Holiday Body Butters Become $1,000/Month Side Hustle

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Hey, what's up, what's up? This is Chris Guillebeau here with you for Side Hustle School, another daily story and lesson. Now we have seen a number of stories of people making handcrafted goods of some kind, whether arts and crafts or some sort of cosmetics or beauty or fashion product. And if you've dabbled in this world, you may know that there are some big successes, that's why we feature them on the show. But a lot of people also struggle in this world.

So I always like to look at what separates the successes from the attempts. I do believe in learning experiences. I think you can always try something and take away some lesson from it, even if it doesn't work out. But what often separates the successes from the attempts is good branding or having some kind of clear brand or message and keep going back to mommy coffee from last week, like you immediately know what that's about. So quality isn't enough.

You need an origin story or you need a hook. You just need something memorable of some kind. And I think today's story will illustrate that for you. It's about a woman who transforms her body butter holiday gifts into a rapidly growing online store and craft show side hustle. It's making about $1,000 a month so far, but it just started a few months ago and it looks like it's gonna be on the rise even more.

That story is coming up right after this brief message. [Music]

Christmas season was approaching quickly. Meredith Mosley Bennett wanted to give her family gifts that reflected her personality and would be more practical and meaningful than random stuff they didn't need. She called up her neighbor, Yolanda Gerbik, who became a partner in the endeavor. Together, they sourced some ingredients, bought gift tins and created a few batches of all-natural body butter and lip balm.

The families and friends of Meredith and Yolanda loved the gifts. Impressed, they encouraged the two women to consider going into business together. Now let's hold that story for a second because what do I mean by going into business together? Just a reminder of what Side Hustle School is all about. It is not about writing an extensive business plan.

It is not about raising capital, going broke, risking it all. It is about taking what you already know and using the resources available to you to create a new source of income without quitting your day job and without driving yourself crazy. So just remember that as we go along today and every day, a side hustle is meant to make your life better. With that goal in mind, Meredith and Yolanda began listening to podcasts, including Side Hustle School, reading about entrepreneurship and researching their market. They realized that their niche was people interested in all-natural, ethically sourced personal care goods.

And that group of people is willing to pay more than the average person for high quality products. They then decided to not buy the shea butter they used for the Christmas gifts from their original source. It wasn't the best quality, nor was it certified fair trade. Instead, they turned their gaze to Global Mamas, an organization that sells certified fair trade goods created by women in Africa. Eager to use their hustle to encourage economic sustainability in vulnerable regions, Meredith purchased 410s of shea butter through the organization.

Buying a large amount of product did feel intimidating, but they were now invested. They settled on a logo, printed shipping labels, and created social media accounts. Finally, after two months of vigorous research and prep, and a total investment of $5,000, the online store launched and they called it Oh My Balm. Meredith and Yolanda took a DIY approach to marketing and that website. They began by selling on Etsy, which was simple to set up and came with the trust of Etsy familiar shoppers, but they knew they needed a more effective landing page.

So they turned to Squarespace to create a search engine optimized sales funnel that forwards potential buyers to the Etsy store to complete the sale. Their first products ranged from $6 for lip balm and $18 for body butters, but they wanted to be able to cross sell other products to their customers. So once things were up and running, the pair quickly created and launched two new products, an all natural mosquito repellent called Mosquito Minders, and an all natural tick repellent called Tickety Split. These have since become Oh My Balm's best sellers. In the first three months, Oh My Balm saw about $1,300 in online sales and another $1,000 from local pickups.

But then in May, they booked their first craft show and everything changed. In a single weekend, they brought in $850 at a small scale show. They quickly booked two more shows and made $2,000 more. Meredith says they've discovered that craft fairs might be their bread and butter. So they booked one almost every weekend in the fall.

Through these craft shows, Oh My Balm found two retail store partners who now carry their product, as well as a few leads for custom body butter orders. Their first custom order was for $200 worth of lip balm for a baby shower. Then an Olympic stylist placed a custom order to fill 200 bags for athletes. Confident in the continued growth of Oh My Balm, Meredith and Yolanda have been stocking up on ingredients and products. They currently hold $18,000 worth of product and the ingredients to produce another $5,000 worth.

They are loving seeing their side hustle grow into something that has the potential to be much more, but they also have an even more meaningful mission behind the project. Meredith and Yolanda want to show their two daughters that they can do anything as long as they're brave, smart and strong. And of course, not afraid to work hard. And the early success of Oh My Balm is a living example of that model. [Music]

All right, so as I said, one of the things that really helps these kinds of projects stand out is some kind of strong branding.

If you hear the name Oh My Balm, or you see it, it's a little bit funny, but you also understand what it's about. Then they have really fun names for their products, like the Mosquito Minders and the Tickety Split. So they're clearly infusing this playful side into their product lines, which I think helps them stand out. And then to continue that thought about the side hustle way, they tested the concept just by doing it for fun as their Christmas gifts for family and friends before deciding to take it further. They have also been willing to try new strategies, like when they discovered the craft fairs and realized this might actually be bigger than online sales, at least for now.

And of course, they've also been willing to work hard, like just about every side hustler I know, and maybe even you. Anyway, congratulations to Meredith and Yolanda. I think it's a really fun project. For everyone else out there, if you'd like to learn more, see their website, Etsy store, Instagram. Come and check out today's show notes at sidehustleschool.com/213.

As always, I encourage you to take action. Inspiration is good, but action is better. It is a huge privilege to bring you this show every day. I will be back tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.