Starting a handmade beauty business can be a rewarding venture, especially if you have a passion for crafting unique products. If you’re aiming for a side hustle that earns you $2000 per month, this could be it. It can eventually grow into a profitable online business with the right strategy.
Here’s how to get started on the right foot.
The first step in building a successful handmade beauty business is identifying your niche. This means understanding what makes your products unique and who your target audience is.
Do you specialize in natural skin care, luxury bath products, or organic hair care? Knowing your niche will help you tailor your branding and marketing efforts effectively.
An online presence is crucial for selling handmade beauty products. Your website and social media channels are your primary touch points with potential customers.
Guess what? Things have changed!
If you own a business or are thinking about starting one, learning how to leverage social media platforms is crucial. Whether it’s Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, they’re great ways to build a community around your brand. Share behind-the-scenes content (careful what you share), product launches, and customer testimonials to engage your audience.
This is how social media can be used in a real serious way.
Your brand story is a powerful tool for connecting with customers. It’s the narrative that explains why you do what you do and what makes your products special.
Did you know that your story can inspire potential clients who are on the fence to make the purchase? When you share your story about the love and care that you put into your products, this helps people feel secure about making the purchase. Things that you share can often be the tipping point for the next move … wallet out and making the purchase.
Handmade beauty products often involve small batch production. This can be an advantage when marketing your brand as a boutique setup, because small batch production can also help you test a product quicker. You can learn whether to remove it or keep it in your line much quicker.
Pricing your products correctly is crucial for achieving your financial goals. Your margins will determine a lot of the success of your business. You need to cover your costs and make a profit while still offering value to your customers.
I actually started our business not knowing what margins were or how to set them. You might ask,
“How could you not know that margins were important?”
I didn’t and paid through my chinny chin chin for it. It was a very steep learning curve.
Effective marketing and sales strategies will help you reach your monthly income goals and grow your business.
Starting a handmade beauty business requires careful planning and execution. Yet, it can be a very rewarding endeavor that can grow into a profitable online business.
By understanding your niche, building a strong online presence, crafting a compelling brand story, managing production, pricing correctly and employing effective marketing strategies, you can achieve your goal of earning $2000 per month and beyond.
That’s it for this week. As always ….
Dedicated to The Success of Your Business
Juliette Samuel,
Beauty products, Side hustle? Sounds like a winning combination to me. In the ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship, side hustles have become a popular way to supplement income.
They’re also a way to explore new passions, or validate business ideas without leaving the safety net of a full-time job. Selling beauty products has emerged as an attractive venture for side hustles.
This is not only due to the industry’s lucrative potential but also because of its widespread appeal and endless innovation. If you’re considering diving into the realm of beauty, understanding the landscape, challenges, and strategies for success is key.
The global beauty industry is a powerhouse, valued at over $500 billion and continuously growing. Everything from skin care and makeup to haircare and fragrances falls under this umbrella.
The rise of social media and digital marketing has given access to consumers, making it easier than ever to promote and sell beauty products. Moreover, the personal nature of beauty products makes them an appealing choice for many consumers.
Let’s face it, who of you hasn’t reached for a lip gloss, blush or mascara at some point in life? Who of you hasn’t asked a friend for a recommendations over traditional advertising.
We talk about starting your beauty business and 9 Core Elements you need to know before getting started in our Free Download. Grab it here
– Finding Your Niche: The beauty industry is broad, and succeeding often depends on finding a niche that resonates with a specific audience. Whether it’s eco-friendly skin care, products for specific skin types, or culturally specific beauty solutions, identifying a niche is crucial. It can help set you apart from the competition.
– Sourcing Products: Once you’ve pinpointed your niche, you need to decide whether to create your own products or resell existing brands. You might even decide to dropship. Each option comes with its own set of challenges and investment requirements. Creating your own line offers complete control over the product. However, this choice requires significant upfront investment in product development and testing. Reselling or dropshipping can be less risky financially but demands thorough research to find reputable suppliers and brands.
– Building a Brand: In the beauty industry, branding is everything. Your brand should communicate your unique selling proposition. It should also appeal directly to your target demographic. This includes everything from your logo to your packaging design. The voice of your content and the platforms you choose for marketing are just as important.
– Marketing and Sales: Leveraging social media is crucial. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube are particularly powerful in the beauty industry. This is all thanks to their visual and interactive nature. However, Influencer collaborations can also be highly effective. Recommendations from popular personalities carry significant weight in beauty purchasing decisions.
– Customer Engagement and Retention: Providing excellent customer service, engaging with customers through regular content, and creating loyalty programs are all strategies. They can help retain customers and encourage repeat business.
Starting any business, even on the side, comes with challenges. Here are a few common ones specific to the beauty industry and how to navigate them:
– Regulatory Compliance: Beauty products are heavily regulated to ensure they are safe for consumer use. Compliance with FDA regulations (or equivalent bodies globally) is non-negotiable. Before launching, ensure you understand and comply with these regulations to avoid legal troubles.
– Market Saturation: Standing out in a saturated market can be daunting. Focus on what makes your brand unique. Use storytelling to connect with your audience emotionally. High-quality products tailored to specific needs can also help carve out a niche market.
– Capital Requirements: Starting a beauty brand can be capital-intensive. This is particularly true if you’re developing your own products. To mitigate financial risk, start small. Consider starting with a limited product range, and use pre-order campaigns. They can help to gauge interest and fund initial production runs.
– Keeping Up with Trends: The beauty industry is trend-driven, and staying relevant is key. Regularly researching and responding to beauty trends is key. Customer feedback, and technological advancements in product formulation and marketing can help keep your brand current.
Beyond financial gains, a beauty side hustle can offer numerous other benefits:
Summing Things Up …
Venturing into the beauty industry as a side hustle can be both profitable and rewarding. That’s if, you approach it with a clear strategy and realistic expectations. It requires dedication to brand building, understanding market needs, and continuously adapting to trends and consumer feedback.
With passion, resilience, and a well-thought-out plan, selling beauty products can boost your income. Not only that, it can also enrich your professional and personal life. Are you a beauty enthusiast looking to share your passion? Or an entrepreneur wanting to test the waters in a thriving market? Either one, the beauty industry offers vast opportunities for success as a side hustle.
These points and more can be found in our new book.
“Selling Beauty Products Online: How to Turn Your Passion for Beauty Products Into an Online Business”. Available on Amazon.
Click Here to get your copy NOW!
Psst … Want a FREE pdf copy of the workbook that mirrors the book? Send me a copy of your Amazon receipt as proof of purchase… customerservice@beautybusinessblueprint.com
Unlock the secrets to building a thriving beauty brand. That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated To Your Success
Juliette Samuel,
Owner/Author/Publisher,
Advice from someone who’s never done what you’re doing? Of course not! So why do so many people think they can do just that when it comes to starting a beauty business? If you’re running your business online, that’s another set of rules and strategies altogether.
In most cases, the answer to the above question would be No. A person who has never run a beauty business or sold beauty products online, cannot give you reliable advice on how to do so. This is because the beauty industry is complex and ever-changing.
Starting a beauty business, especially selling your products online, can present an entirely different scenario of how its done. If someone hasn’t done it, how can they tell you how to do it.
In all fairness, if a person has years of experience selling anything online, they can offer you general information about the internet and what it’s like to use this option for setting up your business.
It takes a brave person to put themselves out there as the expert when starting a beauty business. There are so many moving parts and pieces to the puzzle. But if you’re determined to get started in this industry, you need to be armed with the right information from someone who knows what they’re talking about.
The answer is, unfortunately, no. Just because someone has been successful in another area of their life doesn’t mean they’ll have the same success starting a business. Each business is unique and has its own set of challenges. If your friends and relatives have never started a business, they will not be able to give you the specific advice you need to succeed.
I’ve had “friends and relatives” who’ve put together fabulous LinkedIn profiles. Yet, when you go to the mentioned website of their business, it says coming soon, or better yet, there’s no website. And, to top it off, they’re adamant about how I’ve made mistakes marketing my business, especially on social media.
They mean well. But their social media pages are all about trips and baby photo’s. Surely I’m missing something here.
You cannot always listen to friends and relatives.
You need someone who has already been successful in starting and running a beauty business, especially online.
The best way to go about this, is to find a mentor who can teach you the ropes. This is someone who has already been successful in starting and running a beauty business and can share their insights and knowledge with you.
A mentor can help you avoid the common pitfalls and mistakes that are made when starting out. They will give you the guidance you need to grow your business into a success.
If you don’t have access to a mentor, then the next best thing is to read books and articles written by experts in the field. This will give you an overview of what it takes to start and run a successful beauty business and will provide you with some specific tips and strategies that you can implement in your own business.
The bottom line is that if you want to start a beauty business, don’t rely on the advice of someone who’s never done it before. Find a mentor or read expert articles so that you can learn from those who have already been successful in your industry. With the right guidance, you can make your dream of starting a beauty business a reality.
There’s no easy answer, but part of the reason may be that starting a business is often portrayed as a simple, straightforward process. In reality, however, it’s anything but.
Starting a beauty business is a complex undertaking that requires a great deal of planning, research, and preparation. It’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to sell and who you want to sell it to. Without this knowledge, it’s very difficult to create a successful business of any kind.
You’ll ultimately build a team of people who’ve worked in your space. Your team will consist of people who understand marketing, content creation, paid advertising and financial planning. It’s important to remember that you are the one ultimately responsible for making your business a success.
Therefore, if you’re thinking about starting a beauty business, seek advice from someone who is already familiar with your industry. Make sure they have a proven track record of success. Only then can you be sure that you’re making the best possible decisions for your business.
Starting a beauty business is a complex undertaking that requires a great deal of planning and research. Furthermore, you need to have a clear understanding of your industry and target market, as well as build a team of experts to help you.
Remember, you are the one ultimately responsible for the success of your business. Taking advice from someone who has never run a beauty business is not advisable. They are not familiar with your industry and have no proven track record of success.
Dive deeper into the world of beauty entrepreneurship by exploring the pages of “Selling Beauty Products Online: How to Turn Your Passion for Beauty Products Into an Online Business”. Available on Amazon.
Click Here to get your copy!
Unlock the secrets to building a thriving beauty brand. Embark on a transformative journey of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial success.
That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated to Your Success,
Juliette Samuel,
Esthetician/Author/Publisher,
3 key pillars? Launching a beauty business is a journey that offers many promises of creativity, fulfillment, and entrepreneurial triumph. However, your path to success is paved with careful considerations and strategic decisions.
In this article, we’ll explore three foundational pillars essential for laying a strong groundwork for your beauty empire. Each pillar represents a crucial aspect of your business strategy, inviting you to delve deeper into the world of beauty entrepreneurship.
Your niche is the beating heart of your beauty business. It’s a distinct territory that defines your brand’s identity and sets you apart in a crowded market. Think of your niche as your canvas, where you’ll unleash your creativity and expertise to captivate your audience. Are you passionate about clean skin care, natural hair care, or perhaps artisanal fragrances? By honing in on your niche, you carve out a specialized space where your passion and proficiency converge.
Delve deep into your chosen niche. Explore emerging trends, and identify needs that haven’t been met. They just might present opportunities for innovation and what could make you different. Remember, your niche isn’t just about what you sell. It’s about the story you tell and the emotions you bring to the surface of your clients. So, choose wisely, your niche will shape the very essence of your brand.
What sets your beauty brand apart from the rest? Your core competency holds the answer. It’s the secret sauce, the magic ingredient that infuses your brand with unparalleled allure and authenticity. Reflect on your strengths, expertise, and unique selling propositions. Perhaps you excel in formulating clean, eco-conscious products using sustainably sourced ingredients.
Maybe your brand revolves around inclusivity and diversity, celebrating beauty in all its forms. As part of the 3 key pillars, your core competency isn’t just about what you do. It’s about how you do it differently and better than anyone else. Embrace your strengths, leverage your expertise, and let your core competency shine through every aspect of your brand. From product development to marketing and customer experience, you’ve got this.
In the bustling landscape of beauty entrepreneurship, knowledge is power, and understanding your competitors is paramount. Conducting a thorough competitor analysis opens up valuable insights into market trends. You’ll also be able to see consumer preferences, and strategic opportunities when done right. Start by identifying key players in your niche. They can range from industry titans to niche disruptors.
Niche disruptors? Yes! Those people/businesses that see and approach a market in a completely different way.
Analyze their product offerings, pricing strategies, brand messaging, and customer engagement tactics. What sets them apart? What resonates with their audience? By dissecting your competitors’ strategies, you gain clarity for your own positioning. What makes you different and where can you improve?
Remember, competition isn’t just about outdoing others. It’s about understanding your market and carving out your unique space within it.
If you’re ready to begin your journey as a beauty entrepreneur, know that success lies deeper than your passion. It’s purposeful action and strategic decision making that will get you to your goal faster. By choosing your niche with care, embracing your core competency, and understanding your competitors, you lay a strong foundation for your beauty empire to thrive.
There are 3 more pillars. Curious to explore the remaining three pillars and how they might help with your success?
Dive deeper into the world of beauty and entrepreneurship by exploring the pages of “Selling Beauty Products Online: How to Turn Your Passion for Beauty Products Into an Online Business” available on Amazon.
Click Here to get your copy!
Unlock the secrets to building a thriving beauty brand and embark on a transformative journey of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial success.
That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated To Your Success
Juliette Samuel,
Owner/Author/Publisher,
Want to sell beauty products online? As an esthetician, handmade beauty artisan or aromatherapist, it’s a no brainer that you’re going to need an online presence to build your business and sell your products.
Selecting the right products to sell can make all the difference between success and obscurity. How do I know? I’m an esthetician who created a line of products and found out quickly that an online presence could create a lot of sales. Not only that, I could be in front of a lot more people than just being in a salon.
We had to really get focused on what we wanted to sell. In doing so, we were able to find a targeted audience with a problem and provide a solution.
There are countless options available to potential clients and at their fingertips I might add. So standing out requires careful consideration of several key factors. From quality and ingredients to trends and branding.
When it comes to beauty products, quality reigns supreme. Customers expect products that not only meet but exceed their expectations. They want visible results and a delightful experience all at the same time. Whether it’s a moisturizer that leaves their skin feeling silky smooth or a mascara that adds dramatic volume without clumping, quality is non-negotiable.
In the competitive world of online retail, your customers can’t physically touch or test products before purchasing. So delivering consistent quality is essential for building trust and loyalty. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations often hinge on the results and reliability of your products. Quality is the cornerstone of building your success.
Today’s consumer is increasingly mindful of what they put on their skin. This is prompting a surge in demand for products with natural, organic, and clean ingredients. From botanical extracts and essential oils to antioxidants and vitamins, your potential clients are seeking products that work. They also want to enhance their beauty and nourish and protect their skin.
Transparency about ingredients is key in gaining consumer trust and confidence. Let’s face it, you somehow don’t mention a nut oil and the client has a reaction, this will not be good for your company.
Therefore, providing detailed information about the benefits of each ingredient, can help educate and empower customers. This enables them to make informed decisions.
Moreover, certifications such as USDA Organic and Leaping Bunny can further validate the product’s commitment to quality and integrity.
In the fast-paced world of beauty, staying ahead of trends is essential for capturing the attention of potential clients. Whether it’s the rise of skin care minimalism, the popularity of clean beauty, or the emergence of K-beauty inspired routines, trends can drive sales. Aligning product offerings with current trends can also attract a broader audience.
Market research and consumer insights play a crucial role in identifying these emerging trends and understanding client preferences. Analyzing social media conversations, monitoring industry publications, and keeping an eye on competitor activities can provide valuable insights into what resonates with potential clients and where the market is headed.
You might think this is a lot of work, especially when you have to stay on top of your clientele base. It is!! However, if you want to turn your passion for beauty products into an online business, it’s going to take some work. Riding the wave of trends is just one of the things you’ll need to do.
In an era of endless choices, brand reputation can be a deciding factor for potential clients navigating the crowded beauty landscape. Established brands with a history of delivering high-quality products and exceptional customer service often enjoy a loyal following and widespread trust. However, as a newer brand, you can also carve out a niche for yourselves by focusing on authenticity, innovation, and transparency.
Building a positive brand reputation requires more than just selling products. It’s about cultivating a community, fostering meaningful connections, and delivering on brand promises. Engaging with customers through social media and responding promptly to inquiries and feedback, can help strengthen brand loyalty and advocacy. By actively participating in conversations about beauty and skin care, you can gain a lot of insight into building your brand.
In the digital realm of e-commerce, packaging plays a pivotal role in capturing the attention of consumers. Packaging also helps in conveying the essence of your product. Eye-catching designs, vibrant colors, and tactile finishes can make your product stand out in a sea of thumbnails and product listings. Packaging serves as a tangible representation of your brand’s identity and values.
Packaging isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s also about functionality and usability. Therefore, easy-to-open containers, travel-friendly sizes, and clear labeling enhance the overall customer experience. They can also contribute to positive reviews and repeat purchases. Additionally, eco-friendly packaging solutions resonate with environmentally conscious consumers, further bolstering brand appeal and reputation.
Pricing strategy is a delicate balancing act that requires consideration of various factors. They can include production costs, competitor pricing, perceived value, and target market demographics. Pricing too high may deter price-sensitive customers. Pricing too low may raise doubts about quality and efficacy. Finding the sweet spot that offers a compelling value proposition without sacrificing profitability is essential for long-term success.
Offering flexibility through bundling options, subscription services, or loyalty programs can incentivize repeat purchases and foster customer loyalty. Discounts, promotions, and limited-time offers can create a sense of urgency. They can also encourage impulse buys, driving sales and revenue growth.
Choosing the right beauty products to sell online requires a strategic blend of art and science. Combining market insights, consumer preferences, and brand values, can give you valuable information. Prioritizing quality, embracing ingredient transparency, staying attuned to trends helps build trust. Building a strong brand reputation, creating captivating packaging, and implementing a thoughtful pricing strategy, can give you an edge in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
You can dive deeper into the world of beauty entrepreneurship. How? By exploring the pages of “Selling Beauty Products Online: How to Turn Your Passion for Beauty Products Into an Online Business”. Available on Amazon.
Click Here to get your copy!
Psst … Want a FREE pdf copy of the workbook that mirrors the book? Send me a copy of your Amazon receipt as proof of purchase.
That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated To Your Success
Juliette Samuel,
Owner/Author/Publisher,
Embrace being unique when selling beauty products. Why? Because this could be your doorway to riches. There’s only one you and you’re the only one who can do what you do effectively.
Your tone of voice, your smile, the way you wear your hair all bring your uniqueness to the forefront when it’s time to distinguish and position yourself in the world of beauty.
While all of these are important, it’s your journey, the story you tell about how you got to where you are, that sets the tone. That’s right, your story. You might not think that your story is important, yet when you begin to speak about the knocks and bumps you took along the way, they will inspire others. People will identify with points in your story and see themselves overcoming their challenges, just as you did.
Your story and your journey might not seem like much to you. However, it will serve as a way of connecting with so many beauty product users and creators along the way. We tell out story in our book: Selling Beauty Products Online. It’s part of our uniqueness.
That’s why we say …
Along with your journey and story, the way you package your product, your logo, the color scheme you use to brand yourself, they are all part of your uniqueness.
Do I sense a bit of impostor syndrome? “Who’s going to listen to me or buy my beauty products”, you ask?
You’d be surprised!
Granted your product has to be of quality and help with beauty challenges that your audience has. They will buy it because it works. They will also buy it because you’ve taken time out to answer questions they might have. You might also decide to have a Facebook live session twice a month or pop-up beauty shows.
A more important way of being unique is in creating a blog that keeps your audience informed and engaged with up-to-date information about your chosen beauty field.
If it’s skin care, you might decide to specialize in acne or anti-aging products. This allows you to be focused on your clients needs in these skin care challenges.
If you fall into one of these two categories of challenges, all the better. You will have firsthand stories along with tried and true solutions that worked. Then again, maybe some of them didn’t. You can talk about the ones that didn’t and share why you didn’t include them in the line.
If it’s hair care and your specialty is hair loss, natural hair or locs, you can speak to these hair subjects with authority and better help your audience.
This is all part of bringing your uniqueness into the world of selling beauty products.
To be unique when selling your beauty products, doesn’t mean creating a gimmick that’s going to make you feel uncomfortable. You’ll have to own your uniqueness.
You must be confident in who you are, when selling your beauty products. In addition to that, you must love them with a passion. You will be eating, sleeping and breathing your products night and day, 24/7, 365.
If you can’t handle this kind of commitment about your product choice, you might want to choose another beauty product to sell.
Uniqueness is defined as the quality of being the only one of its kind. The quality of being particularly remarkable, special or unusual.
Does that sound like anyone you know? Take a look in the closest mirror. You’re looking at the definition of uniqueness in real-time. You …
For what it’s worth, you will define and set the standard for your beauty business. Make it uniquely You.
That’s if for this week. Let us know what you’d like to see more of and we’ll be sure to get it to you. As always …
Dedicated To Your Success,
Juliette & Robert,
Beauty products … Got an idea for a business selling beauty products, such as … skin care, hair care or body products? Don’t quite know where to begin?
See others doing what you want to do, yet you’re somewhat timid, (scared as hell actually) about stepping out?
You’re not a celebrity, therefore you can’t get the publicity and backing to put you before an audience.
I know the feeling. You’ve got a great idea, yet don’t quite know how to get it beyond your mental space.
It’s time to do a brain dump! Get a spiral notebook and start putting your ideas on paper. Yes … you have to move your fingers and actually write with a pen or pencil.
You will learn, that as you progress with your brain dump, there are certain core elements that will come into play. We’ve given you a head start with the questions below.
Stay narrow in your product and audience niche. It’s easier to build a reputation this way. Ask lots of questions of the people you want to sell too. You have somewhat of an idea of what you want to sell. The key here is, does your market want to purchase it?
Once you know what your audience wants to purchase, keep your initial offering to no more than three products. This will give you time to concentrate on how to serve your audience and answer their needs.
Remember, it’s not about you at this point. It’s about your niche/audience. How can You, help them find a solution to their challenge?
The clearer the product/solution, the better you’ll be able to speak to your audience. For example: Acne … what can your product do that hasn’t already been done when it comes to acne challenges.
Or, is it dark circles around the eyes? Does your eye cream or oil blend help minimize this challenge? Your beauty product must rise to the occasion.
There’s nothing worse than selling something you don’t like. You won’t be able to talk about it with passion or be genuine in your conversation about it.
Remember, you’ll be spending ALL of your time talking about, showing, writing, and studying about your product. If you don’t have a passion or interest in it, it will show when you begin to talk about it.
One of the reasons you’ve decided to start this side or main hustle, is to walk away from a job that you’re not happy going to on a daily basis. So why would you start a business selling a product you’re not really in love with?
You won’t be able to genuinely help anyone, because you really won’t give a hoot about the results it offers.
It’s almost guaranteed that there will be someone selling what you want to sell. This is competition and it’s a good thing. It shows there is a proven market/audience that wants to buy such a product.
Instead of lamenting over the fact that “competition” exist, ask yourself “How can I do it differently?”
When people buy products, they’re actually buying the marketing about the products or the brand that’s been created.
They are buying you! They’re buying the way you express yourself about the product, your sincerity, you tone of voice, your delivery through words.
Your ability to be genuine when speaking about your product will outsell anything anyone brings to market.
Most of you think that marketing is the key to selling beauty products. It’s extremely important. However, the one thing that a lot of you seem to overlook, is the fact that you’re going to have to create content.
Why content? Content helps you sell your products as well as become an authority in your space, establishing you as an expert. The more you talk about your product, its ingredients, what it will do for your skin, hair or whatever the challenge, the more you will be looked to for answers.
None of this happens without your own website, which needs content. I get it … you think you can put it up on social media and sell it. You still need content.
Well … you might be able to move a few pieces/containers. You don’t own this space and if all the social media platforms begin an algorithm change, it could hinder your growth.
Social media is no longer an environment where you can just put your products up and expect to keep selling them. You have to pay to play now and this takes a steep learning curve to get it right. Otherwise, you’ll loose big time financially.
Having your own website is like buying a home. As long as you can afford the monthly expenses, you’ve got a place to stay. Social media is like renting. An algorithm change or going against their Terms of Service, unknowingly, could be equivalent to getting evicted.
Working with these few points will get you brain dumping and bring clarity to your idea for a business. Remember I said earlier there are core elements involved in selling your beauty products?
To delve deeper, we’re finishing up a book for you. We’ll let you know when it’s ready.
It will definitely get you started delving deeper, and learning more about how to set a foundation for your beauty business.
Tell us what other information you’d like to see more of. We’ll bring it to you each and every week.
That’s it for this week, as always …
Dedicated To Your Success,
Juliette & Robert,
Handmade beauty products. How many of you actually enjoy making your own skin and hair care products? It can be exhilarating! It’s like giving birth to a new creation… your creation.
Some of you enjoy the beauty of blending and formulating. Others of you are creating products because you haven’t found anything in the current offerings that have helped you with Your challenge.
It’s your therapy. And if you’re working with essential oils, you get the bonus of scent therapy. The aroma of a beautiful scent can be relaxing, calming, as well as uplifting.
And on top of everything you’re feeling, it actually works. In all of your excitement, you decide you’re going to try to sell it, on the internet, no doubt.
You’ll begin with small batches. One, no more than two products. Do your research and find out what’s being asked for. Does what you want to make and sell, fit into the mix of what’s in demand?
Don’t be so quick to share your idea …
Here’s a word of caution, especially where family and friends are concerned. Shhhh … Keep it to yourself.
But whyyy?
Because jealously is going to rear its ugly head and you can save yourself a lot of heartache and disappointment.
Okay, some of you won’t have this problem. Some of you will have very supportive people willing to actually finance your endeavor. A lot of you won’t. So, should you decide to share, know who you’re talking to.
You ask: Who’s going to help me test my product? There are plenty of ways to test your product without people knowing its yours. You don’t want bad energy coming into your well protected space.
Have a sample in an unmarked travel size container in your purse or gym bag.
In the beginning, do whatever you can to self-fund your precious business.
Once you get past your trial period and enough people have liked the way you smell, or the way that lotion you shared made their hands feel or better yet, they liked the way your skin looked as the months progressed. Now … you can claim your space and move it forward.
It’s time to consider how you will sell your product. Let’s face it, even before COVID, you needed an online presence. That’s even more true of today’s selling environment.
The internet has made it possible to sell everywhere, from local communities to having a worldwide presence. Your beauty product is no different. You can be part of a local beauty popup event as well as shipping throughout the world.
COVID has slowed the shipping of merchandise from country to country. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t continue to plan. As a matter of fact, it’s the best time to plan. Use any downtime you can get and work on your business.
Document every detail of what you’re going through. It will help you when you need to recall how you got to where you are.
A lot of you feel that social media will be your go-to-platform for selling your products. Social media platforms are channels that will help you get in front of a given market. Hopefully the market you’d like to sell your products to.
However, you need a website. Why? Because social media platforms will change their algorithms and that change can strip you of a once attentive market.
The internet is a space that can seem and is often perceived as, well, somewhat cold. Your job is to create a selling environment that will be inviting enough for visitors to stay, purchase and return to and purchase more. This selling environment is your own store. A place you can interact with your customers and not risk losing them because of an algorithm change.
When you begin to create your store, if you’re new to this concept, it will be mind boggling. So much so, until you will want to hire someone to do it for you. That’s good. However, you will need to know what you want them to do. Once you have an idea, it’s time to get help.
What will you need to know in order to move your beauty products on the supper fast highway of the internet? What will you need help with? Web building skills, writing copy for your descriptions, the type of images needed, containers, labels, logo design, demographics, psychographics … and that’s just the beginning. Feeling Overwhelmed?
Of course, you are. Take a deep breath. It’s part of your learning curve. You will learn much as you begin your business journey. Not only about your business, you will learn a lot about who you are and what you’re made of.
Making your products is just the beginning. Once you’ve got it packaged and all prettied up, you’ve got to sell it.
Here’s where you will pull on your skills learned on your current or past jobs. You might have to do most of the work in the beginning. What skills do you have to get started and move your business forward?
▪ Were you part of a writing team? Now you learn how to transfer those skills to writing for the web. And yes, there is a difference between writing reports and copy for the web. You’ll need product descriptions, instructions on how to use, content for your market to read as it relates to your product helping them with their challenge.
▪ Served as part of the HR team? You understand how to look for good people that will help build your team.
▪ Worked in the graphic design department? Your skills can come into to play with logo design, color choices for branding your business.Ultimately, you’ll be hiring people to help you. When it’s time to pass the baton, you’ll know what to look for and what to avoid, in the person you bring to your team.
Can handmade beauty find its way in a super high-tech world? Absolutely!
To help you work your way through the mental maze you find yourself in, get a copy of our Free Worksheet: 9 Core Elements to Starting a Successful Beauty Business Online. It will act as a guide to help you think your way through the beginning phase of selling online.
That’s it for this week. As always, we’re …
Dedicated to Your Success
Juliette & Robert
Selling beauty products online? Yes! What’s next? You know that you need help. So, what do you look for and what do you avoid in a mentor? Seeking out a mentor to help you learn how to effectively sell beauty products online, can be exhausting.
Aside from a persons credentials, experience etc … You need to know what you want from such a professional. Even when you know what you want, it may not be what you need at that time. However, you will know where you want to begin and you can grow from there.
Most people get the first step wrong. Therefore, when hiring a professional to help you, have an outcome in mind.
Your outcome needs to be very clear and specific. If your outcome cannot be measured in terms of success or a lesson learned, you need to rethink it.
This is an important step, therefore, you don’t waste your time. Besides that, It will also help the person you’re considering, to know exactly what kind of advice to offer you.
Your mentor/coach will be of much greater assistance to you when you focus on one outcome and are clear on the outcome you expect.
This is also a great way to separate the great mentoring professionals from the average ones.
You see, there are some so-called experts out there in the beauty business. They’ve read about running such a business, yet never actually owned one.
This presents a problem. Why? Because these people are not skilled in many areas of running an online beauty business.
We’ve had some excellent mentors to help on the digital marketing side of being online. And because they were not specific or had little to no experience in the beauty industry as a whole, it often presented a problem. We found out, that we knew more than we thought.
We learned at that point, that our problem was more of not having confidence in what we knew.
In fact, they only had very general knowledge. If this person has not owned and operated a successful beauty business themselves, especially one with an online presence, they are not the right mentor for you.
If you have a measurable outcome and specific focus when you meet them, you will easily be able to know the real experts from the fakes.
Once again, please don’t waste your time and money with the wrong mentoring professional.
If you currently don’t really know what you need from a mentor, then you need to sit down and figure this out first.
Don’t leave this step out. It is actually very easy to do if you know what you need. However, if you find that you don’t have a clue, a strategy session with a mentor will be your next step.
Ask yourself where your business is in terms of its growth.
– Maybe you need help building a website?
– Do you need help with your metrics?
– Are you in need of help with Internet marketing?
– Do you want to create a new product or service?
– Will you need help with creating content?
– Do you need help building your list?
Whatever your outcome is, you need to be clear on it. Remember to be specific and have a clear deadline for your goal.
Once you have this step complete, check out a number of experts who fit with your intended outcome.
You can narrow your search down and give yourself a much greater chance of success.
In fact, when you do this step you are almost guaranteed a successful relationship with your coach.
There are literally thousands of mentors out there.
However, there are only a few mentors that have success and willing to help you. These are the ones that you want to work with.
Think of it like this…
When a sports star wants to increase their success, who do they look for?
They look for people who have already accomplished what they want to have.
The best people in every profession model themselves on those that have succeeded in the past. They don’t settle for the first person that comes along.
This is the same way that you need to approach your own coach or mentor. Don’t fall into the trap of believing hype or clever sales copy.
As such, you need to find out about the level of success they have had in the past.
If they currently have an online business, take a look at how they’ve set themselves up. One thing to keep in mind, is that there is a lot of internal work that goes into setting up an online store.
There’s more to it than meets the eye. For instance, you cannot run a business purely on social media. Social media is a tool used to make people aware of who you are.
And just because you don’t see a business on a certain platform, doesn’t mean they are not successful. Everything boils down to where your market/customer is found. For some, it will be Facebook, others will find a better flow with Pinterest. And while Instagram is the new darling in social media, doesn’t mean it will work for you.
There is a night and day difference between a good mentor and a great mentor.
Here’s why. A great mentor can give you many of the shortcuts they’ve based on their vast experience. They can literally save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars.
This alone makes the mentor a worthwhile investment.
A great mentor will also understand what you need to know at what time. They will understand the long-term implications of each action in terms of setting up and growing your beauty business online.
The great mentor will have systems that you can easily plug into your own beauty business and transform it very quickly.
All of this means that you can begin to make (or increase) profits in a far shorter time than with a mediocre mentor.
Of course, this is the whole purpose of a mentor. If they don’t make you more than your investment, then you need to find someone else. The key to this is how quickly You Do the Work.
While the profit you make with their ideas and advice is important, more often than not, they can help you find direction. This can result in greater value than income earned when you’re lost and confused.
Mentoring is the process where you pay for advice and help from someone with experience who’s achieved what you want to achieve.
The basic idea is very simple. The mentor helps you increase your beauty business’ visibility and bottom line. If the mentor doesn’t help you gain knowledge, clarity and understanding of what you’re doing, then he or she is actually costing you money.
You can hire a mentor to work on any aspect of your beauty business.
For example, you can hire an Internet marketing expert who can help to drive more traffic to your website (and increase your sales). A marketing expert to help you with your marketing.
You can also hire an offline mentor. This could be someone that you meet with and apply advertising methods offline.
You may also want to hire a mentor that can advise you on how to redesign your beauty studio or premises. Again, the outcome needs to increase your profits.
Generally, you will meet with your mentor once a week. During this session, which often lasts one hour, you will plan and discuss what actions you have taken over the previous week.
You will see how they have helped you with your business.
You will also discuss what will be done in the next week.
All mentoring sessions should revolve around action steps. If you only speak and talk in general terms, then you will get little from the relationship.
Your beauty business mentor should push you beyond your comfort zone. This is part of holding you accountable for the assignment given the previous week. This is a key aspect of mentoring.
If you just keep doing the things that you are currently doing, your results are NOT going to change.
Your business mentor should only be concerned with helping you with your business. This is how your relationship starts out at least. Overtime, after working together on multiple projects, they can often become a friend and confidant.
Selling beauty products online is not easy. At times, your mentor may need to be brutally honest. They will hold you accountable and keep you on track. Even when you have good sounding excuses, you will need their honesty.
This is the way to make fast progress and reach your goals much faster.
Your mentor should preferably have owned and operated a business in the beauty space, especially online.
Think of your mentor as a long-term investment in your business. They should help you to set up a system that makes your business grow week after week.
Don’t expect your mentor to be overly sensitive. I have found the most successful mentors are solely focused on the outcome. Remember that your mentor has his or her own reputation to uphold also (e.g. they work with winners).
For this reason, you need to find a mentor that fits your personality type. Many people cannot handle such a focused mindset and don’t like to be held accountable.
So … you need to get clear on what matters most to you.
Do you want to feel comfortable or do you want a successful online beauty business?
I advise you to find a mentor that pushes you and challenges you to be the best you can be. Don’t settle for second best.
Take action today.
It is important that you know if the mentoring you paid for was successful.
If it was successful then you will want to hire the mentor again for another month or more.
For example, if your online beauty business just generated an extra $2000 in profit, then you need to keep applying what’s working.
On the other hand, if you gained no quantifiable results then you need to end the relationship and move on.
So the way you measure success is very important.
Set a very specific, quantifiable goal at the start of the mentoring agreement.
For example … My business will be launched and collecting data by a given date. My email list will have grown by a certain number by a given date.
In many cases, you can find mentors that you pay based on results. This is an option for you.
In such cases, you don’t pay the business mentor unless they bring you a certain number of new clients, leads or sales.
Many mentors like to work on results as they can ask for a percentage of the sales increase. You need to work out if this is a good deal for you.
Other mentors like to work for a fixed price. They often give you a price per month. Other mentors might ask you to pay by the hour.
At the start of the relationship it’s a good idea to tell them your desired outcome. Make this very clear to them.
The best mentors will appreciate this level of honesty and focus. Others might try to change your goal. If this is the case, then you should be wary of them. Unless your goal is unrealistic). Say twelve million dollars in 6 months … that’s an unrealistic goal, especially for new beauty businesses.
In some cases, you can amend the goal a little, but ensure that you both agree on the outcome before you send them any money.
You also need to take full responsibility for your own actions during the relationship. The mentor cannot increase your business without you taking repeated actions.
You need to act on the information and advice that you are given.
At the end of the mentoring period, check your results and measure the success of the mentoring.
Good luck!
This depends on your circumstances and personality type.
Let’s look at the benefits of both group mentoring and one-on-one mentoring.
As part of a group, you are going to see business problems and experiences that other people in your market are going through. These can be very good learning experiences for you.
Often seeing the problems of other beauty businesses gives you a new perspective on your own situation. You might figure out a way to grow your business by listening to other people in your group.
This is probably the biggest benefit of group mentoring. You get fresh ideas from a number of people, as well as your mentor. Just hearing the comments of other people can give you new insights that can increase your profits.
Communicating with other people in your marketplace lets you exchange commonalities. Often you will find out how other businesses have dealt with issues that you may have.
It’s a good time to make new contacts in the market.
Networking is very important in any business. In many causes your business may benefit from knowing others. You may have products or services that you can sell to others.
Other businesses might have products that you can refer to your current customers. This is another way to increase your profits very easily.
Having a mentor give personal advice for your beauty business is the fastest way to increase your business. In a group setting, a mentor can only give you a small chunk of his or her time.
With one hour each week, you can plan and implement many more strategies into your business. You will have the undivided attention of your mentor.
This is almost like having an extra member of staff with you.
Ultimately, speaking to a mentor one-on-one, is more dynamic and intimate than any group session can offer. You can really get down to the details of your beauty business.
In a group setting, you are less likely to give up personal or confidential information. Often it is this information that makes all the difference in your business.
One-on-one mentoring gives you much faster growth opportunities. You can grow at a much greater speed when you have an expert spending time to analyze and improve your business.
One-on-one mentoring is how the world’s best businesses grow so fast. They get personal advice from the leading experts in their field and put it into action.
What’s Next? … you need to think about what level of mentoring is best for you right now and then make your decision based on that.
Take action now and move forward.
For your beauty business, one of the best things you can do is get a referral from a friend or someone you know.
Why are referrals so powerful?
A Poor mentor is never to going to get personal referrals. Why? Because they don’t want to be associated with the reputation of a poor mentor.
However, they will want to recommend someone who’s helped them. One that created a successful relationship and helped increase their business growth and profits.
This is why a referral is the best way to find the top mentors in the beauty business world.
In essence, you need to get a referral from a trusted source. Not all referrals are created equal.
The next point is very important. Always go to trusted sources for your referrals. If you find that, your friends, family members or close associates don’t have any referrals for you, then you need to look elsewhere.
This is where it can be a little tricky as you need to rely on the unbiased view of the person giving the referral.
Bottom line, you need to look at respected people in your business. You can often find these people in your city or online.
There are many very helpful people that give out free advice via forum boards. Again, look for those that are successful and want to help without having a side agenda.
Don’t accept referrals from associates of the mentor.
It is very easy for mentors to set up referral systems with other people in different industries. All they have to do is refer readers and customers in return for a reciprocal benefit.
Sometimes you might think a referral is genuine. It coud be an established relationship. Be wary of this.
Get referrals from people you know personally and trust. This is the number one way to find a great mentor for your beauty business.
Look for referrals from people who have a strong reputation and trusted in the industry.
If you use these two methods of finding referrals, you will be well on your way to finding a great mentor for your online beauty business.
Mentoring is an unregulated field. Be slow to hire and quick to fire.
Search locally and via the Internet.
Set up Zoom meetings. This will break the ice.
More importantly, with COVID – 19, the power of the Internet is your best choice. The internet makes it possible for you to even work with an international mentor using free communication software.
This really gives you a huge advantage over other businesses as you can find the best mentor for your online beauty business anywhere in the world.
The best mentor for your online beauty business is one that is involved in running one. Or used to run an online beauty company. They will know how to guide you through the good, the bad and the ugly of online sales.
It’s best if they were involved in selling beauty products online. If your mentor has done it, this the type of information you need to know.
That’s it for the time being. If you want to learn more about how to start and market a business that sells beauty product via the internet, check us out at beautybusinessblueprint.com.
Get our Free give-a-way: 9 Core Elements to Starting A Successful Beauty Business Online. It will get you thinking and we can help you fill in the gaps.
As always …
Dedicated To Your Success,
Juliette Samuel,
If you don’t think you need a promotional calendar for your beauty business … Think again! Without a planning instrument your business will not have any organized structure to it.
Promotional calendars help you set up launches of new products and promotions for the year. It can act as a road map or system for your beauty business. The promotional calendar is also for setting up your planned income for any given year.
For instance, let’s take a look at Valentines Day. Do you have a promotional plan for Valentines Day? If so, have you set it to your calendar? When are you scheduled to begin your promotion?
Okay, most people would think that a Valentine Promotion should begin in Mid January. Not necessarily. The promotion to your email list will begin in Mid January but the actual planning phase should begin by July and that’s late in the year.
Why? Because depending on what you promote, unless you ordered your inventory for Valentine’s Day when you ordered your inventory for Christmas, you’ll be placing orders in Mid November for your Valentine Day Promotion.
Sounds like a lot to do? Not really. Your calendar should really be planned a year out.
By the end of every year, as a business owner you should have worked on a plan of how you’re going to approach the coming year. Not there yet? Begin where you are!
What do you want your business to look like a year from now? How will you plan it out? What promotions will you launch to get you there? Does your business allow you to promote your product for Holiday’s like Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day? Better yet, can your product open up doors for you to promote Spa Week, or Grandparents Day?
Once you decide what promotions you’ll do during the year, what will you offer? What inventory will you need for each campaign that you promote?
These questions are just the beginning of what will become the template of how you sit down and plan out your year of promotions for your beauty business. A successful campaign can be done over and over again with tweaks here and there.
If you rolled out a campaign and it didn’t give you the results you wanted, take a look at what worked and what didn’t. Keep the good and recreate another approach for the ugly.
There is no bad here, just great information for you to pull from after you’ve done a promotion for your beauty business.
Setting up a promotional calendar doesn’t just apply to your holiday promotions. One of the most neglected items promoted is your content. Do you write and post content to your website? If you don’t you should. If you do write and post, do you promote what you write and post?
For years, we didn’t promote our content. We were diligent in posting weekly to our blog and at least twice a month to our website. Yet, aside from a weekly newsletter to out list, we did not promote the content. Posting to Facebook and Twitter has allowed us to gain more eyeballs on the content we post.
Whenever possible we also try to get guest post on other related websites, so that we can get before relative readers on other peoples platforms.
As a woman working from home, you set up calendars every week. Whether you have children or not, you’re always planning activities that you are involved in. Shopping, working out, cooking, after school activities, hair appointments, Friday night dates and the list goes on and on.
If you’ve come out of Corporate America, you’ve always worked with promotional calendars. It’s now time to bring those skills into your beauty business and watch it sore. That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated to Your Success
Juliette & Robert Samuel