DISCLAIMER: This email may seem a little "poor me"-ish at the beginning, just hang with me though [thumbs up emoji]
[britni] Hey Diary. It's been a day.
It all started at 5:00 this morning when my alarm went off..
yes, I set my alarm for that time.. on purpose.. because I am Britni and I have a serious goal setting problem.
At 6:00 I parked in the gym parking lot and as I grabbed my bag to go inside realized I forgot my gym shoes.
At 6:40-ish when I got back to the gym I did a mediocre.. who am I trying to kid, I did a completely shit workout and at this point my confidence was already beginning to head into a downward spiral for the day.
Which is so weird because I have been on top of the world lately. I've been working out, eating healthy, taking my vitamins (especially the D) and I'm currently reading The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I've been feeling unstoppable. Really, really feeling those badass vibes.
Then this afternoon we got some interestingly bad news about our house that we have been living in and trying to buy for the last year and a half... Then the worst part...
Casey gave me the signal about Salt Co. monies...
[For those of you who are new here.. I don't really concern myself with money besides trying to make it, then I trust our team to like, handle it all. I just do the cute stuff and word-wizarding and the marketing. And when it comes to marketing efforts, I do more or less of it depending on what the vibe is regarding money from my more responsible teammates.]
and.. anyway, the signal looked something like this:
The information came to me this afternoon via text.. I pretty much immediately clammed up, entered a deep dark depression and started to panic.
Guys.
If I wasn't this dramatic about stuff, do you think these emails would be entertaining to read? Fuck no. Hang in there.
When I got to my deepest darkest place (in a bubble bath with a bath bomb and a beer - ok, my rock bottom isn't all that bad I guess).. I came to a conclusion. I had two choices. and only two because I AM THAT DRAMATIC all the time.
Choice number 1:
**mulling it over**
Choice number 2:
While I haven't completely ruled out option number 1, there aren't any strip clubs in little Homer, Alaska. So hustle it is. And while I was having my little bitty pitty party in my bubbly tubby, I had a pretty damn good idea.
BUT.. I knew that Casey and Holly would probably not like this idea. so.. I'm sort of doing this stealth mission under the radar. I'll ask for forgiveness tomorrow instead of permish which will be MUCH easier if my crazy idea works and generates some mf sales. This is a solo (hopefully not suicide) operation. [insert god give me strength emoji] [insert forgive me for my typos (no editors tonight) emoji]
Hear me out.
One of the best ways to generate a burst of sales quickly when ya need 'em, is with a new product launch. Problem is, new product launches involve many, many steps. People are always emailing us with product ideas that are already on our list, but before you launch a product, you need to develop a recipe. Then you need to source the packaging and design a label, order the labels. You gotta create the new product on the website and oh yeah, take product photos, decide what to charge for the product, add a description and when everything is chip-chop-chip with a pretty bow on top THEN everyone on the Salt Squad makes knowing, prolonged eye contact with each other and someone hits the big red button, releasing the product into the world.
That's how responsible Salt Squad (*ahem Casey and Holly) members like to see product launches done. (I love you guys, sorry infinity for what I am about to do)
Britni on the other hand, has something else in mind...
As I was soaking in the tub, really trying to relax and dig deep into my entrepreneur-y-marketing soul, I had an epiphany:
I'm selling some new shit tonight. ready or not.
I'm not going to just secretly launch one product that we aren't quite ready for..
I'M GOING TO DROP FOUR. right now. (lawd forgive me for what I am about to do).
Yeah. It's a big deal. and I hope at least some of y'all take the bait so I'm not in some deep shit tomorrow with the team. [sorry Holly, I love you and Salt Co. is going to buy you a car someday]
Sometimes you just gotta cinch 'er up real tight, hang on for dear life, and let 'er buck.
Yep. It's about F'n time too. We've had this recipe dialed in for MONTHS but taking the time to design the label and order them just hasn't happened. There's always some other bullshit to do and you know what. no. We are selling it now. We are going to make it. Tomorrow. Cram it in a jar (or a bag) and ship it to you and it's not going to have a label, just a little piece of paper with the ingredients (or whatever else FDA and DEC requires us to have - idk we will figure it out tomorrow) and we are going to ship it to you with a hand written note and lots of love because THAT IS WHAT WE DO! And, I know you guys are cool as hell and you don't need all the fancy packaging, you just want the good stuff. Let's make it happen because this salt is DELICIOUS!
This salt lasted all of 5 minutes in our house and it is hands down my favorite salt we have made to date. Y'all are going to love it.
You guys. We've had the supplies on hand for our sassy little bath bombs in BUBBLE BATH form for like 8 months. Here's what happened. Tammy (bless her sweet southern kick ass soul) who makes our soaps and bath bombs had a little phase this summer when bath bombs just weren't curing correctly. When they dried, they were still kind of fragile and she made batch after batch before finally figuring out the humidity culprit and getting it dialed in. She was in TEARS, so frustrated about all the time and energy and money that went into HUNDREDS of failed bath bombs. I was like: "Girl. don't you worry, I'll sell this pile of fucked up bomb bullshit. Don't even think twice about it, I'll buy them from you and figure something out." [insert jump off the edge and build a parachute on the way down emoji]
The idea was to grind down the cracked/crumbly bath bombs that we couldn't sell and add the bubbling agent (yes, SLSA ya freaks) and package the powder to be sold as bubble bath. I got as far as making some and testing the fuck out of it and let me tell you it is AWESOME!!! But then, life, and business. and we haven't gotten around to designing packaging and all the supplies are just taking up space at HQ. We've got totes and totes of the powder, just waiting to be shoved in something and shipped to you for your enjoyment.
So. I don't have a picture of the product since I'm writing from home here, but it will be a little brown, compostable bag (that our culinary salt comes in) filled with 7 oz of fizzy bubble bath powder in all of our bomb squad flaves :) It's fizzy. It smells good. and oh man the bubbles. I don't skimp on bubbles.
#nofilter [insert laughing so hard, crying down both legs emoji]
Ok, I have a lot to say here, so if you aren't into these products, just skip this section. This email is already turning into a novel.
We've been working on these with Tammy for a long time. and we could continue to work on them until the end of time, or we could just sell you a set of these bad chickens right fucking now.
We like to offer all natural products and shampoo is a really tricky one to make without synthetic ingredients. I, personally, don't care for the all natural options. I've never completely transitioned my hair and it is a bit of a process to do it. We decided we would offer one all natural shampoo bar, and one that is like, the runner up of happy ingredients & whups ass compared the crap you buy at the grocery store but still has a few less than organic ingredients (as for me, idgaf all that much - like, I care some, but not enough to go through a 3 month greasy hair training program).
The all natural ones are curing, so I can't secret-stealth-mission sell those to you just yet but they will be ready really soon for those who are into it. BUT the other bars (very, very similar to LUSH shampoo bars) are ready!! They are Lavender and Honey and omg omg omg they are amazing. I've been using this set and I am so SO happy with my hair.
My text to Tammy who makes them - ignore my resting bitch face, I was just trying to show her my hair.
I've been using this set on my kids, too. They are amazing. Tammy is a mother-fucking-soap-sorceress.
So, like the garlic salt and the fizzy bubble bath, we don't have packaging for these. Eventually they will come in cutesy little tins, but for now we will ship them to you in a little tissue paper and call it good. I know you'll love them :)
There you have it guys. Some cool new products that aren't quite "show ready" but are really, really good. So good, I'm not afraid to sell them to you without a fancy package.
And before you get worried about us or think this is a cry-cry-poor-me kind of email: don't.
This is what we play for.
If we don't market, guess what? Salt doesn't sell itself.
If we don't hustle, we don't make payroll. But guess what else? We've never been short a single dollar for a paycheck. This is just the life of small business ownership. Money comes, money goes. Sales flood in, and like the tide, they go away sometimes. January/February can be really tough times for small businesses so this is nothing out of the ordinary for us. We just have to get creative and hustle our way into June when we will be eating like kings. We'll have the store open and the tourists and the midnight sun will come. Ebb & flow. And. everything is fine. Most small businesses experience this, I am just freakishly transparent about it. This is our story and I'm not afraid to admit that its not always easy and that we don't always have our shit figured out. We are learning here. Don't know about y'all, but this is the first business I have ever owned :)
We've had the strangest few months figuring out online sales and managing the wild beast of the internet. Bursting in sales from a viral video, then crickets after catching up. Hiring and shrinking back down. It is an actual real life rollercoaster. But like I said, this is what we play for :) I wouldn't trade this life for anything. I love the wild ride and one day this little salt company is going to pay us dividends and god damnit, buy Holly a real nice car. I know it will.
We are just getting started.
Ah, your trained eyes have not mislead you. This is indeed where the discount code for your cheap asses is revealed.
Enjoy 15% off of your next salty order when you spend $120.00 or more, with this discount code:
This offer is valid until 2-12-21 at 11:59 pm ALASKA time. Sorry for the order minimum. It's hustle time.
Something is probably wrong with this email... typos, broken links, non-working codes. idk. I've been awake for a little too long, all in a row now and just launched 4 new products on a whim. I'm whupped. Whatever you need, just email us :) reply to this email or chat through our site. We're here for ya (or at least I will be in about 6 or 7 hours).
Signing off at 12:05 am Alaska time.
I love you guys and I KNOW you're going to love these new products we've been working up.
Take care & stay salty
- Brit (the salt lady)
Sea Salt.
Harvested by hand with love and respect for the ocean.
