Cindy and Art DeVore
With the traumatic terrorist attacks fresh in their minds, Cindy and her husband, Art, moved to the Virginia countryside in 2002, hoping for a fresh start and a more satisfying balance between work and family life.
Transforming a Hobby Into a Successful Global Business
“I’d been making soaps and lotions for myself and my friends in small batches for quite awhile,” Cindy says. “If September 11 hadn’t happened, I might still be making soaps and lotions as a hobby instead of turning my passion into the global business it is today.”
The DeVores first moved to Linden, Virginia, then to Broad Run, Virginia, after Cindy, who by then was working in real estate, was asked to list the historic 1743 farm house and five acres of Valley Green. They later moved into the handsome, traditional farm house where Valley Green Naturals blends, bottles, labels and ships its products today.
“We grow many of our own botanicals in our gardens, and we source our honey from the hives located on the neighboring vineyard or from other bee keepers in the Piedmont,” Cindy says. “We produce products that are body-safe, eco-friendly and wallet-happy, and we also educate others and raise awareness about the effect that skin and beauty care product ingredients can have on one’s health and well-being.”
Since launching Valley Green Naturals 2 ½ years ago, the DeVores have successfully placed their products in retail stores across the U.S. and distribute their products worldwide. Their product line includes more than 30 skin, bath and hair care products that are free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates and petrochemicals.
Smart Social Media Marketing Leads to Success
Cindy is a media-savvy woman who served as Director of Constituent Services for a U.S. Senator and a communications director in the legal marketing industry before the events of 9/11. Her experience working with national media, combined with her marketing and communication skills, have helped to get Valley Green Naturals products featured in Entrepreneur and Washingtonian Magazines, The Health Journal, The New York Examiner, on AOL, Washington Life Magazine online, and other media outlets.
Smart social media marketing has also played a role in Valley Green’s phenomenal growth.
“Our products blend one part high school chemistry with one part 21st century Internet marketing,” Cindy says. “Facebook has been an incredibly effective marketing tool for our business. I will never give it up!”
Paid Facebook ads, targeted to specific demographic groups, have helped Valley Green Naturals acquire more than 4,000 Facebook fans and grow sales exponentially in recent months.
Facebook Advertising Generates 900% Revenue Growth
“Our revenues have grown more than 900% over the past year and a half, and more than 600% in the past year alone. And Facebook advertising is only costing us $7.00 per day!” Cindy says.
“There was a huge learning curve at first,” Cindy acknowledges. “I spent a solid week figuring out the best ways to reach and attract my target market through Facebook and then figuring out the best strategies for converting our Facebook fans to paying customers.”
When she is not working to market and promote the company, Cindy lets her inner chemist loose in the kitchen, developing unique creations like anti-aging serums and creams, and all-natural skin-brightening cleansers.
“I just love their products,” said longtime customer Grace Kirk. “My favorite is the Gardener’s Glee hand lotion. I have a garden, so my hands get quite a workout. The lotion is perfect to keep my hands soft, and I love the lavender scent. My garden’s full of it.”
The creative and manufacturing process is both simple and labor intensive. To create her lotions, DeVore begins by melting botanical oils with an emulsifier over steady heat on the kitchen stove until the mixture reaches the correct temperature. Then she adds purified water which causes the water and oil molecules to bond, a chemical reaction that forms the stable lotion base.
After a short time in an ice water bath, DeVore next takes a stick mixer to the lotion to create the correct consistency to the lotion or moisturizer. Once complete, it is poured into a custom-labeled bottle, packaged and, eventually, mailed or delivered to the consumer; production can take two to three days, depending on the products.
“It gets pretty busy in the Valley Green house on production days. But it’s a labor of love.”
Learn More and Shop Valley Green Naturals
Valley Green Naturals Website
Valley Green Naturals on Facebook
Gainesville Times Article about Valley Green Naturals
Valley Green Naturals on Etsy
Valley Green Naturals at Abe’s Market
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Can you share any of the social media tips Cindy learned along way? Biggest dud, biggest yes. How much time each day does she spend on social now?
Hi, Eileen.
Good questions! There definitely have been a few bumps in the road working with social media… particularly when I was experimenting to get the best return on my investment of time and money.
Dud #1 – Although your goal may be to drive traffic directly to your web site, attempting to do so through social media advertising really doesn’t work very well. When someone is surfing through Facebook and runs across an attractive ad, I’ve found that they are far less likely to click if that ad takes them off Facebook and sends them to another site. Whereas, a simple click to “like” your ad will result in a redirection to your Facebook page and a new fan. I spent a little money — and a lot of time — figuring that out.
Dud #2 – Not spending enough time on social media marketing. I’m an old-school girl, trained in old-school marketing. I was dragged into the social media scene kicking and screaming all the way! I simply did not have time to sit at the computer and “post” things that I thought no one cared about. Thank goodness for our business partner, Doug Hill, who set me straight on this issue! Now I try to post on our page something interesting several times a day. When I suffer from writer’s block or lack any interesting news, I always find a good post to share from another page, such as Mother Earth News or the Organic Authority.
As for the amount of time I spend on social media each day, it varies. If I’m booked solid, I’ll make three or four short posts throughout the day, usually sharing something interesting from another Facebook page, while making sure to post at least once something about a VGN product. If I’m in production all day, I’ll use my tablet to take a photo of a product being made and post that. Our customers like seeing how their items are made, so this is a fun and interesting way to show them! (It also takes only a couple of minutes.)
Dud #3 – Not keeping your Facebook page interesting and active. We’ve gained fans not only through our Facebook advertising, but also through interactive posts, photos and interesting articles targeted specifically to our audience. When a fan sees something of interest on your page once, twice or three times in a day, they will likely share it with their group of friends. This often results in new fans from their circle as well. If a Facebook page is used continuously to push your product or service, you’re bound to lose fans. Just like TV advertising, no one likes to be “talked at.” I try to provide a happy balance on our page by sharing informative articles about agriculture and the environment, fun photos, and of course, posts about our products.
The biggest “yes” I’ve found so far is how helpful our Facebook page has been in developing our brand and its recognition. We make our products “fresh from the farm,” and Facebook has served as an outstanding platform to send that message. Whether I’m posting about a product, gardening, chickens, or a food recipe, it’s coming “Off the Farm” with a personal touch, and that’s what sets our brand apart from thousands in our industry. There are endless opportunities to build a brand through social media if you include the bigger picture by SHOWING your customers WHO you are.
Thank you for your detailed and very thoughtful reply Cindy … experience is certainly the best teacher of all, and you are very generous to share the fruit of your experience with our readers!
Yes, thank you, Cindy (and Eileen for asking)!
Regarding Dud #1, I understand another bonus to keeping them on facebook by sending the viewer to your facebook page is that the ad is then about half the price of sending them to your website (off facebook). I can’t confirm that because I haven’t tried it yet – can you, Cindy?
Julie,
It’s entirely possible that it could be slightly more expensive to send fans off-site from your ad, although I honestly cannot remember the specific difference in cost. I set my “clickable” budget for the day, and I paid attention to the results, comparing new fans vs. sales when clickers were sent to the web site. I found little result in sales when sending fans directly to our site; whereas collecting new fans has helped to build an ongoing audience family.
Having this audience — and I like to refer to our fans as “treasured family” — is far more beneficial to our business because we’re able to communicate with these people on a regular basis. If they had been sent to our web site; clicked around and didn’t make a purchase, we may have lost them for good. Because our ads are precisely targeted to those who are genuinely interested in what we do, we can continue over time to build a relationship with them through social media. It’s unlike any advertising or marketing ever offered, and it definitely puts a personal touch on who we are, and why we do what we do.
Thank you Cindy! I love it that you are having such great success with social media. I think it is fantastic that you have put marketing a priority and aren’t afraid to post about all elements of your business. I hear a lot of people asking me what they should write about – clearly most everything! You are an inspiration.