Digital life is an incredible thing. With social media, Handcrafters are able to reach more customers than ever before. No matter whether you sell in person or online, one thing is very important: connecting with your customer. Take a look at five things you can do to connect with your customer and move those fabulous products! Be genuine. Customers can … Read More
Common Scents: Citronella
Welcome to our series, Common Scents! Common Scents is a series of articles exploring the history of commonly used essential oils and how they became popular in modern day soap and cosmetic crafting. This month, we’ll learn about citronella. Here in the great Northeast, we love our few beautiful summer months. What we really don’t love are the mosquitoes and … Read More
Let’s Make a Coffee Bar!
If you’re like about 50% of the HSCG Staff, you need at least one cup of coffee per day to function! Did you know that not only can you get a little energy boost from this miraculous bean water, but you can also use it in your soapmaking endeavors? It’s true! Let’s talk about taking you and your customer’s love … Read More
How to Know if You’re Being Scammed
It seems like everyone is trying to make a quick buck these days. While many of us try to bring home the honest bacon, there are those who make their own, dishonest bacon by scamming innocent people. Today, we’re going to discuss some of the most common scams and how you can keep your business and personal finances safe. … Read More
How to (Politely) Speak to Mislabeling Handcrafters
Making handcrafted soap and cosmetics is a great way to let your creativity shine, but let’s face it-it’s a very time consuming, labor intensive process! One of the most crucial and sometimes difficult parts of selling your finished product to the public is labeling it accurately. Making sure to include all of the proper information, but before that, putting in … Read More
How to Handle Toxic Personalities in Business
As we all go through life and it’s many twists and turns, there is one thing that we will all encounter from time to time, and that is toxic personalities. A few caveats as we dive into this discussion-first, for the purposes of this article I will stick to dealing with these types of people in business. We all know, … Read More
5 Things Your Local Handcrafter Wants You to Know About Their Products
We’d like to give a little love to the customers that make the handcrafted soap and cosmetic industry go round this week; without these customers, this industry would not exist, so thank you! If you are in the market for new and incredible bath and body products, you might have a few questions for your local Handcrafter, and we want … Read More
All About Charlene: Meet the HSCG’s New President
Spring is in the air here in Saratoga Springs. Nestled in the Art District, HSCG Headquarters is surrounded by blossoming flowers, lush green trees and the smell of renewal. Driving around town, you can see signs of the season everywhere; from yard sales to eager graduates looking to the future, everyone is experiencing a renaissance on some level. It’s only … Read More
5 Do’s and Don’ts of Labeling
You can have the most fantastic, most luxurious, most incredible product in the entire handcrafted soap and cosmetic industry, but if it’s labeled wrong it might as well be a lump of rock in a nice package. Labeling is crucial to ensuring both you and your customer’s safety and also maintaining the integrity of the handcrafted soap and cosmetic industry … Read More
Growing Your Business: 6 Things to Look for When Choosing a Trade Association
When you talk to Handcrafters, you hear many positive things. Handcrafters love to help people feel beautiful, love to innovate when it comes to formulation, and especially love to educate others about their products. One thing that the majority of Handcrafters we’ve spoken to also voice is the loneliness of the industry. Because the art of making handcrafted soap and … Read More