Blogging is Difficult

I am by no means a blogging expert. But, I have 6 blogs including this one, and am considering another one. You might be wondering why I am a crazy person but in all honesty, I like writing. Not like a novel or anything. I will not be joining NaNoWriMo anytime in the foreseeable future. However, one thing I do know is that blogging is hard. Just in general, but then add on the fact that you want (if this is in fact what you want) an engaged and consistent following makes it that much harder. I think the most important parts are knowing your blog voice and having a goal, or goals, for your blog.

I started this blog to get my voice out there even if I wind up talking to myself. Like I've said before, I really see no one talking about their path to becoming a business owner and the path of being a business owner. Not in detail anyway. There are lots of coaches who will tell you what to do, in general, and if you hire them they will walk you through it. No hate towards them since that is their business but it doesn't put you in the mind of a business owner. There are a few blogs by business owners themselves but most started once their business is in some way successful so you don't get too many details since these are busy people. And no startup or pre-startup blogging ever seems to happen. Or all those bloggers could be like me, with only a small, marginalized audience.

So blogging is hard. Actually, the more appropriate word would be difficult. And I think blogging for business purposes even more so. But its not impossible. First, like anything, you have to define your purpose. Why do you want to blog? and What do you want to accomplish with your blog? Once you have that simply keep it nearby you so that whenever you are unsure about what to post you can steer yourself back on track. For me this blog's purpose is two-fold. One, to get the words, my thoughts, out of my head so that I can focus. And two, to share the journey of a small business owner and a creative entrepreneur. So my blog is not really supposed to increase my sales, though that would be a nice happenstance it would be just that.

Experts, whoever they are, would tell me to blog about my products and all things related that would make people interested in buying. They would tell me to be speak confidently and knowledgeably about what I do. They would be right if that was what I wanted to do. Its not. I am far from an expert in the aromatherapy, body care and skin care industries. I am still learning and I'd rather share my journey of this learning process than, what I feel is, bluffing my way into sales with information I'm not 100% sure of. Plenty of people do that already in these industries. Let me be clear, I am not throwing shade on any blogger, just stating my values.

I value accurate information based on tested results. And while I will test things on myself and people who will gladly volunteer for me, I also use the previous knowledge shared and tested by experts in their fields. Obviously, I am an analytical and logically-minded person. However, I am an open-minded and spiritual person so I understand that not everything can be proven. Some things I take on belief and intent. This shows in which ingredients I choose and why. I try to marry these two sides of myself in my products since I know my customers are not one or the other. But I love my customers and would not want them hurt so I am careful about what claims I make that I can't in my own head feel justifiable about. I try to include these parts of myself when blogging as well.

This is my thought process; my feelings. So when I look back to earlier this year when I clarified the purpose of this blog and sketched out ideas for future topics I realize now that some will take longer to appear than others. My goal this year were as follows: 1. to release a new blog post every week, 2. to increase the length of my posts to include more information and 3. to include links. And even though I fell off every once in awhile, I think I did pretty good job. That Blogging 101 course really helped with that. Earlier in July, I added 4. organizing my blogging process, so I looked into content calendars and how to create them. I started using one by HubSpot, which has been great. Its kept me on track since I can easily record any topic ideas as they occur to me and then write about whichever feels best when the moment comes to do so. I was also able to promote my blog posts consistently on various social networks thanks to the content calendar. My last goal for blogging this year, I started implementing this Fall I think, was 5. adding pinnable images to my blog posts. I love Pinterest and could spend all day there. But it is all about good images. I think adding images helps make each post more interesting and break up the blocks of texts in a way that makes it easier on the eye. I've been using mostly my own pictures that I took myself with a few stock photos I got from HubSpot. I came up with a overlay look that is consistent with how the blog looks and voila! I've been creating images for older posts as well.

For 2016, I'm already looking into what I want to do. These past few months I looked into creating a newsletter but I decided I'm going to wait on that. I need to do way more to build a list. Building an email list is difficult too. So I think I need to focus on that first next year and then start putting out a newsletter. For now, this blog will suffice to keep me clear and keep you informed about what it takes to be a creative business owner and what happens behind the scenes to the startup of a small business. One thing I will definitely be adding sometime next year, guest interviews. I, for one, am always curious and I have met many fabulous and interesting small business owners in various fields. So basically, I want to interrogate them about their businesses, lol. I'm torn between coming up with a set of questions I use for everyone or if I should come up with questions unique to each entrepreneur. I'll probably go with a combination of the two. I don't want these interviews to be fluff pieces; I want information that will help my blog followers and I want to help pimp out my fellow small business owners. I mean, why not? If they do great things why wouldn't I share?

This year, this blog has increased its viewers, likes, shares and comments so I'd call my many improvements a win. I hope to say the same this time next year no matter how difficult blogging can be.

~Lashette
Scarlet Moon Creations

About Me

Today's assignment was to write an About Page or to look at the Blogging U tips for an About Page if you already have one. I looked back at my About Me section and it definitely needs to be updated, especially after yesterday's post. It needs to include more than my Etsy business. In fact, I think this is the same About Me that is on my Etsy shop page. It makes sense since I started everything at the same time.

But I am surprised that I didn't notice the difference between my About Me and my first blog post. So I need to update it to be more about my creations whether they are physical items made for etsy, things made for personal reasons, business plans or intangible services. Its all about creation and that should be clear. I also updates my tagline after a comment from Remedial Prof. It took me quite a few days ruminating about it after his comment. So check out my new About Me section and let me know what you think.

May the 4th be with you. ;)

Aromatherapy Laws in the U.S.A.

As promised I am back to talk about the recent Aromatherapy webinar I attended and its outcome regarding my business plans.

A few weeks ago, thanks to a great Facebook post by The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy, I found out about a free webinar they were hosting along with the East West School for Herbal and Aromatic Studies. The webinar was about the labeling of aromatherapy products for sale. I have been having an issue deciding what I should include on my own labels so this webinar was timely.

Out turned out to be very informative in a way I was not expecting. I signed up for the webinar in hopes of getting ideas for label design as well as what I should include on my labels. There was no label design elements but there was tons of information on what could and could not be included on an aromatherapy product label as per the laws in the US, Canada and Europe. But since I live, make and sell in the US, that's the information I am going to share here. Its the most complicated as well.

Required label information included: brand name, product name and net size/weight on the front facing labels. Business name and location as well as a list of ingredients should also be included on your product label but can be put on side or back panel labels. Ingredients should be in order of amount used; greatest to smallest; and use their INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names. INCI was set up back in the 70s by the Personal Care Products Council and is maintained and updated by them. This system is followed here in the US as well as in many countries around the world. That concludes the MUST HAVEs for your product labels; now on to the DO NOTs. What you are not allowed to use are drug claims in your descriptions. This was the hot topic and the one that brought me to a very important business decision.

To explain what drug claims are and why they are not allowed on aromatherapy labels, I will need to explain the drug, cosmetic and aromatherapy laws in the US. So bear with me and do click the links so that you can get a fuller picture. Here in the US, there is the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), who mostly oversees the Food, drug and cosmetic industries. There is some overlap with the the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) though. These government entities have stricter laws and rules for the creation, manufacturing, promotion and sales of food and drugs. This is for multiple reasons; the two most important in this instance being fair competition in those industries and also so that consumers have choice and variety without subterfuge. Basically, it's to make it easier for the average Joe to buy what they need and knowing it works as the labeling and marketing says it will. That being said, the cosmetics industry does not have those same rules nor the same amount of oversight. Probably because it is a newer industry comparatively.

FD&C Act, Sec 201(i)

As for products in the even newer aromatherapy industry, those mostly get categorized under cosmetics as far as the law is concerned. One specific law in particular specifies whether a product is the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act which defines cosmetics and drugs by their intended uses. Even though essential oils, which make up most of the aromatherapy industry, have therapeutic qualities that have been known for centuries, they are at most used in the alternative medical fields. Which is to say most people think of them as a last resort in most cases there. Anywho, I will speculate that this is because essential oils cannot and do not give the same results all the time to most people so they were never seen as big money makers to the pharmaceutical companies. So they were relegated to aromatherapists and massage therapists. Not that there is anything wrong with either of those professions but both are required by law to go through more training than say your average bath and body product maker since they use essential oils for therapeutic purposes which classifies them as working with 'drugs.' 

This all leads us back to what is allowed on aromatherapy labels and what is not. Because the cosmetic industries, which includes aromatherapy, does not have the rules that the Food and Drug industries do, it makes it simultaneously easier and harder to make a living in these areas. It is easier because there is less oversight and almost anyone could start a home business because the fair business practices are suggestions rather than requirements as in other industries. The FDA does not have to approve products before they go on sale. They do not inspect labs or products nor do they require companies to register with them or get any licensing. This is a bit scary as a consumer since it explains people getting infections from some lipsticks and things like that. But on the plus side prices for aromatherapy products that can be used for therapeutic purposes are cheaper than most medications.

FD&C Act, Sec 201 (g)(1)

Now, for the negative side of this from a business owners point of view. We are not allowed to make drug claims on our packaging, websites, etc. The FDA is on the internet too. Drug claims include pretty much any of the therapeutic qualities of essential oils. For example we cannot use the words, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, which most essential oils are. You are not allowed to claim that your product has any altering affect on the body, particularly internally. For example, relieves aching muscles, removes scars, expectorant, soothes stomach upsets, suppresses coughs, removes acne, etc. These are all drug claims. You would be claiming that your product does what a drug would do without having followed any of the rules and practices required for selling a drug in the US. There is this huge long list if things you cannot say if you run an aromatherapy business.

Now, there are a few alternatives. You can say things like soothes muscles, reduces the look of scars or acne, refreshing, comforting, etc. Sound familiar? Now you know why every cosmetic ad and commercial sound and look the same. You're welcome. What can and cannot be put on your labels is covered by the FDA under the FP&L (Fair Packaging and Labeling) Act. This is also where the FTC and USDA come in as well. The FTC regulates all advertising of products with the FDA and the USDA regulates the term organic and any organic products under its National Organic Program (NOP) regulation 7, CFR 205. Some of this all goes for the use of herbs as well. Herbal supplements are classified as drugs by the FDA.

Its frustrating that once you've created something that you can only use about a dozen words to describe it, none of which can go in depth about the ingredients true qualities and all of which every other business even remotely similar to yours uses as well. That being said, I understand why. However, as I reiterated back during my first blogging 101 post, I had plans to write ingredient posts giving my followers and customers a look into why I use certain items and their benefits. With the rules about drug claims, I would not be able to do that. I already do not do that in my Etsy product descriptions since when I joined Etsy, they decided that all if their sellers should follow FDA rules.

Now, I was assured that the FDA is not going to come arrest every small business owner during this webinar. Most companies just get a warning or a fine. They don't have time to look for and find everyone. But, some of the big, popular essential oil companies have gotten warnings or fines. After this webinar, I had a choice to make. As many of you know, I have a Scarlet Moon Creations shop on Etsy from which I sell the physical things I create, the majority of which are bath and body products. I use all natural ingredients which means I fall into the cosmetic/ aromatherapy category. I created this shop for a bit of extra income.

What you do not know is that I have struggled with how much of myself to put into this business. You see my ultimate career love goal is to have my own event services business. My bath and body products were to simultaneously help soothe my need to physically make stuff while funding my startup. I've been working as if this business was my end goal and putting my all into not only creating but researching for the benefit of my customers. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl and I want the best for everyone. But, this could be classified as a hobby and if so I would not feel obligated to keep information from my potential customers in order to follow business rules. Honestly, I don't really make a profit on this business and I have decided to just keep the Etsy shop in the hobby category. This way I can focus more on my plans for event services. That webinar really clarified my personal priorities.

Moving On and Moving Up

The last few months has been full of my ending yet another phase of my life as well as preparing for the next one. I quit my day job. I had agreed to do work with my boss for two years minimum and that time is up. I felt ready to move on. And also, ready to work on achieving my dreams.

I knew this time was coming so I took part in the Daily Prompts Blogging 101 course for this blog to help update it as well as improving my blogging content and frequency. In addition to this, I have improved upon my promotional process for Scarlet Moon Creations.

However, my main goal; my dream, to start my own event planning business is well under way. I have named my business and come up with my business model. From here I have but a few more steps to make it official. I'll document that process in upcoming posts.

Blogging 101 has helped me find a few great blogs and bloggers whose interests sometimes dovetail with mine in both the crafting and event communities.  Many have become and inspiration to me and have helped me feel strong enough to take this step.

But I cannot forget my recent boss. He has taught me a lot both directly and indirectly. And of course, we met each other when we were both in unstable positions in our lives. I am as grateful for his help as he says he is with mine. So this is not an ending but a new beginning.

Clone Wars

Today’s assignment: publish a post based on your own, personalized take on a Daily Prompt.

So that was today's assignment from Blogging 101. I just went to the Daily Post front page and my prompt is Clone Wars: If you could clone yourself, how would you split up your responsibilities?

You all have no idea how apt this prompt is. I was just thinking that maybe I should give up on Blogging 101 since I didn't have the time for it. But as you can see I persisted. 

My first thought was about how I would clone myself. If I had the choice of how my ability would manifest, I'd choose to clone myself like Naruto does with his Shadow Clone Technique (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu; yes I'm an anime fan). I came to this decision because unlike other types of cloning that I know of, this technique is both temporary and any experience a shadow clone has you will have once the clone has dispersed. For those who have never watched the show here's an example. If I made a clone of myself so that while I got some work done, my clone sat back and read a book, when I get rid of the clone it will feel as if I've done both my work and read the book. How awesome is that? Think of the things I could do? 

Now as to how I would split up my responsibilities, as of now I technically have 3 jobs. I have my day job as a Personal Assistant (check out my IG if you want to get little peeks at that), I also run Scarlet Moon Creations via Etsy and through word-of-mouth, and lastly I am trying to get my event services business up and running. Each of those work positions obviously require multiple tasks. For example, Scarlet Moon Creations entails my creating something, testing it, taking pictures, doing the math for pricing and shipping, posting the product on Etsy and on social media sites for promotion, and finally using the same social media sites as well as this blog as a behind the scenes look at my process. That's a lot of time as each of those tasks have sub tasks and its the same for my other work. Add in  my personal life where there is both work (cleaning, shopping, grooming, etc) and leisure (reading, watching tv or movies, dancing, etc) and I feel like most people do, like there's not enough time in the day. 

So, to answer the question, I think I would split myself into 5 (1 me + 4 clones), 1 for each business and the other two for personal business and errands and leisure activities. I think I'd have the original me rotate which I was going to do each day. Note: I'm not sure how this cloning technique works with physical changes to the body so I think I'll keep myself whole for bath time.

Tags and Tagline

My apologies for the delay. I had some technical difficulties last week.

I am happy with my title as it is the name of my business but I am concerned that I might be better off with a more explanatory title. Meaning something that would explain the blogs content theme for those just randomly searching. As is only those who already know the name would find it. What do you guys think?

As for my tagline. I thinks it's good too since its very straightforward. I am, however, open to suggestions.

~Lashette
Scarletmooncreates.blogspot.com

Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself

Ha! I got a song lyric title.

Anywho, today is the first day of Blogging 101 for me and the topic is: Introduce Yourself to the World. Hence, the song lyric title of this post.

Hi, my name is Lashette but here mi llamo Scarlet Moon. Why am I using spanish? Because its my second language (though I've lost a lot of it) and I tend to use it playfully when making and creating. I do like to create stuff and after gifting some of the things I have created in the past, a few people told me I should try selling some of what I make. I thought maybe that's a good idea. That way, I make a little extra money and don't become a hoarding recluse, surrounded only by the stuff I've made. No cats or dogs since I'm allergic to both. Alas.

If you've read my blog before, you know that I started this blog a little over two years ago (I used spanish there too). Looking back at that first, welcoming post, I realize that not too much has changed. That's not a bad thing but I had also forgotten that I originally wanted to turn this blog into a newsletter.  I don't know if that will still happen; its not completely off the table though. But what is the same is the content of this blog. I have spoken of new product ideas (just this morning, in fact), I have linked so many links, I do believe I have become the Queen of Links (put that on a tarot card!). Over the past year, I've been consciously trying to incorporate at least one picture in every post. And of course I have included my wordy thoughts all over.

The one thing I do want to get around to is including others recipes (mine are a secret. shhh) because there are tons of awesome creators on the internet and they give me lots of inspiration. I've been trying to build up a blog roll of sorts for places I love to visit for inspiration. Unfortunately, most of those reposts get sent to my Facebook page, which you should all check out. No, I have not given up on it. Yes, I know the algorithm has changed yet again and if you haven't you should read my facebook post.

The last thing I want to include more of is ingredient posts. I've been wanting to for awhile, but I learned something earlier this year that changed my goals for the Etsy business. There's a post about that coming next week so I won't spoil it now. Suffice it to say, I will be working on ingredients posts in the future. Also, in the future will be more Event Services posts. I will be focusing more on that in the future of this year and my life and business-wise I feel that starting an event services business is a blogging niche I can fill.

Essentially, this is a business blog. I am not one for being the traditional type, so this blog will show the emotional side of business ownership as well as .... well.... the business side of business ownership. Over the past two years of blogging my journey so far, I've found that sharing my creations with the world is what I really want to do. Not just as a backup or a little extra money. The foundation of all this is my need to create. I love to create with my mind; I love to create with my hands; I love to create electronically; and I love sharing my creations with others. Its my passion. Hence, Scarlet Moon Creations.

Blogging 101

Hello, hello.

This is a heads up or warning post. I plan to participate in Blogging 101, a blogging prompt course hosted by The Daily Prompt. I know I've been doing this for about 2 years now and I have my personal blog which has been up for 4 or 5 years, but I want to see how I can improve and if I can keep up with daily posts. All posts will be tagged with #blogging101. And yes, these posts will be in addition to the regular business posts I write. Wish me luck!