Sales pathetically low, what am I doing wrong?

So far I'm averaging $10-20 of sales per month, I sell on my own website, eBay, Etsy and Amazon.

I was hoping to get about $500 of sales per month, what am I doing wrong and how can I increase my sales?

Thank you

When did you start? You're doing better than me! I started selling on Etsy one month ago.

I've heard other soapers say to focus on farmer's markets/craft fairs/etc and use online venues as a 24/7 way to reach you. I thought that was good advice, and now I'm working on setting up for a farmer's market.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I hope other people comment because I'd like to know, too!

I started 3 months ago. So far most sales are from my website and eBay with none coming from Etsy.

I am working on getting them into stores also.

Etsy is so insanely flooded with soaps that it's near-impossible to wade through all those listings and stumble upon your soap unless people were looking for it in particular in the first place.

I agree with girlishcharm - focus on building up a local customer base. They'll become your regular customers and begin spreading news of your product around. Do craft shows, markets, etc. It helps people to see your face and make that personal connection as opposed to blindly buying a soap off the internet where they know little about the company and the person.

I've been on Etsy only seriously for a couple years, haven't tried EBay or Amazon, guess I should!

Etsy started really, really slow for me too. Most of my sales are for one particular salt bar, which I never expected, but it sells like crazy. I think most people know what they're looking for in terms of this particular soap, and find me by searching. Then they try more of my soaps - I have a lot of repeat customers, and I love that. Agree that Etsy is full to the gills of really nice - and equally really ugly, amateurish soaps.

Agree also that it's great to sell locally at craft fairs, farmers markets, holiday festivals. I've found that people who buy at those often come back and buy more online. It all builds on itself, so don't be discouraged if it's slow at first...

Me again. Not much time to look, but I do think your photos would really pop with a different background. Your soaps are really, really pretty, and the wood grain background doesn't do them justice. I'd photograph them all again with a light, bright background. Just me, but I think it would make a big difference in the attractiveness of your website.

paillo said:

Me again. Not much time to look, but I do think your photos would really pop with a different background. Your soaps are really, really pretty, and the wood grain background doesn't do them justice. I'd photograph them all again with a light, bright background. Just me, but I think it would make a big difference in the attractiveness of your website.

Click to expand...

I don't sell but I sold advertising years ago, i must agree with Paillo the wood grain does nothing to show off your soap.

I agree, your soaps are beautiful but the pics are kinda plain and boring. I would love to see the orange chunks inside one of your black and orange bars. Some close ups of the salt texture would be good to. A about me page or gallery with pics of the soap making process is always interesting to me as are lather/bubble pictures.

It might help to have more pizzazz on the descriptions, especially the scents you use. Take your cedarwood for instance, I have no idea what it smells like and there is nothing to describe if its woodsy, flowery, spicy, etc. If I was looking for a manly scented salt bar, I would probably skip your website and hit up a etsy store that has all kinds of flourish and overly descriptive adds.

A review page would be good too. If you have happy customers who say great things about your soap, you need to share it.

I couldn't find you on etsy and I have no idea how to search for usernames but I found these two adds that are intriguing and fun, makes me want to buy their soap just from the description.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76478943/mediterranean-spa-cold-process-sea-salt?ref=shop_home_active

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93835312/sea-salt-soap-handmade-cold-process-spa?ref=shop_home_active

Then there is this one. Being a soap maker I know its a good bar but there is nothing to grab your attention, I would skip over this one.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/159304270/homemade-sea-salt-soap-creamy-coconut?ref=shop_home_feat

I agree about the photos. the soaps should "pop" a bit more. maybe try setting them up close to a window to get more even and better lighting, or maybe outside in the shade or on a cloudy day
try for an uncluttered background, and shoot at the same level as the soap instead of looking down at it.
it might even be worth it to get a photographer to shoot some product photos for you.
I think your soaps are pretty!

Ah, I just checked out your photos too - my dad is a professional photographer and he (and all my friends who make or craft things for a living) swear by a light tent. You can either make one ( http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent ) or buy one that will last you a while (just google "Light Tent" ) $30 should get you a decent one that will last a while.

You'll be amazed what it does for your soaps! For the light-colored ones, you can always put down a dark cloth while still getting a good amount of light on them.

Sihir, that link is amazing! Thank you so much! I know what my next craft project is!

I looked at your website, and as a buyer the first thing i noticed is all that your soaps are a muted color. I agree also with the photography comment above, i also am a hobby photographer, lighting is essential. Use a soft box, or look at websites like Martha Stewart, (Ok, bad example i know, but i am tired so have mercy on me ) but look at how she sets up a photo even a simple little object, she makes it feel homey. Or look at other websites. and they can be easily mimicked with a decent camera and light box. Then also when i read your first paragraph the first thing you said as an adjective is "Rock Hard". as a buyer i am looking for something that will soften my already hard dry skin, and that makes me think even harder skin, so it is an immediate turn off. Buyers are lazy, tell me what i want to hear first, then i will listen to your specifics. Something like "Salt Soap is known to make your skin softer, helps to fight aging with its built in exfoliation, and last a long time" but better than that. you can tell i am not in sales! But as a buyer, that is what i picked up. Also, back to the muted color thing, your darkest soaps are listed first, then they get lighter. IF you are interested enough to scroll down that is. I am sorry if i sound harsh and direct, but i wanted to help

JaimeM said:

Sihir, that link is amazing! Thank you so much! I know what my next craft project is!

Click to expand...

Have fun Jaime - and post pictures of your soap pre- and post- light tent! (Or just the "afters!")

Oh, i forgot to tell you that a soft box/ or diffused light can be made by using a day light bulb in an uncovered lamp or drop light, and place a white sheet between the lamp and your subject. Also, if you have depth or dimension in your photos, that helps too. For example blurred trees in the background, or a blurred window, etc. etc.

Sihir said:

Ah, I just checked out your photos too - my dad is a professional photographer and he (and all my friends who make or craft things for a living) swear by a light tent. You can either make one ( http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent ) or buy one that will last you a while (just google "Light Tent" ) $30 should get you a decent one that will last a while.

You'll be amazed what it does for your soaps! For the light-colored ones, you can always put down a dark cloth while still getting a good amount of light on them.

Click to expand...

A 'light tent'-I never would have thought of that, bet it really helps sales, and it's something I wouldn't have imagined...thanks!

Buyers are lazy, tell me what i want to hear first, then i will listen to your specifics. Something like "Salt Soap is known to make your skin softer, helps to fight aging with its built in exfoliation, and last a long time" but better than that. you can tell i am not in sales! But as a buyer, that is what i picked up. Also, back to the muted color thing, your darkest soaps are listed first, then they get lighter. IF you are interested enough to scroll down that is. I am sorry if i sound harsh and direct, but i wanted to help [/quote]

Don't say it helps aging...just became a drug not cosmetic

I can tell you that my daughter works for hours daily promoting our website doing promos etc. An attractive easy to navigate website also helps. You want your products to Pop out at the shopper and I am sorry I would probably not spend a lot of time surfing your site. Not trying to be mean but you asked opinions.
From my experience Salt bars are wonderful but unfortunetly not the best sellers as far as soap goes. I use salt bars daily but find it hard to convince customers they are great. I have a few customers that re-buy salt bars but no where near the percentage it would take to make a fair amount of money. I sell at Art Walks, Farmer Markets, Craft Fairs and of course our website and very few of my street fair customers actually purchase on our website, they just wait for me. Some will call and ask me to bring something out with me that they see on our site and I do that.

....

Hi,
I agree with all of the comments about the photos on your website so I won't belabor that point. I also think your site is a bit crowded looking and appears more like an inventory list than a website trying to entice buyers. I would try to go for an overall cleaner, less crowded look. Here is a site I have bought soap from a few times and and I love how simple, clean, easy to navigate and to the point his site is.

http://rockytopsoap.com/

Also, I don't think your name is helping people find you. It's too generic. It's the name of a product, not the name of a company. One would have to know that your website is exactly "saltsoaps.com" in order to find your site. If you just google Salt Soaps hoping to find you, you'll come up with a million other hits. Your really should consider changing your name to something more original that will help in a google search. Same with Etsy. I assume your shop name is also Salt Soaps. How am I supposed to find you when I have to wade through all of the products called "salt soaps"? I can find Rocky Top's site or Etsy page easily because his name is original and easy to search.

You really want to drive traffic to your site. To do that, you need to have a search optimization strategy (google it - there are volumes on the topic and lots to learn) and big part of that strategy is having a name and a web address that is unique enough that will come up in search rankings and Salt Soaps is just not original enough to do that. Say you are at a craft fair and I stop buy your booth, but don't buy anything. Later on I want to look you up - I would never find you. Unless I have your card with your exact web address, but I lost that ages ago. But if you changed your name even to Sacha's Salt Soaps - that would increase my chances of finding you tremendously.

So, although I think the photography advice is great and important - I think your first strategy is a name change because no one is even going to see the photography if they can't find your site.

You have some great soaps, but your delivery could use some help!

I found a pretty cheap lightbox here that I'm going to buy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281125041458

And maybe take a look around competion's web pages and scroll down to see what website service they use. I'm going to try

http://www.volusion.com/ecommerce-web-design/

They offer a free templete that, IMHO, would be better than what you have, also, when you can afford it later down the line, you can pay them for SEO and a host of other things.

On another note about the pics, go to a pawn shop for a camera. I payed $40 for a Nikon CoolPix 16.1 MP. I don't think there is ever a real need for a $300+ camera to take photos of small, unmoving things that's close up to you anyways.

*I think* the MP (Megapixels) is the most important thing. The higher, the better. I'm no photographer and I haven't sold online-yet, but this is what I've learned so far!!

Also, it's all about the marketing. Even if I did find you, your not selling me a "vision" or a "dream". Words are power. Make me feel like I'll be better off in my life with your product. I'm in the same boat as you except at least you're online, Lol. But seriously, google something like: how to market soap to online consumers or something along those lines. The holidays are coming up and there's more than enough customers to go around. Go grab some of them!

Just as a clarification, more megapixels does not really mean a better picture or camera - in short, it just means that you can make a larger print of your image (or crop in closer on your image on the computer and still have it be as sharp as the original.)

Since most of us soap makers are wanting to use our pictures online, a large number of megapixels isn't important since we won't be making 20x24 inch prints of our soaps. (Or maybe you are!)

I'd look for other qualities in a digital camera such as an excellent macro feature to get close-ups of your details on your soap, a better sensor, ability to adjust exposure - really the best camera is the one that has the features you need! If you go to an actual local camera store the people there can give you great advice and many of them offer secondhand or refurbished cameras for a discount. (Again - local - not one of the chain camera stores or big retailers. They often don't know nearly as much as they should about what they are selling.)

One of my favorite cameras ever was a Panasonic Lumix (amazing macro) but I currently shoot with a Canon T1i

Hope this helps!


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