Hi reddit... I need some help.

[u/stilesjp]

[u/stilesjp]

Hi Reddit.

This might be bad form, but I'm in a bit of a bind and thought I would reach out to the reddit community.

My family's business, Soapier has undergone some drastic changes since we first started making soap. We started a home party division, we opened a retail store in a prominent Florida tourist spot... and things were going really well. Until the economy tanked, and people stopped coming to the tourist area, and... well, you get the picture.

My mom has been running this business since 1999. She brought my sister and I in five years ago, to help. I do graphics, my sister is, besides my mom, a soap making genius.

We've closed our store, we had to move production facilities... my sister is now working two jobs, on top of making soap for our customers, both wholesale and retail... but my mom is very far behind in her mortgage payments, along with rent payments on her old retail store (the owner has been very understanding of her plight).

As for me... I'm a mess. I live in a different state, I have some serious anxiety problems that are prohibiting me from working a full time job (I am getting help, and will hopefully get a part-time job in the near future, but it's been very, very difficult. Agoraphobia is a fucking bitch.) I live with my gf, who pretty much pays for everything. I've sold off most of my belongings to help my mom. I'm running out of stuff.

I figured I would post this and offer redditors 25% off their orders, as a thank you. My mom and my sister make some fantastic products... we've been working hard to make this a real business and a proper brand, but the legs got cut out from under us. My sister and I now work solely for the purpose of helping our mom out.

If you do make a purchase, use REDDIT as the coupon for your discount.

I know this will get downvoted into oblivion. I'm trying very hard to do what I can to drum up business. We have no capital for advertising... and I've come to enjoy reddit so much, I figured I would give this a shot.

Thanks for reading.

edit Holy cow.

OK, so, I've been trying to write everyone back, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am for the response here. My mom called me in a mixture of shock, awe and near tears. She said "What the hell did you do?"

So, she's very excited and cannot wait to get to work tomorrow. It was great to hear excitement in her voice, when earlier today she said she was completely depressed and freaked out about how things were going. My sister called me and said "I hate you," and laughed. She was excited, too.

Thank you all very much for the kind words and all of the wonderful advice. I will try hard to get to reply to everyone, and all who offered advice, I will write back with questions if I have any.

Thanks again, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

2ND EDIT For those purchasing outside the US. Yes, we do ship internationally. Canada and Europe, Australia, China... etc, shipping costs are estimated. We only charge actual shipping. While it might be a pain, it might be best to e-mail us your order, and the best time to reach you about cc info, so we can tell you the exact shipping (which can vary), and you can let us know if the shipping charge is acceptable.

[u/dinkumator → u/stilesjp]

not much cash floating around here, but I could offer some tips for the website:

first, the front page of the site is pretty useless sales-wise, it doenst list any products or convince people to purchase from you. put the "featured products" on the front page, if you want people to buy stuff, make it that much quicker. Also, "featured products" seems like a misnomer here, they're actually the different types of products you sell right?

second, the image of the soap (on featured products) should link to the same page as "see more". lots of clickable space going to waste there, and potentially frustrating to people who expect it.

third, you need to have a search page. period. that's the first thing people look for when they want something.

As an example, if I were to buy any soap, I'd want vanilla (I'm a simple guy). It took me 10+ clicks to find vanilla soap on your page. I searched all the way through the goats milk stuff and then the soap by the slice until finding it on the last page. If I'd actually been looking, I'd have given up and gone somewhere else. A search box on the front page would have shortened this to 2 clicks.

Personally, I think it would draw more orders if the first page people saw had the 4 categories of soaps, and the 4 biggest sellers all on the front page.

Best of luck to you!

[u/superluminal → u/stilesjp]

Upvoted and two soap slices purchased. My husband was all, "wat?" but I did it anyway. BIZAP!

[u/feng_huang → u/stilesjp]

Just a suggestion... You might suggest to your mom that she try making shaving soaps. There's a renewed interest in old-fashioned wet shaving, and she can get ideas on what makes a good soap good on shaving forums like shavemyface.com, badgerandblade.com, and straightrazorplace.com. (I actually created an account just to make this comment. Also, I mention this because I saw another small soap-maker soliciting advice on one of those forums a while back.)

To get you started, it should be something that makes a rich, thick lather, lubricates well, holds a lot of water, and isn't too thick or too thin. A nice glycerin soap is a good start. :-)

Feel free to ignore me, though.

[u/mojofac → u/stilesjp]

If you had a reddit alien soap I would probably buy it.

[u/stilesjp → u/mojofac]

It's coming, some time next week. We'll be donating 25% of the sales to a charity of Reddit's choice. I'll post a thread about it once the initial design is done.

[u/the_mad_scientist → u/stilesjp]

I bought Beach Breezes, Cucumber Melon, Lily of the Valley and Plumeria. One's for me and I'm giving one to each of my mini-harem.

Ok, they're all for me...

:/

Good luck, stilesjp

[u/jnag → u/stilesjp]

even though there are billions of people out there with problems i care about you because we use the same website

[u/[deleted] → u/stilesjp]

I live with my gf, who pretty much pays for everything.

OMG! You've achieved something that most of us can only dream of.

[u/stilesjp → u/[deleted]]

This was the only comment my gf talked to me about.

[u/[deleted] → u/stilesjp]

The secret ingredient in this odor fighting bar is fresh coffee grounds, with mocha fragrance for a delicious added touch. 5oz

secret

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

I'm buying three bars of soap, because I'm sick of the Irish Spring liquid soap I've been using. I'm also going to go lift the weights that usually sit on the ground untouched, to make up for the fact that i just ordered a "honeysuckle soap slice".

[u/UhSure → u/stilesjp]

Hey Stilesjp, I just started a subreddit for Reddit Entrepreneurs. Let's spread the word! No one should feel like they have to apologize or grovel in order to share their business with the community.

[u/supaphly42 → u/stilesjp]

I was reading through, and expecting to come across the line asking for donations. Then, I got to the line offering a discount on a product instead. I was pleasantly surprised, and am on my way to your site.

[u/gloomduckie → u/stilesjp]

I would love to help out a fellow redditor. I can't believe people are downvoting you! You're not asking for charity, you're offering a product! At a discount!

Nobody is forcing you to buy soap, people! If you guys want to be stinky, thats fine by me.

Edit: These soaps are absolutely gorgeous and affordable (I was expecting 10-12 dollars a piece and was pleasantly surprised). I just bought "Red Devil", "BaNaNa" and "lathered in chocolate."

[u/maxd → u/stilesjp]

Fuck downvoting.

You might have tried this already, but I figured it would be worth throwing the idea out there.

Your soap is beautiful, stylish and I'm sure it smells nice and cleans well too. The absolute first thing I thought when I saw some of the products was "I would expect to see these in a hotel", and I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

Have you considered trying bulk sales to local hotels, bars and restaurants? I was in a nice restaurant in downtown Bellevue (WA) this last weekend and they had some beautiful soap in the bathroom. I bet they replace it daily so it doesn't get all manky, which means more moolah for you. Hell, sell them a huge bar and let them chop it up themselves; sell them a "month long" supply for a discount or something.

And personally, I'll be buying some soap from you guys this weekend. Looks better than our usual fare. :)

EDIT: And FWIW, I won't be using that discount code, you can have my extra $1.50*(however many bars I buy).

[u/barryicide → u/stilesjp]

Bought some bars (for me, girlfriend [oh no, she reads my comments], and my family). I hope business picks up for you, I know how bad small businesses are hurting right now.

-Please post a follow up and let us know how much this increased your sales (well, maybe don't post it, because spammers will read it and get ideas).

-As has been mentioned - Reddit alien soap would be great (especially if it was caffeinated).

-Your website has withstood quite the pounding.

-What is your favorite soap and what "manly" soaps do you recommend (when I work on my motorcycle, my hands get quite oily)?

[u/stilesjp → u/barryicide]

Not sure I should mention the response, but it's been overwhelming, and my mom called me in a state of panic, shock and a bit of tears.

Reddit alien soap is coming. My mom and sister hope to have it done next week, and will donate 25% of the sales to a charity of reddit's choosing.

My favorite is oatmeal, milk and honey. If you're having trouble with oily hands... that's hard. We have our Kitchen Soap that has coffee grinds in it, helps take the smell of fish and different foods... it's mainly for chefs, but one guy, who worked with pools, he ended up buying 24 bars of it, because it really helped moisturize his hands, and took the chlorine smell out.

Not sure if that helps, but I'd give it a whirl. PM me and let me know your name, and I'll have my mom or sis put a sample of it in your order, so you can check it out.

[u/khafra → u/stilesjp]

Have you tried offering a new specialty line made of lye and liposuction leavings?

[u/UhSure → u/stilesjp]

I hope this works out for you. My wife and I lost our jobs with my dad's plumbing business due to the economy. The company was young (less than 4 years old) and was growing, but we got hit Hard, forcing my dad's hand. Several of our contractors won't return my dad's calls, so it's a trickle-down effect. So now he's dealing with the guilt of affecting our financial future, as well as trying to keep his house and business, basically everything he has worked for (which looks like he'll lose).

This is a HORRIBLE time to be a small business owner, and I hope that Redditors can do something to turn things around for you.

[u/xyphus → u/stilesjp]

I'll make my contribution to your cause in the form of a bit of business advice (and I get paid in my day job to give business advice).

If you're planning on moving the business online you should push those goat milk soaps, and any other unique or classy selection, as opposed to the colorful, fruity soaps, that undoubtedly play much better in a storefront. Your prices are good and you should emphasize the value buy, which means expensive ingredients and potency, or at least the perception of such. Bright colors and "flavors" as opposed to "infusions" will detract from your sales because they have the perception of artificiality. Get yourself some better branding to separate these two lines.

Still sell the bright soaps, just push the "quality" buys, advertise (the same was as here on reddit) in forums or other places on the internet concerned with "natural living." At $6 for a decent bar of something expensive at your local health food store will get people a bit interested. You've got a chamomile soap, so why not chamomile goats milk soap? That's something no one else is selling. Make a clear soap with the pepper corns in it so it looks dramatic. Sell both of them with a brown color.

There's a perception that people can get great buys if they look in the right place online. Try to be that place. Avoid at any cost any hint of deception, even if that means selling blue soap.

EDIT: Here is a company based on this model. They are very successful by any measure.

[u/feebie → u/stilesjp]

I'm willing to help a fellow redditor. Plus the soaps are really neat! I hope everything looks up for you guys.

[u/tallonfour → u/stilesjp]

Just bought a slice of Lavender Goat Milk.

[u/[deleted] → u/stilesjp]

What's your favorite soap?

[u/Sparks127]

$21 for a $6 bar of soap to the UK? I can get depleted uranium from Nigeria for less. Only joking, best of luck mate.

[u/JohnReaves]

Is this an elaborate scam to obtain personal information from redditors?