Work from Home Promote Your Handmade Soap Business

by Jeffrey Dorrian

Doing free soap making demonstrations is a win-win situation for the sponsor and the crafter. Many organizations have loyal members who are looking for new ideas and crafts. This is where you, as an experienced crafter, step in. You offer to do a free soap making class for the group and the charity/organization charges a nominal fee for any member wishing to attend the class. They provide the venue and you provide the expertise. They get to raise some much-needed funds, and you get a new customer base with a very loyal following.

Virtually every charity across America is strapped for cash. They are always looking for new and creative ways to raise money. Many of their members are affluent and have their own businesses and volunteer their spare time to their favorite charity. More and more of these charities are offering classes taught by their members as a way of raising money. Their members have plenty of expertise in diverse fields that fellow members would love to know about. As an experienced soap maker and crafter you can provide the very thing that they would like to offer - a class in soap making from an experienced soap maker.

When doing the class, remember an hour and a half is generally considered the maximum amount of time to keep a class interested in a specific subject. If you need to melt your oils beforehand, do that to save time. Do some background research on your fats and essential oils so you can integrate this knowledge into the class. Open the class to questions as you go along to maintain interest. Be very careful and take full safety measures with your lye solution. Doing a dry run and having family members ask you questions should iron out any wrinkles in your presentation and give you a degree of comfort that will show in your demeanor.

Make sure you take some of your own products and promotional material to make available after class. This is where you can make valuable contacts that make the whole effort worthwhile. A basic handout at the beginning of class should cover the soap making process. Your name and website should appear at the bottom of the flyer. Take a wide variety of soap with you and offer a special class discount. You could even offer a secret supplier list for small fee to those who want to start a soap making hobby of their own. Stress the creative aspects of the endeavor and you will make soap making friends for life. Also explain that many different creams, bath salts, and body butters are offered by soap makers as complimentary items to their natural soap. And each soap maker has a different specialty. Especially with all of the exotic fats available nowadays, you can develop your own niche quite easily.