AS FOR THE GIVEAWAY -- Send which brands you're excited to try out in the chat and follow us on IG @beaubble. Three participants from this conversation will be chosen to win $15 in BB Bucks on Friday to spend towards their purchase on Beaubble.com! 💰
Cerwaa of Nutty Cosmetics shared her struggle with finding manufacturers as sales have picked up beyond her ability to fulfill from home. Shani recommended attending trade shows (understanding your minimums prior) and provided several links which I’ve included in this thread. HeeKyeong recommended putting together a vendor’s compliance checklist and to find a lab that fits the scale of your business. Shaira, Mabel’s sister and the other half of Luna Magic, hopped in and shared another link which you can find in the thread.
Rachel from Naked Chemistry asked how to do marketing without having to do paid marketing. Sravya and Teni both understood that paid marketing wasn’t something that worked well for their brands and budget and found that taking advantage of TikTok, Reels, and really investing into engaging with the community worked best as the community became advocates for their brands. When the community believes in the brand, their network follows suit. Teni also recommended to Desiree when she asked about engagement that making a list of content your customers would be interested in sharing with their network. Mabel also clarified the different types of marketing: consumer, retail, growth, etc. and reminded everyone that the customer base isn’t an overnight sensation, it’s built overtime. Dawn honed in on the fact that you're not selling just the product… you’re selling the emotion, the solution to a feeling. Samara, with her background in analytics, recommended conducting A/B testing different content as content that works for similar brands as yours might not work for you! Lauren offered suggestions that worked for Cle, such as directly asking the consumer what they’d like to see from the brand by utilizing simple changes in captions to the IG story function of asking questions.
For trademarks, Shani recommended conducting a prelim search in the specific class your product falls under. Whoever gets online first will have rights to that trademark. A lot of Shani’s navigation came from Google, attending trade shows, and reaching out to people for advice. Sravya’s background as a chemical engineer allowed her to be a part of the formulation process from the start and attributes a lot of her brand’s success due to the formulation.
As Mabel and Dawn were part of the Glossier Grant initiative, they reminded everyone that applying for grants takes a lot of time and requires discipline. Conduct an ROI analysis before diving head first into the venture capital model and understand that accelerator programs are a whole new ball game. “Small wins add up” (Dawn)
On Funding -- Know your threshold for financial comfort. Samara recently left Amazon, bootstrapped her company and for her recent entry to Nordstrom. She had her security blanket with her full-time job, but understood that she was tired of chasing VCs and used her savings to find partners on her own before approaching VCs. Mabel also worked full-time at Savage X Fenty, before at Nordstrom, and knew she valued financial comfort as a caregiver. Mabel and her sister, Shaira, chose to jump into the VC model and applied for grants.
Rachel from Naked Chemistry asked how to do marketing without having to do paid marketing. Sravya and Teni both understood that paid marketing wasn’t something that worked well for their brands and budget and found that taking advantage of TikTok, Reels, and really investing into engaging with the community worked best as the community became advocates for their brands. When the community believes in the brand, their network follows suit. Teni also recommended to Desiree when she asked about engagement that making a list of content your customers would be interested in sharing with their network. Mabel also clarified the different types of marketing: consumer, retail, growth, etc. and reminded everyone that the customer base isn’t an overnight sensation, it’s built overtime. Dawn honed in on the fact that you're not selling just the product… you’re selling the emotion, the solution to a feeling. Samara, with her background in analytics, recommended conducting A/B testing different content as content that works for similar brands as yours might not work for you! Lauren offered suggestions that worked for Cle, such as directly asking the consumer what they’d like to see from the brand by utilizing simple changes in captions to the IG story function of asking questions.