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.

Maybe all etsy sellers know about this already. I just came across it though and I’m sad that it’ll be gone! (The blog owners are getting frustrated with some negative feedback they’re getting so they’re closing down. You can read their last post here.

I would have loved looking at this when I was selling my jewelry online. Seeing what the most successful are doing is a great way to get some insight into how to market, what people are buying, etc.

I’ve been out of the Etsy loop for awhile- I set up shop about a year or two ago but I haven’t been doing anything there lately. That’s a story for another email.

If you’re unfamiliar with Etsy, don’t check them out. You will lose countless hours of your life browsing the beautiful pictures you’ll find there.

Etsy is a huge treasure trove of anything handmade. (Just want to clarify that I have no affiliation with Etsy. I’ve had some feedback that maybe I’m plugging sites for monetary gain? Not so).

Items are sold directly from the artist and if you are looking to sell some of your own stuff, or even de-stash some of your supplies, you might want to set up shop on Etsy. Only 20 cents per listing for 4 months. MUCH cheaper than fee-bay.

Back to the point – selling on Etsy – you’ll find the stats charts at Etsy tools fascinating. Check it out before they pull it down.

If you know of a similar stats tracking tool for Etsy (or Yessy, Ruby Lane, or any of the other 3rd party crafts/ art selling websites where artists can promote and sell their work), please let me know! I’d love to share it with everyone!

Talk soon, Christine
Jewelry Making Play, Every Day!
New!!! The HTMJ Bloooooog!

P.S. New question at Ask and Answer- and it’s a biggie! I might have to answer it in parts. Wanna read it? It’s a business related one:Pricing Jewelry and Other Business Questions

(This post was written as an email for my mailing list at my main jewelry making website) I don’t often post my emails here, but this one was a time sensitive one. If you want to see what else you’ve been missing out on, you can subscribe to the Making Jewelry mailing list here.)

I love the one about putting your business cards in library books. I picture jewelry designers everywhere scurrying through libraries willy-nilly, surreptitiously poking their business cards into books right under the noses of the library police.

Spread the love. Share your own ideas in the comments!

Wouldn’t you like to learn how to skyrocket your home jewelry business success? What Jewelry Artist wouldn’t! I found a really mind opening E-book by Rena Klingenberg, Home Jewelry Business Expert and really-nice-lady.

What makes her book so earthshaking?

Rena has devised a really fascinating and low-key way to sell handmade jewelry that does the following:

• It saves you from booth selling and all the costs and equipment entailed in that method selling
• Her method allows you to keep 100% of RETAIL sales (rather than the 70% or 50% that you get from wholesaling or consignment.
• You don’t have to give a percentage or give jewelry to a home party hostess so you don’t lose anything there.
• Everything is casual and low-key (great for the more reserved Jewelry Artist. I know there are lots of us out there!)
• AND her system details how you can make some real money selling One-of-a-Kind pieces and sets to the wealthier customer.

Okay, enough with the gushing.

I love e-books. I sort of feel like they are a guilty pleasure because I can buy them online and get them immediately. If you’ve never bought an E-book before, you really must try it. I recently bought Rena Klingenberg’s book entitled, “Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service “.

For those who don’t know, Rena Klingenberg has been writing home-jewelry business success articles for some time, and has been a guest author on The Jewelry Sweet Spot as well.

I initially didn’t think that her book would interest me. For some reason I thought it was about shopping for jewelry for people and never connected the fact that it would be my own jewelry I would be selling.

Rena book really gives you new insight into an alternative method of turning your passion into a profitable business. It offers a step by step system for creating a home jewelry business success based on a “personal shopper” model.

If you love one-on-one contact with clients, making one-of-a-kind and commission pieces…

The author let’s you in on the primary way she earns money in her handcrafted jewelry business.

Rena’s gift and jewelry consultant angle on selling is an ingenious one for jewelry designers who enjoy one-on-one contact with clients, make one-of-a-kind and commission pieces, who are good at matching jewelry to clients wardrobes, and are looking for a low overhead method of marketing their jewelry and still command retail prices. This business model is underused by the handmade jewelry industry and should you chose to adopt it, you will probably have no competition.

Great advice for anyone who wishes to sell their jewelry part-time in a casual way…

Even if you aren’t interested in becoming a personal jewelry consultant, there is some great advice for anyone who wishes to sell their jewelry part-time in a casual way. I think this part of the book is what really appealed to me because generally my own jewelry gets sold this way. She goes into detail about how to do a casual trunk show with your kids teachers, at a friends workplace, at a friend’s house, or in the park. Selling jewelry this way takes all the work out of selling and is less formal than a home jewelry party. There are also practically no costs involved; you don’t need to advertise, take a cut in the pricing as for wholesale or consignment selling, no booth fees, and no free jewelry for home jewelry party hostesses.

Students and moms: Part-time income from jewelry making?

A very good resource and a great investment for anyone interested in getting into jewelry making, especially as a part-time business. I think this model would work especially well for stay-at-home-moms looking to make some extra money within the home, while their children are at school, or for students who can show their jewelry casually to classmates and peers at their favourite hangout, cafeteria, during a break in their classes, or in their common rooms in their dorms.

Warning about this book:

I always try to find the downside when I do a review but Rena writes so well, is so easy to read, so concise, and so frigging thorough! that I can’t find anything bad to say about this book except that I found the title a little bit confusing. Otherwise Kudos to Rena!

I can’t recommend this book enough.

Click here to learn more about buying this book now

Are you interested in more articles like these? Submit a comment!

If you sell your handcrafted jewelry at shows, fairs, or festivals, it may be a target for thieves. You should know how prevent shoplifters from stealing your jewelry right out of your booth.

I don’t mean to imply that shoplifting is rampant at every show, or that you can’t trust your customers. But it’s an unfortunate fact that jewelry is an increasingly frequent target for theft. It’s attractive, relatively small, easy to slip away with, and has a high perceived value.

After an onyx and opalite bracelet was shoplifted from my booth, I decided to learn how I could prevent my jewelry from “evaporating” at shows.

I discovered that you can greatly reduce your risk of becoming a victim of shoplifting in your jewelry booth – simply by being aware of how jewelry thieves operate, and learning a few simple prevention measures.

Tactics of Experienced Jewelry Shoplifters

Awareness of how thieves operate can help you keep your jewelry safe. Here are common shoplifting ploys used by thieves at art and craft shows:

1) Some thieves work in pairs. One thief poses as an interested customer, distracting you by pretending they want to purchase jewelry, while the other thief unobtrusively slips some jewelry into a pocket, tote bag, shopping bag, or purse.

2) A shoplifter working alone pretends to browse your displays, and the moment you’re distracted, he or she easily brushes jewelry that’s displayed near the table-edge right into an open bag, purse, or baggy pocket that’s just below the table level.

3) A thief sets a personal item (such as a purse, shopping bag, or jacket) on your jewelry table while pretending to shop. When the thief picks up her personal item, she neatly lifts some of your jewelry along with it.

4) Experienced jewelry thieves know the most vulnerable times for an artist at a show, and wait for an opportune moment to take advantage of your situation during these critical times:

- While you’re setting up and taking down your booth, especially if you’re dealing with a tent or anything else that requires a significant amount of time and attention away from your jewelry.

- When your booth is crowded.

- While you’re loading and unloading your vehicle.

- When you take a bathroom break.

Awareness is your best defense against shoplifters. Once you have an understanding of how these thieves operate, you can determine the most vulnerable areas of your booth and how to safeguard them. With a bit of reorganizing, you can easily set up a profitable jewelry booth that discourages shoplifting.

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Learn 8 effective ways to protect your jewelry booth from shoplifting in Rena Klingenberg’s ebook, Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth – You’ll also learn every success secret and strategy Rena has discovered for selling handcrafted jewelry at shows.

Here are 9 great reasons any jewelry artist should build and nurture a mailing list.

1. To remind people that you exist.

People are very busy these days, have a lot on their plate. They are very easily distracted and sidetracked. I know I am, despite my best efforts! I receive a number of newsletters by email, and I am much more likely to return to these companies websites than the ones I bookmark and mean to go back to. Enough said.

2. To make it easy for people to find you and contact you

Sometimes people need help. Even if they mean to call you or order online from you, they may forget, become distracted, or may forget your business name. They may make a mental note to contact you but never get around to it. Make it easy for them by sending them regular mailings.

3. To build trust

This is a very timely concept. People have been scammed, let down, and underserviced so many times that they are naturally wary and suspicious of anyone trying to sell them anything. Getting your name in front of people on a regular basis and sending them quality information with their needs in mind goes a long way towards building trust.

4. To build relationships

In our fast-paced world where everyone is bombarded constantly with advertising from huge impersonal businesses, people seek a connection. If you can make that connection and allow people into your world, they begin to feel they know you. This is of course positive for you and your business.

5. To keep in touch with your existing customers.

You have peoples’ addresses because they have given them to you either through an online subscription, personal inquiry, by asking to be added to your mailing list, or by in some way asking you to contact them further. If your customers and prospects have shown interest in getting updates from you, you are doing them a disservice if you don’t follow up.

Have you ever inquired about a product by email and never gotten a response? How did that make you feel? I know that I feel like the company is poorly managed and that they clearly don’t care about their customers. People get very excited by even basic customer service nowadays so give them a little by sending them newsletters, notifications and updates.

6. To follow up leads.

Leads are people who have shown interest in your work or your business but need more incentive to buy. This goes back to the 7-10 rule which states that people statistically need to become familiar with you by seeing you 7-10 times before trusting you enough to purchase something they want from you.

7. To make more sales from your existing customer base.

It is easier to sell to a customer than a prospect i.e. It is much easier to convince previous customers to buy more from you than it is to convince someone to buy from you the first time.

This is assuming of course that they had a good experience with you in the past. Regular customers are most businesses bread and butter. Offer them the good stuff first and they’ll keep coming back. A mailing list is the perfect way to notify them of your promotions and new products first.

8. To target your marketing and make the best use of your time.

Your time is limited and you want to get as much bang for your buck as possible. A mailing list is made up of people who are already interested in you and your products or services so following up with them by email is a great use of your time.

9. To give great customer service and extra value.

Sending out regular mailings is just part of great customer service. If you do it respectfully, regular mailing can make make your customers feel cared for and special.

(Excerpt from the Jewelry Sweet Spot Member-only E-lesson Series, ” How to Become Everyone’s Favorite Jewelry Designer, and Get As Much Business as You Can Handle”. You can gain access to this free e-course at http://www.thejewelrysweetspot.com)

Would you like to receive a FREE, seven-lesson email course that will power up your email marketing and profits?		Sign up NOW Your Name: Your E-Mail: Remember, your privacy is safe!

The Craft Organization Directors Association (CODA) did the first major craft economic impact survey in 2001, and they found that, “Craftspeople that have paid employees have three times the household income and ten times the sales/revenue of those that work alone.”

Unfortunately there has not been a follow up study since then, but I bet the results would still hold true in terms of who makes more.

What does this mean to you and me? Paying people to do the tasks that you don’t excel at and/ or don’t enjoy doing can actually make you more money.

What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is essentially hiring someone to do work for you, but without the headaches of becoming an actual employer that has to pay benefits, collect income taxes to submit to the government, or any of the other headaches associated with having employees. The work is done by a person who is essentially considered a service provider. They bill you, and you pay the invoice. They are responsible for paying their own income taxes, reporting income, etc. The cost you pay would simply be a business expense, just like paying a lawyer or accountant.

How do you make more money by paying someone? Think about it. If you were free from the tedium of bookkeeping or production work for example, you could free up your time for revenue generating tasks like marketing, sales calls, designing new jewelry lines, meeting with clients, etc.

I know the first thing you are probably thinking is that you can’t afford it, you don’t want to spend time managing other people, you could do it better, or you don’t want to train people. That’s how i feel too, but I’m still intrigued.

I found a blog article about outsourcing from a fellow work-at-home-mom named Alice Seba who outsources. From what i understand, she has more than doubled her income since she started outsourcing much of her admin work.

Alice wrote a free guide offering tips on how to go about outsourcing. I checked it out and it seems pretty good, and it’s free (I looove free) so I thought I would share the link with you.

Here it is: Answers to Your Most-Pressing Outsourcing Questions – Sweetie Style!

Comments welcome!

Pricing handmade jewelry seems to one topic that jewelry artists never agree on. There are lots of different viewpoints and philosophies. This article will discuss some of the things to think about as you consider how to price your jewelry, and some of the common pricing models that jewelry designers use.

Keep in mind that you do much more than make jewelry as a business owner. In order to cover costs and overhead it is essential to charge more than your hourly rate + material costs, or keep your hourly rate on the high side (i.e. $18/ hour is much more realistic than $10/ hour) if you want your business to be profitable.

That said, as a jewelry designer, you need to consider 2 types of pricing: wholesale and retail.

Wholesale and Retail Pricing Models

Common wholesale pricing models used by jewelry designers:

Common retail pricing models used by jewelry designers:

Do you use a method not listed here? You can share it in the comments section.

Selling Artisan Jewelry Online
By Louise Coulson

In the olden days of the Internet (early 1990’s), that books, movies and music would sell well online, but crafts, jewelry and clothing, would not. In recent reports, retail jewelry sales have jumped as much as 250% in the first quarter of 2007. This jump is not necessarily in the area of one-of-a-kind or limited edition artisan jewelry, but it does indicate a movement toward a buying attitude by the public.

Your potential online artisan jewelry customer is a savvy individual who can easily access a wide range of jewelry artisans’ work and compare them. She will understand that artisan jewelry is designed and made by an artisan and will be unique. This customer expects the best in craftsmanship, quality materials and service for her money.

Jewelry can be a very personal and emotional purchase. It can be particularly difficult to sell online as it can be difficult for your customer to get an idea of the actual color, craftsmanship, weight and size of a piece without seeing it. Since the character of artisan jewelry is that it is unique and frequently one-of-a-kind, it may be hard for your potential customer to relate it to a known item like production jewelry and get an idea of what the piece is really like.

Here are some other difficulties for those of us who sell our artisan jewelry online.

1. Of course, getting traffic to your site is the first hurdle for the online jewelry artisan.

2. The site should offer something of value to the visitor beyond just an advertisement.

3. It is difficult to present an accurate impression of color, size and detail when buying a piece of jewelry online.

4. The site visitor needs to trust your credibility to buy from you.

5. Payment security is a big issue for online buyers.

6. The buyer will want to see your guarantee, returns and privacy policies.

Your website and your online interactions with the customer can alleviate any uncertainty the customer holds and guide her in a decision as to which piece can best fit in her jewelry collection or match a particular outfit.

Building and maintaining your site will take about half of your time and marketing the site will take the other half. You are looking for potential buyers, not just other jewelry artisans who are looking for inspiration, so you need to know your customers and how to access them online. Online marketing is a huge subject that ranges from search engine optimization of the site itself to networking online and even to writing for other websites to gain those all-important incoming links. It is an area that is changing rapidly and we will explore some of these avenues in subsequent articles.

Content is the currency that visitors expect and will help keep them as repeat visitors to your site. Your site needs load quickly, be easy to navigate and present your jewelry accurately. Along with the jewelry, provide articles on jewelry, gemstone or fashion-related subjects. This will build your credibility as well as helping you establish your expertise in your subject.

Show the piece from various angles and tell the story of each piece – the inspiration, materials, techniques and measurements. Explain the differences between artisan made and production jewelry and how this benefits the customer. Colors are not necessarily the same on each monitor, and this should be noted. Offer a mailto so your site visitor can ask any questions. If you do get a question about a piece, answer the email immediately and consider adding the answer to the description of the piece.

Check your site for grammar and spelling errors, as this greatly affects your credibility. If a person sees a shoddy site, she may expect to see shoddy jewelry. Be sure your links work properly and that the site is up-to-date. If you have a show calendar, keep it current. Orphaned or neglected websites destroy your image as a credible merchant and artisan.

Your returns, guarantee and privacy policies must be readily accessible on your site. Payment should flow flawlessly. If there is a glitch in the payment process or it is not secure, your carefully cultivated buyer will just drop the purchase and leave.

Contact your customer soon after the date you expected the piece to arrive to see that it arrived safely. This always seems to surprise buyers, but leaves them knowing that you are standing behind your piece and want to continue the relationship.Spectrum Jewelry Resources http://www.jewelryspectrum.com

Louise Coulson has combined her experience (webmaster to 25 domains at once) with changes in Internet marketing. Her focus is now Internet marketing for artisans. Her eBook, Website ShowCase is an artisan’s guide to website development and marketing. She is webmaster for http://www.jewelryspectrum.com and http://www.wireweavers.com

Image at the top of this article: Peridot and Amethyst Drops by Christine Gierer of CG Handmade http://www.cghandmade.com

Do you sell more jewelry by placing a visible price tag on each piece, or by leaving the price a mystery until the customer inquires about it?

Some jewelry artists prefer to leave prices off their jewelry, so customers will have to ask about pieces that interest them – thereby giving the jeweler the opening to establish a relationship with the customer and sell the piece.

Others feel that customers will assume jewelry without price tags must be too expensive, and that they’ll leave your booth without ever asking how much that beautiful bracelet costs.

When I’m shopping, I personally am one of the customers who are too shy to ask about the prices on items that don’t have visible price tags. Artists of all kinds of handcrafts have lost sales to me because I didn’t see any price tags and didn’t feel comfortable asking about their prices.

I put visible price tags on all my jewelry. I usually work my booth alone, and the more information I make accessible to my customers, the greater my chance of making sales to them.

Sometimes I’m in a swarm of customers asking questions and making purchases, and someone on the fringes wondering whether they can afford a particular pair of earrings wouldn’t bother to wait to find out while I’m closing other sales and packaging other customers’ jewelry.

But with visible pricing, customers know immediately whether they can afford the piece, so I won’t lose their business to another jewelry vendor if they’d like to purchase it.

Also, this way I don’t have to try to remember my prices for each piece! I’m not a numbers-oriented person, and I do best if I make the numbers-work as simple as possible for myself.

If you’re undecided on this issue, you may want to run a test at your next show by pricing half your items and leaving price tags off the other half. See which method seems to bring you the most sales!

What kind of price labels do you use?

For putting prices on all my jewelry, I buy the smallest-size removable stickers from local office supply stores. I write the prices on these stickers with a fine-point Sharpie marker, and stick them on a bottom corner of the front my jewelry hang tags and earring cards. Then when I sell a piece of jewelry, I can easily peel off the removable price sticker as I package the piece.

Or if I’m displaying a group of items that are all priced the same, I omit the individual stickers and put up a small sign in a picture frame stating something like “Gemstone Bead Earrings – $16”.

It’s best to use a form of price labeling that’s difficult for someone to remove and switch around when you’re not looking. Some jewelers prefer to use “sharkskin” tags (barbell-shaped stickers that fold around a bracelet or necklace with the large ends adhered together), while others print the pricing directly on their jewelry cards and hang tags.

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Find hundreds of tips for selling your handcrafted jewelry like crazy at shows, fairs, and festivals in Rena Klingenberg’s step-by-step guide, “Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth”