The Indie Experience
December 15, 2008
A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 9, Issue 45
To subscribe, click here
-- Media Partner --
1. Indie Beauty: Connect, Collaborate, Succeed @ Our Social
Media Site!
2. Indie Shopping Network Update!!
3. Meet IBN's New & Renewing Members
4. New at the Blog: Everyone's a Critic!
5. Featured Indie Business Radio Show: Staying Healthy
With Traditional Chinese Medicine
6. Indie Candy: Kenya Calloway ::
Jai's Natural Body Products
:: Georgia
Make It Yourself!!: Peppermint Cucumber Whipped Body Cream
1. Indie Beauty: Connect, Collaborate, Succeed @ Our Social Media Site!
If
you're a member of IBN and you haven't checked out the
new site, you're missing out on tons of great discussions, blog posts,
questions, answers and tips. Here are some highlights happening now!
If you're not a member, once you join the Indie Beauty Network, you can join the networking site and the fun right away! Once you're a member of IBN, just click here and complete the quick application!
2. Indie Shopping Network Update!
I am pleased that our first show went smoothly! Once we worked out some technical challenges early on, we sailed through three show segments featuring Bidwell Botanicals' Holiday Sugar Scrub set, Sunrose Aromatics' Stress-Less gift basket and Sacred Glo's lotion candles.
If you missed the segments, you can catch the unedited version of the shows at our new Indie Shopping.TV site. Everything is happening so fast! I apologize to those of you who did not get a show announcement in time to catch the show live last week. If you missed the shows, you can enjoy them here.
I have another great show planned for this Friday night. We are changing the format to feature one Indie per show, and we are also changing the time to 10:15pm EST since all of the data shows that that's when women are shopping online. If you want to make sure to get a quick notice about the show, please join the site. That way, I can send fast notices to everyone who is a member, with no graphics.
If you'd like to be a guest, email me. We're accepting applications and spaces for next year are filling up fast at the Indie Shopping Network, where we invite people who are tired of the Big Box to Click. Chat. Buy.
Check us out and join our site today!
3. Meet IBN's New & Renewing Members
Welcome Renewing Members!
Benedetta | Julia Faller | California
* Member since December 2006.
Eve Organics | Sharron Pinheiro | Michigan
* Member since January 2008. At Eve Organics, we provide the finest in organic skin care products and mineral makeup. All of our skin care products are chemical and paraben free and are formulated with therapeutic grade essential oils to support the body's ability to heal common skin problems. We give 10% of our profits to a different charitable organization every quarter. Eve Organics is "organic skin care and mineral makeup with a purpose."
Good Thymes Bath & Body | Cheryl Niemela |
Minnesota
* Member since December 2007. We are a mother-daughter business located on our family's certified organic Minnesota farm. We believe that nature has done the perfect job in providing the ultimate in skin care essentials, so we have designed each of our products to pamper and indulge you -- naturally. Our recipes combine irresistible scents with the highest-quality ingredients. Making our products available to everyone, hand-mixed in small batches and freshly delivered, is our goal and our passion.
Learn more about Indie members and their exciting products, services and activities by visiting their websites through our Online Member Directory. You can search for your favorite Indie by state/country, business name, keyword or alphabetical listings.
4. New At the Blog: Everyone's a Critic!
Here
are some current new and popular blog posts. Enjoy and feel free to make your
opinion known. And don't forget to leave your blog or website address so we can
learn more about you, your products and your services. Do you have something to
say? Post a comment and join the discussion!
Everyone's a Critic ... And I Love It!: an quick update on Indie Shopping.TV!
The Fire Burning in My Belly: igniting a new passion for American business
Indie Business Launchpad: Sacred Glo says "Let the calm come to you."
Mark Tewart says, "Earn your 'MBA' Without Going to College
Want more great information to help you grow your business? Then click here to get my blog posts automatically delivered directly to you through our RSS feed. If you prefer email, provide your email address at the blog, upper right corner.
5. Featured Indie Business Radio Show: Staying Healthy With Traditional Chinese Medicine
Featured
Indie Business Radio Show: Staying Healthy With Traditional Chinese Medicine
Today's show was the second time I streamed the show live with video and audio at the same time. I'm having fun joining you live and welcoming you into a new dimension of my life and business. My guest today was Michelle O'Shaughnessy, an esthetician and the author of "Nourish Your Skin & Body With Traditional Chinese Medicine." Michelle shared ways Indies can easily incorporate Chinese medicinal techniques and herbs into everyday life to maximize health and performance as business owners.
You can watch and listen to the entire show at this link.
The audio stream and MP3 download will be available in a few days at Indie Business Radio, where all of my 2008 shows are stored for your listening pleasure 24/7!
-- Media Partner --
6. Indie Candy: Kenya Calloway :: Jai's Natural Body Products :: Georgia
Kenya Calloway of Jai's Natural Body Products in Tucker, Georgia named her business after the first three letters of her 7-year old daughter's name. While this 42-year old Georgia peach is still working a full-time job, she says that Jai's is her "career," and it will stay that way she says so long as it continues to fill a need and a purpose that she describes as "far greater than myself." Kenya's mission for Jai is to: "To create a business that will allow others to lead a more balanced life, through the sense of smell, and touch of nature" Here is a little about how she does that.
How
did you start your business and what was the inspiration for it?
I started the business in September of 2001. It all started with a dream I had one night. A woman in the dream told me that I was suppose to make products that would make people feel better. She told me that the world was a big ball of stress and was in need of products to in a healing process. I thought I had eaten too much before going to bed! That was the only explanation I could come up with for such a crazy dream. But the idea keep haunting me. It followed me around until I gave in and started doing a little research on handmade soap -- the product that started it all.
I failed many times, but with more and more research, practice, and the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild, I was hooked. Soap lead to lotion, lotion lead to body spray, body spray lead to body scrub and so on and so forth. Now I have 38 different products and 22 different soaps.
Before I was guided into the natural body care industry I was an Administrative Assistant I have done all levels of admin work Executive Assistant, Marketing Assistant, Assistant I, II & III Receptionist. I attended the Art Institute of Atlanta where I studied Retail Management & Merchandising. I’ve always wanted to have my own shop of some sort and I have always been a products junkie so I guess all these pieces fit together to form what I am doing right now with Jai's.
What's your niche? What's so great about your products?
All my products are handmade by me, and I so believe in the power of positive energy as I’m making every batch. I believe my niche is supplying people an option and great product at a great price, plus my customers are everyday people. When I tell my story and how I got started with less than $50, they realize they can do something too, and the makes me feel great. A lot of people tell me that when they see me stepping out on my divinely sent idea, they are empowered to do the same. To me, that is one of the greatest rewards, besides the fact that my products actually work for the good of the people and planet.
What's new and exciting with your business these days?
What’s exciting to me is to go somewhere different, and people have heard of your product or just remember your logo. Thanks to MojiO, she did a excellent logo design for me!
How many products are in your line?
I have 33 products and 22 different soaps. My best sellers are the soaps lotions & herbal ointment. People with sensitive skin can use the products without any problems plus, problem areas seem to clear up.
Who helps make your business successful?
My family really helps me a lot, and not just my immediate family, but my extended family. My website master
John Miller and my
photographer Eve D. Lewis are just
a few of the great people that have helped me along my journey.
How
do you market your products?
I have a great word of mouth marketing team, I also have a website, Trade shows and I have a newsletter.
What are the best things about being Indie?
Creative freedom!! I also enjoy helping others.
What are the biggest challenges and how do you overcome them?
Finding creative ways of funding the business.
What tips can you offer other business owners based on your experiences?
Work smart, hard and learn if it doesn’t wok one way, try another way of doing it, and don’t give
up!
What
business book have you enjoyed that has helped you in business, and why?
I enjoy Do You! by Russell Simmons. One of the many things I got out of the book is, you don’t have to run a business to get rich it would be best to do the right thing for the right reason, to TAKE ACTION, to work hard, to ride it until the wheels fall off, and there are more than one way to do something. But do it well, when you find out what it is.
What are you doing when you're not working in your business?
I love to exercise, cook, read, and do African Dance, it whips you into shape quick.
This is Indie Candy, so if you were a brand of candy, what would you be and why?
Ferrero Rocher Chocolates, I just love the fact that they are chocolate and nutty on the outside with the surprise a thin wafer and the hazelnut on the inside plus more CHOCOLATE! Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Learn more about Jai's Natural Body Products at her website.
If you enjoyed this issue, please feel free to share the link with others! See you next week. In the meantime
Enjoy your life, build your business and have your way!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Indie Experience
The Indie Beauty Network | www.indiebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2008 by The Indie Beauty Network (IBN) and Donna Maria. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is prohibited. IBN does not necessarily endorse any product, event or ideology featured in this newsletter or on IBN's website. All information is provided on an "as is" basis and no express or implied warranties are given. Any use of the information contained in this newsletter or on IBN's web site, including recipes, is solely at your own risk. IBN and Donna Maria disclaim any liability in connection with the use of all recipes, products reviewed and other information. Except for sponsorships, this newesletter refuses compensation from companies to feature or mention their names or products. Opinions expressed in any Product Review are personally those of the reviewer and do not represent the views of IBN, Donna Maria (unless she is the reviewer) or any other person or company.
