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Welcome!

One of the wonderful things about making and selling jewelry is that it helps us overcome limitations.

So many jewelry artists say that making jewelry has helped them overcome issues such as illness, injury, physical disabilities, depression, shyness, grief, and more.

One of the things it's helped me work around is my math dyslexia, which makes dealing with numbers challenging for me.

When a jewelry artist mentioned to me this week that her "math issues" had made her hesitant to start her jewelry business, I realized that over the years of making and selling jewelry I've developed some "work-arounds" that keep my own math issues from interfering with my jewelry business.

So today I'm sharing those math work-arounds in the "Your Profitable Jewelry Business" section near the end of this newsletter.

Whether you have math issues or other issues, I hope this inspires you to create your own work-arounds that keep those issues from limiting your dreams!

~ Rena

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In this Issue of
Jewelry Business Success News:

1. Quick Tip: Your Reseller's License at Bead, Gem, and Jewelry Shows



2. New Jewelry Business Ideas and Techniques:
   - 4 insightful new jewelry business articles
   - 5 new jewelry display / packaging ideas
   - 1 new jewelry making idea
   - 4 new highlights from the handmade jewelry gallery



3. Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
   How to Keep "Math Issues" from Stopping Your Jewelry Business



4. Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
   The Sage Arts

Quick Tip:
Your Reseller's License
at Bead, Gem, and Jewelry Shows

Thanks to Janet Fransham for this tip!

In regards to attending bead / gem / jewelry shows and needing your reseller's license:

Rather than making copies of the license itself for the vendors I buy from, I make up address labels with all of the information that they need on the label: Company name, numbers, dates, etc.

I print up a sheet of labels, and as I purchase from the vendors I give them a label to stick right onto their copy of my bill.

I love it and vendors love it!

Get Ready to Sell More Jewelry
at Shows, Fairs, and Festivals
this Fall

Discover hundreds of things you can do to sell your jewelry like crazy at shows in my book, Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth.

Get this 176-page, step-by-step resource before your next show.

New Jewelry Business
Ideas and Techniques
from My Websites and Blog:

Jewelry Making Ideas:

1. Free, Lovely Jewelry Video Tutorials - from the Jewelry Making Professor
   This month jewelry artist and breast cancer survivor Eri Attebery is offering four beautiful, unique tutorials for making breast cancer awareness jewelry.

Jewelry Business Ideas:

1. Customer Appreciation Gift Ideas
   Dianne Culberton's customer thank-you gifts are free for her jewelry customers, inexpensive for her - and they result in delighted buyers plus repeat business.



2. Jewelry for Generations, Part 2
   JoAnne Green shares her lovely continuing adventures of working together with her granddaughters to grow her jewelry business.



3. Easy Jewelry Business Inventory System
   By focusing the "college students" jewelry niche and providing what they want to buy, Cassie's online jewelry business helped her earn back her tuition.



4. Take David Weiman's Survey, Get His Free Jewelry Parties Report
   Dr. David Weiman offers his “Profitable Jewelry Selling Home Parties” report to jewelry artists who complete his survey on marketing handmade jewelry. His survey closes at midnight, October 22.

Jewelry Display and Packaging Ideas:

1. Successful Jewelry Display in a Beauty Salon
   Inspired by the fantastic jewelry displays shared here by fellow jewelry artists, Barbara Crider created this lovely display that sold two jewelry items in one day.



2. Going "North" When You Have Limited Table Space
   A wrought-iron screen enables Barbara to display more jewelry in a striking way. A great solution for shows where you're permitted only one small table!



3. Earring Display Stands
   With the help of a neighbor, Kathleen Davis created sturdy yet pretty displays that hold her packaged earrings perfectly - which have increased her sales by 25%.



4. Display Table for a Jewelry Open House
   See how Shannon Stallard dresses up the farmhouse-style table in her kitchen for small jewelry shows at home.



5. Hanging Wearable Art
   Lynne Cirillo wires bi-fold closet doors to the front legs of her booth tent to create a display space that passers-by notice immediately.

Highlights from the Handmade Jewelry Gallery:

1. Lune Papillon necklace
   by Shannon Taylor.



2. Grandma's Earring (repurposed into a necklace)
   by Joan Williams.



3. Peridot Hoops earrings
   by Melissa.



4. Blue Tiger bracelet
   by Starry Dreams.



5. Lillie and Rose memory pin
   by Joan Williams.

Share Your Jewelry Content
and Get Great Exposure

I invite you to share your jewelry photos, tips, stories, tutorials, etc. - right here on my network of jewelry websites.

It's a friendly, creative atmosphere of ideas and networking.

You'll also receive links to your jewelry business, and gain exposure in the handmade jewelry community - and beyond.

Jewelry artists often tell me that the exposure they've received on my websites has brought them valuable new connections, opportunities, and traffic!

So come on in and take advantage of all these great opportunities for sharing:

Share Your Jewelry Content

(And of course, you always keep the copyright to all of your own content that you share on my network of jewelry websites.)

Sell Your Jewelry Without Competition

Learn how to sell your one-of-a-kind jewelry to customers who love to buy your unique handcrafted pieces - again and again - in my book Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service.

Get this 115-page, easy-to-read guide now, and make this your best jewelry selling year ever.

Your Profitable Jewelry Business:

How to Keep "Math Issues"
from Stopping Your Jewelry Business

by Rena Klingenberg

One of the lovely jewelry artists who responded to my survey said:

"I am poor at math-related issues and have been terrified about starting out: taxes, insurance, pricing, etc."

(She also went on to kindly say that this newsletter has helped her get past the fear of getting started, and to view starting a jewelry business as very manageable - which is wonderful to hear!)

I know from my own experience that if you have "math issues" or find mathematical things hard to understand, it can close a lot of doors for you.

I have a math dyslexia where my brain tends to jumble numbers that have more than one digit (19 becomes 91; $19.86 becomes $18.96).

Because of this math dyslexia I often get the wrong answer in simple math problems, I misdial phone numbers, and I write numbers incorrectly unless I really concentrate on what I'm doing. I also can't make heads or tails of most math word problems.

In addition to that, I have trouble with measuring things. Figuring out how much wire I need for part of a jewelry project often takes longer than actually making the entire project.

Although most of my life I've avoided things involving math as much as possible, I've never let my math issues keep me from starting and operating my own jewelry business.

Instead, I've just developed "work-arounds" that don't let math get in my way.

It occurred to me that some of the math work-arounds I've come up with for my jewelry business may be helpful for other jewelry artists with math issues, so I'm sharing them below.

Even if your particular math issues are different from mine, they shouldn't prevent you from operating your own successful jewelry business!

Here are some things that have helped me:

My Jewelry Business Math Work-Arounds

See if you can adapt these work-arounds for your own needs:

Measuring:

• Once you've figured out the measurements involved in a specific type of jewelry project, write the measurements down and keep this info in a notebook. Then the next time you make a similar project, you can simply look up the measurements, cut the wire (or whatever you're using) to the proper length right away, and get on with making the project.


• For jewelry items you make often, make a measuring template. For example, I use wooden popsicle sticks, measured carefully and marked with a Sharpie pen, as template guides for marking precisely where to bind wire bundles used in making pendants for common cabochon sizes. Now I can simply lay my wire bundle across the appropriate popsicle stick, and draw a Sharpie mark across the wires in each spot where the binding wires will go.

Taxes and Other Business Finances:

• Business income tax - I use the services of an accountant for my income taxes, and also for various bits of advice and assistance throughout the year. Accountants are surprisingly inexpensive - and worth their weight in gold, especially if you have math issues. I recommend finding an accountant you feel comfortable with, who specializes in home businesses. Ask your accountant to help you devise a simple system for keeping track of the information he/she needs from you at tax time.


• Sales tax - When starting your jewelry business, contact your state's Department of Revenue Sales Tax Division (you can find them in the state government section of your phone book). Ask them for the paperwork you'll need to get set up for collecting and paying sales tax. If this form overwhelms you, take this paperwork to your accountant and ask for his/her help in filling it out. Also ask your accountant to devise an easy system for taking care of your quarterly sales tax.

Pricing Your Jewelry:

• Simplify pricing by using a pricing formula as a starting point to determine your lowest profitable price for selling a piece of jewelry. Then decide whether to adjust your pricing upward from that minimum price point.


• Before your jewelry show or party, figure out all of your jewelry prices at home, where you can concentrate and take your time. Then put removable price stickers on each jewelry item (or on its tag) so you don't have to remember any numbers or do any math when customers want to know how much something costs.


• Bulk-price similar jewelry items. For example, all similar sterling silver cuff bracelets might be $60; all similarly-sized earrings might be $18. Then place a price sign near these groups of items ("Mini-Gem Earrings - $18").


• Price your items in whole dollars, without cents ($49 instead of $49.99). It makes checkout so much easier, with less opportunity for math errors, especially when people purchase more than one item.


• Even easier: Make all of your prices end in 5 or 0 - for example, $15, $20, $25, $30, etc. Totaling up your transactions will be much simpler!

Handling Jewelry Transactions:

• Always use a calculator when adding up a sale, and do the calculation at least twice to double-check your total.


• Don't try to talk to your customer while you're writing up their sale. Smile in a friendly way and let their conversation wash over you while you focus on getting the numbers accurate.


• Use a sales tax chart for quick, accurate calculation of how much sales tax to charge. On the tax chart simply find the dollar amount of your customer's total jewelry purchase, and charge the amount of sales tax listed next to that number.


• When you need to write or proofread a multi-digit number, use your finger or a scrap of paper to cover the number as you go, so that you see only one digit at a time. I find this very helpful in keeping numbers from getting jumbled.


• For busy shows, consider having a trusted friend or relative (who does NOT have math issues) helping in your booth - and assign them to writing up the sales and handling transactions.

If you have math issues, you're not alone - and there's no need to let math stop you from achieving your jewelry business dreams!

Neat Jewelry-Related Website

The Sage Arts features the "handmade adornment, decor, and otherworldly imagery" of talented artist Sage Bray.

Among Sage's creations are fantasy jewelry and home décor (I love her faerie doors and her vampire ashes vessel!).

Her jewelry line consists mainly of fabulous neckpieces and conversation-piece earrings.

There's lots of unusual eye-candy to enjoy at The Sage Arts!

Sell Your Jewelry Online

No matter how you sell your jewelry online, you have to do your own marketing if you want to make sales.

You can easily develop your own group of online jewelry customers, using the step-by-step strategies you'll learn in my book Social Networking: Sell Your Jewelry Online the New Way.

Get this 192-page, step-by-step resource now, and start growing your customer base.

Network and Get Noticed
in the
Home Based Jeweler's Showcase

The Home Based Jeweler's Showcase blog is a free opportunity to promote your jewelry business and find other jewelry artists to network with.

It's published by Rita Juhlin of Private Stock Jewelry.

To add your jewelry business to the Showcase - please email Rita Juhlin, at HomeBasedJewelers @ gmail.com .

SURVEY:
How Can I Make This Newsletter
Better for You?

If you haven't yet responded to my quick survey, I welcome your input!

Please take the survey here to give me your suggestions and feedback so I can make this newsletter a better resource for you.

I grant as many wishes as possible! :o)

Thanks so much.

My Jewelry Business Websites
and RSS Feeds

This newsletter highlights some of the latest jewelry business tips and techniques from my websites:

Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

Jewelry Display Ideas

Making Jewelry Now

Jewelry Business Blog

Each of these sites also has its own RSS feed. Look for the orange RSS symbol on the left-hand column of each of these sites to get the feed.

Thanks so much for joining me
for this issue of
"Jewelry Business Success News"!

~ May your jewelry journey be fun and prosperous ~

Contact Rena