Name of your website?Hosia Online
Your name?
Sandra
Your Location (city, etc)
Maplewood, NJ
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Hosia Online is a shopping source for shea butter, African black soap, handcrafted soaps and lotions including cocoa butter, goat milk and shea butter products. We also sell bath and body items such as sugar body scrubs, alcohol free body sprays, cocoa & shea butter lip balms, herbal shampoos and herbal bath teabags. We offer an authoritative blog to discuss beauty tips and tricks on natural skin, hair and foot care.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
The need to offer an alternative to commercialized bath and body beauty products that are loaded with harsh detergents and chemicals that do more harm than good to our bodies. There is a heap of misinformation out there as well as an effort on the part of advertisers and manufacturers, to conceal the true aversive nature of the products we use everyday including the food we eat. It is imperative that we take the necessary steps to educate ourselves on what we are truly doing to our bodies.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Hosia Online, the natural bath and body online store, was launched in winter 2009. This is my sole website.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Hosia can refer to a godly authoritative. We are people of strong faith and moral values.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
We are different because firstly, our staff members have years of experience in the beauty skin care industry and administrative fields and are very knowledgeable about the products that we sell. Secondly, our body butters, lotions, soaps and bath products are handcrafted in in well placed work designated environments in which health and safety guidelines are strictly enforced for the safety of our customer and ours. We use the finest butters, oils and traditional soaps to craft our custom products and couple them with affordable and low pricing. Lastly, the expertise in our field has allowed for us to bring forth beauty advices, tips and tricks that can help others save money and better their health through alternative natural remedies for skin and hair.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I will not sell my site. My eventual goal is to make this venture into a familiar generational commodity.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I have been at this ever since I was 9 years old. I have always enjoyed handcrafting my own beauty products. I have invested an incredible amount of time crafting my most prized works but it was done with love and passion. Time and money is nothing to worry about much, when you love something you do it from the bottom of your heart.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
With the help of a template, I have coded my site on my own using a WYSIWYG programming software. I make the changes I deem necessary whenever, therefore a budget wouldn't propel me to do much with my website as I am able to code html and php language effortlessly at any time I see fit.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Absolutely. I have trained staff that are more than able to keep up with the demand.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Adjusting inventory ever so by either reducing stocks or eliminating certain product lines completely. The opposite is also true, sometimes a product will take off so suddenly. Keeping up with demand can be a headache.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting people to make the switch from commercialized bath and body products to natural body care.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Advertising within my local community, Networking with other websites, referrals by friends and relatives.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I am seeing more and more people taking interest in natural beauty care. This is always a plus.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Hosia Online will be in business for as long as it can withstand severe external factors. The site has been up since 2009 but the products have been sold and gifted to hundred of people within a period of 10 years.
Replace this with a question of your own
What is your website?
Hosia Online - Natural Bath and Body Care
What is your website address?
Hosia Online
