Soapmaker’s Guide to Marketing Soap Online

Soapmaking has been one of my favorite past times for over a decade. I first really began selling my homemade soaps online back when Etsy was in beta. Then I moved onto selling full time for a good, solid four years on my local farmer’s market until the economy and my health took a turn. Now I sell my handmade soaps and other bath and body products exclusively online via my own storefront. I’ve  learned a lot, but as you know, the world of ecommerce is constantly changing forcing those of us who sell our handmade arts and crafts online, to keep in the loop or fall to the wayside. However, there is basic know how that every soapmaker should have under their belt before they begin their adventure into selling their handmade products to the public. This is where the new ebook from established author, Lisa Maliga, comes into play.

Selling homemade soaps online is one of the most difficult ways to get your products into the hands of customers. As people enjoy smelling and handling a product  – it’s very difficult to describe a scent through words in a way that everyone will get exactly what that fragrance is – homemade soaps can be an especially tough sale outside of farmer’s markets, craft shows and shops. So if you are considering selling your handmade soaps online and are looking for a basic foundation of information to get you started, The Soapmaker’s Guide to Online Marketing is for true beginners who really have no idea how to get started.

The Soapmaker’s Guide to Online Marketing starts you off with a questionnaire that will help you determine if you’re really cut out for selling homemade soap online and also advises against premature selling – with specific instances of mistakes and pitfalls. There’s also a brief section over viewing online marketplaces you can sell your handmade soaps, including self hosting creating your website (I’m a fan of the ease of Weebly) and obtaining a domain name. There’s also advice on setting up things like a policy page that covers deliveries and returns and how to handle delivery issues. In addition there’s useful information on SEO, using meta tags, branding, photographing your products, and finally promoting your website using methods from a press release and Pinterest to creating a newsletter and youtube videos to using both paid and free advertising. You’ll also discover useful information on business basics, running a home office, invoicing,  shipping, pricing guidelines, labeling, creating your brand and how to avoid online scams.

Finally, The Soapmaker’s Guide to Online Marketing provides a handful of beginner glycerin soap recipes as well as resources and online shops for buying wholesale supplies for soapmaking, fragrances, molds and packaging and information websites, books and forums you can use to research for further information into this wonderful craft.

If you’re interested in learning more about making handmade melt and pour soaps, be sure to check out Lisa’s first soapmaking book, The Joy of Melt and Pour Soap Crafting. You can also now buy her latest book on making homemade shampoo bars, How to Make Handmade Shampoo Bars: The Budget Edition, in paperback. (You’ll love the large, easy to read text!)

Or check out her video (above) for a recipe on making Lisa’s Pink Clay & Shea Shampoo Bars!

Do you have questions about marketing your online business? Feel free to ask questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. Also feel free to share some of your own tips, tricks and basic know how! (Also be sure to follow Soap Deli News on Blog Lovin’ and never miss a post!)