Our next donation is from Sea Sprite Soaps!! She has donated her Soap Trios and a Luxury Lip Balm!! Boy we are getting a little bit of everything for this auction from doggie treats to artwork! Everyone will have a good selection to choose from when its auction time! Well lets get to know Stephanie from Sea Sprite Soaps ( I LOVE her banner btw!).
It's been a lifelong pleasure for me to make beautiful and useful things for myself and for others with my own two hands. I'm married, the mother of two college students and live in Naples, Florida. Although my primary profession was clinical psychology for many years, I have never lost interest in handcrafts and living a creative life. I have interests in many arts and crafts and love them all. I've written 3 books about an image editor called PhotoImpact and maintain a tutorials site on the program. My husband and I have a small publishing business called East of the Sun Publishing. I make and sell 3D characters for a program called Poser, which are sold at Daz3D. I try to blog regularly at HeartCrafts. My Sea Sprite Soaps Shop and my Etsy store are a source of great satisfaction to me. I hope you will drop by and take a look around. :)
What inspires you to make your product?
I am inspired by living close to the sea, with pristine beaches, beautiful weather and many beautiful tropical plants and trees. Many of my soaps reflect a Caribbean sensibility that's consistent with my location. My mission is to make beautiful, fragrant, luxuriously lathering handmade soaps from only the best vegetable oils and butters.
I don't make many homemade doggie treats, but occasionally have made some homemade dog cookies for our two Welsh Terriers, Taffy and Libby. They love anything with peanut butter!
What advice do you have for others that want to start an online business?
My best advice for new sellers online is to know your target customers and cater to them. Don't try to be a one-size-fits-all shop, do what you do best and love to do. Your passion for what you do will draw buyers. Don't cheapen your work by offering constant sales, discounts and free shipping. It's hard to resist that lure when you're just starting out and it's hard to be noticed. Do promote yourself in the forums, answering questions and being helpful if you can -- people will remember you. Remember that lots of buyers are also sellers, and they will see your posts.
If you blog, include information about yourself and your inspirations, so that readers aren't constantly bombarded with only posts aimed at selling things to them. Readers like to know who you are as a person too.
My last piece of advice is to not spread yourself too thin. If you twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blog, and have multiple shops in every venue available, flailing around trying to be noticed, you will have less time to make desirable products. Consider how much time and energy you have to devote to your business, and spend them wisely.
All of us at Team Eeat would like to thank Stephanie from Sea Sprite Soaps for her contribution to the Silent Auction! Her soaps, balms and frosting look delish! So give your skin a treat and visit her shop!!
Many Thanks!
Team Eeat
No comments:
Post a Comment