Aura Update: My Beauty Brand Side Hustle Makes Me An Extra $2K/Month

Danna Norek

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Published: December 22nd, 2022

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Danna Norek

Founder, Aura Sensory

$2K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Aura Sensory

aurasensory.com

from COPLEY

started February 2012

$2,000

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools Danna recommends to grow your business!

Discover what books Danna recommends to grow your business!

Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill

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The Mental Toughness Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To

Want more updates on Aura Sensory? Check out these stories:

1. How I Start A $2K/Month Skin And Hair Care Brand (2020) ➜

2. How We Focus On Marketing And Invested Company's Profit Into SEO (2022) ➜

This is a follow up story for Aura Sensory. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 3 years ago, check it out here.

Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.

My name is Danna Norek, it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years, but I started Aura Sensory Natural Skin & Haircare in 2012. The best-selling products in the Aura Sensory line are currently the Nourish & Hydrate Face Cream and Deep Hydration Conditioner. Both of these also happen to be two of the “originals” I launched the business with, albeit in a less refined version back then.

I’m able to take home anywhere from $500 to $1000 every month, with a total profit of around $2,000 per month. Although this is not the type of progress I had hoped to make, I feel lucky to still be making steady sales and have so many loyal, repeat customers during this time of financial hardship for so many. I also still work my “day job” full time, so I’m fortunate to be able to weather these types of financial downturns and changes in consumer behavior.

It gives me great satisfaction and fulfillment to be able to offer healthier, high quality and naturally-based beauty products to my customers at a reasonable price. Now more than ever, I think this type of business model appeals to the average consumer and I feel unbelievably honored and humbled that my customers are spending their hard-earned money on our products.

Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?

As previously alluded to, my business hasn’t seen much growth since we last talked. I think this is due to not only stiff and increasing competition but also the current economic climate. Increasing prices for so many necessities like food and fuel does leave less discretionary income for consumers to spend on beauty and self-care.

The huge silver lining is that it appears we have not lost any current customers, so we’re very fortunate from the standpoint of high loyalty/low attrition. However, this leaves the challenge of acquiring new customers in a restricted economic environment, which is a cornerstone of growth.

While our website traffic has increased by roughly 20% since we last talked, it has become difficult to get the increase in visitors to convert to sales. This is where the brand loyalty we’ve built with so many existing customers becomes so valuable.

An investment in Search Engine Optimization that was a large expenditure considering the ratio of cost to income didn’t exactly yield the results I was looking for. The website did not experience a discernible increase in traffic, and possibly even took a hit in traffic from this SEO effort.

We ended up discontinuing the service after about 6 months as the ROI wasn’t paying off, and there was concern after looking at before/after statistics that it may be doing more harm than good. The increase in traffic we are experiencing now is a result of self-directed SEO, so it happened despite - not because of - the investment made in third-party SEO.

The pandemic presented a new product development opportunity. With the increasing focus on sanitation, people were washing their hands more than they ever had. Along with this increase in awareness of how to reduce transmission by frequent hand-washing came the inevitable side effect - DRY hands.

There was a need for a deeply emollient, pleasant to use, an affordable naturally-inspired product that infused deep moisture without leaving a residue. We launched the Intensive Moisture Cream last year and it got a great response. It continues to be a strong and consistent seller and I think it’s going to be a cornerstone product that builds a ton of future loyalty.

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What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?

Our biggest challenge in 2022 has been figuring out how to gain more qualified, targeted internet traffic for our online store. This is a huge challenge for every website owner. The competition is stiff, and if you are a smaller business without the deep pockets of the big guys, it takes a lot of elbow grease and time to achieve this elusive goal.

As mentioned previously, a fairly large expenditure in third-party SEO did not yield results, so we did have to recoup some of that expenditure which was a setback. However, it was a wake-up call that focusing on in-house efforts to increase targeted traffic must become the primary objective.

I’ve seriously committed to blogging on a set schedule along with taking every opportunity that comes my way to gain exposure for the business. Even if you don’t feel like it because you’re just tired from your 9-5, or you have a lot going on in your personal life, it takes a lot of willpower but you do have to take the opportunities as they come.

One example is this newsletter publicity that was presented by one of our vendors. We featured small businesses in their small business newsletter. It was a great opportunity that presented itself at an otherwise inopportune time. But I took it, and the dividends are starting to become apparent.

What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?

My biggest error in judgment was to hire an SEO provider whom I had a gut feeling would not be effective. You should always follow your gut, especially when it’s proven a worthy advisor so many times in the past.

If something seems ‘too good to be true’ it usually is, and there were elements of that in the provider I chose. I ignored the nagging feeling that it would not yield the results I had hoped for. It ended up costing a significant outlay of money, and it may have done some damage judging from the decrease in traffic and seeming increase in junk traffic.

So this was a great lesson to trust your instinct if you’re having those nagging doubts when entering into any sort of business relationship. If it weren’t for my passion for the business, the experience could have paralyzed my belief in a successful future. Thankfully I’m more of a natural optimist than a pessimist, and the experience galvanized my belief in a bright future in some way I’m not sure I can fully articulate.

What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?

I plan to continue the way I’m going, which is to focus on original, well-written blog content published at least once per week. The idea being this will be a magnet for new, targeted customers who are interested in natural health and beauty. They will come to the main website via well-written, knowledge-driven, and interesting articles that hopefully provide a niche of content where there is currently a void for the particular subject matter.

I also plan to say “yes” to every opportunity for exposure that comes my way. An invitation to take part in a sitewide sale on Etsy? YES! A request for an interview? YES! An invitation for a company write-up in a niche category aggregator? YES!

Saying YES has been a challenge in the past with a full-time job and the other various minutiae that occur with everyday life. However, I am determined to ensure that this business succeeds and continues to at least maintain the current level of profitability through this currently difficult economic environment.

My main goal is to focus on my store’s online presence. I will continue to focus on this business model as opposed to going to trade or craft shows, which has not proven fruitful enough in the past for my particular product and business model.

By the way, I’ve learned from experience that saying YES also does involve some level of analyzing what is worth the time investment and what has ultimately fallen short in this category. I would be remiss if I did not mention this important caveat.

What’s the best thing you read in the last year?

A book called “The Mental Toughness Handbook” by Damon Zahariades is a great book I read this past year. It’s just a basic guide to calling on your inner warrior when times get tough.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?

My best advice is to never get too comfortable. The competition is fierce out there in many different business categories, and if you have an online presence, there is almost always a bigger fish that has more to spend. My best advice would be to sharpen your inner marketing skills. Get creative on how you can get the freest publicity.

You can make up for what you lack in dollars by finding creative and little-known ways to get your brand out there. It always takes a lot of work, but it also takes a little luck and being in the right place at the right time.

When you get a bad review, a return on your product, or other random occurrences that can be demoralizing, don’t dwell too much on it. Know that it is impossible to please everyone, all the time. Even the top brands like Apple, Sony, Tesla, and more - disappoint customers and more importantly - experience the occasional failure. It’s how you handle it that matters.

Fixing mistakes as soon as they happen goes a long way in earning brand loyalty.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

I’m not looking to hire for any positions. I continue to be a one-woman show at this point.

Where can we go to learn more?

Website

Twitter

Etsy

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!