Thanks to all the ChopSaver fans we met during Super Bowl Week. Indianapolis transformed itself into a combination football/entertainment/music hotbed, a 10-day party like we’ve never seen around here!
ChopSaver was on full display in the heart of it all at Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis where we sampled nearly 5,000 lips and sold over 700 tubes of ChopSaver! While most enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather, we were one of the few companies who were looking forward to frigid temperatures and the chapped lips that often come with it, but we had a great time nonetheless!
Sometimes acting on the spur of the moment can force you to accomplish in a matter of days what would normally take weeks or even months. Less than two weeks before all the festivities were to begin, we leased our space, designed and created the display and even had a mascot made – a giant walking tube of ChopSaver.
As it turns out, “Choppy” was somewhat limited as to where he could appear, but we are thrilled to have him and we know he will make many appearances at other events in the future! A big “Thank You!” to everyone who helped us pull off our Super Bowl Experiment – you know who you are!
We love hearing from satisfied customers! For many people, ChopSaver has actually changed their lives in dramatic ways. Here are two women’s stories. We met both of them at our downtown display during Super Bowl week. The first letter is from Rolinda. After trying the product, she took the time to write to us and this is what she said:
“Dan, I want to thank you for creating such a wonderful product. I have high blood pressure and have been on medication for over 25 years due to heredity. I have used so many products trying to combat the dryness and chapping of my lips with no success. I was given a sample of your product at Circle Centre Mall and was immediately taken by your product! I went back yesterday to make a purchase and I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me back my soft and moisturized lips. Forever will be a customer!”
And from another new fan named Judy:
“I have very sensitive skin and chemical allergies which have caused my lips to be very dry resulting in cracking and bleeding…not very pleasant or attractive. I went to Super Bowl Village and walked up to the ChopSaver kiosk in Circle Centre Mall. I asked the clerk to see a list of the ingredients to determine if I should avoid it as I must other lip balms. After reading the natural ingredients, I grabbed up three tubes. I applied ChopSaver to my lips around 4:00 pm yesterday. When I returned home, around 8:30 pm, I realized that my lips were nearly completely soft. This morning I had new lips. I didn’t think I would ever find relief from the discomfort and pain. Thank you very much. ChopSaver is truly an amazing product!”
Thank you, Rolinda and Judy, for writing to us! We are very proud to know that the simple creation of a better lip care product like all-natural ChopSaver lip balm has the ability to make such a profound difference in people’s lives.
Yes, it’s true. The formula for ChopSaver all-natural lip balm was created in my kitchen and here are the pictures to prove it!
Working with just an idea in my head and ingredients like shea butter, avocado oil, aloe vera and herbs including arnica, calendula, and white willow, it was a classic case of trial and error.
And there were many errors – some really horrible concoctions!
But after many weeks, I knew I had finally hit upon something special and that it was ready for the world to know about!
This is from a journal that I was keeping several years ago. It is a rare glimpse into the mind of a man possessed (and this post can be viewed in the YouTube video below).
May 16th, 2004 – Talked to my old student Wes about lots of things. He mentioned an herb called Arnica.
May 17th, 2004 – Thought about healing. A lip balm especially designed for brass players using the herb Wes told me about.
May 18th, 2004 – Went to Wild Oats – Bought some cream with arnica and St. John’s Wort and vitamin E. Thought about pricing. Tried some. Maybe I should talk to my friend’s herbalist.
May 20th, 2004 – Saw another former student Natalie at lunch! She works for Bands of America – my target market. She said “Go for it!”
June 6th, 2004 – Batch #7. Not bad. Pretty creamy – used 5 ML more shea butter and 3 more drops of grapefruit oil. The place is a mess. My wife Noelle threatening to kick me out of the kitchen!
July 1st, 2004 – Laundry room! There are no mistakes – that’s where I learn the most! Lot’s of stirring. Finally whipped up into a frosting-like consistency. THIS IS AWESOME!
Happy is the inventor who creates something for one market and then his/her product is adopted by another. Think Crocs®. Crocs were created as a spa shoe and later adopted by boaters. Now Crocs and their many imitators are worn by everybody. ChopSaver was originally created for musicians who use their lips to play an instrument. Sore, swollen or chapped lips can be a real problem when it comes to creating beautiful sounds on a trumpet or flute or trombone.
While my goal has always been to “cross over” much like Crocs did, I could never have imagined it would happen the way it did – via the medical profession. A few years ago, I received an email from a dermatologist. He was requesting samples of ChopSaver because a patient of his showed him the product. This patient was taking a drug for acne. It turns out one of the side effects of this particular class of drug known as isotretinoin is severe chapped lips. ChopSaver worked so well, the doctor wanted some of his other patients to try it. The doctor even posted something about it on a dermatology website and within in a few days, I had several requests from doctors for samples. To be honest, it took me a few months to grasp the ramifications of this. A formula that some trumpet player made in his kitchen was being recommended – “prescribed” if you will – by medical doctors! ChopSaver was bringing relief to a new group of people who were in desperate need.
Now, we split our marketing between our first niche – musicians – and all “People with Lips” using our newly earned medical seal of approval. We now attend medical events as well as our usual slate of music related trade shows. A product originally intended for band kids is now a fixture at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting, a gathering of thousands of dermatologists from around the world. It is this sort of exposure that will enable us to increase our presence in the mass market.
Anyone who runs a successful business will tell you it takes hard work, tenacity, patience and a little luck. I believe the luck is often a happy result of the first three items on that list. In other words, you often create your own good breaks.
One such example is how we were able to attract Sir James Galway, the world famous classical flutist, to be a ChopSaver endorser. Several years ago, Sir James was playing a concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. My wife, a violinist, was playing in the orchestra. I had hoped to somehow meet him and give him some samples of my new product. As it turns out, that couldn’t be arranged so we had some samples and a letter delivered to his dressing room and hoped for the best.
Months went by. We never heard a word from him or his agent. So I forgot about it. Then one day I received an email from a colleague that simply said, “Sir James Galway”. I replied and said “What about him?” The person wrote back and said, “There is a video on his website and he is endorsing your product. Here is the link.”
I was stunned. I clicked on the link. And there it was. Right after he discussed a new book he had just read, he held up a little green tube to the camera and said in his thick Irish brogue, “this…is a ChopSaver!” And he then continues with a short, but very positive review of my product. He never contacted me or asked for any endorsement fee. It was just a simple, unsolicited testimonial from one of the most famous classical musicians of all time. We have since met and thanked him many times. So was it just luck? Perhaps. But if we hadn’t reached out somehow and given it a shot, nothing would have happened. That’s one way to increase your odds!
There are literally thousands of lip care products on the market. What made me think the world needed one more? Despite all those other options, as I developed the formula for what would become ChopSaver, a quick survey of my musician friends told me that very few, if any, of the other products actually addressed the needs of musicians. No one could agree on any one product that really worked. When you play a brass or woodwind instrument, your lips can become swollen and even painful during periods of extreme performance or practice. Chapped lips can wreak havoc on your ability to produce a good sound on a consistent basis. The all-natural moisturizers in ChopSaver keep the surface of the lips predictable and reliable. The herbs help speed up the recovery process after a long day of playing.
If it’s so special for musicians, why would a non-musician use ChopSaver? Well, because of its unique formula, it just feels better and lasts longer than other products whether you play an instrument or not. Dry or chapped lip problems can happen to anyone. Sometimes the cause is extreme weather conditions or the side effects of drugs and medications. This is especially true with drugs such as isotretinoin, commonly referred to as ACCUTANE®. These drugs are used to treat severe acne but there are hundreds of other drugs that list dry mouth and lips as a side effect. With ChopSaver, these issues are much easier to manage and we have the doctor testimonials to prove it!
There are many examples of products that were designed for a small group of people and went on to become used in the mass market. Happily for us, and our satisfied customers, ChopSaver is another great example of that phenomenon.
So you have a product idea and maybe even some prototypes. What are you going to call it? You want something catchy and memorable and easy to pronounce. Do you want to describe the product with the name? Is the name something you want to trademark? Is the name already taken? Would it make a good name for a website? These are the kinds of things you have to consider when creating a new product. And these are decisions that could have great value should your product or idea become accepted in the marketplace. Trademarks, patents and copyrighted material all fall under the category of “intellectual property” and for some companies intellectual property is their most valued asset. Think about it – how much is the word “Coke” worth? Probably billions of dollars.
Sometimes the first name you come up with is the best but you should still test it against as many ideas as you can think of. The name “ChopSaver” beat out several other names. At one time we had dozens of them. A few favorites of mine were: ParaLips, Lip Tuner, ChopCare and Lip Lift. But we kept coming back to ChopSaver. It’s true; the name is a little “music-y” both most people understand that “chops” is not just “musician” slang as in, “I’m gonna bust him in the chops!” So if your “chops get busted” for any reason, grab some ChopSaver!
OK, so by now you are getting the idea that ChopSaver is full of really good stuff. I could continue to write about each and every ingredient and why they are in there, but that would be a little bit like Coca-Cola giving away their formula, wouldn’t it? Or Kentucky Fried Chicken (oh – sorry! KFC for those too young to remember Colonel Sanders!) listing all 11 herbs and spices. The fact is you can read each ingredient right there on every package of ChopSaver lip balm. We do that so people with allergies will know exactly what they are putting on their lips. A lot of thought, research and experimentation went into my desire to create the best all-natural lip balm you can buy.
Natural moisturizers.
You should know that every ingredient in ChopSaver serves a purpose. Those purposes are to feel good when you put it on and to make your lips feel better for a long time without having to re-apply it (the natural moisturizers), to actually soothe and heal any damage (the herbs) and to smell good (the citrus oils). Just that simple. Nothing artificial or hard to pronounce. ChopSaver contains no preservatives, no petroleum products and no alcohol. It is also gluten-free and contains no animal products other than high grade beeswax.
I like to call it a very efficient formula. Nothing is wasted. Everything in there does something to help your lips feel better. And it will keep doing that thing you love longer than any product on the market!
Here’s a fun word – astringent! When lip tissues become inflamed or swollen you just want them to feel normal again. You need something to relieve the puffiness that builds up in sore tissues. I didn’t even know there was a name for what I was looking for. What I needed was an “astringent”, a substance that brings things back in balance. Astringents are chemical compounds that shrink or constrict body tissues. That is why ChopSaver contains raspberry leaf. Raspberry leaf contains tannins. Tannins have that slightly puckering or toning effect that I wanted.
Many of the ingredients in ChopSaver instantly bring a pleasant sensation to mind just hearing the word. Words like citrus. Think lemon and lime. One ingredient that may have a somewhat less happy connotation is castor oil. But castor oil, like all the other ingredients in ChopSaver has a well-earned place in the ChopSaver formula.
Castor Oil comes from the castor bean. It is an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant oil which has been used for centuries for its therapeutic benefits which are believed to be derived from its high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids. Castor oil contributes to the smooth glide and feel that ChopSaver is famous for.
ChopSaver was on full display in the heart of it all at Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis where we sampled nearly 5,000 lips and sold over 700 tubes of ChopSaver! While most enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather, we were one of the few companies who were looking forward to frigid temperatures and the chapped lips that often come with it, but we had a great time nonetheless!
While my goal has always been to “cross over” much like Crocs did, I could never have imagined it would happen the way it did – via the medical profession. A few years ago, I received an email from a dermatologist. He was requesting samples of ChopSaver because a patient of his showed him the product. This patient was taking a drug for acne. It turns out one of the side effects of this particular class of drug known as isotretinoin is severe chapped lips. ChopSaver worked so well, the doctor wanted some of his other patients to try it. The doctor even posted something about it on a dermatology website and within in a few days, I had several requests from doctors for samples. To be honest, it took me a few months to grasp the ramifications of this. A formula that some trumpet player made in his kitchen was being recommended – “prescribed” if you will – by medical doctors! ChopSaver was bringing relief to a new group of people who were in desperate need.
One such example is how we were able to attract Sir James Galway, the world famous classical flutist, to be a ChopSaver endorser. Several years ago, Sir James was playing a concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. My wife, a violinist, was playing in the orchestra. I had hoped to somehow meet him and give him some samples of my new product. As it turns out, that couldn’t be arranged so we had some samples and a letter delivered to his dressing room and hoped for the best.
