Haven't had much time for blogging because I have been filling orders, restocking stores, and making lots of product for the holiday festivals that I have coming up. As well as celebrating a very fine moment in American history.
My first show is this Saturday at Mary Lin elementary school in Candler Park. Click here for details. I will be stocked with all my new holiday scents (that I still haven't had time to put up on my website). Unfortunately, Studio 658 will be closed this coming Saturday, because Mary and I are both doing Mary Lin, and we couldn't find anyone to mind the shop. We have worked out our schedules for the rest of the year, and will be open every Saturday from 11 to 3 beginning 11/15.
As soon as I hit one deadline, I have another one looming right behind it, so catching up has become a fruitless effort. I've decided to just go with it. On my list for next week: updating my website with everything holiday and trying to prepare myself for the onslaught of upcoming shows. I will post info and pictures of all my goings-on very soon!
Of course, in typical Emilie fashion, while my hands are making everything for the next weeks, my brain has already moved onto next year. After 6 years of plugging along in some form or another, I finally feel like I have hit my stride, and Mama is ready for the masses. I have some great ideas, and can't wait to share them with you! All in due time...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Open Studio hours this Saturday at Studio 658
This Saturday marks the beginning of our Open Studio hours! We will be open every Saturday from 11am to 3pm, from now through Christmas. I will be manning the shop this Saturday, so please stop by and say hi! My new soaps are out and ready to be tested, and it's a great time to get some gift ideas for the holidays. Felted Heart also has all of her merchandise at the shop, and is now making great stuff for adults. So come check it out!
Studio 658
658 Angier Ave, unit C
Atlanta, GA 30307
We are located in the Old Fourth Ward, in a white warehouse building. We haven't gotten our signs yet, so when you get there, pull in the driveway all the way in the back, and park to the left.
Click here for directions.
Hope to see you Saturday!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Email Marketing and Product Updates - An informational rant
I've been working hard on getting my site updated for the past couple of weeks, so I could do a marketing email. I just looked at my Constant Contact account and saw that I haven't sent a marketing email since February of 2007. So THAT must be why people aren't coming to my site. Which means I spent all of that money for an email sign up box on my website that no one uses because they don't go to my website because I don't send any marketing emails reminding them that I exist. I mean, who can be bothered with marketing, right? I'm a creative person! Business lesson #4832. Remind customers you exist. Check.
A quick note about this. I have about 600+ people on my email list. Some of them are friends who I added to bulk up my list before I had any customers, but most of them are legitimate customers or people who expressed interest in becoming a customer. People who have bought my products and raved about Mama, only to never be heard from again. This goes to show, no matter how good your product or service is, you have to keep reminding people that you're around. There's a lot of competition and people are busy. I always wondered why Coke advertised, because everybody knows about them. But I suppose that could be because they're everywhere, so you can't forget. (especially if you live in Atlanta). Yes, this all seems like a no-brainer. But when you do everything in your company and you have X hours a day to do it, you tend to focus on the tasks that you like. Like the making products, creating new ones, designing packaging, coming up with new scents, etc. The fun stuff.
So it occurred to me, as I send my first marketing email in 19 months, Mama has evolved quite a bit since then, and it might be good to do a product line update for all of my (hopefully) returning customers, who I pledge not to lose touch with again!
1. The most notable change is that I've switched my lotion preservative to a non-paraben preservative called Optiphen, which just recently became available to companies of my size. Preservatives are a controversial subject that I have been researching for years, so at some point soon I will do a post with my research. Until then, just know that parabens are no longer desirable preservatives and we don't use them anymore. For more info about why we use preservatives in our lotion, go to the product info section on our site.
2. Speaking of lotions. My first couple of years in business were a little dicey with the lotion formula. The consistent feedback I got was that it was too hard to get out of the bottle. You were heard, valued customers, and I worked hard to come up with a new formulation that has received rave reviews. I also changed the bottles to one that is a little more squeezy, so if you're willing to go round 2 with the lotion, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
3. I've discontinued using Fragrance oils, which meant saying goodbye to Green Tea and Vanilla. When I started this company, I wrote in my mission that I wanted to offer the purest, safest, most effective products to my customers. So that means sticking with essential oils, which are plant based and 100% natural. I did decide to make one exception for the holidays - Cranberry was very popular last year, so I'm bringing it back as a limited edition holiday scent just for this holiday season. I'm working on coming up with an essential oil blend next year that will be a suitable replacement.
4. Scrubs - I've replaced my salt scrubs with sugar scrubs. They have become my best sellers, and I don't think any former salt scrub lovers will be the least bit disappointed. Sugar is a very effective and more gentle exfoliant than salt. And the coconut, almond oil, and shea butter base stays nicely emulsified and leaves your skin soft without the heavy oil feeling that the salt scrubs left.
5. New sizes - I've added more sizes to the products I carry. Body lotions come in 4 and 8 oz bottles, sugar scrubs in 10 and 20 oz jars.
6. Gifts - my vendor discontinued my snap trays! Such a bummer. I started using chinese takeout containers while I was trying to find a suitable replacement, and these have been so popular, I decided to stick with them! So that's that.
7. Soap! Mama finally has soap! Most body product companies usually start with soap. I tend to do things backwards. My husband Chuck decided to come on board as my soap maker, and his soap is great! Richly scented with a nice creamy lather. I highly recommend!
And there ya go! Head over to our site and check it out!
A quick note about this. I have about 600+ people on my email list. Some of them are friends who I added to bulk up my list before I had any customers, but most of them are legitimate customers or people who expressed interest in becoming a customer. People who have bought my products and raved about Mama, only to never be heard from again. This goes to show, no matter how good your product or service is, you have to keep reminding people that you're around. There's a lot of competition and people are busy. I always wondered why Coke advertised, because everybody knows about them. But I suppose that could be because they're everywhere, so you can't forget. (especially if you live in Atlanta). Yes, this all seems like a no-brainer. But when you do everything in your company and you have X hours a day to do it, you tend to focus on the tasks that you like. Like the making products, creating new ones, designing packaging, coming up with new scents, etc. The fun stuff.
So it occurred to me, as I send my first marketing email in 19 months, Mama has evolved quite a bit since then, and it might be good to do a product line update for all of my (hopefully) returning customers, who I pledge not to lose touch with again!
1. The most notable change is that I've switched my lotion preservative to a non-paraben preservative called Optiphen, which just recently became available to companies of my size. Preservatives are a controversial subject that I have been researching for years, so at some point soon I will do a post with my research. Until then, just know that parabens are no longer desirable preservatives and we don't use them anymore. For more info about why we use preservatives in our lotion, go to the product info section on our site.
2. Speaking of lotions. My first couple of years in business were a little dicey with the lotion formula. The consistent feedback I got was that it was too hard to get out of the bottle. You were heard, valued customers, and I worked hard to come up with a new formulation that has received rave reviews. I also changed the bottles to one that is a little more squeezy, so if you're willing to go round 2 with the lotion, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
3. I've discontinued using Fragrance oils, which meant saying goodbye to Green Tea and Vanilla. When I started this company, I wrote in my mission that I wanted to offer the purest, safest, most effective products to my customers. So that means sticking with essential oils, which are plant based and 100% natural. I did decide to make one exception for the holidays - Cranberry was very popular last year, so I'm bringing it back as a limited edition holiday scent just for this holiday season. I'm working on coming up with an essential oil blend next year that will be a suitable replacement.
4. Scrubs - I've replaced my salt scrubs with sugar scrubs. They have become my best sellers, and I don't think any former salt scrub lovers will be the least bit disappointed. Sugar is a very effective and more gentle exfoliant than salt. And the coconut, almond oil, and shea butter base stays nicely emulsified and leaves your skin soft without the heavy oil feeling that the salt scrubs left.
5. New sizes - I've added more sizes to the products I carry. Body lotions come in 4 and 8 oz bottles, sugar scrubs in 10 and 20 oz jars.
6. Gifts - my vendor discontinued my snap trays! Such a bummer. I started using chinese takeout containers while I was trying to find a suitable replacement, and these have been so popular, I decided to stick with them! So that's that.
7. Soap! Mama finally has soap! Most body product companies usually start with soap. I tend to do things backwards. My husband Chuck decided to come on board as my soap maker, and his soap is great! Richly scented with a nice creamy lather. I highly recommend!
And there ya go! Head over to our site and check it out!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
East Atlanta Strut
I did the East Atlanta Strut today. All I have to say is: Best. Festival. Ever. I have sat at so many festivals wishing something would fall out of sky and hit me on the head, so I would have to go home. This was not one of those festivals. It was a beautiful day. I met some great people. My husband hung out with me all day and we drank beer. Friends stopped by. And I sold more than I ever have at any other festival. Even more than the Strut in 2006, which prior to this one, was my best festival ever.
Chuck and I got so amped up that we were ready to sign a lease on an empty East Atlanta store front.
That was the beer talking - it is something that I've been considering for a while, but now is not the time. However, I did come to the realization that these are my people, and it's great to find your people. I did a festival in Marietta a couple years ago where I sat in the baking sun for 2 days and I don't even think I made my booth fee back. Those were not my people.
Any entrepreneur will tell you that there are many days where you wonder what you're doing and where you're going. This is not one of those days. And I am overwhelmed with gratitude.
Chuck and I got so amped up that we were ready to sign a lease on an empty East Atlanta store front.
That was the beer talking - it is something that I've been considering for a while, but now is not the time. However, I did come to the realization that these are my people, and it's great to find your people. I did a festival in Marietta a couple years ago where I sat in the baking sun for 2 days and I don't even think I made my booth fee back. Those were not my people.
Any entrepreneur will tell you that there are many days where you wonder what you're doing and where you're going. This is not one of those days. And I am overwhelmed with gratitude.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
It's the little things...
I got another mixer! I am so excited! Judi, the designer of Studio 658 and also Mary's sister, traded me her old Kitchen Aid mixer for some Mama products. It is the perfect mate to my other Kitchen Aid hand-me-down-mixer from my mother-in-law. I have been desperately needing a second mixer, but it's on the long list of things that all have to happen NOW, so it hadn't happened yet. This could not have been better timing because I have a big lotion order to make and the East Atlanta strut is coming up. There is gonna be some mixing going on!
Heating the oil and water phases:
2 Batches of lotion at once! So exciting.
We pour each and every lotion by hand.
Ready to go!
Heating the oil and water phases:
2 Batches of lotion at once! So exciting.
We pour each and every lotion by hand.
Ready to go!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Studio 658 Grand Opening
Our grand opening was a great success. I am absolutely exhausted and totally elated. As busy as I have been, now it feels like the real work is starting. I have so many plans for the studio. I want to use it as a retail store for Mama (with limited hours - kind of a starter retail store) and I'm also planning to put together a schedule of DIY classes in candlemaking, soapmaking, scrubmaking, etc. Since we moved in, Mary and I haven't had a moment to sit down and meet about all of our plans, so we still have a lot to figure out. I had planned to take a few days off once I reached this mile marker, but there is too much to do. Onward and upward!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Busy Crazy Happy
And not necessarily in that order.
First of all, on August 1st, I moved into a new store in historic Roswell called Gifted! They don't have a website, but the address and info is on my site under stores.
I still need to make more goodies to stock my booth, but I didn't have time to get everything made before the soft opening on August 1st. The grand opening is September 1st, so I have a little time.
I also sent some products to a new store that is opening in Leonia, NJ called The Craft Lounge. The owners are friends of a friend, and were interested in carrying my stuff, which is always great. Hopefully the Jersey girls dig Mama!
And (drumroll please) on August 3rd, Mama made the monumental move out of my house and into our new studio!! Ladies, and Gentlemen, Studio 658:
There will be more pics once I get a little more set up. The renovation took a little longer than expected, but the place looks fantastic. And it gave me time to get completely packed and organized, so the move was relatively breezy. And now I'm gearing up for a crazy August. My studio mate Mary and I are planning a grand opening for August 22nd and 23rd. So not only do I have to make EVERYTHING in my product line to have fresh product to stock up the studio, I also have a commercial shoot (my other job), and a long weekend trip to see my family in Ohio happening between now and then. Which means I'm going to be working 24/7.
I have to be honest - I don't relish these overbooked weeks-upon-months. I tend to muddle through them all frustrated and cranky. I'm always better when I'm busy, but right now it's more like a 'wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-in-an-oh-hell-i-forgot-to-do-that' panic. So I am more than surprised to find that my general attitude has been great! Probably because I'm so excited about all of the new developments.
I tend to work so fast and furiously trying to keep up, that I forget to savor the good moments. So as I dove in to my new kitchen to make the first batch of lotion, I remembered to stop and enjoy what was happening. It was the best 30 seconds of my year;)
Hope to see you at our Grand Opening!
First of all, on August 1st, I moved into a new store in historic Roswell called Gifted! They don't have a website, but the address and info is on my site under stores.
I still need to make more goodies to stock my booth, but I didn't have time to get everything made before the soft opening on August 1st. The grand opening is September 1st, so I have a little time.
I also sent some products to a new store that is opening in Leonia, NJ called The Craft Lounge. The owners are friends of a friend, and were interested in carrying my stuff, which is always great. Hopefully the Jersey girls dig Mama!
And (drumroll please) on August 3rd, Mama made the monumental move out of my house and into our new studio!! Ladies, and Gentlemen, Studio 658:
There will be more pics once I get a little more set up. The renovation took a little longer than expected, but the place looks fantastic. And it gave me time to get completely packed and organized, so the move was relatively breezy. And now I'm gearing up for a crazy August. My studio mate Mary and I are planning a grand opening for August 22nd and 23rd. So not only do I have to make EVERYTHING in my product line to have fresh product to stock up the studio, I also have a commercial shoot (my other job), and a long weekend trip to see my family in Ohio happening between now and then. Which means I'm going to be working 24/7.
I have to be honest - I don't relish these overbooked weeks-upon-months. I tend to muddle through them all frustrated and cranky. I'm always better when I'm busy, but right now it's more like a 'wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-in-an-oh-hell-i-forgot-to-do-that' panic. So I am more than surprised to find that my general attitude has been great! Probably because I'm so excited about all of the new developments.
I tend to work so fast and furiously trying to keep up, that I forget to savor the good moments. So as I dove in to my new kitchen to make the first batch of lotion, I remembered to stop and enjoy what was happening. It was the best 30 seconds of my year;)
Hope to see you at our Grand Opening!
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