Soap Queen

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Happy Weekend!

Filed Under: Business Musings

Happy Weekend! I hope you’ve got something great in your soap pot. We’re prepping for an awesome Sunday shoot for SoapQueen.TV It’s time for us to dip our toes into Cold Process soapmaking and we’re starting the shoot this Sunday. I’ll take photos in process tomorrow and upload so you can see what we’re up to.

Today, I went on an awesome (drizzling, sort of wet and cold) hike with my sister in law and my favorite niece dog, Samantha. It was a nice way to start the day before reviewing the SoapQueen.TV scripts a bunch. Though Bramble Berry has a Beginner Cold Process DVD out already, we had many requests for Cold Process on SoapQueen.TV. The segments will be short (the DVD is 45 minutes to get a basic overview of soapamking) and the series will be a good idea of what it takes to do CP soapmaking but we’ll still be recommending extra resources like The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso. You can never learn too much.

I had a fabulous Thursday down in Seattle with the Women Business Owners. I met the founder of Wink Cupcakes (no, I didn’t ask her how she stayed so skinny. I should have).

And, here I am with Shandel Slaten, founder of True Life Coaching and the headliner for the awesome Women’s Leadership Conference 2010 in Seattle in March (details here) and Melody Birigner from Crave Party.

One of the things I talked about was how important it is to have a strong support network around you as you grow your business. From a Mastermind Group (blog posts here, here and here about how to set one up) to Business Book Clubs, we all need people around us encouraging us to do better and to reach our next level. Right now, the three business book clubs I’m in are reading: Anatomy of the Spirit – the Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss, Linchpin by Seth Godin and Crucial Conversations. I’m excited to have discussions about these books over the next month to expand my worldview and increase my knowledge as a business owner. It’s a bonus that anything that makes me a better leader also helps me to become a better friend, wife, daughter and sister as well.

If you don’t have a support network in place to help you succeed at business, consider picking up any of the great business books out there – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is an awesome one to start with – to learn from the best and the brightest thought leaders of our century.

Do you have any awesome business books that you’ve read lately that you think would be a good one for my business book club? I’d love to hear what they are.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Lessons from the Mall – Guest Blog

Filed Under: Business Musings

Guest Blog by Funlayo Alabi of Shea Radiance
(Anne-Marie note: When I saw Funlayo’s story at the Indie Beauty Network site, I was impressed with the business lessons she imparted and hope that her story will help many Soap Queen readers when they are planning for the upcoming 2010 Holiday Season. Thinking about renting a mall kiosk? Read this first for practical real-world experience and advice).
Like most Indie businesses, I am always looking for ways promote my brand and get our products into more hands. In a quest to achieve this goal we decided lease a booth during the holiday season at Columbia Mall. Columbia Mall is about 10 minutes from my house and I know the Mall demographics fit perfectly within our target market.
As you can imagine, mall rents are ridiculously high especially during the holiday. We estimated our revenues based on how much we did at farmers markets, festivals and other shows and thought we would make a pretty decent profit being in a mall 7 days a week, 10 hours a day.
We signed the dotted line and loaded up our kiosk with product, banners and sales material. We hired 2 wonderful young ladies to work during the hours I couldn’t be there. We were ready for business. The first day, we made $75.00, the next day $50.00 and on the third day we made no sales at all.
All I could see were dollars slowly draining out of my account for rent and wages and no commensurate revenues coming in. What did we miss in the course of our decision making process and how could we turn things around quickly.
We learned some quick lessons that I believe helped turn our failing venture around.
Lessons # 1 You have to put yourself out there and hussle
There is no way around this in the mall. You are competing with several other vendors and shoppers who do not want to be bothered. Unless you are an established brand, you cannot survive the mall without standing up and inviting people to try your products. The mall shopper has a very different shopping mindset from the shopper who purchases from Green Festivals and Farmers Market type outlets. The typical mall shopper is in the Mall for with a particular store in mind and is trying to get in and out very quickly.
What we did.
Years of doing markets gave us the confidence to know that once a customer sampled our shea butter product, they would be inclined to buy it, if not immediately then later. We came up with several ways to get the busy and distracted shoppers to stop and take notice of our kiosk by doing the following:

  • Big vivid signage that told part of our unique story
  • Audio visuals showing the shea butter making process in Africa
  • Free product samples
  • Smile, greet and invite people into the kiosk without being pushy and overbearing.
Managing the Costs
There are costs associated with selling in a Mall kiosk that go beyond the kiosk rental.

  1. Payroll – you may have to use a payroll service to ensure that tax and other withholdings are done correctly
  2. Liability Insurance – The Mall required that we carry higher liability limits than what we had.
  3. Workman’s Compensation Insurance is required by my State
  4. Other State Licensing and Registration fees required to sell in the mall.
  5. Cost of Product Samples
  6. Equipment such as a Credit Card Machine and Cash Register
In addition to this Mall hours are long especially during the holidays. Plan for additional staffing costs to keep booth open for 12 hours when needed.
What we Gained
There were lots of wonderful benefits we gained from having a kiosk at the Mall this past holiday

  • Increased sales revenues – As we did demos and handed out samples we got a loyal following that came back to buy gifts during the holidays. The repeat business increased our confidence. Customers were now coming to the mall looking for us.
  • Increased exposure – We got featured in the Specialty Retail Report – Carts Across America which has led to more interest in our company. Another magazine editor based in the Baltimore area contacted us to do a feature on our products
  • Contacts from local businesses in my area wanting to network with us
Some final thoughts on the Mall.
The two months we spent at the mall were very valuable, they were also very tough. The hours are grueling, and when an associates call out sick or doesn’t show up you can end up working some real long hours. We manufacture our own products, so we stayed pretty busy between the mall and production. The cost of kiosk rental and wages really ate into our bottom line.
It was a great experience, but I don’t recommend it for everyone. If you are thinking about it, please feel free to talk to someone who has done it in order to fully understand all the potential pitfalls.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Running with Great Customer Service

Filed Under: Business Musings

My new kicks: Brooks Launch Lightweight Trainers

I read about Vibram Five Finger running shoes from Michael Hyatt. I’ll admit I’m curious. After my Chi Running course (where I learned to run with a mid-foot strike), I want to try these ‘gorilla shoes’. First, I need to break my overly-coddled-way-too-padded feet into the concept gently by downgrading to a lighter, less structured running shoe. I headed to the bricks’n’mortar storefront for RunningShoes.com on my quest. It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. When I hit the gym last night to test my new shoes on the treadmill, I reflected on what made my experience great as opposed to adequate, good or just plain fine. I have a retail store (OtionSoap.com) and have a vested self-interest in providing ‘great’ experiences to customers too. Finding the clear differentiator between first-rate and fine isn’t always obvious.

What Went Right:

1. The store presented well. When I walked into RunningShoes.com, the store was lit well, organized and clean. It was easy to see everything. Prices were clearly marked.

2. The employee presented well. “Matt”, my RunningShoes.com specialist was friendly, knowledgeable and took delight in finding me the perfect shoe. He greeted me with an open-ended question “What can I help you find today?”. It was clear he was there to help and thrilled to do so. He watched me walk and run for a couple minutes, asked questions about my running habits and then came back with my perfect shoe. I bought the first pair he brought out (though did try some extra ones out just to be sure).

3. The transaction was efficient. I was in and out within 15 minutes. The entire experience from the greeting, the running to the trying, to the check out was well-paced. I never felt rushed but everything moved along

Cosmopolitan deemed the Vibram Five Finger shoes ‘the  ugliest shoe on earth.‘



Takeaways for my retail store: 1. Re-commit to an aggressive cleaning schedule, revisit the store layout 2. Train Otion’ites to always start with open ended questions and come out from behind the counter to greet new  visitors 3. Always feel delight when given the opportunity to help.

I’m curious – when you’re in a retail store, what really makes you walk away and go ‘Wow! That was genuinely a good experience“?

The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Seek to Serve

Filed Under: Business Musings

I listened to a great audio CD on the way to work this morning – an interview with Wayne Dyer by the publisher of Success Magazine. Aside: if you don’t subscribe to Success Magazine and you’re a small business owner, you should. It’s chock full of business advice, interviews with inspirational leaders and practical day-to-day advice on how to stay positive, focused and goal-oriented in good times and bad.

In the interview, Mr. Dyer (author of ‘Excuses Begone’ and other self-help or inspirational books) exhorted his listeners to ask what you can do for others – rather than constantly looking around to see what others can do for you. In the ‘like begets like‘ way of thinking, Mr. Dyer said that if you’re constantly asking the universe to give you more, more, more, the universe looks at you and asks for more, more, more.
In business, this attitude doesn’t need to be about giving everything away. Rather, it’s just a simple mind shift of “How will this help my customer?” when you’re adding new products, asking “How can this help my community?” when you’re deciding where to go to lunch or asking “How can this benefit my staff?” when thinking of employee policy changes.
Try it when you’re making decisions today. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the difference this subtle shift in perspective makes.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

A Few of My Favorite Blogs

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I hope you’ve enjoyed my posts while I’ve been babysitting the Soap Queen blog. Anne-Marie is safe at home and happily recovering from the long flight while desperately trying to adjust to our time zone. She’s at work today and looking forward to resuming blogging this week but in the meantime….

Anne-Marie and I are huge consumers of Blogs. I say ‘consume’ rather than read because reading sounds so passive and we get so excited it feels like we’re gorging ourselves at an all you can eat buffet for inspiration, projects, and pretty things to look at. We both have numerous blogs that we read everyday and the emails flying back and forth sharing favorite posts is a bit extreme at times. I thought it would be fun to share a few of my current favorites with you.

My Tartlette: Beautiful photography and dainty dessert recipes. I’m excited to try her macaron recipe.

ii-ne-kore: Interesting, unusual and random with a focus on Japanese design.

Oh Hello Friend: An inspiration blog with lovely pictures of stuff…I just love looking at stuff.

Paper Crave: All about paper from cute project ideas to adorable letter press cards to neat origami creations.

Something’s Hiding in Here: I just love their style and their loft apartment – so cool!

Tipnut: They always have great, succinct round-ups of useful projects and ideas from all over the net.

Twig and Thistle: Another gorgeous design blog with a heavy leaning towards pretty paper things.

Chocolate and Zucchini: This cute blog satisfies the francophile in me. Her photos are gorgeous and I love trying out her recipes.

Decor8: Design blog based out of Germany that I love for the photos and colors.

The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Forming Lasting Habits

Filed Under: Business Musings

Last year, I read a statistic that changed my evening routine; the statistic was that flossing can lengthen your life by up to 6 years. The bacteria in plaque at the gumline contributes to periodontal disease but worse, is linked to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

All my life I had known that flossing was good for me. My dentists had been telling me that for years. I would floss diligently in the 2 weeks before my cleanings but the slack off again. But, when I read that statistic, I knew I had to take action.
So, I made a goal with my accountability group. It was simple: I will floss once every day. Every Friday, I checked in with my accountability group – did I do it or did I not? It wasn’t the only thing on my goal list that quarter that was a new habit. Everything else was a ‘tablestake’ (working out, eating healthy, business goals). By only having one new thing in my routine to accomplish and focus on, it didn’t overwhelm my me.
Jack Canfield in his book “The Success Principles” suggests only working on 4 new habits for the entire year and choosing one per quarter. He says, “Research shows that if you repeat a behavior for 13 weeks -whether it is meditating for 20 minutes a day, flossing your teeth, reviewing your goals, or writing thank-you letters to your clients – it will be yours for life.”
So, in addition to making your goals SMART (see definition below), consider chunking up your goals into bite sized, manageable chunks adding only **one new habit** per quarter. This will give you a better chance at success.
As for me, 1 year later, I’m still flossing every night. This quarter, my new habit will be to have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. So, look over your goals that you posted about on this post and ask yourself: “Are they smart?” and “Which ONE new thing would I like to tackle this quarter?” The rest can wait until Quarters 2, 3 and 4.

To give yourself a better chance at success for your goals, they should be:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Oriented

A generic: “Get Healthy” goal is none of these. Breaking down “Get Healthy” into something that is SMART looks like:

I will lose 10 pounds by April 15th. To do this, I will work out 5 times per week, eat a salad daily for lunch 5 times a week and limit my wine intake to 4 glasses per week.

The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Resolutions to Have a Life in 2010

Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

It’s my favorite time of year – goal setting, reflection and planning. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I plan all year long and use tools like Mastermind Groups and Accountability Groups to help keep me on track. Despite external challenges last year, it was still a blessed year with love, laughter and joy. As I said in this blog post (My New Normal), “I’m not waiting around for the market to turn around to lay plans for my better future.” My better future involves all the intangible work-life balance things that are so difficult to master and even more difficult to practice regularly. This upcoming year, I will be focusing on business (as usual) but focusing even more on the underlying things that make me truly happy (family, friends, hobbies, community). For me, these things boil down to:

1. Resolve to spend more quality time with family – My family is first in my life. I find joy and reward in spending time with them. They help to keep things in perspective and I genuinely like them. I resolve to spend at least 6 weekends with my family in 2010.

2. Resolve to eat more colorful foods – The studies are clear; diet matters for your energy levels and life longevity. It boils down to non-processed, no soda, no additives and eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. I resolve to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
3. Resolve to give back – Bramble Berry has always given a percentage of profits to worthy non-profits; it is a foundation for our company. My husband and I also donate our money and our time volunteering. It feels good to help others and 2010 will continue and build on our commitment to gratitude and sharing.
4. Resolve to be diligent with work outs – If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’m faithful with my workouts. They’re essential to my sanity and my staff like working with me much more when I’ve exercised. This year I resolve to try new forms of working out like paddle boarding and Zumba.
5. Resolve to do meaningful things with friends – It can be lonely being self-employed. Opening up to a select group of trusted friends has been a wonderful stress outlet and 2010 is going to continue on this by doing meaningful (defined as over 4 hours doing an activity like hiking, spa time, group goal setting) activity with close friends monthly.
I have an entire list of goals around work that I will execute on faithfully this year but the personal work-life balance is where I struggle. I’m excited to share these goals with you and want to hear what your goals are for a better future in 2010. This year, I want to interact even more with the Soap Queen Community and I’m kick-starting the year off right with a contest! Anyone that posts a comment on this post **with one or more goals for your better future** will be entered to win pack of carefully curated goodies from me (including a sneak peak at SoapyLove’s new mold design!).
What are you goals this year? Post them and inspire us all!
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Plan Little Mouse, Plan!

Filed Under: Business Musings

In my office with one of the planning whiteboards (taken with my webcam)

I was heartened by the level of reader engagement on my post about scheduling yesterday. Thank you for reading and participating.

A couple questions came up on the comments – some easy ones:
How much do you sleep? 5 to 7 hours a night
What is a ‘Big Rock’? It’s Stephen Covey’s term for the ‘Must Do, Really Important, Lines Up with Value, Vision and Life Purpose’ things. For more on this, keep reading this post.
“I’m sure coffee helps.“ I wish. I don’t drink caffeine. Any. Nada. Zilch. One day, I could write a long post about weaning myself from that addictive substance and the subsequent walking-zombie month.
And the not easy one:
Could you share something about your marketing strategy?Yes! I totally can and will. And it’s complex enough to probably warrant a few well thought out posts. Plan on that in 2010 from me.

What did I say? Always on the iPhone. This is on a vacation to scout my brother’s wedding!
As I mentioned in this post, a full 10% of my schedule is devoted to planning my schedule. For me, planning happens in three stages:
1. Yearly Planning – I do this in November for the entire year. What goals do I want to achieve in an entire year? I’ve posted about this type of planning here and here. It usually takes about 2 days of planning, refining, planning, refining, planning and refining some more before goals, vision and value is aligned. And, this is a living document. If it needs to be changed during the year (say, we land a huge account or I get an awesome opportunity to travel abroad for work), it gets changed. I’ve blogged about the process of goal setting, planning your year, determining your vision and values here, here, here, and here. The yearly planning is by far the most difficult and challenging. Once it’s done, everything rolls easier from there.
2. Monthly Planning – I do this monthly with my Management Team for business and my Accountability team for personal stuff. I’ve blogged about the Management Team meeting here and the Accountability team here and here. This is just the process of looking at the big yearly goals and breaking them down into more manageable chunks of what needs to be accomplished in 30 days.

Project task board at Bramble Berry
3. Weekly Planning – I do this on Sunday or Monday morning. I look at my schedule for the entire week, revisit my goals for the year and the month and then start to slot those things in accordingly. Some of my weekly goals and tasks are around family and friends – they’re not all about business. Remember, it’s the extra 20% (health, family and friends) that makes me feel fulfilled in my life so my ‘Rocks’ also include nurturing important relationships. It usually starts with a list. I want to take XYZ class his week, see XYZ friend, go to So-and-So’s house for dinner, make XYZ sales calls, write 5 blog posts, work on X SoapQueen TV scripts etc…
Then, I go through my schedule and literally slot these goals (or “Rocks”) in (using PlanPlusOnline software), leaving lots and lots of time for the smaller pebbles and sand. In any given day, my task list is typically not more than 4 to 6 items. This allows me to be extremely flexible in helping out where needed for customer service, answering emails and all the other stuff that comes fast and furious when you own your own business.
Some of the things I do every single day don’t get written down as a task because they’re just part of the routine. For example, unless it’s a scheduled work out class, I just fit in gym time when I can. Or, daily clean up at the office. Routine, mundane things don’t go on my planning.
The whole process takes 20 minutes max and it’s easy to do. Productivity isn’t about running around, trying to get every single little task done, jumping from fire to fire. It’s about doing the few things that matter. It’s about doing the things that help to move you, your company and your family towards your goals.
Do I drop the ball and disappoint myself and others by not always meeting my deadlines and goals? Yes. I do. Life happens. And, tomorrow is another day. Do my days get totally messed up and not go as planned? Of course it does. Today was one of those days (thus the blogging at midnight). And, when it does, like a diet, you just get back on track and find time during the rest of the week or the weekend to complete your ‘Rocks.’ The pebbles and sand somehow always seem to find their way into the day without any help. Need help determining your rocks? The Cliff Notes version is here. Or, you can buy the book ‘First Things First’ by Stephen Covey (highly highly highly recommend) and do the exercises. They are enlightening and life changing.
Other tools: Whiteboards, whiteboards, whiteboards everywhere! I have FIVE huge whiteboards in my office. They are constantly changing with whatever project is being worked on, whatever the quarterly goals are and whatever we’re brainstorming on that everyone needs to see.
Planning your life isn’t difficult once you knock out the Yearly Planning – everything flows from those ‘Super Goals’ that you give yourself at the beginning of the year. Take a stab at it. Give it a try. Get started now and I’ll do a post in late December so we can all share our yearly goals and help one another get excited about goals, dreams, schedules and even a little pixie dust.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Run Little Mouse, Run!

Filed Under: Business Musings

Me with members of the Women President’s Organization
Morgane commented on the Brand Spankin’ New Items post:

I was thinking that if i had to manage my own company, the first thing that would scare me would be managing my time.
Anne-Marie, i would love to know what a day or even a week at BB look like?
I know i am curious! )
Thanks for sharing your passion with us.

I’ve had variants of this question before and requests for the Bramble Berry story. It feels odd to talk about myself as though I am doing something extraordinary or special. But, then I look at the statistics and realize that with the help of my team, we are doing something cool. We’ve beaten the odds (knock on wood) and are among the (sadly low percentage of) 3% of women-owned businesses in the nation grossing over $1 million dollars. (Can I hear a ‘Woot Woot!‘?). So, if my experiences will help you reach the next pinnacle in your success, I want to help.


Speaking at the Admistrative Professional’s Day in Bellingham


My days vary greatly. Some days start at 4:30 a.m. when I leave the house for what I (gritted-teeth) lovingly refer to as my ‘Seattle Days.’ Those days end around 10 p.m. when I make it back home, both excited about what I learned, forward looking and frankly, exhausted. The Bellingham -Seattle – Bellingham commute can take up to 6 hours with traffic and usually clocks in around 5 hours. Thankfully, there’s Audible Books on Tape for the traffic crawl. Other days are in the office, loaded to the gills with email, soapmaking, phone calls, interviews, meetings and customer service tasks. Just publishing my daily schedule would probably be useless for you – but explaining my thought process behind how I plan my schedule might be helpful.
I plan my month using PlanPlusOnline software by Franklin Covey. I split my month up by percentages.
  • 15% Planning
  • 10% Executive Education & Learning
  • 40% Implementing Big Rocks & Doing General Management ‘stuff’
  • 25% Blog Projects & Writing, SoapQueen.TV & Social Media
  • 10% Travel* (for press stuff, speaking engagements or education)
  • The extra 10% – Working Out/Eating Healthy
  • The extra 10% – Friends & Family

*in difficult months, travel can account to up to 50% and the perfectly planned month goes out the window!


There isn’t enough time in the day/month to do everything so my days start early and end late. That’s the only way I can fit it all in and, it’s the extra 20% that really makes a difference to how I feel about my schedule. If I am working out, eating right and spending time with family on a weekly basis, a 12 hour workday seems easy.No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I’m always hooked into my iPhone (and before that, my Treo).Last month, my cell phone used up 298,440 MB of data, I sent 910 text messages and received 843 text messages (and that doesn’t include Twitter). I check my email first thing in the morning and emails are the last thing I look at before going to sleep. It’s not pretty. It’s not romantic. And it’s not what my husband would prefer – but that’s what it takes for me to run my small business. You have to get up earlier, stay up later and work smarter than everybody else.I can count the number of movies on *one hand* that I’ve watched in the last decade without a laptop sitting on my lap. And, even with all of that, I love my life and feel lucky and blessed every day.

Bellingham Mastermindmind Group


I’ll spend a few posts over the next few weeks explaining the various categories, what they mean and why I devote time to them.

Executive Education includes:
Business Book Club
Conventions (Soap Guild, Sales & Business Specific ones)
Reading self-improvement & business books on my own time
Subscriptions to: Inc, Fast Company, Fortune, Fortune Small Business, The Economist, Success Magazine, Money

What this does to my schedule: 2-3 days in Seattle for learning events and roundtable business discussions with the Entrepreneur’s Organization, Women Business Owners and Women President’s Organization, two evenings a month (thankfully in Bellingham!) for the Mastermind Group business discussions and Business Book Club and some local business events sporadically in the evenings. I read in the mornings before work, carry magazines with me everywhere for downtime and have trained myself to read in the car (as a passenger, not the driver!).

Why I devote this much time to things that don’t directly make me money: When I started Bramble Berry, I had an undergraduate degree in psychology and criminal justice. I went back to school and received my Masters in Business Administration 4 years ago and don’t want the learning to stop. Every day, I run into things I haven’t done before, challenges that seem to appear out of nowhere and paths that make no sense. Having a strong base of knowledge and other peoples’ experience to draw from helps to make me a better leader and make decisions that not only benefit Bramble Berry but ensure that there is a business for decades to come.

Business doesn’t come ‘naturally’ to anyone. Certain God-given abilities give people an edge (example: being able to sell anything to anyone) but financial literacy, appropriate human resources skills, marketing strategy, operations – all of that needs to be taught.

With the CEO of Ford, Alan Mulally at a *free* event I heard him speak at

What if you don’t have the money to do tons of executive education?Get creative! Classes at the community college, attend evening (free or close to free) lectures, start a Business Book Club, start a Mastermind Group and explore these ideas with other people and go to the library monthly to read the business magazinesUltimately, how you schedule your day is up to you and what works for me won’t necessarily work for you. The next post I do will be about the 10% Planning that I spend my month on – what the planning looks like and why it’s important to do.Please ask questions – leave comments – I want this to be a helpful series for you and I can only make it helpful through your feedback.

The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

ROI of Social Media

Filed Under: Business Musings

Seattle Wine Gal had an excellent blog post this week about measuring the ROI of Social Media. She wrote it primarily for wineries but the message applies to all businesses, not just those in the wine industry. When I read it, I thought: “Wow! I should totally write about that for our industry.” And, then, when I started a rough draft, I realized that Barbara had already said it and there was no need to reinvent the wheel. She graciously agreed to let me re-publish her post (thanks, B!). Are you on the fence about ‘social media’ (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn and more)? Or are you tweeting away, wondering what good it does? Then this post is for you.

  • Social Media are an extension of customer service and relations. The extension of customer service and relations via social media efforts is measurable by how many clients and potential clients are reached by social media efforts. This is measured by how many people decide to ‘commit’ to supporting you by following/’friending’ you, which is a public declaration of their support. This measurement comes in the form of numbers of followers/fans/blog readers. With steps taken carefully to ensure quality over quantity of followers, you can assume that the number is an accurate depiction of how many people you are extending customer service and relations i.e. how many people you are allowing easy access to you and your company (to ask questions, hear company news first etc).
  • Social Media establishes trust. “Trust” is a bit tricky to measure, but it is possible, and very closely linked to ‘increased reputation and word of mouth’. You cannot manufacture trust and reputation it primarily comes from what has already been said and done rather than what we are going to do, i.e. the benefit of this aspect of social media takes some time to develop. Eventually “trust” and general appreciation will be evident by the increase in number of times followers/fans mention your company or product independent of your prompts. The more effort put into social media, the larger the number of unprompted mentions. This is something that can be easily missed, but a daily perusal of fan tweets, and social network mentions of your company/ products is a good indicator of customer trust and appreciation. Basically, the numbers of times that people are advertising for you, and independent of your suggestion to do so. For example: re-tweets, message board mentions, facebook conversations with friends. Providing information and the service of being accessible to clientele is what actually establishes you as a trustworthy source, and this goes well beyond what one can measure in hard numbers. This aspect of trust will be evident in good customer feedback both face to face, as well as on the web.
  • Social Media increases your reputation and increases word of mouth and recognition. It is very easy to measure an increase in word of mouth on the web. An increase in ‘Google Alerts’ mentions (Google Alerts is a list of web mentions and the source of mention of you, your business, and/or product on the internet, which is emailed to you). Also number of post and/or youtube views and comments, mentions on others blogrolls, and weblinks. ‘@ mentions’ and ‘Re-Tweets’ on Twitter are another great way of measuring word of mouth. It is also important to recognize who the people are that are promoting you via word of mouth, what are their credentials and credibility, are they recognized in a community that applies to your business, or are they mentioning you to a small circle of immediate friends (both are essentially good). Are the followers of those who comment on you commenting on this author/you in their own social media circles?
  • Social Media efforts lead to an increase in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). One of the basic tenants of SEO is that the more ‘key words’ or direct mentions of you/product/company that exists on the web, the closer to the top of peoples general web searches you become. In your social media efforts, if you consistently write about a given topic or theme, or your product name in general, these keywords will add up and create an increase in search engine optimization.
  • Social Media, when done properly, increases sales. An increase in sales as a result of social media can be measured to some extent by allowing customers to answer (whether checking out of an online store or in person) the question, “where did you hear about us”? More specifically, customers can be polled about what specific platform they learned about you from (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, message boards, blog mentions etc.). Google analytics is a good way to track this answer, if asked upon check out at your online store. Another way of tracking increased sales due to social media is to give coupon codes or exclusive deals for your fans and followers.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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I Love Milk and Cookeez – Two Scoops

Filed Under: Business Musings

We’re baaaaack! Grab your afternoon snack (milk and cookies of course) and enjoy the rest of the Milk and Cookeez interview! See the first half of the interview here!

milk and cookeez3Anne-Marie: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you like to do when you’re not creating for Milk and Cookeez?

Tammy: When I am not creating I spend time with the fam. I have 3 children, a 10 year old daughter, who I might add is my biggest fan, and 6 year old and 2 year old boys. They keep me grounded and focused. I enjoy volunteering my time with my daughter’s Cheerleading Squad and gardening.

Anne-Marie: What is your favorite thing about running your own business?

Tammy: I love making people smile. I also love knowing that I am giving them a high quality bath and body product that doesn’t just look fun it is really good for you. I also enjoy knowing that I make the decisions on what products I use and what I can neglect to offer, it goes along with the Type A thing.

Anne-Marie: What’s the best advice you can give to someone who wants to start their own business?Tammy: Research everything! Ask lots of questions, there are many wonderful people that are more than willing to help you. I joined the Indie Business Network to receive my insurance, but I would be remiss not to mention all of the amazing support that the IBN has offered.Anne-Marie: What’s your favorite product to make?

Tammy: Right now it is Melt and Pour Soaps. I change every few months, last month it was Scoopz. I am so into manipulating the soap to make not only a molded soap, but a whole new product.

Anne-Marie: What is your favorite Bramble Berry product and why?Tammy: I have 2, is that ok? I adore your Holiday Candy Fragrance Oil. This is the fragrance that has become our signature Sweeteez fragrance. It is the perfect combination of sweet and yummy, just like Milk and Cookeez. I also love your Like-Cold-Process Melt and Pour soap. I love the way that it does not sweat and has no detergents in it. I won’t use a detergent based M&P.Anne-Marie: Final thoughts? Anything you want Soap Queen readers to know about Milk and Cookeez?

Tammy: Milk and Cookeez make great gifts and favors that not only look sweet, but are good for you too. I love working with customers and making products that make people smile. Who doesn’t smile when they see a cupcake or an ice cream cone? I know that I sure do.

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After the Bath Blog
Milk and Cookeezon TwitterAnne-Marie: Thanks, Tammy, for letting me pick your brain! Good luck with the new Ice Cream and Clean Shoppe and keep us updated with your favorite new products!
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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I love Milk and Cookeez

Filed Under: Business Musings

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon the cutest website called Milk and Cookeez. I was so enamored with the cuteness factor that I bought some goodies that (thankfully!) came in the mail shortly after my splurge for practically instant gratification. I was so enamored with my purchases that I contacted Tammy (the owner) and she graciously agreed to a Soap Queen Interview. Yesssss!

Anne-Marie: Is this a full time or part business (or just a fun hobby)?

Tammy: I would have to say, it’s a full time job with part time pay. Having 2 websites, a blog, and keeping up with social media definitely takes time. Then adding in production, designing, and product sourcing- it takes at least 40 hours a week. I love every minute of it though and wouldn’t change a thing.

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Anne-Marie: I love your website! Do you have any other outlets?

Tammy: Right now we are mainly focused on the website. In a few weeks I will be doing my first ever Holiday Boutique. I am anxiously awaiting my first real step at working in a shop. I also sell my products wholesale across the USA. Right now I sell my cupcakez in a local cupcake shop, a few different products in a All Girl Spa in NJ, a Gift shop in Laguna Beach, CA, and a pet spa in WI (it’s a people line).

Anne-Marie: Your bath cupcakez, cookeez and soaps are so detailed! How do you have time for it all? What type of things do you outsource?

Tammy: Thank you for the compliment. I adore details. To me details make or break products, whether they are bath and body, home décor, or fashion. Details are necessary. I must say that as I have grown and become more comfortable with what I do and learned a lot more, I have really added to my products.

As far as outsourcing, I don’t. It’s a bit of a “Type A” thing. I like control. Right now I am working with a wonderful Cold Process Soap Artist, Kristy from Kristy’s Lovely Lathers. She has designed and made my newest line, Sweeteez. Sweeteez is Milk and Cookeez self proclaimed, Signature fragrance. I make the “coordinating products” while Kristy makes the most luscious and beautiful, Sweeteez, Cold Processed Goats Milk Soap.

Anne-Marie: I loved your tub taffy and cookeez! How long did it take you to perfect these recipes and the look you were going for? I used the tub taffy the other night and felt super moisturized when I got out of the tub.

Tammy: Thank you again. Cookeez took awhile. As I mentioned before, I’m not a baker, so I had a few “not so good” batches before I perfected the recipes for all of the cookeez. I love the tub taffy. While it is a very monotonous task to make it, I love what it does for skin. Olive butter is a fantastic butter and I don’t ever see myself changing this recipe. It works so well and is so good for dry skin.

The look that I like is a bit of vintage, with a fun, whimsical feeling. I like to think back to things that I liked as a kid and bring them out in my work. The cookeez are packaged just like a bag of cookeez. I even buy my bags from a local Cake and Candy shop. The tub taffy is reminiscent of a day at the boardwalk in Atlantic City. I have fond memories of watching the taffy puller make all of the luscious salt water taffy then making a small bag of my favorite kinds (my favorite being Neapolitan).

milk and cookeezAnne-Marie: Tell us about your new Ice Cream and Clean Bath Shoppe!

Tammy: Ice Cream and Clean is a “Cool division of Milk and Cookeez”. All of the products that are sold at Ice Cream and Clean are of a “cool” nature. We sell our beloved Scoopz and have now added a Scoopz on a Cone option. You can choose from 3 different soap cone fragrances to enhance your tub soak. They are a true bath experience; you can get “Ice Cream and Clean”. We also carry a wide variety of Soapylove’s Soapy Pops and our own Soapopz, which are our take on Soap pops. Finally, we offer Icy Slushy Scrubs, a combination of organic cane sugar, Mango & Shea Butter, and Melt and Pour Soap. They are individual sized mini Ice cubes that clean, scrub, and moisturize all in one. Ice Cream and Clean follows the same ideals as Milk and Cookeez: Yummy fun for you and your tub.

Check back in tomorrow for more Milk and Cookeez fun!! Tammy and I have a lot more to talk about!
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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Hospice Wins Big

Filed Under: Business Musings

Have you heard of Hospice? If you haven’t, you’ll want to learn more. Hospice is a national organization with local chapters that helps families care for loved ones in their last weeks and months. When my little friend Kyle passed away this year, Hospice was at his home to help provide care and support for the family in the last weeks before his death. And, as his Mom Christsin says, “They were great!” When the opportunity to go to their auction came up (my friend Wendy from local phenom business, Avenue Bread, led a table), my husband and I jumped.

The auction was incredible – raising well over $130,000 for the local chapter of Hospice – and I have mixed happiness that all of the items we bid on went for over their value. Though we ‘lost’ (the items), Hospice won big.

You may recall the Dessert Dash from last year? Since I knew the drill this time, I scoped out the desserts ahead of time. Check out the incredible choices. Did I mention that the Arc de Triumph cake was made from Lemon Custard? We were motivated and as a table, we strategized: Arc de Triumph (for sheer bartering potential) and then the two incredible cheese plates donated by Old World Deli followed by the Katie’s Cupcake cupcakes. Thankfully, we were the fifth highest donating table and though the Arc de Triumph was gone, the cheese plate with the (locally famous) Ba Ba Blue cheese was there. Our table runner (the local Fairhaven reality specialist, Heather Othmer) gamely shoved shoulders and threw elbows to get our table one fabulous post-dinner cheese plate.

And, I had my second fire of the day. We caught a napkin on fire at our table during one particularly exciting auction round. You’ll hear about the first fire … tomorrow or another day (there are a lot of photos to edit from Saturday’s all-day teaching whirlwind at Otion). The other fire involves beeswax, oil and a microwave.
It was a wonderful event and we all felt so thankful to be invited and involved. I feel especially grateful to have a business with customers that value social responsibility and giving back.
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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Shop Nostalgia {Organic Soaps & Toiletries}

Filed Under: Business Musings

Back to the Nostalgia life. If you missed the first part of this interview get caught up HERE. Now, if you don’t mind, Elea and I are going to pick up where we left off…
Anne-Marie: Your packaging is adorable! How long did it take to perfect the look you were going for?

Elea: A long time! It took me well over two years to finish all the designs on the fabrics and papers that house the soap. From concept to completion, it generally takes about 2 months for me to design the packaging for each product. I have drawers full of sample bottles, jars, boxes, papers and just about every type of packaging you can think of – that I experiment with until I finally decided on the direction to take. But, I love designing and drawing and sketching out new ideas for the fabrics and prints – so that part never really feels like work. But, I’m my own worst critic so it does take me quite a long time. I also carefully consider packaging for its recycled or recyclable content or try to offer packaging that can be repurposed after the product is gone. So, it’s a slow, nail-biting process, but seeing the joy on people’s faces when they touch the little bows and giggle at the bluebirds – makes it all worthwhile.

Anne-Marie: Where do you find your inspiration? Elea: I draw inspiration from a lot of different sources, but most of it comes from my childhood and grandmother. I love the purity and wonder of childhood. And, somehow, for me, that directly correlates to offering wholesome, natural products. However, my grandmother is definitely the biggest source of my inspiration. She was just a really special lady that took time to consider even the tiniest detail – if she thought it would put a smile one someone’s face. For example, she would hand-embroider flowers and birds and things on my pillowcases because she knew I loved it. So in her spirit, I try to add happy little details like that in my collection. I’m also inspired by the color palettes and imagery from of my grandmother’s day.

Anne-Marie: Tell us a little bit about yourself on a personal level. What do you like to do when you’re not making soap? Elea: I love spending time with my family and discovering new things with my 2-year-old son. We have our daily outings together that I really cherish. We walk to the park, journey to the zoo or play silly games like hide and seek. I also love traveling, watching a good movie or trying new restaurants with my husband. If I’m not doing any of that – I’m probably crafting something.

Anne-Marie: What’s your favorite Bramble Berry product and why?

Elea: Bramble Berry has so many wonderful products – that’s a tough choice. But, I love their awesome selection of organic essential oils and botanical extracts.

Anne-Marie: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Elea! Good luck with your business and keep us updated! We want to know the latest and greatest with Nostalgia!

My creationIf the packaging isn’t cute enough as is, the wrapper that comes around the soap is a set of instructions on how to reuse the bag. The instructions on my Sweet Orange Soap teaches me how to turn my cute bag into chicken shaped egg cozy. I haven’t attempted yet but I’ll let you know how it goes!
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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