On a recent flight to California, I was seated next to a woman who makes homemade soap.  She was returning from a gift show and she said she’d been pretty successful.

I congratulated her, and asked about her soaps.  I explained that I wanted to link to her site. To give her a good, informative link, I wanted to know why to recommend her soaps… what makes them better, or at least unique?

She shrugged as she handed me her business card, and said, “I don’t know. To be honest, all soaps are pretty much alike.”

Whoa.  That’s her “elevator speech?”

There are so many reasons her soap might be different:

• 

  Baskets of soap that look like fruits.

  Ingredients.  Is her soap all-natural? Based on old-fashioned recipes? Does she consider aromatherapy when adding fragrances? Is it hypoallergenic?  Is it gentle enough for a baby?

• How she makes the soap.  Is it cooked up in her kitchen or backyard? Does she use a cold-processed method?  Is the soap hard-milled to last a long time?
• How the soap is packaged.  Does she wrap it in vintage newspapers, or a 100% organic cotton face towel? Does the soap come in a package you can reuse?  Is each bar hand-wrapped with love?  Does she work with stay-at-home moms who do the wrapping and shipping?
• Other specialties:  Does she make soaps that can also be used as shampoos?  To wash dishes?  Wash pets?  Clean artists’ paint brushes? Leave a citronella fragrance to repel insects? Come from a town or neighborhood with a fascinating history? Is the soap stamped with the image of her illustrious ancestor?  (The majority of Americans are descended from either Britain’s William the Conqueror or an Irish king.)  Is the soap wrapped in limited edition wrappers with local artwork on them?

The list could go on & on.

No matter what your product is — art or crafts — there’s something unique about what you do and why you do it.

Give people a reason to buy your product instead of (or in addition to) someone else’s.

Give fellow professionals a reason to recommend you.

If you aren’t committed to you art, and you don’t believe it’s better than any other competitor in your niche… find another product, or maybe another career altogether.

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