Tuesday

I was at the Market, and freezing I might ad, it started off really foggy and the cold remained with us most of the day. So anyhow, this one customer came up, she had given me some fingerless gloves long time ago and then this other customer came up and she said "I was thinking about you today, how cold your hands must get, these are for you" and it was a pack of handwarmers! Isn't that just the sweetest thing?
So I was telling the two of them that there's a point at which, when I tell my friends about my customers, that I don't know if I should refer to them as customer/friend, or friend/customer. And one of them said we are "Frustomers" :-)
Thank you to all my frustomers!
BTW the Murray Bars did very well, sold 9 of the 11 I brought. The other two are on reserve for a couple of folks in Pleasanton, I'll be making it again though!

Latest LImited Edition

I have wanted to do a Jasmine Blend for a while, and this one was inspired by Murray, my stripey cat! So there's a subtle ribbon of color through it. I don't work with color much so should have used more, I will next time, but oh does it smell good! It's a little Jasmine, some Tiarre Flower (Tahitian Gardenia) and some other florals. I would actually ad this to the line, I like it that much, but no one's being a slcker at the moment so I don't have space for it! I'll let you know if I work that out!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to wish all of you a fabulous Thanksgiving. I hope you get to spend some time with friends and family!

Tags part 2

Look I remembered, are you in shock and awe?! LOL

These are the other ones, I really liked them, hard to find cute tags that arent just Santa and sugary sweet. They also had to be in the "vintage" theme. They're a little larger than the others but I don't really see that as a problem. They'll debut Saturday too. here they are:

Tags

I have these cute little muslin bags with one soap each in them, and people use the back of the tag like a gift card. The bag is cool because after you've used it a million times you can compost it. So I am always looking for cute tags for these and I found some cute ones last night on Etsy, here's they are:

Of course the cool thing is that because they were digital, I paid for them and like a nano second later received the file! Gotta love that! So I need to copy them on card stock and then they will come to Market on Saturday!I have some other ones too, I'll try to remember to show you those tomorrow!

busy busy busy

The thing about this time of year is, it's a little nuts! The other thing is that I'm trying to grow the internet part of the business bigger, which requires a lot of time and can be just a little overwhelming!
Social Media is pretty fabulous, but it does require that you be consistent in order for it to work. I do use it as often as I can. Today I posted on my Facebook Fan Page (@deltamoonsoapFanPage) that we were having a "Rainy Day Special" and I did get a few takers, so it is an effective Marketing strategy.
Now if I could just come up with more hours in a day I'd be really happy!!

little comforts

You guys know how I hate to be cold, that's why I wear my ever-so-fashionable leg warmers when it's cold out! So anyhow I have these sweaters a friend gave me long time ago that are very warm, a cream one, lavender, pink and hunter green. I wear them a lot when it's cold like it is now. So anyhow, the green one is my fave and I've been missing it and my son said he thought he'd seen it in the office closet, I never even go in there (sorta like the kitchen!) and I looked this morning and there it was! I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing as I opened the closet! So I will be a little warmer and happier at my cold/rainy Market today!

Hope you all get to stay warm, after you've supported your favorite Farmers Market folks of course, they'll be there!

Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al

I don't know why, but this video always cracks me up! Enjoy!

Another Etsy Goody

This is the proof of the new Stamp I have coming from Etsy, I just couldn't resist!

It came from http://www.etsy.com/shop/AsspocketProductions?ref=ss_profile

She has quite a selection is is very nice to work with!

Erin Bradley Designs

I have used the Design service of Erin Bradley on Etsy a couple of times and I can't say enough about how great she is to work with. Her designs are really adorable and her service is amazing. Do check her shop out (copy and paste) http://www.etsy.com/shop/ErinBradleyDesigns

This is the official Holiday Banner for my Etsy shop this season, pretty cute huh?

Marketing

I always say everything boils down to Marketing, you're looking for a job, you Market yourself, you are looking for a spouse, you Market yourself, you know, dresss nice etc, everything boils down to Marketing. Now and then you see some really BAD Marketing and just go "wow!"
My husband was interested in quilting, so we visited a local quilting shop in Antioch, not mentioning names, but there's just one! Anyhow, he asked for information and she told him "you HAVE to take a class first and there aren't any until January" I stepped in and asked if there was at least a book or something he could look at and was told "oh, you MUST take the class, the Rotary Cutter is very dangerous" and went on to lecture us about how dangerous it is, c'mon people, not like it's a machine gun or something! Anyhow they didn't add anything positive to the experience of visiting their shop, couldn't have been LESS helpful and at the end they said "do you want a business card" we declined, and even after we left, my husband says "you don't offer a business card, you just hand them one!" anyhow, they failed on Marketing, I was really blown away, as a small business owner, you do what you can to be helpful to your customer, even if you don't have what they need. Now and then in Martinez, another Soap Company comes to the Farmers Market (they belong to the Mtz Art Guild) and she and I have learned what the other has and have no problem sending customers to the other person if they're looking for something we don't offer, that's how it should be, help your customers! Sorry to go on about that, it just amazed me. the thing is we support local as much as we can, but they have to deserve the business. Off to Joanne's Fabrics when they open!

Latest Limited Edition

I always do this soap every year and since I'm not staying caught up as it is, I'm just doing one batch this season. It's will debut tomorrow in Concord, and then Saturday in Pleasanton, hopefully there will be some left for Martinez Sunday too, but I can't promise!

Shout out to my friend in Pomona! It was nice hearing from you!

More on shipping (not moron shipping!)

So as an expirament, I made a few listings and upped the price a buck over the usual price but offered FREE SHIPPING. It will be interesting to see if this lands any sales.
What are your thoughts? Ever try that?

Shipping Internationally

I have been thinking of offering shipping, at least to Canada for now. I did some research yesterday and learned that 1 out of 3 sales on Etsy is involving one to or from somewhere besides USA! That's a pretty staggering number!
What's involved is a form by the Post Office that must be signed in front of them, and then there is an International Flat Rate shipping, or a First Class as well. I prefer the Flat Rate, easier to just quote a number, I do that with domestic shipping too where ever possible. Anyhow, I'll let you know when I get my first Canadian Order, I only offered it on the sets of 4, don't want to go to all that bother for 1 bar, not that I think anyone would pay the extra shipping on just one bar anyhow!
Something for you to think about Grasshopper.

From yesterday

This is the sliced soap from yesterday's post. As you can see, there's not a lot of color, which is either because I didn't use enough or just the colorant wasn't stable. I'm thinking as the soap cures it will bet a little bit darker and the colors will be a little more noticable. These soaps were JUST sliced, they weren't "cleaned up" or anything.

Playing with color

I don't as a rule do anything with color in the Goat Milk Soaps, there are natural colors you can use in the form of clays, Micas that are mineral pigments, many made in the lab, as well as oxides and FD & C colorants. (that stands for Food, Drug and Cosemetics) There are colorants made to be in soap, it can be tricky because the pH of the soap can have an effect on the colorant turning it into something other than what you are trying to achieve.
I'm working on a limited edition soap, and I used Mica's in it. As I mentioned many are not stable and Micas do better in glycerine soap where the light can bounce off and you can see the sparkle.
So here's a picture of what I made this morning, the difference in the color is very slight, I am not even sure if you can see it in the picture. I can hardly wait to slice it tomorrow and see how the mica looks in the soap. I'll post pictures then and tell you about the technique I used.

sigh of relief

Sorry I was a little absent, had a family member with some health stuff going on, but everything's better now :-)
See you tomorrow!

Silent Sunday

Starting today, I am starting something new, a break from blog writing on Sundays! I'll still do all the other days as much as possible though.

Have a great day!

Indie

Being an "Indie" business can sometimes be a little tricky. There's no Operating Instructions for how or even when a thing should be done. It all fall on you. Sometimes you encounter struggles too, it's inevitable, if you're Indie or not!
What I've found is that you don't have to go it alone. If you're really fortunate, you'll find someone that goes through the same kind of things. There are also Guilds where you can find support and information, as well as on-line forums. Knowing you're really not completely alone and that other have been there is strangely reassuring.
This morning I was looking at one of the Forums and someone was so stiffled with fear about opening an on-line shop, they almost didn't do it at all. I think we were able to help her to overcome that fear. But don't let fear (or anything else!) stop you!
Be a strong Indie!

Milo as a House

I love old buildings, the funkier the better. I loved the color of this one and think if I had a victorian house and unlimited funds, I'd

paint it this color!
This post has nothing to do with business, I just thought it was cool!

Craft Cult

They have all these cool tools you can use with your Etsy shop. The one above is cool because you can put it on a blog or website.
They also have something that will work with your Google Analytics, gives you sales on a day to day basis and well as views to your shop and page views. If you work with Etsy I highly recommend you give it a peek!

Another Collection

Bright Colors of ...

Curated By: StarlightSarah

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

They just don't get it

Have you had people, friends, relatives, even new customers say things like "this is a nice little hobby"? That makes me crazy. It's like because you don't go to an office, you don't have a "real job" - how I have learned to hate that expression! I guess the thing that bothers me most is not being taken seriously, this Company will be 12 years old in a few months, it IS a real business, NOT a hobby!
What do you generally say?
OK vent over, now back to our regularly sceduled programming!