QUESTION ON Marketing a New Homemade Products
How do you begin to retail, market and promote products made from the home. i.e: body products. I am making these homemade products but wasn’t sure how to market and sell them.
– Dawn
ANSWER
Advice by Yvonne Buchanan
Dear Dawn:
You say “begin” to market; this is good, because in the beginning your tactics will be different than when your products begin to take off.
To begin with, home-made products, particularly personal care products, such as yours, require relationship selling. This means the purchaser should have some type of relationship with you. This can be either direct (door-to-door sales) or indirect (placement in a shop they frequent).
Consider placing your products, even on a limited consignment basis, in several local shops that offer similar products. Although you may have to share a percentage of your profits with the stores but in return you’ll share with their “walk-in” traffic, an implied endorsement from the store, and access to their existing customer base.
Now: about the door-to-door sales: I’ll give you the same advice I gave Shirley in “How to Succeed in the Personal Care Products Business.” Product loyalty among personal care products is fierce; it’s difficult to get people to try new things. To make it easier for them, pick your best product, provide it in a free trial size, and follow up with discounted coupons for the first order. Soon you’ll begin to create loyal customers. And take a cue from Avon: include free samples of other products with every order you fulfill.
In addition, Dawn, consider home craft fairs and shows. This gives you the opportunity to showcase your products to many people at once; it turns the concept of door-to-door sales around and brings the customers to your door (or in this case, booth).
Best wishes, Dawn. Let us know how it goes.
Yvonne
Recommended Resources on How To Start Marketing and Promote a New Home-Made Product
- How to Make Money Using Etsy: A Guide to the Online Marketplace for Crafts and Handmade Products
- Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry
- Sam Walton: Made In America
- Homemade: How-to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products Fast, Fresh, and More Naturally
Article originally published in July 2001. Updated February 23, 2012
