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.