Since I’m not participating in the recession, I don’t often blog about its impact. I’m not ignoring it, but focusing on negative things only magnifies them and their effects. Conversely, focusing on positive things empowers you to take control of the things you can, and begin to change things for the better, one step at at time. Even so, statistics released last week by the federal government show the economy lost 125,000 job last month.

It also showed that, while women gained some ground, sadly, the unemployment statistics for men remain largely unchanged. And I cannot ignore the emails and phone calls I get from people who are hurting because of the economy. Most who contact me are women whose life plans originally included focusing on raising children while their spouse worked outside the home. Many are sobering up to the reality that they may have to change this plan as their spouses deal with long-term unemployment or underemployment, or working under the constant threat of a pink slip. I am personally familiar with what it’s like to live with this kind of uncertainty.Several years ago, my life plan was interrupted when my husband was laid off from a well-paying job. Our household income was cut by 60% in one day. It was tough, but we got through it. In my experience, there are at least six ways a wife can positively impact her husband and family in situations like this.

1. Allow time for grieving. For many people, losing a job is like losing a close friend or family member. This is especially so for men who take great pride in their work, and believe that their value is closely related to (or even dependent upon) status earned on the job. Allow him the space he needs to grieve and come to terms with the great loss and sadness he is feeling.
2. Don’t bring home job applications. The last thing a newly unemployed person needs is you beating him over the head with job opening announcements. While you may be anxious to quickly replace his income, you can do more harm than good by constantly “helping” him find new opportunities. If he asks for help finding a job, pull out all the stops. Otherwise, lay low on this one.
3. Affirm his intrinsic worth. Corporate America leaves much to be desired when it comes to handling layoffs. The often unceremonious process can be debilitating, even humiliating, and it can have lifelong adverse consequences. One of the most important things you can do is let your husband know that you are in his corner. Confirm that you consider him to be a valuable part of your family, whether or not he has a job. Make sure he knows you love him and are in it for the long haul with him, for better or for worse.
4. Apply for benefits. The depression that often follows job loss can be so overwhelming that everyone forgets to take advantage of federal, state and company benefits that may be available. Encourage your spouse to call his former employer’s human resources department to take full advantage of assistance that may be available for things like extended health benefits, career counseling, severance, unemployment compensation and job placement services. If your spouse is too depressed to handle this, try to do it yourself, as the passage of filing deadlines can foreclose future opportunities.
5. Don’t let him wallow. While time to grieve is important, you must do what you can to discourage him from allowing depression and sadness to prevail for a long period of time. Discourage any temptation he may have to withdraw from friends and relatives. Insist on enjoying time together as a family outside the home, and on spending time with good friends who can provide support and encouragement. Take advantage of the time you have to visit local landmarks, museums, beaches, parks and other free or low cost entertainment options. The longer negative feelings overwhelm your situation, the longer it takes to bounce back.
6. Assess your options. As you go through this process, it will be critical that you assess your own options as a wife and/or mother. How is this going to change your approach to your future? Should you meet with your financial planner to make changes to how you handle your money? Should you consider getting a job? Should you step up your efforts to start or expand your own business? Should you hire help with the children to reduce your stress level? Should you consider personal, marriage and/or financial counseling for yourself and/or your spouse? As you explore how your life plan will change, find good times to discuss your thoughts with your spouse.
7. Pray. Through all of the challenges and uncertainty, perhaps nothing will keep you centered and grounded, and reduce your stress level, as much as prayer. Prayer encourages you to focus on the big picture rather than on the immediate problems at hand. As you seek and receive guidance and direction for how to proceed, you will be strengthened knowing that you are not alone — that a power greater than yourself and your problems is in ultimate control of the situation.

Look, coping with uncertainty is challenging in any situation, especially where finances and job security are concerned. It makes crawling under and rock and/or pointing fingers of blame look like appealing alternatives. But it’s times like these when husbands and wives need to hold onto one another and weather the storm together. It’s not easy, but the result is a rugged and richly textured relationship that lasts a lifetime.

Please feel free to forward the link to this post to a friend who may be encouraged by it.

Question: What did I miss? What suggestions and encouragement can you offer?

Today we celebrate Independence Day, a federal holiday commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, formally establishing our nation as independent from the Kingdom of England. As a child growing up in my hometown of Washington, DC, the 4th of July was a big part of the summer.

People from around the world poured into the Nation’s Capital. The subways were jam packed, hotels were filled to capacity and traffic was a nightmare. But it was always fun, especially since our house is on 16th Street, a straight shot up from the White House at 16th & Pennsylvania Avenue.We always had a perfect view of the fireworks from my parents’s patio. We celebrated with other kids in the neighborhood by catching fireflies, running around with sparklers, eating lots of hot dogs and chugging enough soda to more than make up for the sweet drinks we weren’t allowed to have all year.

Today, my appreciation for the 4th of July is different, yet still heartfelt. As an “indiependent” business owner, I am grateful to live in a nation where I can enjoy my passions and work freely to generate income that I can spend, invest, donate and save as I wish.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I can’t think of many other things that are more self-evident than equality, the existence of a Creator, the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to pursue those things which make one’s heart sing. That’s what I get to do every day, here with you. I wish you a happy Indiependence Day!!

Thank you America!

If you live in the United State of America, what are you thankful for today? If you live elsewhere, what if anything do you feel is special about this day?

I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad for a weekend to relax with my husband and kids. We might even take a last minute trip up to DC to see the fireworks. But before I go, I want to let you know that I’m doing some tweaking to the blog. I think it looks pretty good right now, but I wanted to implement some changes that will make the blog more aesthetically pleasing, with a cleaner, sharper design.

During the weekend, my designer will be tweaking and testing, so if you stop by and notice anything wonky, it’s Jennifer working to make all the bells and whistles chime properly together. If all goes as planned, the new design should be fully launched by Tuesday. Meanwhile, please take a moment to check out the companies that make it all possible for us to enjoy this journey together. If you’d like to be included, scroll down to the bottom of this message to link to my Media Kit and find out more!

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,500 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,700 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (over 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Podcast and at Indie Business Magazine.

Download my 2010 Media Kit here (PDF).

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and enhance the level of engagement for you and your brand.

I look forward to serving you!

Earlier this week, I shared what I learned from my 2010 Reader Survey. I am planning a post to help you conduct and learn from your own survey, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, I’m excited to share my 2010 Media Kit, which highlights information about my readers, along with a limited number of advertising opportunities here and at several “Indie-focused” websites I maintain.

Some of the advertising slots have been purchased already, but there are several left. They are all available on a first come, first served basis, and they include the Indie social networking site, this blog, the flagship site of the Indie Beauty Network and others.

If you wish to purchase an ad, or if you have any questions, please contact my assistant, Glenda Hodge, at advertising [at] indiebeautynetwork [dot] com.

Earlier this month, I conducted a Reader Survey. I previously conducted two Reader Surveys for my weekly newsletter, but this is the first time I conducted one since I started blogging daily and using Twitter, FaceBook and other social media tools.

You can see the survey questions here. You can see the survey results here. If you have never conducted a Reader Survey, I strongly encourage you to consider doing so. Even if you do not have a large readership, reaching out to the people who are giving you the privilege of connecting with them is a good idea. You will learn more about what is expected of you. You’ll find out what is and is not relevant, and where you should focus your publishing efforts. Here’s what I discovered through this process.

1. Most people skim, then read. Most people skim through my posts, then decide which ones to read. I sense that I need to make my posts shorter so they can be skimmed more quickly. I will continue to publish longer commentary from time to time, especially when it comes to small business advocacy. But overall, I plan to make my posts shorter so you can skim faster for the information you need.
2. Small business success is most popular. The topic of Small Business Success is by far my most popular, followed by Social Media, and then Leadership. Advocacy is next, and then Fitness.
3. Fewer running journals. Several people commented that I needed to cut back on the Running Journals, so I have eliminated them. Here’s the last one for the few people who might be missing them! Some people suggested I launch a personal blog, but I don’t plan to do that anytime soon.
4. More “how to” content. I will add more “how to” posts, in particular screencasts like this one showing you how to add the Reviews Tab to your FaceBook Page. I will also publish more articles sharing the stories of how other Indie Business owners are making their mark. Examples of articles like this are here and here.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to take my Reader Survey. You can still take the survey, by the way, as I’ve left it open just in case you missed it the first time. You’ll notice that, at the end, you can include your address to receive a free copy my my new print magazine when it launches later this year.

Question: Did I miss any important questions in my Reader Survey? If so, please tell me what they are so I can include them next time.

Technology makes information accessible 24 hours a day. And while it can be overwhelming, I try to make this blog a place where you can count on finding things that are relevant and worthy of your attention. Things that encourage you, spark new ideas or simply make you smile. Some people tell me it looks effortless. I suppose it can seem that way, but of course, it’s not.

It’s an investment, in myself and in you, and it takes time, thought and requires being committed to a specific daily productivity flow. But it brings me great joy to share with you each week, here and at the Indie “outposts” I maintain, including the social networking site where over 6,000 Indies gather regularly to connect, collaborate and succeed. It wouldn’t happen without you, and it wouldn’t happen without these companies who want you to succeed. Thank you for allowing me into your world. If you get a minute, please give some applause to the companies that make it all possible for us to enjoy this journey together.

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,500 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,700 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (over 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Podcast and at Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

Today is Father’s Day! I hope all you dads out there have a wonderful day! For those of you who, like me, have the world’s best dads, I hope you get a chance to make some precious Daddy Memories today, and that you remember to thank your dad (and other special father figures in your life) for being such great patriarchs.It’s never a bad time to say thank you to the people who matter, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my blog. You do lots of other things in your busy life, and I am honored that you invest a little of your time with me each week. I also want to thank the companies who make it possible for me to share useful commentary and tips to help you be even more successful in your life and your business. Click “Continue Reading” to check them out, and let them know that dM sent you!

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,400 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,700 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (nearly 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Radio, on Indie Business TV, and in the Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

Because Oprah and her fans need a fresh, fun look at the amazing family-run businesses making one-of-a-kind artisan products, I decided to pitch that show idea to Oprah as part of “Oprah’s Search For The Next TV Star”. The video has been edited and you can vote and leave a comment at Oprah’s site here!Once the video edited, we’ll post it to her site and you’ll be able to vote for us. (Please vote for us!) In the meantime, yesterday’s recording session produced blooper-worthy segments that I just had to share with you. It may take a bit for this high resolution video to load, but it’s worth it! Warning: Be prepared to laugh, and just in case you’re new to my blog and don’t know me, be warned that I really put myself out there in a “real deal” sorta way.

Feel free to grab the embed code by clicking the “Embed” drop down in the upper right corner of the player at the end of the video, and share the fun with your blog readers — if you dare!!

If you have an idea for a show, you can pitch it to Oprah too! The deadline is June 3026. Here are the details!

Question: I’m afraid to ask.

Earlier this month, I posted this question here and over at the Indie social networking site. As you may know, the USDA’s National Organic Program enforces organic labeling and processing standards for food, but not cosmetics.

The FDA, which does regulate cosmetics, does not oversee how and whether the term “organic” appears on cosmetic product labels, and has shown no interest in doing so. All this got me to wondering how much of a different it made anyway — so I asked you. And boy, did you tell! A summary of the results of the poll are below.

1. 35% said “Yes, organic is preferable to non-organic.”
2. 43% said “No. As long as a cosmetic is safe, organic doesn’t matter to me.”
3. 21% said “It depends.”

Some people explained their answers in comments at the post where the poll appears, and others did so at the poll website where the poll also appeared.

From the looks of things, “organic” is a plus, but a lot of people reported considering many more things before they buy a cosmetic. In particular, I was pleased to see many responses from people who said they read the entire product label before they buy, not just the claim on the front of it.

Question: What do you think of these poll results?

Last week was crazy. To top it off, my family and I spent this morning in the emergency room with a sick son. The diagnosis is not serious, but it knocked us for a loop. Life is like that sometimes, but as Indies, we can’t let it stop us. We have to juggle the surprises as deftly as we juggle the pre-planned events. It’s not easy, but if we wanted easy, we wouldn’t be Indie, right?!

Isn’t it great to do business with companies who understand our lifestyle, and in many instances, are one of us. That’s the case with my sponsors and I am excited to highlight them here so you can see what they have to offer and how they can serve you. Just like me, they are all Indie, all the time. Check them out, and let them know that dM sent you!

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,400 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,700 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (nearly 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Radio, on Indie Business TV, and in the Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

This week was extremely challenging, both personally and professionally. A few personal family matters exploded. My son was sick all week with a weird, low grade, no-fever stomach ache (that our pediatrician attributes to touching a turtle last month), which manifested itself mainly around 2:00 in the morning. The widgets and plugins on my blog stopped playing well together.

My daughter got impossibly tiny splinters in her feet. School ended, which means graduations, cakes, parties, prizes and multiple frenzied happy dances. I haven’t published a blog post since June 8. I only got in one run all week. As I was preparing for bed last night, I realized how defeated and tired I felt. That’s no way to end a week, so I began to ponder what I could do to finish out on a more positive note. Here’s what I did next.

1. Think. I turned off everything. The laptop, the iPhone, even myself. I sat down in the middle of the floor, folded my legs, took some deep breaths and asked myself why I felt the way I did. I reviewed the week’s stressful encounters. Once this brief pity party ended, I listed the things I could do to change any of it. That was a list containing exactly zero items.

   Then, I began to think of things I could accomplish quickly to change how I perceived of my week (and myself). Then, I peeled myself off the floor, and took action.

2. Act. First, I called an IBN member and had a productive discussion about pending and existing FDA laws affect small businesses. Second, I made considerable progress in 15 minutes on a project I’ve been avoiding for weeks. Third, I performed some important but tedious updates to IBN’s member directory.

3. Celebrate Victory! I went to bed exhausted, content and grateful that well-deserved sleep came quickly. I smiled as I drifted off to celebratory dreams. Had I not stopped to think and take action, I would have gone to bed defeated. Of course this means I would have started today the same way. Instead, by thinking and acting, I found victory!

   I woke up rested and empowered — ready to put this week’s stress behind me and look forward to a great weekend.

Question: How was your week? How do you find victory?

Each week, you can count to bring you cutting edge insights and tips to help you maximize your potential in life and in business. From the lessons I continue to learn in my own school of hard knocks, to the forward looking action steps you can take to propel yourself to the next level, I share it all, no holds barred.

They say you’ll be more successful in business if you do something you’d do for free. I think that’s true. On the other hand, nothing is free, including you and me, and that’s why I’m grateful to my sponsors for making it possible for me to join you on your journey. Take a moment to check with them to see how they can help you, and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom so I can introduce you to some new sponsors!

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,000 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,600 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (nearly 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Radio, on Indie Business TV, and in the Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

According to the Organic Trade Association, in 2009, US sales of organic products grew grew by to $26.6 billion. Of that figure, $24.8 billion represented organic food. The remaining $1.8 billion were sales of organic non-foods, including cosmetics. As the founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization serving small scale cosmetics manufacturers, this statistic is of considerable interest to me and my members. You purchase cosmetics, yes? Does organic matter to you? Let me know by voting. Feel free to expand on your answer in the comments section.

You can buy the stuff you want and need anywhere. But instead of buying just stuff, why not buy an experience? And why not buy it from companies run by people like you — people who not only support the Indie community in general, but also go out of their way to support your efforts at making a profit doing what you love. My sponsors do that, and I want to thank you for reading my blog as I think them for helping me bring it to you.

The companies listed here are more than just sponsors. They are our partners — yours and mine — because they live the Indie lifestyle like we do, and they are a big part of how I serve you. Indies serving Indies. There’s nothing else like it in the world. My sponsors want to serve you, and here they are:

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

Samara Botane: We offer ready-to-use aromatic wellness products and formulated by our professional aromatherapist. We are an endorsed supplier to therapeutic spas, medical professionals, cosmeticians, massage schools, natural perfumers, educators and consumers. Start shopping now!

Mineral Basics: Pure, bismuth-free mineral makeup. We use only natural, healthy ingredients in our products…never synthetic dyes, fragrances, chemicals, surfactants, mineral oil, preservatives or other such unnecessary ingredients. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,000 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,600 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (nearly 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Radio, on Indie Business TV, and in the Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

You may know that one of the things I enjoy most is sharing information to help you maximize your Indie and business success. I think I do that by publishing this blog, a newsletter, and by hosting the Indie social networking site. But just because I think I am helpful doesn’t mean that I am, so will you take a few minutes and click here to take the Indie Business Survey? If you do, and you enter your mailing address at the end, I will send you a free print edition of the re-launch Indie Business Magazine when it is printed in late summer!

Like the graphic above illustrates, I see and hear you every day. I love connecting with you, and this survey will help me do that better. It’s easy to complete and only takes a few minutes. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

As I make slow but certain progress toward a healthier dM, I am enjoying discovering the benefits of raw foods. I have previously shared a few of my favorite recipes, including Avocado Grand and Roasted Vegeatables With Thyme, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Today, I’m excited to share a new recipe passed to me by my friend John Easton at Easton Multimedia. This is the recipe he shared, except for my additions of onions, Feta cheese, and salt, and my substitution of ground cayenne pepper for a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (because I don’t have any right now).

Combine together 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less if you can’t stand the heat), 1/4 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (available at most grocery stores or online), 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup scallions (white parts only), 1 large minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon diced Spanish onions, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Put it in a jar and shake it well.Pour it over  a bunch of washed collard greens. Toss it with your hands and then marinate it for two hours at room temperature. Turn the food over a few times while it’s marinating so all of the flavors hit all of the greens. Just before serving, add a tablespoon of Feta cheese. I’m telling you, it’s delicious. I was raised by a down home lady from Enfield, North Carolina, so all-day, slow-cooked-in-a-huge-pot-with-fatback (whoo hoo!, testify now!) collard greens have been a part of my life since always, especially on holidays. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enjoy uncooked collard greens. I guess I should have wilder dreams!

According to Wikipedia, collard greens are are good source of vitamin C (only when eaten raw, because heat destroys vitamin C) and soluble fiber, and contain multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties. All this made it a lot of fun to prepare and eat.

So what do I think? This was my lunch today. I may never cook a collard green again.

Question: What are your favorite uncooked food recipes?

In case you didn’t know, I love serving small and independent business owners! It’s especially exciting to do so at a time when the number of innovative companies grows daily. Thanks to you, dear readers, my how-to tips and messages of inspiration and encouragement reach around the globe.

None of it would be possible without the sponsors who help me bring you the latest news and inspiration you need to propel your business forward. Please take a moment to learn about these companies and find out how they can help you achieve your goals!

Essential Wholesale: Private labeling and custom formulation for your cosmetics products. Small quantities available. Choose from the largest selection of naturally derived cosmetics bases in the world. Hundreds of certified organic products and ingredients to choose from! Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

Online Labels: A world leader in blank laser and inkjet labels, Online Labels offers over 150 label sizes in 30+ different materials! Just like you, Fortune 500 companies from around the globe buy their labels from Online Labels. You’ve probably seen their labels on everything from CDs/DVDs, food, candles, mailings, boxes, tins … and almost every type of product you can think of. Now offering lip tube labels with perforated freshness/security seals! Start shopping now!

From Nature With Love: Thousands of raw materials and supplies to make your products. Bulk, small quantities. Organic and conventional natural ingredients, complementary cosmetic grade ingredients, books, packaging, equipment, superior quality ingredients, outstanding customer service. Proudly Serving You Since 1997. Start shopping now! If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

The Box Co-Op: Custom and stock retail boxes and printed packaging. Full color printed boxes with your artwork; custom sizing to fit your product exactly; matte, aqueous or high gloss UV finishes; metallic foils, embossing and debossing. Box windows and packing inserts; minimum volumes starting at 1,250 boxes. Start shopping now!

Soap Equipment: Since 1996, we have designed and developed the finest soap making equipment available for professional or beginner soapmakers. Our equipment can be designed to your specifications: soap cutters, molds, bath bomb makers, oil and candle wax melters, soap drying and lip balm trays, melt and pour molds, mixing tools, safety equipment, lotion and oil pumps, bottling and labeling equipment and more. Start shopping now!

TKB Trading: Since 1997, offering pigments, dyes, micas and more! TKB Trading’s primary focus is on color additives and associated products for the soap, cosmetics and personal care industry. We also offer color additives for arts, crafts and industrial arts. Led by Kaila Westerman, the author of two craft books, TKB offers an informative blog and a forum to help you use the products you purchase from them. Start shopping now!

Shea Radiance Supplies: Fair trade raw shea butter, black soap and other products imported from Africa and around the world. We offer carrier oils and butters, essential oils and an exclusive line of natural and organic culinary oils, herbs and spices. Beautiful, renewable, sustainable. Start shopping now!

Mold Market: Mold Market designs and manufactures high quality plastic soap molds for all occasions. Our multi-cavity custom molds designs are suitable for hot and cold process soap making, melt & pour soap making, candle making, and ceramic crafts. You’ll find our customer service impressive and shipping turn-around time fast. Our ever-expanding mold line tips the scale in quality. Start shopping now!

Bramble Berry: Bramble Berry offers more than 2500 soap making products, including fragrance oils, soap molds, packaging, soap making kits, as well as supplies to make essential oils, lip butter flavorings, herbs and botanicals, cosmetics and much more. Watching industry trends carefully, Bramble Berry CEO Anne-Marie Faiola stays ahead of her customers’ needs by frequently adding new products. If you have a suggestion, please let us know and we’ll do our best to find it for you. She also tests all existing products herself to make sure that she’s offering her customers the highest quality in crafting supplies. Start shopping now!If you are a member of IBN, click here for your member discount!

SunRose Aromatics: Founded in 1997, SunRose sources quality essential oils from around the world and makes them available to you at affordable prices. She has scoured the globe investigating distilleries and their practices to ensure the product she imports is of the highest quality grade. To this end, she always ensures that her oils are GC/MS tested. SunRose has a vast array of well-known oils, and also hard to find exotic oils. All are certified organic or wildcrafted where possible. Start shopping now!

Auroma: Featuring Auroma brand essential oils, which are the only aromatherapy oils in the United States that are certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. We guarantee the purity and quality of our essential oils. We offer a message board, seasonal aromatherapy recipe, informative blog, and aromatherapy glossary. Start shopping now!

Garden State Naturals: Your source for wholesome ingredients, straight from nature. Our speciality is cold-pressed oils and butters from the Amazon rainforest. These are natural extracts long-prized in Brazil for their beneficial and healing properties. We supply Açaí oil, which has a higher amount of skin-protecting anti-oxidants than any other natural source in the world. Start shopping now!

Elements Bath and Body: If you need supplies for making cosmetics and toiletries, or some old fashioned soap making, we have everything ready to order. We offer a wide variety of wholesale soap making supplies, bath and body supplies, recipes, packaging, and accessories to suit any soap making or cosmetic requirements. We also carry lip balm tubes, beeswax, fragrance oils, liquid soap base, melt and pour soap base and recipes. Start shopping now!

Mountain Rose Herbs: Since 1987 Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture and steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Every aspect of all our products, from the procurement, and the receiving, to the processing and packaging, is done in accordance to strict quality control and organic handling procedures. Start shopping now!

Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe now supplies soap and toiletry makers, crafters, and aromatherapists with high-quality affordable products. What makes us unique is that we actually use most of the raw materials we sell in our soaps and toiletries so you can be assured that you’re getting the best possible raw materials for your own products. Start shopping now!

BioChemica: Home of “The Butter People!” First we start with organically grown, freeze dried berries which we micronize and infuse into a blend of certified organic ingredients like shea and palm butters. The result is a smooth butter with the beneficial attributes of the butter and the fruit: blueberry, Açaí, cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant. We offer a full range of plant-derived ingredients from all parts of the globe. Start shopping now!

Planet Label: Laser, inkjet, or custom printed labels. As one of the most established online resources for blank or custom printed labels & stickers, our quality and variety are second to none. Use our filtering system or product configurator to find a label by material, use, size or shape. Still not sure? Call us! Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are here to help you find the perfect label. Start shopping now!

Monave: Mineral Makeup by Monavé is makeup that you can trust. Full ingredient disclosure reveals a product line based in whole, organic botanical ingredients, and completely gluten-free formulas that are 95% vegan. Monavé has never engaged in animal testing, and chooses the highest quality mineral makeup ingredients, not simply for the press, but for the health and performance of the products. Monave: modern, versatile, natural. Start shopping now!

I Connect You To The Small Business Owners Who Want To Do Business With You!

Contact me for more information about supporting the work I do to support and advocate on behalf of small and independent business owners. Packages are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and include promotional consideration on my Twitter page (over 11,000 small business followers), FaceBook (over 1,600 active participants), Indie’s social networking site (nearly 6,000 engaged users), this blog, on Indie Business Radio, on Indie Business TV, and in the Indie Business Magazine.

I produce a steady stream of engaging, consistent, focused content that puts you in touch with the small and independent business owners who want to do business with you. I also offer sponsorship opportunities for events, sponsored giveaways and contests and custom partnerships designed to advance your business interests and connect you with the small business owners who want to do business with you!

I look forward to serving you!

This week’s Indie Business Shout Out to goes to Charlene Sevier, The Bead Dreamer! Last week while opening the mail, I noticed a box. I wasn’t expecting anything, so I saved it for last because I like surprises. Boy, was I surprised! Tucked inside was a handmade ear ring and jewelry set customized for me by Charlene, and spotlighting the Indie logo.

What a lovely set, don’t you agree!? Just look at the detail.! Hand smoothed silver formed into and a perfect circle secured by the Indie leaf, which represents the harmonic balance of the Indie lifestyle. Then, there are the beautiful green Swarovski crystals (yes, Swarovski — the cream of the crystal crop!) signifying the lasting and powerful freshness we experience as Indie Business owners. I have purchased some of Charlene’s pieces previously, like this beautiful African trade bead bracelet. (I also purchased this set! And because I’m officially addicted, I just purchased more stuff this morning!) Here is a little more about Charlene and what she’s up to these days in her exciting artisan jewelry business

1. dM: What’s new with The Bead Dreamer these days?
2. Charlene: One of my goals this year is to further explore ethnic jewelry. Two things influenced me in this work. One is the love I have always had for African beads and jewelry components. Some of these beads are quite old, and even in their worn state, are just so beautiful. The other is my trip to Haiti last summer. The sails on the fishing boats, made from whatever fabric people could piece together, tattered and worn by time and the elements, were beautiful, and spoke eloquently to me of human resilience. Here’s a picture of one of the boats that inspired me.
3. dM: What new mediums are you working with?
4. Charlene: I am exploring is the use of “found” objects like broken glass and rocks, and other non-traditional materials that can be used to make jewelry. I like bringing old elements — keys for example — to new pieces, or taking something headed for the trash bin and turning it into something of value. I love the idea of challenging what is considered “precious.” And I am enjoying this exploration.
5. dM: You also think it’s important to give back, yes?
6. Charlene: This summer, I will teach jewelry making to girls in my hometown. I’m excited to give what I can to girls from my community, and hope this can be something that I can build upon. I’ve been pulling materials together and thinking about how I want to do more than teach them the technical skills needed to make jewelry. I also want to expose them to notions of inspiration, creativity, observation, and voice.

I am constantly invigorated by the creativity and tenacity of Indies like Charlene. What can surpass the pure pleasure of supporting yourself and pursuing the desires of your heart simply by doing the things you love? I can hardly imagine living any other way, and neither can Charlene — and it shows!

You can visit Charlene’s website at The Bead Dreamer, and her blog. You can also connect with her at the Indie social networking site, where you can also peruse and comment on the beauty of her work. You’ll find Charlene on Twitter too.

The Bead Dreamer Is Addictive!

The one thing to be careful of with Charlene is that both she and her jewelry are addictive. She has a delightful personality and is fun to talk to. She has helped my accessory-challenged self experiment with new colors, shapes and textures that reflect my personality. I have been enjoying displaying different colors around my face lately. I am discovering that the best colors for me are richly textured jewel tones with a bit of shine to them. Mattes don’t work well on me. Because of the yellow undertones of my skin, I need some sparkle and shine. This is one reason why the Swarovski crystals in the pieces Charlene made for me work so well.

If you see something you like at Charlene’s site, it’s definitely one-of-a-kind so you should snap it up while you can. For example, if you’d been eying the Lynette ear rings and matching necklace, but you can’t find them at the site anymore, it’s because I bought them. Sorry! Now go and get your favorites before someone else (or me) snaps them up!

Be warned! Right now, I’ve got my eye on the Lola bracelet and the Nadia bracelet. But you’d better hurry! My trigger finger is pretty happy right now!

Dreams Do Come True

A little post script. It’s amazing to me what can happen when you put something out there in the universe. Charlene and I had a brief conversation last year when I expressed how wonderful it would be to have Indie-inspired jewelry customized just for me. She listened politely, and when we hung up the phone, the idea sort of left me. But I put it out there, and look what happened. My dream has come true, thanks to Charlene!

I hope to one day commission Charlene to create more Indie-inspired pieces for me. In the meantime, there’s enough newness coming out of her studio on a regular basis to feed my habit quite perfectly.

Question: Are you as moved by Charlene’s work as I am? Would you like to have symbolic jewelry created in honor of the meaning of your business logo?

Ilove life! And I love it more when I take stock of the many blessings I enjoy every day as a wife, mother, and home-based business owner. That’s why I love the Gratitude Journal iPhone app, which I discovered through my friend Anne-Marie Faiola at Brambleberry. The Gratitude Journal makes it easy and fun to express gratitude quickly and in the moment. This video shares how it works.

It’s fun to capture a grateful attitude as I experience it. There’s something wonderful about making it permanent right away. I use pen and paper, and a variety of other things to express my gratitude, but this one fits in my pocket and I carry it with me everywhere I go.

You can download the Gratitude Journal iPhone app, along with the Vision Board app and the Little Buddha app (to save meaningful quotations) at Happy Tapper. And you can follow the creator of these fun apps on Twitter @carlawhite.

Question: Do you maintain a Gratitude Journal, or a journal of any kind? What do you think of using an app for a Gratitude Journal?

Last month, I enjoyed an afternoon Tweetup with IBN member Lela Barker and some of our Twitter friends at Blue Flour Best Baked Goods in Columbia, South Carolina. You can enjoy tasty photos of the event at the FaceBook Page, and check out my fun Blue Flour cookie video here. (The cookie colors in that video are not to be missed!) They say that all good things must come to an end, but that’s not true in the case of Blue Flour because yesterday, I got this sweet surprise in the mail.

Is it gorgeous or what? Of course I always think the Indie logo is gorgeous, but when it’s wrapped around a thick, sweet, soft, buttery cookie, it’s even better. Teri Pringle, Blue Flour’s founder and CEO, uses a fancy machine (have no idea what it’s called) to customize cookies to order. You can get whatever you want on them, from a favorite photograph to your logo.

The branded ones make perfect “thank you” gifts for small and independent business owners to send to clients and customers. If someone gets your brand on top of cookie happiness, they’re likely to remember you and come back to do business with you in the future. And, as you can see, they hold up to the mail and the heat (it was hot yesterday!) beautifully!

If my Indie logo is not enough cookie awesomeness for you, then check out these decorated flip flip cookies and chocolate chip minis, and this Lemon Honey Ginger number (which by the way, I devoured already).

You can get all the details from Teri by contacting her at this link.

Irecently returned from Denver, Co, where I attended the 2010 Conference of Handcrafted Soapmakers. While there, I moderated a panel discussion on legislation affecting soap and cosmetics manufacturers, and delivered a presentation on how soapmakers can create branded digital media to expand their sphere of influence. I also met keynote speakers Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, former Senator from Illinois and the owner of Ambassador Organics, and world renowned aromatherapist Robert Tisserand.

I was one of the first people to sign up for Soap Guild membership, and I have had the honor of speaking at their conferences over the years including those held in Minnesota, Missouri, Vermont, California, and Denver. My cover article entitled, “The Media Is You” is in the current issue of their member newsletter, pictured above. Another great honor for me.
The mission of the Soap Guild is “to promote the handcrafted soap industry; to act as a center of communication among soapmakers; and to circulate information beneficial to soapmakers.” Next year, the conference will be held in Miami, Florida from 18 – 20 May 2011. If it is anything at all like this year’s event, and others I have attended, it will be amazing. Here are a few things that make the Soap Guild conference extraordinary.

1. Diversity and useful content. People come from all over the world to attend Soap Guild conferences. Everyone brings their own unique ideas and soapmaking techniques. The sharing and fellowship are unsurpassed.
2. Fantastic speakers. Each year, Soap Guild conferences feature a variety of speakers covering every imaginable topic of importance to soapmakers. Soapmaking chemistry, coloring techniques, labeling, shaping, ingredient combinations and more. There are hands-on workshops, informative lectures, and panel discussions.
3. Audience interaction and networking. Everyone gets to know everyone else at the Soap Guild conference. The networking is phenomenal. And the parties — oh my! Essential Wholesale has sponsored huge parties for the past two years, and other Soap Guild sponsors provide support for other events. You can see a list of sponsors for this year’s event on the right side of this page.

This year’s conference was sold out, with over 300 people in attendance. Next year, the Soap Guild expects to surpass that number, and I have every reason to think it will. I plan to be there, and if you make soap, you should too.

Even if you don’t make soap, I strongly urge you to consider attending. You might meet a soapmaker who can help you add handcrafted soap to your product line. You might meet a soapmaker who would like to add the products you make to their lineup. You’ll meet great speakers and enjoy delicious food (including healthy options — not always the case at conferences). And if they let me return again next year, you’ll enjoy the 6:00am Fitness Walks that they have allowed me to lead for the past two years.

You can find out more about next year’s Soap Guild conference by clicking here. Keep your eye on that page as it will soon announce early bird conference registration rates. If you’re on Twitter, you can re-live this year’s conference action and read attendees’s blog posts about the event at the #soapconf10 hashtag.

I look forward to seeing you in Miami next year!

Question: Have you ever attended a Soap Guild conference? What was your experience?

As founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, I host regular teleseminars designed to help my members be successful. In addition to offering my own expertise, I invite other professionals to share from their experiences. This Thursday, 13 May 2010, I’ll welcome Marc Sampogna, managing partner at New York City’s Canopy Brand Group, a brand identity firm that helps companies develop strategic visual brand directions for their businesses.

On Thursday’s 30-Minute Beauty Break, Marc (pictured) will discuss how Indie Business owners should respond to the 5 global trends that are impacting consumer purchasing behavior. He’ll share what those trends are (some might surprise you!) and what specific things we should be doing to respond and get ahead of them. If you are a member of IBN, I hope you will join us, and you can click here to get the call-in details. (That is an IBN members only link and your login is required there!)

If you are not an IBN member (gasp!), you can learn more about this event and other benefits of membership at our social networking site at this link. (You must be a part of the community to see the information at that link — becoming a part of the community is free!)

To learn more about Marc and his expertise, you might enjoy reading Marc’s post: “Do Your Colors Accurately Represent Your Brand?” Leave a comment there and send Marc an email and he’ll provide a quick analysis of what your brand colors mean and whether or not they link with your brand.

Question: What colors do you use in your marketing materials to represent your brand, and why?