Don’t Spread your Money Around

Maybe placing newspaper ads would work? There are a lot of free local papers, some of which have pretty reasonable advertising rates. College newspapers would be another good bet. Students are always looking to save money, and with traditional shaving people can save a ton of money. I remember seeing double-edge blades when I was a student and thinking "I wish I had the kind of razor that used those blades. They are a lot less expensive than my Trac II cartridges." Emphasize the cost savings in the ad and provide a link to a wetshaving guide. Once people have a good experience with a vendor or online store, they will tend to return.

Advertising can sometimes be had for free. Why not write a feature about the current wetshaving revival and submit it to one of the smaller newspapers ? Describe the tools used and the various benefits of traditional shaving, along with the basics of technique.

Here are some useful links:

Good Business Advice: How To Get Free Advertising in Local Papers
Mother Earth News
January/February 1979
https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-a...zmaz79zsch
An old article, but still applicable.

2018 Newspaper Advertising Costs: Full, 1/4 & 1/8 Page Rates
FitSmallBusiness.com
December 8, 2017
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/newspaper-a...ing-costs/

You’re kidding right? Newspaper advertising to millennials. No.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You’re kidding right? Newspaper advertising to millennials. No.

Millennials aren't the only target market. Besides, traditional shaving is already present on the Internet - forums, blogs, Facebook and other social media, and especially YouTube and Instagram. That has the added benefit of causing wetshaving results turning up incidentally in search engine results. So what about more traditional media?

Your assertion that younger folks do not read newspapers is not universally true. College newspapers are still widely read by their respective student bodies. A student who is also a traditional shaver could submit a feature article and share the knowledge.

It is not about sharing information and advertising via one channel but many.

I wrote a 4 part article in a weekly publication for my local paper. It was run in 2 different papers in neighboring towns. I went in and talked to the editor and owner of the 2 papers to see if he got any feed back. He said no, nothing Nada. He said unless the topic is incendiary etc., he said if he doen't get feedback, it must be OK.

No I'm no social butterfly in my local community, but literally nobody has spoke to me about these full page articles I wrote. I had hoped for a little more but but such is life. It was a fun project. I did it for free.

...Your assertion that younger folks do not read newspapers is not universally true.  College newspapers are still widely read by their respective student bodies.  A student who is also a traditional shaver could submit a feature article and share the knowledge...

The solution to a crowded market is to grow the market. Telling your friends, family, and co-workers about your favorite soapmaker is the best gift you can give them. When customers ask me what they can do for us, I always tell them exactly this. Word of mouth is our best friend.

What, no soapmaker t-shirts?  Seriously, I'll bet a lot of traditional wetshavers would wear one.  That would advertise the daylights out of the soapmaker - to friends, family, co-workers, and the countless hundreds or thousands of other people one encounters in daily life.  Just a thought, for what it is worth.

Given that marketplace expansion is key, I don't think one person buying from a couple vs. dozens of soapmakers would make much difference.

Barrister and Mann has T-shirts (sometimes). I have a Diamond and a Hallows T-shirt. They're cool and good quality too.

This reply is to "steeleshaves#1"

I neither agree nor do I disagree with your thread "Don’t Spread your Money Around".  A while back I sent an email to one of the popular artisan soap makers asking a question about one of his products.  I will not divulge his name or the company's name; but in the past I received a quick response when I ordered product from them.  Now I am sure I will hear a lot of people say give him more time.  I have been doing this for many years and have always received a rapid response form those companies selling products.  Thats how you keep customers.

So to assume that I should not spread my money around is unacceptable to me.  I have 91 soaps and creams from 42 different manufactures.  There are least five companies where I own 5 soaps apiece, one where I own 6 and another where I own 12.  I do want to spread my money around the next time I decide to make a purchase and I may not go back to a manufacture where I can not get an email answered.  To me it is important to know that I am important to the artisan.

This reply is to "steeleshaves#1"

I neither agree nor do I disagree with your thread "Don’t Spread your Money Around".  A while back I sent an email to one of the popular artisan soap makers asking a question about one of his products.  I will not divulge his name or the company's name; but in the past I received a quick response when I ordered product from them.  Now I am sure I will hear a lot of people say give him more time.  I have been doing this for many years and have always received a rapid response form those companies selling products.  Thats how you keep customers.

So to assume that I should not spread my money around is unacceptable to me.  I have 91 soaps and creams from 42 different manufactures.  There are least five companies where I own 5 soaps apiece, one where I own 6 and another where I own 12.  I do want to spread my money around the next time I decide to make a purchase and I may not go back to a manufacture where I can not get an email answered.  To me it is important to know that I am important to the artisan.

Playing Devil's Advocate. How important are THEY to you if you deal with 42 different makers?

 A while back I sent an email to one of the popular artisan soap makers asking a question about one of his products.  I will not divulge his name or the company's name; but in the past I received a quick response when I ordered product from them.  Now I am sure I will hear a lot of people say give him more time.  I have been doing this for many years and have always received a rapid response form those companies selling products.  Thats how you keep customers.

So to assume that I should not spread my money around is unacceptable to me.  I have 91 soaps and creams from 42 different manufactures.  There are least five companies where I own 5 soaps apiece, one where I own 6 and another where I own 12.  I do want to spread my money around the next time I decide to make a purchase and I may not go back to a manufacture where I can not get an email answered.  To me it is important to know that I am important to the artisan.

I understand the frustration with waiting on a response, but I might be able to offer another perspective, as I'm guilty at times of what you mention.

I don't know of a single artisan that has outsourced customer service. By artisan I mean soapmaker who actually makes their own product. We've thought of it, because as we've grown customer service has become a full time job in itself. The problem is, how do you get all that knowledge of wetshaving and soap production over to an hourly wage customer service employee?  On top of that, most of the emails we get are addressed to Rod or Mandy. Customers want to talk to me. I'm glad for that. I really am. However, I get literally (using the literal definition of literal) 500 or more customer service emails or calls a week. That's not an exaggeration. Mandy or I will personally answer every one, with me doing the bulk of that. It takes time. Finally, even if I did want to hand over customer service to an employee, I don't know that I have the money to even do so without raising prices.

Our 800 number is just a forwarding service that goes straight to my cell phone. We got that because I was getting calls and texts at all hours and on weekends. I got rid of Facebook messenger on my phone for the same reason. I try not to answer emails between Friday night and Monday morning, as even though I usually work out in the shop on weekends, by answering emails on nights and weekends I'm taking time away from my wife and son and giving it to customers. So Monday morning I will typically come into the shop before six and sit down with some coffee and start on the 150 or so emails that came in over the weekend. I have answered over 120 so far today and I'm not done. This means that today if I want to make soap, it's going to be in the evening. Most of these artisans are not the large, well-oiled machines people think they are. I'm not saying that they all provide the best customer service, nor am I suggesting that mine is perfect. I'm just saying that when you run an artisan business like this, customers want to talk to the artisan, not some employee that doesn't know the difference between superfat and lye discount. It's up to the artisan to decide how much time to take away from production to give to customer service. Too much time spent on customer service instead of production can lead to delays, which leads to even more emails from customers wanting to know when items will be on the site or when their order will ship.

I'm not making excuses for myself or for anyone else. I simply don't want you to have a sour opinion of someone needlessly. And if it's the case that I was the artisan who was slow in responding to an email, you have my apologies. It unfortunately happens. However, it 100% would not have been because I did not value you as a customer.

 A while back I sent an email to one of the popular artisan soap makers asking a question about one of his products.  I will not divulge his name or the company's name; but in the past I received a quick response when I ordered product from them.  Now I am sure I will hear a lot of people say give him more time.  I have been doing this for many years and have always received a rapid response form those companies selling products.  Thats how you keep customers.

So to assume that I should not spread my money around is unacceptable to me.  I have 91 soaps and creams from 42 different manufactures.  There are least five companies where I own 5 soaps apiece, one where I own 6 and another where I own 12.  I do want to spread my money around the next time I decide to make a purchase and I may not go back to a manufacture where I can not get an email answered.  To me it is important to know that I am important to the artisan.

I understand the frustration with waiting on a response, but I might be able to offer another perspective, as I'm guilty at times of what you mention.

I don't know of a single artisan that has outsourced customer service. By artisan I mean soapmaker who actually makes their own product. We've thought of it, because as we've grown customer service has become a full time job in itself. The problem is, how do you get all that knowledge of wetshaving and soap production over to an hourly wage customer service employee?  On top of that, most of the emails we get are addressed to Rod or Mandy. Customers want to talk to me. I'm glad for that. I really am. However, I get literally (using the literal definition of literal) 500 or more customer service emails or calls a week. That's not an exaggeration. Mandy or I will personally answer every one, with me doing the bulk of that. It takes time. Finally, even if I did want to hand over customer service to an employee, I don't know that I have the money to even do so without raising prices.

Our 800 number is just a forwarding service that goes straight to my cell phone. We got that because I was getting calls and texts at all hours and on weekends. I got rid of Facebook messenger on my phone for the same reason. I try not to answer emails between Friday night and Monday morning, as even though I usually work out in the shop on weekends, by answering emails on nights and weekends I'm taking time away from my wife and son and giving it to customers. So Monday morning I will typically come into the shop before six and sit down with some coffee and start on the 150 or so emails that came in over the weekend. I have answered over 120 so far today and I'm not done. This means that today if I want to make soap, it's going to be in the evening. Most of these artisans are not the large, well-oiled machines people think they are. I'm not saying that they all provide the best customer service, nor am I suggesting that mine is perfect. I'm just saying that when you run an artisan business like this, customers want to talk to the artisan, not some employee that doesn't know the difference between superfat and lye discount. It's up to the artisan to decide how much time to take away from production to give to customer service. Too much time spent on customer service instead of production can lead to delays, which leads to even more emails from customers wanting to know when items will be on the site or when their order will ship.

I'm not making excuses for myself or for anyone else. I simply don't want you to have a sour opinion of someone needlessly. And if it's the case that I was the artisan who was slow in responding to an email, you have my apologies. It unfortunately happens. However, it 100% would not have been because I did not value you as a customer.

Superbly stated, Rod, and it certainly puts a new perspective on things.  When I order from Stirling or Chatillon Lux or several other artisans here at DFS, I do not expect instant shipment or an instant response to an inquiry, though I have to agree with Tidepool that I would not be happy if I had to wait a couple of weeks for a response or, worse, no response at all.  For me, a few days is reasonable and I have come to respect that for just the reasons you state here.  I, too, have spent my money at several merchants here, including you (my bath soaps and shampoo bars arrived in fine style the other day ), and I don't think I would want to lock myself into one or two of you.  On the other hand, I don't go after almost every new merchant and/or product that comes out and I wouldn't be surprised if that is what the majority of us are like.

This reply is to "steeleshaves#1"

I neither agree nor do I disagree with your thread "Don’t Spread your Money Around".  A while back I sent an email to one of the popular artisan soap makers asking a question about one of his products.  I will not divulge his name or the company's name; but in the past I received a quick response when I ordered product from them.  Now I am sure I will hear a lot of people say give him more time.  I have been doing this for many years and have always received a rapid response form those companies selling products.  Thats how you keep customers.

So to assume that I should not spread my money around is unacceptable to me.  I have 91 soaps and creams from 42 different manufactures.  There are least five companies where I own 5 soaps apiece, one where I own 6 and another where I own 12.  I do want to spread my money around the next time I decide to make a purchase and I may not go back to a manufacture where I can not get an email answered.  To me it is important to know that I am important to the artisan.

Playing Devil's Advocate. How important are THEY to you if you deal with 42 different makers?

Actually, you are correct nobody is incredibly important to me when I am spending my own money. I am completely happy with my current inventory and if, I decide to purchase from 43 and 44 it will be my decision and I am assuming I will be content with it.