Makeup for Women of Color / Marketing your Brand

Yesterday, I was contacted by the Toni Payne Element5 Mineral Makeup. She asked me to let you know about her company: that it exists, that it specializes in mineral makeup for women of color. Also, that she has an online shop called Tonipayneonline.com.

I am dutifully reporting said facts. I can't comment on Toni's products as I've never seen them (although I imagine they are wonderful, since she is clearly a creative and energetic business woman). Instead I'd like to comment on what strikes me about Toni's "body of work" as a businesswoman.

First, I applaud Toni for branding her own name. A little 'who is' searching shows Toni has several websites. A fashion site called hotntrendy.com was created in 2003 (reseller of a variety of fashion products), Element5 was created in 2005 (focus on makeup) and tonipayneonline was created in 2006 (kind of a blend of the two).

Not only did Toni establish her brand with tonipayneonline, she also uses her name as a subtitle to the other two sites (as in: Hot 'n Trendy by Toni Payne and Elements Mineral Makeup by Toni Payne). Branding your personal name allows you to fluidly move from product idea to product idea while maintaining some consistency in the mind of your customers.

Second, I want to draw your attention to the idea of splitting "best sellers" off your main site into a more focused site. I don't know why Toni created her Element5 makeup site as separate from her hontntrendy site, but if I were to extrapolate from my own business, my guess would be that the mineral makeup was a good seller for her and she wanted to focus her customers and her marketing efforts on that one product concept.

My business (tkbtrading.com), could take a hint from Toni on this one. For example, our bath salt colors are famous for being "the best" for stability and performance. While we sell them consistently every week, it is not uncommon for me to receive emails from new customers who can't find the products on my website. A quick and easy "bath salt" key at the home page might help, but how about if I created a website BathSaltDyes.com? Uh. Hey, wait a minute. That's a good idea . . . 'scuse me while I toddle over to purchase that URL. OK. Done.

Finally, atta-girls to Toni for actually contacting me and asking me to blog about her. Of course, she may not have expected this particular focus on my blog, but getting your name out there is always a plus. Toni is also good at getting her name in the fashion magazines. Go to the press section of tonipayneonline and you will see the results of her efforts to get her mineral makeup mentioned in the magazines.

Ok, gotta go. Too many new ideas thanks to Ms. Payne!