kbuck

I haven't been doing as many shows as normally since we are trying to get our house ready to go on the market, but my customers have been buying more of the 26oz jars then anything else. I might add jelly jars in the future, but I want to wait until after we move to test anything new. Candles have a way of taking over our house.

Kim

I personally have never used any adwords or anything else to generate traffic to my site. Now I do put my website in everything I make and I give out business cards with every sale. I keep cards on the table at shows for people to grab and a couple extra in my purse. You would be surprised how often I see customers in the grocery store that start talking about my stuff and then other people wants cards.

I will admit that I am not getting rich from my site, but it does pay for itself and then some all year. I am fortunate that my husband is my website and built my site for me. We are in the middle of updating it with better pictures and stuff.

Good Luck,

Kim

What brand of soy wax do you use?

Kim

I have an OKI C5150 that I bought at several years ago and we love it. At the time it was around $700, but I am sure that it has dropped in price by now.

:tiptoe: Your best bet is to go to several different stores and try them out. I wanted a printer with high quality that didn't take forever to print.

Good Luck,

Kim

It really depends on the fragrance for me. Anything with Vanilla always seems to need a few days to cure.

Kim:cool2:

There are a few and I do mean very few fragrances that I can use at 1oz/lb, because believe me the customers can tell a difference in scent throw. Quality fragrances have always been the most expensive part of my cost. Now if you are doing a soy blend you might be able to get away with 1oz/lb, I haven't tested any.

I don't talk alot on the boards, but I have been doing this for awhile now(kids, family, work, and just plain life to deal with). If I can help more please let me know.

HTH,

Kim

Can you pick up a nonperfect bear to experiment on??? I tried to dip bears once and my daughter thought I was killing it and had to give it up for now.

Kim

I have an excel spreedsheet that my husband made for me that includes the cost of everything that helps to keep me on track. This is very helpful when I want to try something new to see if it would be smart to do financially.

Good Luck,

Kim

How much stock do you currently have made? Also how much stuff would you have to sell to make your booth fee?

Kim

The wax you get from soyawax I am told is similar to C-1. It's been around for a long time. It's soy mixed with something else, I think palm oil, but I am not sure. Mike Richards and some other people(I think they were from Iowa State Univ, but I don't remember now), the owner of Soyawax came up with the Phytowax formula, but Cargill does manufacture the wax for him.

If you ask some candlemakers that have been the business for a long time, they have had both good and bad experiences with him. He is good at research and development, but not so good as a business man. He now as a company called Mid-Mar handling his website, processing orders, and shipping the wax for him. This has greatly improved customer service.

I personally wasn't using the container wax, because even though I live in Iowa I could get my wax other places cheaper even after paying for shipping. Now with shipping going up sooo much I might have to rethink that. I do use the votive wax, because I like the way it released from the molds easily without additives.

HTH,

Kim

I have an auto email that is sent out thanking customers for their order(it also list what they ordered) and telling them that they will receive a second email when I ship their order.

HTH,

Kim

Dodge Durango here. I like how even when it's fully loaded that it handles the same as if it was empty, especially when people try and join me in my lane.

Good luck,

Kim

That's how I do it also, but then I still make a mess.

Kim

I have used wick pins with these with no problems. The only problems I have is that I am a messy at pouring and think the clamshells are a pain to clean.

HTH,

Kim

I have a folder setup on my computer called notes. It's a way for me to keep track of different ideas that I want to try.

I also have a notes place where I add the scent name to website that has a place for me to put notes that noone else can see. I use it to remind me how many drops of dye to use, how much I paid(so I can keep track when a supplier raises their prices), and where I get the fragrance from.

HTH,

Kim

I mix the shea butter and shaving soap from SFIC together with very good results.

HTH,

Kim

I have 5 people in my house, so a 4oz bar lasts between 3-4 weeks depending on use. I haven't ever used WSP bases, but I use SFIC bases.

HTH,

Kim

I use the same amount of fragrance that I use in my container wax.

Kim

They last a fairly long time. My burn time is between 5-6 hours with a nice scent throw. The flame just right without drowning out or becoming a torch. I get my wicks pre-tabbed and extra long. I then buy extra wick tabs, so I get use the part of the wick that I cut off.

I have only been making tea-lights for about a year, but I have gotten a very good response on them so far. I have sold over 1000 tea-lights last year easily. I haven't added them to website yet, since we are looking at relocated and I will probably change my company name then.

HTH,

Kim

ok, it looks like I do mine differently. I use wick pins that I would normally use for votives, wait for everything to cool down, take the wick pin out and slide my wick in.

Kim

I make soy tea-lights and use a CD-3 wick in them.

HTH,

Kim

I use SFIC shea butter base with a little shaving soap.

Kim

Liquid here also, less messy and more consist colors.

Kim

I don't use that wax either, but I use a different soy wax. I get the results you have when I pour too hot. Try pouring just a little cooler at the slushy stage and I think your tops will improve.

HTH,

Kim

Pouring Pot candle

I know we have all done this. Forget or fall asleep while your wax is cooling and then you get the most perfectly flat top, pouring pot candle.

Kim