Do you know what you don’t know?

The Discovery

I typically never go to networking type meetings, but I was at a women’s business networking group a few weeks ago with a friend who is much more of a joiner than I am, and I was surprised that about 5 out of the 20 or so women had bead and handmade jewelry related businesses.

I made a shocking discovery at that meeting. It was hard for me to believe at first, but many of the women in the group were basically clueless about basic marketing concepts, and especially internet marketing basics.

Having little experience with offline networking, I imagined that people who were savvy enough to want to network would at least know some marketing basics.

Are You Clueless Too?

So here’s the point. Maybe you are in that clueless category and don’t even know it. I don’t want to be harsh, but I call it like I see it. And hey, everyone has to start somewhere. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know until someone enlightens you.

I must admit that about a year or two ago I was in that clueless category too. As artists and craftspeople, sometimes we just want to make things in our studio and not really interact with the world in any way. At least I feel that way. I started learning about marketing because it’s necessary, not because I love selling or advertising, or even because I find it at all interesting on its own.

The Dream of All Jewelry Designers, Artists and Craftspeople

I bet you’re a lot like me.  If I could create all day and have an enthusiastic salesperson/girl or boy friday do everything else I’d be as happy as a clam.

The Naked Truth

The world doesn’t work that way though. You can be the most brilliant craftsperson in the world and make the most beautiful things that the world has ever seen but it wouldn’t matter. The marketers make the money. That’s just the way it is.

The first step, as they say, is acknowledging you have a problem. This first article in the series is all about knowing what you don’t know.

Can you answer these Basic Marketing Questions?

Marketing Questions:

The top 3 questions are the most basic. 

• Who am I targeting (or who is my audience or ideal customer?)
• What do they need?
• What is the problem I am solving for them?
• What are features and benefits? What are mine?
• Do I have a marketing strategy?
• What is my marketing strategy?
• Do I have goals?  What are they?  Are they specific and measurable?
• How can I get people excited about my product?
• How is my product different from others?
• How is my marketing different from others?

Research Questions:

• How do I find out what people want and need?
• How do I find out whether people will pay for what they want?
• Who is the competition?
• How well is the competition doing?
• How am I different from the competition?

Basic Internet Marketing Questions:

In no particular order of importance:

• What is search engine marketing?
• What is web traffic?
• What are the best ways to get web traffic?
• What is Google Adwords?
• What are keywords?
• What is a "list"?
• What is search engine optimization?
• What are backlinks?
• What is an autoresponder?

These are some of the most basic questions there are for anyone with a business. If you are planning on selling your jewelry entirely offline, with no website or web presence whatsoever, maybe you won’t need any internet marketing. I suggest though, that you should at least have an email mailing list so that you can follow up with regular customers. I’ll discuss this further in a future post.

I don’t want to scare you, but if you can’t answer most of these questions, you’re in the "clueless" category.  Don’t worry though, there is lots of information out there for the learning.  Much of it is free

Action Steps for Today:  

• Relax.
• Let some of the question percolate in your mind for a bit.  At least now you know what you don’t know.  
• Write a comment below.  Let me know what you’re thinking.

by Christine Gierer of The Jewelry Sweet Spot

To own a business that will stand the test of time, you need to create a business identity for yourself. Figure out who you are, what you stand for, and how you will portray yourself and your business, and you will have a much stronger foundation for your business to stand on.

There are a lot of things to think about when you consider turning your jewelry-making hobby into a business. I know from experience that the enthusiasm you feel at the beginning can oftentimes overshadow or even obliterate all thoughts about planning and making rational, business-oriented decisions.

If you are like me, you probably want to just jump in and create willy-nilly, buy far too many supplies (thinking you will figure out exactly what to use them for later) and hope for the best. I don’t want to quash your enthusiasm, but pre-planning is really key to creating a sustainable business and not blowing all your cash.

The following exercise is a great one for figuring out who you want to be as a jewelry designer and how you want to position your business in the marketplace. Your answers will be an invaluable resource for you when you write up (or rewrite) your Artist’s Bio and your Business Plan (yes, you really shoud have a business plan, even as an artist).

How to use this guide: Use a separate piece of paper for each item. Set a timer for 5 minutes for each question, and write down as many things as you can think of on each topic including thoughts, examples, things you have seen others doing that you like or dislike. Write things down even if they seem ‘not exactly right’ because the more you write, the more you will think of. This exercise is meant to get you thinking, and none of your answers are set in stone. You can narrow down your thoughts at the end of each brainstorming exercise. As an artist and businessperson, you will change and grow as you become more experienced. Keep your lists in a binder to add to as you progress in your business. Review them from time to time to refresh your foucus and your enthusiasm.

Here is my quick and dirty list of things any new jewelry-making businessperson needs to start brainstorming about.

What will you make?
Hold it! This may seem like the logical thing to do first, but please read on. You will find it much easier to answer this question in a thoughtful, in-depth sort of way after completing your brainstorming lists for the rest of the questions article.
How you will you make your jewelry?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

Here are some ideas:
-one-of-a-kind
-develop/design a line and production line it yourself or outsource production
-seek custom and/or commission orders

What is your business philosophy?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

Here are some examples:

-”Right-minded or good actions will bring unexpected reward.” (This is one of mine)

-Someone else’s might be “get all you can while you can”, “hope for the best, prepare for the worst”, “planning is key”, “business is dog eat dog so you have to be the biggest, meanest, smartest dog” (I’m just making these up, but you get my meaning)

What is your philosophy about design?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

-Are you trying to explore something specific?
-Do you have a message in your work, like a social commentary or political view?
-Is your work about the interplay of design elements like contrasting textures and colours, or inspired by something like nature or machines?

Where/ How will you sell your work?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)
Here are some of the many ways jewelry artists sell their work:

-Online
-Retail directly (in-person) from the artist like at craft shows, home jewelry parties, or person to person out of your studio
-Wholesale and/or consignment to shops, wholesale via gift or trade shows

Specifically where will you sell?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

-Which specific shops would you like to see your work in?
-What types of shops (gallery, gift, clothing shops, accessories shops)?
-Which websites (own site, etsy, mint’d, lov’li, shopify, ruby lane, ebay etc)?
-What specific shows?

What will you call your business?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

There are many different ways of choosing a name. You can use your own name, pick a business name that portrays what you make or what you are about like “Metalworks” or “Eco-Jewels”, or choose something that describes the emotion you want to express like “Romancing the Stone” or “Melancholy”.

(disclaimer: I made these up. I have no idea if there are real businesses out there with these names. If this is your business name, I had no intention of referring to your business.)

**It is always wise to research your chosen business name, and of course register it with your province or state. You can contact your local government business registration office for more information.

Tip: Choose an easy to remember and easy to spell name. I initially made a mistake in choosing my business name. It is costing me an additional $80 to re-register under my new business name, an extra domain name registration and hosting fee because I had to get a new website name, hosting, and new business cards. For me it was a costly mistake. Initially I was calling my business by my name “Christine Gierer”. My own friends have difficulty spelling and pronouncing my last name so probably not the best choice, especially for online sales. I think my new business name, “CG Handmade” is easier to remember.

Who is your target market?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

-What age, gender, socio-economic status do they belong to?
-What is their religious and political bent?
-What type of lifestyle do they lead?
-Where do they work?
-What do they do for recreation?
-Where do they live? In a city, small-town, suburbs, rural?
-What type of family structure do they have (kids, single, divorced, etc.)
-Where do they shop?

Tip: Try to get as specific as possible because when you can really narrow it down, it makes it easier to decide how to promote and who exactly to promote to.How does your jewelry style fit the needs or desires of your target market?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

-Are they active or do they have small children?
-Will your jewelry need to sturdy or can it be more delicate?

How will you price your jewelry?
You don’t need to brainstorm this one, although you can if you want to. Otherwise, just keep it in mind for future researching.
There are lots of different viewpoints on this. This is a much discussed topic on the web so if you do a search you should be able to find dozens of articles on this subject.

How will you differentiate yourself from the multitude of other jewelry designers out there?
(Set your timer for 5 minutes, write the question at the top of a fresh piece of paper, and start writing)

-Do you have a very specific niche you target?
-Do you use unusual materials or techniques?
-What other ways can you think of to differentiate yourself?

What will you make?
This was the first item on the list that I asked you to wait on answering. You should find it much easier to do this in detail now that you have brainstormed each item in my list.

List as many things as you can think of, keeping in mind your answers to the questions above.

A Final Word
Now that you have brainstormed all these questions, write an Artist’s Profile of yourself. Edit and Re-edit until it makes you sound wonderful, then have someone proofread and edit it for you. A final tip: Write your profile as if you are describing yourself and your business to a specific person from your target market. This keeps your bio sounding conversational and interesting rather than bland and boring.