If you have a growing business producing and selling beauty products, you probably (hopefully) think about packaging quite a bit. Your package is your marketing, and it needs to accomplish many things at once. Here's a look at what you should be considering if you're moving from home-grown DIY to professional packaging.

Dispensing Product

First, you need a container for dispensing your product, whether that's a jar, a bottle, a pump, etc. If this is the only packaging you will use for your product, make sure to read the boxing section below, because you will need to squeeze all your information and create a brand story on that one container.

Even if you use a box to house your dispensing container, you need to give some consideration to the dispensing packaging. First, how is the information going to be applied: via screening, hot stamping, or labeling? The product name and the name of your company need to be on the container, as well as any information that isn't going on a box.

Providing Extra Boxing

Having an outside box, while more expensive to produce, can help when it comes to disseminating information about your product. You need to make sure you have complied with FDA regulations regarding beauty products, so you will have to include ingredients, directions for use, safety information, and possibly expiration information. An exterior box also provides an extra level of security from tampering.

Boxing is also useful to help your product withstand storage and shipping and stack better on retail shelves, as well as to provide an insert for product information that won't fit on the dispensing container or material about other products in your beauty line.

Beyond the legal and logistical requirements for your packaging, you need to consider marketing and branding. You can have the best product in the world, but it has to stand up to dozens of competitors and make people want to buy it. Your packaging needs to look like it belongs with other products in that category (you wouldn't buy olive oil that came in an automotive-style container would you?) yet be unique and memorable.

Your business logo should be professional looking and jibe with the other brand information on your packaging. Think about your desired customer demographic:

• older women focused on anti-aging products
• men (a rapidly growing market)
• teens
• athletes
• anti-cruelty advocates
• spa aficionados
• eco-conscious consumers

You want your brand story to match that demographic ("Safely home tested on all of Betsy's pets!"), and any graphics or images you use on the labeling need to contribute to that. You also want a logical flow to your product packaging that leads the eye organically to the next piece of information you want them to read.

It's a lot to think about, so be prepared to hire help, like graphic designers, packaging specialists, and marketing professionals. They can help you coordinate with the lab where you're producing your product (assuming you've moved out of your kitchen!) and advise you quantities and printers.

Launching a new product line can be daunting, but by thinking ahead and keeping your preferred customers in mind, you'll beable to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

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