Sunfeather Natural Soap Company Owner Tells Her Story
March 27th, 2006
Sandy Maine Marketing Conversation with Harvey Ramer [19.3MB]
Sandy Maine’s Sunfeather Natural Soap Company store and factory (view photos) is located just outside of Parishville, NY along Route 72. Her facility bustles with the production and shipping of bath and body products all year long.
Sunfeather Natural Soap Company has been built over the last 26 years one customer at a time. The small enterprise she started with an idea and $15, the company now boasts more than $1,000,000 in sales each year.
As her company grew, she learned from experience how to develop and manage a micro enterprise. Her company now employs 14 full time and 6 part time workers. Sandy had developed a socially responsible model of operation for her business which takes a holistic view of the “bottom line.” In that spirit, she is having her Web site re-designed and is making an effort to keep it updated. To see the new site, view the slide show images.
Sandy has authored 5 books and done international and domestic consulting in her field. She also helped to form an international trade association for soap makers which enjoys membership of over 800 members. Most importantly, Sandy enjoys the Bus-i-ness of motherhood and family. She is the mother of 4 children ages 2-14.
Sandy has been open to experimentation with marketing and has gleaned much of value to share regarding small business marketing. Enjoy the podcast!
Sandy’s Books
- The Soap Book: Simple Herbal Recipes
- Creating an Herbal Bodycare Business (Making a Living Naturally Series)
- Clean, Naturally: Recipes for Body, Home, and Spirit
- Soothing Soaps: For Healthy Skin
- Herbal Homekeeping
Sandy Recommends:
- The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business
- The e-Myth at Amazon.com | The e-Myth Web site
- eZine Queen
- The Soap Book: Simple Herbal Recipes
- Moveon.org raises large amounts of money online and as such Sandy recommends watching what they are doing.
Entry Filed under: eCommerce Podcasts
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3 Comments
1. kathy | March 27th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Excellent stuff!!! It is truly interesting to hear how Sandy keeps her eyes and ears on the customer’s feedback. She is quick to acknowledge where she needs improvement, and even better that she acts upon those areas. Really got a sense that she knows the value of her website, and understands that the www is an important sales tool - basically another salesperson. It is easy to see how she became successful and global - terrific!!! Good content and a true testimonial to the significance of good public relations and how essential e-commerce is to small retail business. Great job!
2. billhaenel | March 28th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
I love the interview, Harvey. What a great idea. Not only in Sandy’s operation a terrific study in how to turn a small shop into a great success, but the fact that you took the time to draw attention to her success is tremendous. I would wager there are many more opportunities in the region to speak with folks who have met with similar success. I hope you’re planning to continue along this path and will help yourself and others by highlighting the fact that there really are people in our area who know what they’re doing, and have put that knowledge to work. Great stuff!
3. Harvey Ramer | April 14th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Thanks Bill & Kathy, you guys both are doing great work to support local and regional businesses, so I appreciate the heavyweight affirmation!
Yes, I want to continue giving local and regional businesses who are using the Web to market their businesses a chance to share their wealth of knowledge and experience with prospective entrepreneurs. Anyone interested in giving an interview can contact me at 315-262-0469 or leave a comment on this thread.