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zoecore posted:I'm looking for anyone who makes soap / lotions / candles made with Moke flower scent (also sometimes called Dok Moke). If you find any, send them my way. Miiiight be able to help you out in the future, Etsy convo sent.
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Jan 23, 2012 14:51
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Flutterbyblue, I wanted to let you know that your stuff is gorgeous and makes me drool every time your new products pop up on my facebook news feed and I love my hair clip I bought from you. I even wore it out yesterday for Valentine's Day sushi and got compliments on it.  Anyway, some of you might remember me. I started a soap company back in November 2011, but I allowed my Etsy store to languish while I dealt with the major upheaval of losing my full time job in 2012 as well as trying to figure out wedding planning, career paths and my fiance going to school full time while working full time. I've finally settled back on stable ground and want to focus on my business more, but I'm running into a couple of issues I was hoping you fellow Etsy sellers might be able to help me with! For reference Blue Orchid Body Care is my Etsy store. I also have a 'real' website. Surprisingly, even though I haven't put in much effort at all in the past year I've had some decent sales on both storefronts as well as a couple handmade shows which has made me feel pretty pleased. I'd really like to start expanding again with new products I've formulated including entirely handmade and natural lip balms, liquid soap, salves, sugar scrubs, mud masks, bath bombs, new specialty soaps, etc. BUT two questions I need help with: 1) Has anyone made a SAMart thread and had good success with it? I'd really like to make a big one and offer special goon only deals and stuff, but I'm worried it might flop. 2) I need help brainstorming new ideas for a store name. Blue Orchid Body Care sounds so old and boring and I want to try something different. Some ideas me and my guy have come up with include TwinLeaf, Isthmus Soaps, and Thundersnow (My personal favorite, also a name of one of my soaps)...but we're really struggling with this. So with that in mind... I'd love some word suggestions from you guys. As a little incentive I'd like to offer several bars of free soap if anyone comes up with something really awesome. Seriously, I need new opinions at this point in time and thought you guys would be the best people to ask because you are all so lovely.  I guess this is an open ended request, but I'll put a deadline of February 21st for suggestions. Also I've run this by the mods and have gotten the green light to go ahead and post about this.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:25
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flutterbyblue posted:Thundersnow is pretty epic and memorable. I do like Blue Orchid Body Care because it sticks in my mind. Body Botanical would be another idea if you wanted to stick with a plant/natural product theme with the name. I chose MountainMusings when I thought I'd be selling an assortment of things and not just hair clips. If I had to choose a name again I'd probably go with Rocky Mountain Hair Clips or Front Range Finery or something. But I've already registered with my state, the bank, the city and have had a healthy sales history so rebranding would be more Thanks for your opinions! I'm glad you like the name as it is. I've considered the potential ramifications of rebranding, and you're right... you definitely have to consider whether its worth it or not.
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Feb 19, 2013 14:50
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than it's worth. If you've already got a good footing with your current name you might not want to change it since it can throw people. One of my favorite hair stick artists changed names and I always have a hell of a time finding his stuff now.
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Rathina posted:For me it was worth it to change my name. Originally when I opened my shop on Etsy it was back in 2008, and so I just used the name Rathina since I used it for everything, I had no idea it was going to turn into a full time job...haha. Anyway in January of 2012 I changed my name. By then I had built up a substantial amount of business, but I honestly got tired of people asking me who/what Rathina was, or people thinking it was my real name. I had made a bit of an effort to try to market my self as "Rathina Decor"..but it really didn't seem to do anything. I also kind of wanted to separate my business stuff from the rest of my online stuff. I decided on ModernSwitch since it seemed a much better fit for branding purposes. Really everything on Etsy just forwards over when you change your shop name so that was easy, and I just put my .com domain forwarded to my new .com domain...if anything my business has substantially grown since then...maybe it's because my business looks a bit more 'serious' with a real name? Thanks for the thoughts Rathina...good advice. 
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Feb 25, 2013 18:57
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Mizufusion posted:Good luck. I haven't sold anything in over a month. Oh no  I'm still in love with the silver key earrings with the red beads I bought from you awhile back.
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Mar 18, 2013 00:58
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I agree with flutterby, but I'll give my two cents (originally typed this as scents, I wonder where my mind was!) as a fellow bath/body business owner and my experience, which is really you just have to make time. Let your family and friends know that you're serious about your business, and even though you have say, Saturday, off from your 'normal' job, you still plan to allocate Saturday mornings between 6am-10am to work on your business. I've found people to be very understanding when you explain it that way, and then you don't feel pressure to spend time with people during your business time and they understand there's a reason for it. But make sure you stick to it. Unfortunately, to some extent, the bath/body business is a custom enterprise, at least starting out. You don't want to be making tons of lotion, only to have it sit for a couple of months on your product shelves as customers slowly discover you. The way I deal with this is to wake up an hour earlier when I know I need to and get down to business. That way I have everything done right in the morning and don't have to worry about it later. Also make sure your workplace is hyper organized for when you do need to make some lotion or scrubs or whatever THAT morning and everything is in easy reach and takes half the time. Additionally, I've seen other businesses set firm "shipping days". So they'll ship on Mondays and Thursdays only and this gives them time to make sure everything is prepared. I'd think customers would be understanding of this, especially if you put emphasis on the custom nature of your products and the time it takes to prepare them fresh. Hope that helps.
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Mar 20, 2013 13:44
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Wormy posted:Thanks, I had actually been wondering what the best approach to pictures for my products would be. I figured people would want to see the thing itself, but I do work hard on the labels and most of them come out really good. The lighting in here is awful, so I only have a limited time of day to use natural light (looking into light boxes and such to combat that). Unfortunately, as I mentioned a few posts back, I work full time during the day and can't put nearly as much time into my shop as I would like. But I'm working on a schedule I can stick with to get the most out of my time. My recommendation is to make a quick and dirty light box to take your pictures in. It's super cheap to make and can give that professional edge to your photos even if you're using crappy light and a crappy camera. For instance the picture of my Hazelnut Macchiato Soap I took in a cardboard box lined with tissue paper and a large sheet of craft board: 
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Apr 4, 2013 03:58
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Wormy posted:Could you send me some instructions xxxxx@xxxx.com? For some reason I am completely DIY challenged with stuff like this...making a lotion with 20 ingredients in perfect ratios is no problem, but a drat cardboard box will have me confused and annoyed in about 5 minutes. You don't happen to be a chemist in a GMP facility are you? That's how I approach bath and body preparation... "This is super easy! I've done harder things at work all the time! Now how do I glue these things together..." Anyway, I can email you what I did. There's also a bunch of DIY lightbox tutorials online if you do a quick google. They're all pretty much the same, though I just saw one using a clear plastic storage bucket instead of a cardboard box which looks easier and more durable!
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Apr 4, 2013 14:23
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I personally am closing up my Etsy shop permanently because of the new policies. I think it hurts the handmade industry as a whole. People buy from Etsy because they think they're getting something personal and handcrafted, not a manufactured item. 
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Oct 3, 2013 23:41
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Solenna posted:Will you still have a shop someplace else? Yes, I'm currently setting up a shop through squarespace actually! I'm loving how easy it is to use, though its a little pricey. I've been wanting to move towards managing only my own website anyway. This was just the last step.
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Oct 5, 2013 05:19
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