Soapmaker Membership Benefits
Soapmaker Membership in the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild is open to all individuals who make any kind of handcrafted soap at any level. There are several levels of Soapmaker Membership based on whether or not the soapmaker is selling soap to the general public, where the soapmaker is located and if he/she already has insurance coverage.
Benefits for Soapmaker Members are geared toward those things that assist in promoting handcrafted soap, increasing proficiency in the trade, improving business skills, encouraging networking opportunities and providing general exposure for the member's business and products.
As one of the most important benefits, members have the opportunity, through elections, participation and volunteerism, to shape the direction and future of the HSMG and the handcrafted soap industry as a whole.
Certain membership benefits are applicable based on the type of membership. (See the Membership Benefits Chart for more details.)
For Your Business
General & Product Liability Insurance [Professional in US only]
Professional Soapmaker membership in the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild, Inc. automatically includes $1 million product
and general liability as part of the membership benefit. The amount of insurance may be optionally
increased to $2M. Property and/or professional liability coverage may also be added to the policy.
The insurance is effective immediately upon receipt of dues and processing of the membership.
See the Insurance FAQ for detailed information
about the insurance coverages.
International Members: The member benefit insurance is only available for soapmaker within the United States; for soapmakers from other countries the insurance is excluded from the membership and the membership price adjusted accordingly.
Existing Insurance Coverage: For soapmakers who already have product liability insurance, the insurance portion of the membership may be waived and the membership price adjusted accordingly.
Free Webstore at SoapGuildStores.com [Professional only]
All members are permitted to set up a free webstore at www.soapguildstores.com. The store is fully customizable and may be
used to actually sell products and take orders or as a brochure site directing visitors
to your main eCommerce site.
Merchant Services [Professional only]
Though Ethos Payments, HSMG members can sign up for merchant services at a remarkably low rate.
Ethos provides merchant services for all major forms of credit card payments (including VISA, MasterCard,
Discover, American Express) and also Gift Cards. The application fee is waived and rates are as low
as 1.64% + 18¢ per transaction. Compared to other services you may save as much as 2% on every credit card
transaction.
Discount on eCommerce Site [Professional only]
The HSMG has negotiated with Words In A Row to get HSMG members as special price (over 20% off normal rates) on setting up a fully-featured eCommerce Site. Words In A Row will customize an X-Cart shopping cart to your design and get it set up for you, including domain name registration and website hosting, if desired.
Office Depot Discounts
The HSMG has partnered with Power Purchasing to give HSMG members a free membership giving access
to the special pricing offered by the Office Depot Business Services Division. Discounts include an
across-the-board 10% discount on business products, 30 - 70% discounts on select \'Best Value Deals",
FREE SHIPPING with no minimum purchase and exceptional pricing on copy/print services at Office Depot
On-Line Listings
The HSMG website gets roughly 40,000 visitors per month, and the vast majority of them go to the Find a Soapmaker, Soap Gallery and individual member pages.
OnLine Soapmaker Listing [Professional Members]
The Find a Soapmaker, linked to from the home page, allows soap consumers to locate soapmakers by company name, state, country or soap type. Listings include the company name, website, city-state-zip, and a brief description. There is a "More Info" link which takes the visitor to a detail page displaying more information and contact information.
Soap Gallery [Professional Members]
The Soap Gallery displays images of soap made by Soapmaker members. In order to have an image included in the Soap Gallery the member must also be included in the OnLine Soapmaker Listing. All images are linked to the Soapmaker's information and/or website. Images display based on what listings are displayed; if no images exist for those listings (or no listings are displayed) then 6 random images are shown on the page. Soap Gallery images are always shuffled and displayed randomly so all images get the same exposure.
Promotion and Marketing
Special Promotional Opportunities [All Members]
From time-to-time the HSMG is able to offers special opportunites to the membership. In the past these have included donations to goodie bags handed out at a large natural products expo and free space in an HSMG booth at wholesale trade shows.
Inclusion in the Handcrafted Soap Calendar
The HSMG publishes a Handcrafted Soap Calendar annually. It is a high-quality, professionally
printed and bound publication, containing pictures of handcrafted soap, with the names of the
contributing soapmakers listed on the back. All members may submit images to be included in the
Calendar (final selection is by the Calendar Approval Committee).
Increased Professionalism
Soapmaker Certification Program
All members have the option to participate in the HSMG Certification Program.
Certified members may use and
display the Certified Soapmaker Logo, a nice way to increase customer confidence. Certified members
who have an OnLine Soapmaker Listing have a "certified" icon by their listing.
Use of the Member Logo [Professional Members only]
Qualified HSMG Members may used HSMG Member Logo on print, packaging and/or web materials to promote the fact they are a member of the HSMG, thereby increasing customer confidence.
Use of Why Handcrafted Soap Brochure
The HSMG has developed and printed a high-quality brochure, Why Handcrafted Soap which explains the benefits of handcrafted soap and contains beautiful pictures. It is available to members for download for free or to purchase at a very nominal fee (about at cost). There is a space to add contact information and personalize the brochure.
On-Going Soapmaker Education & Soapmaking Tools
Conference Registration Discount
Every year the HSMG has an Annual Conference. It is 3 days, filled with classes and presentations on
a wide array of topics pertinent to soapmaking (including actual soapmaking demonstrations and how-to's).
Conference attendance is open to both members and non-members. Members receive a discount on the
registration fee. Corporate and Vendor Tier 1 Members receive FREE conference registration
for one person to attend the conference.
Advanced Lye Calculator
The Basic HSMG Lye Calculator is available for members and non-members in the "Resources for
Soapmakers" section of the website. Within the "Members Only" section, an advanced lye calculator
is available which allows the soapmaker to set more detailed
information about his/her recipe and the specific oils used.
Discount on SoapMaker Software
HSMG members receive a 10% discount on any version of SoapMaker Software. The Software, available for
Microsoft Windows (7, Vista, XP or 2000), allows you to calculate lye and water for recipes using over 50 types of
base oils, calculate costs per batch and bar using your ingredient costs, stores your recipes and organizes them
by categoy, type, date and cost, provides inventory control and more.
Soapmaking Community
Member Forum
The Member Forum is place where members can exchange information, ask questions, keep up-to-date on
HSMG goings on, find out about activities, discounts, product information and more. The advantage to a
Member Forum is that unlike a "Yahoo Group", the information is stored permanently so there is a
searchable history.
Member Update eNews
eNews issues are sent by email to members to keep them up-to-date on news and activities of the HSMG, including legislation and other matters of interest.
Vendor Specials eNews
The Vendor Specials eNews is sent out monthly and contains the current month's specials submitted by HSMG Vendor members.
Directing the Organization
The senior managing body within the HSMG is the membership and the membership determines who should serve as President or sit on the Board of the Directors. The membership also approves major policies and activities of the organization.
Right to Vote
The HSMG Annual Membership Meeting is held during the Annual Conference every year. All members may attend (whether or not they are attending the conference) and all members have the right to vote on issues presented at the Annual Meeting.
Right to Serve on a Committee
All members have the right to volunteer and to serve on a Committee if they so choose.
Right to Serve on the Board of Directors [All except Associate Members]
The Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting and serve for two year (staggered) terms. Professional or Retired Soapmakers may serve on the Board of Directors so long as they will have been a member for one year upon taking office (July 1st after the election).
Right to Serve As President [All except Associate Members]
The President is elected at the Annual Meeting in odd-numbered years and serves for two year term. A Professional or Retired Soapmaker may serve as President so long as he/she will have been a member for one year upon taking office (July 1st after the election).
Referral Program [All Members]
The HSMG Referral program is in development. Once completed, Members will receive credits (called "Golden Bubbles")when they refer other soapmakers or vendors to join the HSMG. Golden Bubbles may be used toward membership dues, conference registration, advertising or HSMG merchandise.
For more information, also see:
Membership FAQ |
Membership Benefits Chart |
Insurance FAQ