1. Otion Soap Bar, 2. Flying Pig, 3. Kid Critter Mold
Ruby (that’s her, in the middle) had her birthday party at Otion. She just turned 12 years old and judging from the peals of laughter and the giggles of delight, enjoyed her birthday party at Otion. Her dad even got in on the action for a bit, helping to pick out a few colors. Just a few of their creations are in the top picture. They turned out great! Can you believe they had never made soap before!?
1. Cranberry Fig Bath Fizzies, 2. Fresh Lotion at Otion
While the girls were having fun at the soap bar under the careful tutelage of the ELFman, I was upstairs in the Otion Testing Lab making bath fizzies, fresh lotion and sugar scrub (all in the effervescent Cranberry Fig fragrance). All of the recipes turned out lovely and the lotion, with the addition of hydrolyzed oats and liquid silk, is positively over the top smooth. Between the energy of the soap bar partiers and the fun of creating handmade goodies, it was a jubilient Saturday.
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katwoman,
Thanks for the visit! 😀
To answer your question, the PMHC listing is a listing each month (just one) for $5. It could be anything….like, something I’ve dyed, something I’ve sewn, a couple bars of soap. The fees to stock on that particular site (Hyenacart) are a very reasonable $5/month…hence the price of the listing. So, it’s first come first serve for that *one* listing as soon as it goes live, and someone gets a great deal!
This month there’s two, because I was uber busy last month and didn’t even stock my cart! A little bit of a gimmick, I guess…but it’s always a great deal! Plus, I keep my hubby off my back about how much soap I make!
wow! I did not know that!
so, in other words, just include
in my budget samples and then research.
Thanks, Anne Marie! You are
a true peach!
I have another big question, but I will wait as I know for certain Monday is a BIG day for all!
It has to do with trends in fragrance.
Newsflash, my hubby says to call the cleaning lady!!!!! Yay!
Kari, Trust me, I wish you lived in Bellingham so you could have your birthday party at Otion too! The more, the merrier. =)
kat, It’s not a simple answer for how to get press but a lot of it is to send out free samples and do lots of follow up. We probably sent out 60 perfume kits (and that’s not counting soap, bath fizzy kits, eye shadow kits, lip stick kits) to press and media outlets to get the 8 blog mentions and CosmoGirl mention.
If it’s a local paper, by all means, call up and tell them to do an article on you. Better yet, have the “hook” for them already “Have I got a great story for you! What if you …?” But national press is more like: identify reporter who covers your beat, send them samples, and politely follow up.
That’s a good start …
Anne Marie,
I have been wondering something.
It might sound really dumb, but I heard someone say once, “there are no dumb questions”, so here goes.
every site I go to that has stuff really great and that i really admire, has a “Press” or an “in the Press” section. I just revisited glassybaby again the other day because I asked them again to consider opening up their product offering for other vendors and affiliates to begin to carry glassybabies. just because i have not seen the color, quality or any other offering like it anywhere else… until the other day.
then i saw their Press, and it was full of many many top name magazines from all over the pacific northwast all the way down to LA, and even on Martha u-tube.
so i began thinking, how does one get into those magazines. cetainly i know you can advertise, etc. my husband and i advertise locally in many venues.
but, to get an article written about you, how does that happen?
do you call up the editor, or advertising dept, and say, “hey, can you do an article about me?”
or, does one recognize you first and then approach you?
you have obviously gotten your name out there and have been really successful at it! i mean, disney is HUGE! And Martha, that is the pinnacle to me!
inquiring minds want to know….
Vinca Leaf,
I just visited your store, and it is EVER so cute, and SO full of your own personality!
I am glad your husband asks you to “break even” but also says,
“have fun, honey!”
we truly meet the loveliest ladies on this blog, and I am so glad Anne Marie is the hostess with the mostest.
best wishes to you, but i think the $5 is wayyyyy too little! You deserve to make profit! Isn’t passion worthy of a few more cents?
my humble, and i mean humble opinion. for i am a fledgling!
meanwhile, back at the ranch it is monday, i am tired, the weekend was stressful, and all i want to do is work on my business. not taxes, not laundry, not my husbands’s office, or anything else, just want to complete the
goals and strategies and start already to DO them!
just needed a little pick me up, so I visit every morning! ok
ladies, back to work!
I wish I could have my birthday at otion! Happy Bday Ruby! I love the flying pig soap 🙂
They look like soap makers in the making. I love the bath fizzies.
Awww, happy birthday Ruby! What a great way to spend the day! 😀
Im loving that pig mold. How adorable! And I have to say, I wish I had birthday parties like this when I was little.
sounds like a fun yet productive day. I really like the color you used on the bath fizzies.
What a fun day. I wish Otion existed when I was 12!
Lynn
thank you for visiting my blog. Your lotion sounds divine!!
the bath fizzies look great!!