Making
Soaps and Candles which can be found at href='http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/making_soaps_and_candles.htm'
target='_blank'
class='navigation'>http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/making_soaps_and_candles.htm




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