Masterclass in Denver: Growing Your Indie Beauty Business in 2017

Ready to get proactive about launching and running your indie beauty business? Ready to stop taking all the opportunities that come your way, even if they might not be profitable or a good match for your company? Ready to scale and grow your business?

In this information-packed, full-day masterclass, Marla Bosworth will help bring clarity to your goals and what you wish to manifest for you and your indie beauty business in 2017. Whether you have an existing booming business or just getting ready to launch, this intimate workshop will help you put goals in place to take these next steps in your business. 

You'll learn from Marla, a bath and beauty expert and market research analyst, who launched Back Porch Soap Company nearly 20 years ago. She is known in the indie beauty industry for her sage personal and business coaching. In addition to teaching formulating and business workshops all over the U.S., she has successfully opened and run retail stores in both the Boston, Massachusetts area and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She brings 30 years experience as a market research analyst and retail sales expert to this workshop.

Among the topics Marla will cover in this full-day, intensive masterclass:

• Beyond the Products - What Really Makes Consumers Buy

• What to Expect for the Indie Beauty Business Market in 2017 

• Avoiding Pitfalls: Why Indie Brands Go Out of Business

• How to Be an Indie Beauty Trailblazer

• Creative & Profitable Business Ideas

• Product Packaging

• How to Generate Excitement Around Your Brand

• Social Media Hotspots - Finding the Buzz

• Getting Media Attention

• Pricing and Profit Margins

• Protecting Your Business - The Truth About Insurance Coverage & Trademarks

• The New Age of Wholesale (It's Changing and How to Adapt)

• How To Master Retail Sales, Including Opening and Running a Retail Establishment

• Hiring, Delegating and Outsourcing

• Best Practices for Pitching Sales/Opportunities and Negotiating

• Creating a Long-Term Plan to Scale Your Business

Attendees will receive a binder of valuable handouts. There will be plenty of time for Q&A's throughout the session. Link for more information visit our website. 

Organic Bodycare Gift Sets Ready to Ship!

I love the holidays - especially the planning and anticipation. Over the years I've found that the more prepared I am with gift-giving, the more I am able to relax a bit more and enjoy celebrating the season.

If you love organic bodycare, you'll love the holiday gift sets I created! If there's a time to give the gift of pampering, this is the year. There is something about burrowing down in one’s home that is so enticing - especially with handmade and certified organic products! They're up on the website and ready to ship. Remember those special Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn birthdays over the next two months, too!

I must digress for a moment...I'm a Capricorn. December 28 to be exact. To not upset us Caps, remember to use non-holiday gift wrap.
Seriously (smile). The same is true for my Sagittarius friends. And Scorpios? Don't combine their gifts with Thanksgiving drumsticks.

Without further delay, here are some incredibly, fabulous, organic gifts!


Organic Bodycare Gift Set ($34) is a beautiful way to give the gift of organic body luxury! This is a gift of pampering - great for women or men! Our soap is long-lasting, moisturizing and soothing. The Caribbean sea salts (enough for two tub soaks) will relax even your most stress-out friend. Our 100% shea butter is a luxurious treat for the skin, offering both moisture and protection during the long winter months.
This elegantly packaged set includes a 5 oz. organic soap, a 4. oz. matching Caribbean salt soak and a 4 oz. 100% organic shea butter.

Coconut Soap Dish Gift Set ($12) includes one of our mild and long-lasting organic soaps wrapped up beautifully with a natural coconut shell soap dish - a natural, sustainable, packaging solution that supports small businesses in Thailand. These are great as hostess or teacher's gifts, and convenient to have on hand when someone unexpected comes to visit.
Our organic soaps are made of 100% certified organic palm and coconut oils, purified water, glycerin, sorbitol, and essential oils. They may contain natural, ground herbs or oxides for natural color.



Sisal Gift Set with Two Organic Soaps ($16) Shown here in our popular Provence Lavender and Almond & Shea Butter. Packaged in a sisal gift tote - another one of our natural, sustainable, packaging solutions that supports small businesses in Thailand. A wonderful and easy-to-mail gift for relatives and friends across the country or to have on hand for hostess gifts.

All gifts are available with the following essential oils:
Almond - protects the skin, softens and soothes
Eucalyptus - rejuvenates, invigorates and uplifts
Lavender Spearmint - a new twist on lavender, beautifully blended
Patchouli - beneficial for dry skin
Provence Lavender - relaxes and calms
Rosemary - uplifts, balances, promotes mental activity
Tea Tree - for problem skin (acne, oily, skin irritations)
Unscented - for those with extra sensitive skin

My recommendation? Shop early, give the gift of organic, and be good to yourself too. Enjoy!

my "meet and greet" at Whole Foods...

Last Saturday was my third "Local Vendor" day at Whole Foods in Hingham, Massachusetts. It's so much fun, because it means taking samples of my organic soaps and shea butters to hand out to customers and shamelessly promote my line (which, btw, is sold at this Hingham location).

I always end up meeting the nicest people, and it's fulfilling to me that I get to help customers with their dry skin dilemmas.

So I made two batches of my most popular organic oils soaps, Lavender & Spearmint and Almond & Shea Butter. Then I sliced them into perfect sample sizes, and packaged them up in nifty little bags with my logo.
I loaded up my Jeep with a few displays, the goodies, and headed out.

The parking lot was packed, needless to say since it was the day before Superbowl Sunday (we'll skip the sore loser Patriots comments here).

There were about 12 vendors, all food related except for me. There was a salad dressing vendor, Chilmark Dressing, also sampling. This is my new favorite dressing! I had to buy a bottle, and it really is delicious. Roasted sesame seeds give it a wonderful flavor and besides making salads extra scrumptious, it is delicious as a veggie dip or on a sandwich. Check them out at
http://www.chilmarkfoods.com/

Here's a picture of my table, which blends in nicely with the vegetable and chicken stocks behind it.

I handed out several hundreds of samples of soap and learned that a lot of Whole Foods buyers are restocking their shelves at home with sulfate and paraben free products (which mine all are). Sulfates are drying to skin, and parabens are chemical-based preservatives (there are natural ones such as Vitamin E and more) so check your labels.

I met so many nice people, and so many with dry skin! Everyone needed moisturizing. Good thing I was on hand with my 100% shea butters (quickly becoming my #1 selling product at Whole Foods).

Shea butter is an all-natural moisturizer full of vitamin E that helps heal dry skin, excema and psoriasis. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, which can help alleviate arthritis pain.

So now get yourself over to my website and buy some, will you? http://www.backporchsoap.com/