(I started this post out as a list of Things MMU Companies Do That Annoy Me, but decided to take a positive tone.)

Have an easily navigable website

Especially if the main way I buy products from you is via your website. This applies very, very much to smaller companies like Aromaleigh (which has an excellently organized site but whose back-end programming gets balky whenever I want to pay with Paypal), Everyday Minerals (whose site-native account and checkout functions won't work in my preferred browser), and Simply Naturals (which has a good product at an excellent price - overall fantastic value - but has one of the least polished web storefronts I've encountered since the late 90s.)

I would like to be able to search the entire site. I would like to be able to find colors not just by collection or kit, but by color family (red, yellow, blue, brown) and perhaps by finish (matte, pearl, shimmer, etc.) Listing related or coordinating items is a nice bonus, especially if it's a way to buy the same product in different sizes and / or at different price points. But let me quickly and easily figure out where I've been, and quickly and easily reach any point on your site.

Keep your site current

Maintaining a website is a lot of work, but updating it is almost as much work - and is sometimes more important. If the web site is the only contact I have with the MMU companies I buy from, I'll get a little spooked if months pass and nothing is updated.

• I would like the information to be somewhat up-to-date. I realize that sometimes, once you list a chunk of your regular line, that catalog page isn't going to change much (if at all). But I'd like to see some signs of life: the latest products listed on the front page, announcements of sales or specials, any discontinued items, what have you.
• Blogs and newsletters are good ways to stay in touch with your client base. From a user perspective, though, I view them as extras rather than an essential part of the web store. Please don't make me read six sites (or join social networking sites) and subscribe to four different mailing lists and RSS feeds to get all of your sale notices or product announcements. Crosslink, post notices on your regular site, and I'll be more than content.
• Forums are a good way to build a community, get immediate (and constant) feedback, and give users the chance to interact with each other. If you have a forum, though, keep it well moderated. Don't be too heavyhanded, but don't allow cliques to form. Also...my comment about blogs and newsletters applies to forums, as well. If you post a special in your forums, it should be mentioned on the site as well. Don't set up any one group of customers to be "more special".
• Lots of companies have recently begun pitches that give awards if you become their follower (on Facebook, on MySpace, on Twitter, et cetera.) I follow companies on Twitter if they have interesting things to say. I do not follow companies, or become their "fan", just to get a free gift.

The SheSpace does an excellent job of posting specials in their forum, to their customer mailing list, and on their site - all at the same time. (There's a company blog, but I confess I've only ever read it twice. I have faith, though, that any pertinent business information that's posted there is also echoed to their site.)

Present your products straightforwardly

Selling makeup over the web is tricky. In addition to product photography, there are still the different ways that monitors can show your lovely photography...which you can't very well calibrate for each and every user. I would like to ask, though, that you show me the MMU product both in the pot and applied to the skin as it would typically be applied. I would like these "swatch photos" to show actual application-weight. Don't pile the powder high if you're showcasing a sheer or interference color. Brush that thing on wet and dry, let me see the contrasts, and let me see what I'll actually be buying.

When considering whether or not to use a phrase like "photography can't accurately capture the range of colors in this product..." don't. Pure Luxe Cosmetics has multiple photographs of their Kaleidescope products, the color-changing properties of which are both profound and only visible when the lighting angle changes. Those multiple views do quite a good job showing off the colors' range. So don't say that "photography can't possibly capture", et cetera et cetera ad nauseum. Have multiple photos. Make a little Flash movie. Sure, it's more work. But with so many other places for me to spend my money, spend the extra time and give me more information on which to base our buying decisions.

Marking your site and products as "not tested on animals" is a big trend this past decade. However, we consumers are pretty sure that just because your company did not test these products on animals, does not mean that no animal testing was involved with these products at any stage. The raw ingredients were most certainly tested on animals, as animal testing is currently the only way to adequately guarantee that this or that ingredient (or combination of ingredients) will not cause direct or indirect harm to human beings. One day, other testing methologies may be developed that allow for equivalent and thorough testing without the need to test on live animals -=at any stage of the manufacturing process=-. But currently, all products that do or can go in the body are subject to some degree of animal testing. Those "cruelty free" web site badges can be misleading, as they tell part of the truth but not all of it. If you want to use those site badges and meet the criteria for displaying them, feel free. But have a place on your site (someplace easily accessible and clearly linked, not some orphan page) that clearly explains exactly what that badge does and does not mean. I know, intellectually, that companies count on my ignorance half the time when selling me products. But being hit in the face with that is just insulting.

Package your products well

Sometimes, I see packages that look like they've been used in games of Post Office Football. They're dirty, the address labels are smeared, the packages may have a few tears in the outer envelope. Then I open the package...and from some companies, no matter how abused the outside of the package may look, everything inside is absolutely fine. Those companies have done a great job packaging my order (Aromaleigh and Pure Luxe both come to mind), and I thank them sincerely. The postal sorting and processing machinery may be efficient, but it's not exactly gentle.

Make your packaging both leak-free and trouble-free. On the one hand, I shouldn't have to get out the Exacto knife to open each brand new jar. On the other hand, I'd really rather not end up with my fingers - and the rest of my order - covered in leaked MMU pigment. I wanted that stuff to go on me, not the packaging! Even the companies with fantastic customer service who will make good on significant losses...I don't want to have to go to the trouble of ordering, and then ordering again. Let's get it right the first time. Everybody will be happier.

Provide value for the money

I started using Bare Escentuals because it was there and I could see it before I bought it. Even so, I knew that $13 for one smallish jar of eyeshadow was somewhat outrageous. I quickly found BE on Ebay, then found other MMU sellers and slowly started making purchases from them. The first "alternate" MMU provider I tried provided loose-powder makeup at a nicely low price. I didn't feel like I was risking a whole lot of money by ordering a jar of mineral pigment from Simply Naturals, but I also didn't feel that I was buying an attempted knockoff product, either. Simply Naturals also gave a discount if I bought larger quantities, and included free samples with every order.

I realize that every business model will differ slightly, just as the products themselves will differ slightly. Some companies will sell loose powder pigments that include lakes and organic dyes (such as carmine red pigment, obtained from the carminic acid produced by some scale insects) while others use only certain ingredients in their products. Some companies will sell cream and gel shadows and liners along with their loose-powder products. What products to sell, and where to source them (make them in-house or resell from a third-party vendor) are decisions that you business owners will make for your individual company. But when calculating your markup...don't mark things up so high that I can simply and easily go elsewhere and get a similar or the exact same product. Yes, you need to make a profit. Yes, you deserve to be compensated for the value you add to the products (such as mixing the oxides, pigments and mica into the exact finished mineral makeup.) But realize that while you deserve to be compensated for the work you do, I deserve to receive solid value for my money. For example, if I can buy a brush from you at $28 but can buy that exact same brush elsewhere for less than $4...where do you think I'll buy that brush? From the company that will sell it to me for $4, of course. (Bare Escentuals, I am so way looking at you right now...but other companies do similar things with all kinds of products.) As another example, if you're going to charge me 20% of the full-size price for a product sample, I'd like to get very close to 20% of the amount of the fullsize product.

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