Grab a bag and get a deal!

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:16:59 +0000

Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen now offers grab bags for sale. These will be available for a limited time only so be sure to get your hands on one - or three - while supplies last.

Each grab bag contains a set of six handmade, cold process shea butter soaps for a special low price of just $3.33 each. These bars are regularly $5 a piece. While you don't know what soaps you're getting, you can save $10 by taking advantage of this special offer. The only thing wrong with these soaps is that they are a little shop worn from handling. You are guaranteed to receive six different types soap of soap. They may be any of the fragrances of soaps I carry and for any skin type.

Buy these fragrant or unscented soaps to keep stocked in your closet for use in your shower or to use by the sinks in your home. You can also use these soaps to grate and use in homemade laundry detergent. See recipe here. This offer is available online only.

Wexford Jewelers Rose Garden Ring Giveaway

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:22:51 +0000

Named "Black is the Color of My True Love's Heart," this simple, handmade Rose Garden ring from Wexford Jewelers is permanently blackened with liver of sulphur. This chemical process turns the metal a deep blue-black, leaves no residue, and will stay on the item through repeated hand-washings. Eventually, the silver shines through in the high spots, making a realistic antique finish that is absolutely lovely. It's retail value is $58. Now through July 31st, 2010 you can enter to win this amazing ring in your choice of size and finish. This ring is exclusive to Wexford Jewelers and is available in sizes 3 to 10 and in white silver, black silver, or antiqued finish.

Wexford Jewelers creates unique, handmade items in their Northern Michigan foundry. They offer a growing collection of rings, pendants, earrings, and art. Jewelry making and art is part of this family company's passion so it's natural that they specialize in custom designs. They began as a freestanding store in Cadillac, Michigan in May of 1995 and were pleased to find that their designs captured the hearts and imaginations of so many people over the years. As time has moved forward they decided that they wanted to share their product with the world, which in turn led to the creation of their online store Wexford Jewelers.

If you'd like to enter to win this lovely rose garden ring you'll need to visit Soap Deli News Blog on or before July 31, 2010.

New Lemon Lavender Soap

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:31:06 +0000

I'm happy to announce that my new Lemon Lavender Soap is now available for sale. My handmade, cold process Lemon Lavender Shea Butter Soap reflects the seasonal summer fragrances of lemon and lavender. This yellow colored bar is strongly scented so you are left with a light fragrance on your skin even after you've left the shower. Each bar weighs 4oz. - 4.5oz. and is all natural except for the fragrance. Vegan.

Like my other quality, shea butter soaps, my handmade Lemon Lavender Soap is rich in moisturizing oils and butters for happier, healthier skin. You're sure to love the thick, creamy lather of this and my other soaps so much, that you'll be back for more before you know it! Great for shaving, too! This soap is suitable for normal to oily skin and lathers beautifully even in hard water.

This soap can be purchased now in my online shop on etsy.

Lilly Queen Handmade Darlia Earrings Giveaway

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:36:07 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to interview Sara of Lilly Queen - a handmade jewelry shop on Etsy. Here's what she had to say about herself and her shop.

How long have you been crafting and what is the first thing you remember making?
Ive been crafting since as early as I can remember. I come from a very crafty family. My father can build whatever you need and fix just about everything. My mother is a watercolor artist, lampwork artist, and silversmith. My sister is also a lampwork artist and has her pieces shown in galleries all over Connecticut.

I first started making seed bead bracelets and selling them to my fellow 4th grade class. I also used to make those friendship bracelet out of embroidery thread and sell them at tag sales. I think Ive come quite a far way since those days.

How did you fall into selling jewelry?
Honestly I cant even remember. I think it all started with the friendship bracelets that we made at summer camp. Everyone always liked mine so I sold them for a quarter and it started catching on. Then people want custom ones, and beaded ones, and you name it I was getting "orders" for it. I guess it just stuck after that.

What are your favorite materials to use and what inspires your creations?
I love antiqued brass, its warm, its earthy, and for someone like me who hates to clean her sterling silver jewelry, you don't have to worry about it tarnishing. To me its also very shabby chic and romantic.

Inspiration comes from EVERYTHING, I don't think you can ask an artist (of any kind) what inspires them and get a straight answer. Nature inspires me, the colors of plants, foods, names of things...

Share one thing most people wouldn't know about you.
Just about 25 years old (June 25th is my birthday) and I still own my baby blanket and sleep with it ever night.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
My family :)

Sara has also been kind enough to offer up a pair of her earrings in a giveaway. Now through June 25th, 2010 you can enter to win these delightful Darlia Earrings from Lilly Queen! The oval faceted glass beads of these earrings are looped to a czech glass clear round. These beads are then attached to a antiqued brass lever earwire. These earrings are approximately 2 inches long and are valued at $11. Contest is open worldwide.

To enter this contest, simply visit my blog, Soap Deli News, on or before June 25, 2010.

Rebecca\'s Soap Delicatessen Gift Certificate Giveaway

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:29:24 +0000

If you're a fan of handmade bath and body products then you've come to the right place! Because right now I'm running a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen - home of my divinely scented, shea butter soaps and rich, moisturizing goat milk lotions. $25 will score you anything you want from my shop with shipping. Allergic to scents? No worries. I carry unscented varieties of soap as well.

My handcrafted soaps contain skin loving ingredients like shea butter, rice bran, coconut, and olive oils and they all create a wonderfully, rich lather that you can both shave with or use as a shampoo bar. All of my soaps are made from scratch using the cold process soapmaking method, never a pre-existing base. One use and you're sure to love the difference my soaps make on your skin in comparison to commercial soap bars.

Soap Pictured: My handmade, cold process Big Lick Sea Salt Soap the perfect soap for dry or problem skin. Great as a facial bar or all over, this bar contains both shea and cocoa butters as well as an abundance of skin loving oils such as Olive and Rice Bran, both known for their moisturizing properties. It also contains sea salt, known for it's healing properties. It leaves behind a bit of your body's own natural excess oil to help smooth and rehydrate your skin. Leaves you feeling moisturized, not oily or greasy, while still getting you clean. Also makes a great shampoo bar.

My Big Lick Salt Bar is named after my hometown of Roanoke, Virginia which was originally a village called the Big Lick. Big Lick was established in 1852 and chartered in 1874 and became the town of Roanoke in 1882 and two years later an independent city.

This wonderful shea and cocoa butter soap has a very fresh greenery base of clover, ivy and aloe, combined with exciting notes of grapefuit, orange, tangerine, and persimmon. It's a very fresh, clean smell and is a unisex scent perfect for both men and women. Bar weighs 4oz. - 4.5oz. Vegan.

To enter this contest simply visit my blog, Soap Deli News, on June 18th, 2010 at midnight EST to enter.

A How To: Increase your online shop\'s exposure through giveaways.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:14:15 +0000

Giveaways are fun. They create excitement and can be a great tool for getting consumers to visit your online shop. The more traffic you can bring to your shop, the higher your chances of making a sale. And while all giveaways don't mean sales, what they do equate to is great exposure, name recognition, and possible sales down the line. Running a successful giveaway, however, can be trying and I know a lot of indie business owners who have been disappointed by how little traffic their giveaway has yielded. Because of this I've decided to share my tips on how to run an effective giveaway for promoting your shop.

Decide on a prize. First and foremost you need to decide what type of item you'd like to offer as a prize. While it's tempting to offer that bracelet that never sold and sat in your shop until it expired, this is not the type of item you want to give away. Look over your shop or inventory and pick a product that has gotten a lot of positive attention. Even pick an item that you have sold and re-create something similar. Why? Because you want people to want to take the time to enter your giveaway and most will only do this if you're offering a product they like and can use. Think about who your target market is and what they would want. Also, be sure to keep in mind the retail value of your prize. People like big prizes - things they wouldn't necessarily be able to afford or justify buying without knowing the business or the product. Further, the broader the appeal of your prize, the more entries you're likely to receive as well. Remember that if you can't get consumers to enter your contest, then you're missing out on potential new traffic sources for your shop. Then decide on a prize.

Host your contest. Now that you've decided what you're going to give away, you'll need to decide how to host your contest. If you have a blog or website, that's the best place to start. Not only will you increase traffic to your blog and potentially gain new followers, but you can set the terms you want for entering your contest as well. Don't discount having other sites host your contest for you though. Other blogs and sites often have different audiences which ensures you are reaching new people and not the same ones over and over again. If you don't have a blog, now would be a good time to start one with the giveaway giving you a big introductory push. There are free blogs that cost little to nothing such as Google's free blogging platform, Blogger. I highly recommend using Blogger for a first time blog as it's easy to work with and will automatically be indexed by Google.

Setting up your giveaway. Setting up a giveaway really isn't difficult. Writing the copy is the easy part .After all, you already know everything there is to know about your product. However, what you do need to think about is what you want to gain from the giveaway. Do you want to increase traffic, gain sales, expand your social network? All of these are important things to consider. Personally I'd never pass up the opportunity to expand my social network through sites like twitter and facebook. Friends share things that interest them with their friends and so on, which can lead to a lot of indirect marketing the larger your network grows.

Here is how I set up my contests.

1. Start with a paragraph about the contest. What can visitors enter to win? Include a brief description.

2. Include a photograph of the prize.

3. Expand on the prize being offered and/or include information about what you sell in your shop. This is your chance to not only show off some of your best work through the contest, but to push your shop and the other items in it. If you hope to gain sales from this contest, include a discount code here or a special free shipping offer if a purchase is made. Be sure you include a link to your shop.

4. Include a spotlight of some of your other products if you like. Use a free program like gimp.org to create a photo collage of some of your other work to encourage greater interest in your shop.

5. Tell your visitors how they can enter your contest and set up your rules. When will the contest end? Who are you willing to ship to? How old do you have to be to enter? How many times can a contestant enter? Be sure to address how contestant information will be used as well. I always want visitors to have to browse the items available in my shop, so here's an example of what I might put here:

Want to win? Now through Sunday, May , 2010 11:59pm EST you can enter to win a free CONTEST PRIZE! To enter this contest simply visit YOUR SHOP NAME (WITH LINK) and pick out your favorite item. Then leave a comment with your favorite item to enter. This contest is open to residents of US and Canada ages 18 and up. Limit one entry per household/person/email. Please remember to leave a way for me to contact you if you win. Your contact information will only be used for acquiring your address information should you win this contest.

To increase exposure for your contest and to add to your social network, you can also add additional ways to enter. For example:

You may complete each of the following tasks for one additional entry for each task completed. Please comment in a separate post for each task.

1. Tweet this contest. Comment with your tweet.
2. Become a fan of YOUR SHOP NAME on Facebook. Leave a comment. (Don't forget to include a link.)
3. Blog about this contest. Comment with a link to the blog post.
4. Sign up for my newsletter.
5. Follow this blog.

Marketing your contest. Marketing is a never ending necessity. It's great for exposure and can be more effective than advertising in the long run if done properly. While advertising and marketing together make for the best outcome, I understand that not everyone can afford to run ad campaigns. Therefore, to market your shop, you must market your contest. Here's how.

1. Utilize your social networks. Use platforms like twitter and plurk to announce the contest to your followers with a direct link to enter. Share your contest with others on facebook. Post about your contest on other social network platforms and social communities you may be a part of. This may include forums like Crafster and blogs on sites like Ning networks.

2. Submit your contest to popular sweepstakes sites. You can google for these and pick and choose where you'd like to submit your contest. Ones I recommend are Online-Sweepstakes.com and CashNetSweeps.com I also like Etsygiveaways.blogspot.com as they directly target handmade interested consumers and will post your contest, regardless of venue, as long as the prize is not commercially produced.

Draw your winner. Once the contest has ended you'll need to draw a winner. A great way to do this is to use a random generator. You can find one at Random.org. You'll then need to email your winner for his or her shipping information. Be sure to ship out the winner's prize within a reasonable amount of time. If it takes you a month to ship the prize, this could reflect poorly on your business practices.

I hope this article helps everyone who has wanted to run a contest but hasn't been sure how. After all, contests are a wonderful marketing technique and are often less expensive than advertising.

Bringing in more online sales. What you should know.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:12:04 +0000

If you are only selling your work online you are missing out on a whole other market for your work. For four years I sold on my local city market along with etsy. Tourists who bought and loved my products came back to shop with me online because they weren't close enough to shop with me locally. They bought gifts for their friends who in turn shopped with me. They told others about my products and so on and so forth.

Last July I took a break from selling both online and off due to medical reasons. I am no longer selling on the market at all. However, I did put my soaps into local gift shops. I work with these shops both on consignment and wholesale. I filled my etsy shop back up. I started working on my blog again. I put myself out there. I started making sales again. And some of those sales were from people who found me locally but lived elsewhere. One person was visiting for a local college graduation and bought one bar of soap at a gift shop. He returned to etsy to buy five more. Another customer from TWO YEARS AGO when I was selling on the market made a purchase just the other day for six bars of soap because she realized she wasn't going to make it back to Virginia anytime soon. Another customer this week made a purchase from just two cities over here on etsy based off a local purchase here in a gift shop. Three sales that I know off based on me putting my products out in the "real world" in just the last seven days. So if you haven't tried to sell wholesale or given a local farmer's market a try, maybe you should rethink doing so. In the long run it does pay off.

Something else. Goal setting really does work. I recently have come to really only on my etsy income. So I have to make money. Because I just started trying to sell online again at the end of last month I've been really worried about getting my sales started back up from basically a complete standstill. But I gave myself a goal of getting an average of one sale a day for the month of June. So far I'm ahead by two sales. What did I do? I went back to basics. I renew several items a day - usually three and that's it - just so I have something that is fresh in searches. I started posting in the etsy forums on a regular basis again. I began posting on my facebook fan page and twitter again. I started my blog back up and have been posting daily. I am actively seeking out blogs with a readership in my target market to review or blog about my work. I am running a contest. When one thing fails, I try something else. I am persistent. I refuse to be discouraged. If I don't make a sale one day, it's okay. There is always tomorrow. I trust in karma. I do a good deed for something else and believe it will come back around when I need it most. And most of all I treat my customers how I would want to be treated. Even if it's going to cost me money in the long run. Because at the end of the day both my customer and myself will feel good about it and you never know when someone will put in a good word for you.

Goat Milk Lotion and Shea Butter Soap Gift Sets Now Available Online

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:57:48 +0000

You can now purchase full sized goat milk lotions from Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen online at a special price as part of a gift set with two matching shea butter soaps. My deliciously scented, handmade bath and body gift sets contains one 8.5 oz. Honey and Goat Milk Lotion with Shea Butter and two 4 oz. bars of cold process, shea butter soaps in the scent of your choice. Buy these fabulous sets as a luxurious treat for yourself or as a tempting gift for someone you love. Sets are just $20 plus $5 shipping. Currently the following scents are available: Red Velvet Cake, Mango and Papaya, Sexy Caitlyn, Star City Seduction, Falling for You, and Raspberry Lemonade. Lemon and Lavender coming soon. Shop now on Etsy.

Freebie with Purchase!

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:48:28 +0000

I'm celebrating my birthday on June 10th, and instead of receiving I'm doing a little giving! Make any $10 purchase from Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen online between now and June 10th, 2010 and I'll throw in a free handmade Mineral Make Up Eyeshadow from EcoGlo Minerals. Each shadow has a retail value of $5. Color choice may vary. You may request your color choice, but color is not guaranteed. Colors available are: Lavender, Sky, Cocoa, Moss, and Charcoal. Offer good while supplies last. Simply mention BIRTHDAY GIRL in the notes to seller and color choice to take advantage of this offer. Shop now.

New Summer Scent - Raspberry Lemonade Soap

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:17:25 +0000

New to my online shop - the perfect summer scent of Raspberry Lemonade! Enjoy the sweet and delicious fragrance of this soap that's been specially formulated for those with dry skin! My handmade, cold process Raspberry Lemonade Shea Butter Soap is specially formulated for those with dry skin. Great as a facial bar or all over, this bar contains both shea and cocoa butters as well as an abundance of skin loving oils such as Olive and Rice Bran, both known for their moisturizing properties. This soap gets you clean, but also leaves behind a bit of your body's own natural oils to help smooth and rehydrate your skin. Leaves you feeling moisturized, not oily. Also makes a great shampoo bar.

My Raspberry Lemonade is a delicious, fruity summer blend of raspberry, lemonade, sugar and vanilla. Bar weighs 4oz. - 5oz. This beautiful pinkish purple bar with yellow squares is all natural except for fragrance. Vegan. A great decorative soap for gift giving or just enjoying all year long.

Buy this soap now online at Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen or in downtown Roanoke, VA at Calhoun & Kipp.