Hellooooooo????

All this social media posting and blogging and sometimes you just have to wonder “is anybody even out there”? Sure there are “engagements” and even the occasional LIKE. Have you ever wondered what exactly constitutes an “engagement”? I certainly have. According to the social media powers that be, an engagement is ANY action that someone takes to your post; clicking a link, opening the post, liking the post, sharing the post (sticking their tongue out at the post?). I believe the theory is the more engagement you have, the more interest people have in whatever you are saying or selling. And, if, like me, you are trying to start a business, that interest is what you are trying to stimulate. But therein lies a bit of a rub. In order to engage, folks have to see your posts, and the algorithms only show folks posts that already have a large “following” or engagement. Bit of a catch 22 no? 

Anyway, this all started because I made some really nice soap out of “good for you” ingredients. It looked nice. It smelled nice. And hey, was even nice to my skin. And I enjoyed it. So, as I was getting ready to leave my stressful career behind, it occurred to me that it might be nice to be able to make these soaps and sell them; giving folks something nice and good for them, giving me something to do to stay out of trouble and (truly lastly) adding a small revenue stream to my retirement. I never wanted to grow my business beyond what I could comfortably handle by making three batches of soap a week in my own kitchen. No IPOs on the horizon here! 

But of course day to day reality sets in.

• Got to register your business to make sure you are meeting legal requirements.
• If you are hoping to just stay home and avoid the madness, you have to set up some sort of website so folks can find and purchase your items
• So you purchase a domain name, set up a website, photograph your products and write copy.
• But wait, how WILL they find your website?
  • Enter SEO (search engine optimization) to make sure you show up in search results.
    The more traffic you have, the more that is likely to happen. OH NO….another catch 22.
  • So, how do you drive traffic? Well of course; social media: Facebook, Instagram, twitter, et al. Post, tweet, blog, watch your site traffic (mostly do nothing). Rinse, repeat.

• And then you wait And you wonder….. Is anybody out there?

Of course you know there are some people out there……….friends, relatives, friends of relatives, relatives of friends……..but are you reaching anybody else?

So this week I ask: 

• Are you out there?
  
  
• Assuming you didn’t end up here by some random twist of the universe…..
  What draws you to handmade soaps in general and OutsideIn Soaps LLC in particular?
  
  
• If you are one of the folks who have already purchased and used my soaps (THANK YOU!), post a comment and tell me about your experience with the product.
  
  
  • What’s your favorite part about the soap? Color? Scent? Natural Ingredients?
    
    
  • If you were previously using commercially produced soap, how does the OutsideIn Soaps experience differ for you? Does it? Do you feel cleaner? More moisturized? Happier? Zen af?
     

I invite (ENCOURAGE) your comments….. even if you only let me know you are “out there”. Meanwhile, 

#enjoytheclean