Episode 22 - Direct Mail Magic - How I got 85% conversions on catalogs

I love interviewing product makers to hear their story and to find out the marketing tips that have worked...and the ones that haven’t. One of the things I realized is that, you don’t know my product business story.

So today on 2 Hands Made This, I’ll share with you the same things I ask my guests. And I’ll tell you about the marketing strategies that worked best for my product business (and yes, there are some ugly cries of failed campaigns too.)

Kitchen table epiphany - remembering how you started.

I’ve been a maker...it seems like forever. In the mid 90’s I had a gourmet deli. After that I had a drastic life change with my first daughter...which lead me to give up the idea of going out and working a JOB. When my second and third children were born...I was a stay at home mom. Which gave me the opportunity to fulfill my desire to do my own thing. 

I always loved making...I had a line of baby clothes - called Hampton Baby...which in 1995 - 1997 there really wasn’t ecommerce so I sold to like shops. But...with a toddler, my days at the sewing machine where few and father between. Which was ok.

I got into aromatherapy in the late 90s. I ended up getting my aromatherapy certification (clinical aromatherapy) from the West Coast Institute of Aromatherapy in BC. I loved making blends. It was when I read the ingredients on the baby lotion bottle that I started my own skincare line. The ingredients I read were toxic...and I was putting that on my babies skin. 

That’s when I created my skincare line...first called Good Ground Botanicals. 

In 2002 discovered the Indie Business Network...which then helped me source great raw materials suppliers and gave me ideas on product development and creating a handmade skincare business.

I had product on every flat surface in my house. 

It was the point at which I had to decided, do I go find a small production/warehouse...which to me at that time freaked my out...because that meant I would either have to bring my kids there...or have someone watched them (and that was OUT OF THE QUESTION) and a story for another time.

So I took a time out...a decided to also get a life coaching certification and did a lot of mindset work...but I really missed making stuff.

So I also took a chocolatier class and ended up becoming a professional chocolatier. That was fun!! I made wedding favors and things like that. I wanted a shop after doing a feasibility study, realized that where I live I’d have to sell a lot of chocolate just to pay the rent…(but there’s a chocolate shop still in my future.)

So I went back to skincare. I had people asking me for products so I started back up...rebranded, renamed to Ba6 Botanicals, and jumped in. 

I also took a GMP class that IBN had...because if I really wanted to scale I need a production studio that was GMP compliant and met FDA standards for production.

LOL my first website was on Web.com… it was horrible. The product photos were so bad. But...over time I learned how to take product photos and how to put together a marketing strategy that would sell product.
 

How did you come about your brand voice - When you first created your brand voice - because this matters when it comes to your marketing. Your brand voice is reflected in every piece of marketing.

What have been the marketing “things” you’ve tried over the years.

Events - Spark and Hustle was a big one for me...though it “looked good” I maybe got ONE sale. It was then I learned to be strategic with events… and NOT be a sponsor because that was just a way for the presenters to have other people pay for the event.

Social media...IG since 2014...didn’t post a lot...but it was back then...when everyone got seen.

Ugly cries of failed campaigns - the things that didn’t work...that you thought would.

Ugly cries for me were events and sponsors