Possible publication with a newspaper, two million readers.

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Lane

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Soooo... (I hope this is the right forum to post this in...) Sorry this is so long...my mind is SPINNING right now!! If you make it to the end, I thank you!

I got an e-mail this morning from a newspaper reporter asking if I could help them with an article they are writing on soap making. At first, this thrilled me! I mean, wow, if my website was noted in an article that goes to over TWO MILLION readers (I'm in Las Vegas, Clark County area)... I mean, I can go on about the benefits of specific oils in CP, the amazing craft possibilities of MP...the benefits of ALL soap making as a whole... The benefits specific to my soap and my web site (A more 'alternative style' view on soap and it's eco benefits) Even if only a thousand people out of two million went to my website after reading an article about the benefits of such a product...

...And then the negative hit me....

I am a small time soaper, small time web designer, small time photographer... A full time wife and mother of two...How can I possible handle what could potentially come of this? I make my soap in batches of eight for crying out load! I have no crafters insurance, I never profit enough to ever have to worry about the tax aspect of it... I simply started making a product that, by word of mouth, got as big as I liked it...I know almost all of my customers, as I try to send them e-mails and chat a bit before they receive their items....I spend a lot of time making sure each and every customer receives attention from me PERSONALLY. How would this even be possible with a larger (possible much larger) customer base?

If this was happening to you... What steps would you be taking right now? What would you be thinking? And yes, I may be getting ahead of myself... but...WHOA. :oops:
 
i can relate to your dilemma as i had it with my massage business a while back. I was working full time, doing massage evening/weekend and i could only do a couple of appointments a week. so i didn't do a lot of advertising (mostly it was friend/family and a few people they referred here and there). i wanted to be doing massage full time eventually, but i didn't want to put a lot into advertising and making myself too busy. so, i wanted to do massage, but was afraid of being too busy....

so looking back that was ridiculous. put yourself out there as much as you can. your life and your business will grow together. if you start getting more/bigger orders....start making bigger batches....and if it gets to the point where you can't handle all your orders you will probably be at a point where you can afford to hire someone to help you out. and people want to do business with busy people they think "oh boy, she is out of stock on this, this, and this....that must be some great soap!!!"

so, do the article!
 
Hi,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!! :)
What a nice compliment.I hope you won't say no,no no!.
You deserve to be mentioned in the article,You're knowledgeable,Friendly,and your customers will probably see the article and say "Hey yeah she is good!" :)
I'm sure your family will back you up if you need the help.It's the wise thing for them to do,nothing worse then a Mom on strike! :)
If it was me,I'd ask what type of information are they looking for,and when do you need it?.. Check the web page,make sure all links work,and that you CAN be contacted.
Don't let the negative set it,you worked for hard,enjoy the benefits of it.
Their's a reason for everything.Your time to shine!
I'm very happy for you,I'm sure everything will work out.
If you need help,You have back up here,Lots of talented people here to help you when and if you need it.

Please let us know how it works out.
Congratulations again! :)

Munky.
 
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