May 06, 2010
If this newsletter is difficult to read as an e-mail:
Welcome!
One of the themes in today's newsletter issue is jewelry niche marketing.
A jewelry niche can be defined in many different ways. Just a few examples:
a niche could be an occasion (wedding), a region (southwestern), an era (art deco), a material (sea glass), a style (filigree), a skill (seed bead weaving), a use (hair sticks), a customer age (teenagers), a customer species (dogs), a fantasy (vampires), a parallel world (steampunk), a lifestyle (goth), a keepsake (photos), a service (repairing watches) ... etc.!
Anyway, you can grow a very dedicated customer base by creating jewelry for specific niches.
In my "Quick Tip" below you'll find out how to use a free trend database that shows what's selling well in various jewelry niche markets.
Also, some of our guest authors this week share their niche jewelry products, as well as ideas for selling them.
And there's a new jewelry business success story, where Melinda O'Keefe discusses the jewelry niche service business she's built.
There are a lot of other helpful strategies in this issue, including Rita Juhlin's jewelry consignment tips, featuring her advice on how NOT to lose $1000 when consigning your jewelry.
And don't miss the two lovely jewelry projects to make - Leah Eastman's butterfly pendant necklace, and Zoraida's copper leaves for earrings!
Enjoy!
~ Rena
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In this Issue of
Jewelry Business Success News:
- Quick Tip: Real-Time Jewelry Trend Research
- New Jewelry Business Ideas and Techniques:
- 7 new jewelry business ideas
- 2 new jewelry display / packaging ideas
- 2 new jewelry making ideas
- 10 new highlights from the handmade jewelry gallery - Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
Should She Re-Name Her Jewelry Business? - Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
Cuff Art
Quick Tip:
Real-Time Jewelry Trend Research
You DON'T have to be an eBay seller to take advantage of some of their excellent free research tools.
In my quick-to-read new article What Sells Well on eBay, I show you two free pages on eBay where you can track what people are actually buying in various jewelry niches.
Drill down through the various eBay jewelry categories on those pages to see specific niche trends.
Knowing what people are actively buying and looking for is a huge help in developing successful jewelry lines!
This is also a great way to discover seasonal jewelry-purchasing trends - especially around gift-giving occasions.
So even if you're not selling in online auctions, you can still use eBay's trend research tools to tap into what people are seeking to buy online right now, related to your product line!
Sell Your Jewelry Like Crazy
at Shows, Fairs, and Festivals
This Year
Discover hundreds of things you can do to sell more of your handmade jewelry at shows, in my book Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth.
Get this 176-page, step-by-step resource before your next show.
Thanks for Spreading the Word!
Near the bottom of every page on my websites is a box that says "Share This Page", which makes it easy for you to link to that page or share it around the Web.
Thank you - every link helps! :o)
New Jewelry Business
Ideas and Techniques
from My Websites and Blog:
Jewelry Business Ideas:
- Jewelry Consignment 101: What You Need to Know
Rita Juhlin shares the valuable insights and cautions she's learned from years of selling her handmade jewelry through shops. - My Tips for a Good Jewelry Show
Claire Bourgault's five quick tips for better, more profitable jewelry shows. - Jewelry Niche Marketing
Share your thoughts on how Desiree Leo-Wilson can market her new jewelry niche product. - Reaching out to the Universe - and Other Artists
As Julie Saillant's jewelry designs move in a spiritual direction, she looks for new places and ways to sell her work. - Jewelry Business Success Story - Melindesign
How Melinda O'Keefe puts her jewelry artistry to work in a unique, successful home-based business. - Is it Time to Quit Your Day Job for Your Jewelry Business?
Jewelry artist-entrepreneur Nina Cooper's tips for quitting your day job to work on your jewelry business full-time. - Update: Letting Customers Design Their Own Jewelry
From my Jewelry Business Blog - an update on the trend of giving customers options for designing their own jewelry.
Jewelry Display and Packaging Ideas:
- Kim's Home Jewelry Party Display
How Kim created a jewelry party display using items she already had - and without spending any money. - Jewelry Displays from Salvaged Items
See how Linda Stewart put together her traveling jewelry booth from found items and "fresh curbage".
Jewelry Making Ideas:
- Tutorial: Butterfly Pendant Necklace
Lovely project and inspiring tutorial from Leah Eastman - including her creative process, and excellent info on soldering. - Copper Leaf Earrings
Zoraida shares how to create her astonishingly real-looking copper leaves for a pair of earrings.
Highlights from the Handmade Jewelry Gallery:
See many more wonderful new jewelry designs in the Handcrafted Jewelry Designers' Gallery! There are too many to list here - so these are just a few of the most unique new submissions:
- Steampunk Cameo Brooch
by Violette Noble. - Icing on the Cake Collaborative Bracelet
by Lisa Suver and Sheila Davis. - Bola with a Touch of Glass
by Linda Stewart. - Wooden Dragon Pendant
by Wilf Barwitzki. - Fairy Gathering Necklace
by Karol Payet. - "All You Need is Love" Message Bracelet
by Joan Williams. - Stackable Hammered Fine Silver Rings
by Michelle Buettner. - Passion Fruit Necklace
by Tracy Carothers. - Steampunk Hardware Neck Adornment
by Violette Noble. - The Inner Flame Fused Dichroic Pendant
by Linda Stewart.
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:
(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 at Trunk Shows,
Private Showings,
and as Business Gifts
Learn how to sell your handmade jewelry to this HUGE untapped market, 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:
Should She
Re-Name Her Jewelry Business?
by Rena Klingenberg
Recently a jewelry artist asked me whether I thought she should change the name of her successful handmade jewelry business.
Here's the background behind this jewelry artist's question:
Without any guidance or help from anyone, she started her jewelry business when she was young - and gave her business a fun, funky, youthful name.
As she and her jewelry business have grown up more, she's turned it into a very successful venture.
Over time her jewelry designs have also evolved into more grown up styles.
So now she feels that her business has outgrown its funky, childish name.
However, she's reluctant to change the name at this point because:
- Her business name is well-recognized by her customers now.
- Her business has grown and flourished under this name.
- It's a colorful, catchy name.
- She feels safe using this name.
She's concerned that if she changes her jewelry business name now, she'll have to start from zero in marketing the new name and regaining people's confidence and recognition of her business.
She did a lot of soul-searching on this issue - and at that point in her dilemma, she asked me what I thought.
Here are my thoughts that I shared with her:
My first thought is that it's always tricky to mess with success.
Changing your name to something different would probably cost you some traffic and customers, at least for a little while till people figured out your new name.
What if you kept your old jewelry business name and colors - but changed your logo's typeface to a more grownup font?
A subtle change like that can signal your more mature direction but without making your business hard for your existing customers to recognize.
Or what if you kept your old business name, and added a word or tagline that expresses your more grownup business?
It's up to you to choose the word or tagline, of course, but just for a few examples:
"elegant handmade accessories"
"modern handmade accessories"
"vintage inspired accessories"
"handmade accessory trends".
To me, your original jewelry business name doesn't necessarily sound like a childish or teenage type of name.
I think the name is nicely short and snappy, and is easily recognized.
Maybe just updating the logo's appearance and adding a more grown up tagline would communicate the updated image of your business?
An update from this jewelry artist:
The last I heard from her was that she was pretty sure she would keep her original jewelry business name.
The take-away lesson:
Of all the information she gave me about the pros and cons of her name change, to me the most important thing she mentioned was, "I feel safe using this name."
Whenever you're faced with tough decisions regarding your jewelry business, I think it's so important to notice how each of your options makes you feel.
Trust your intuition and feelings.
On a very deep level, we tend to already know the best move for us to make.
Neat Jewelry-Related Website
This week's neat site is Cuff Art, a collection of unusual cuff links.
There you'll see incredibly inventive ways to use the main surface of the cuff link as a miniature canvas for designs incorporating everything imaginable - including things like exotic woods, coins, paper money, postage stamps, marbles, latitude / longitude markings, comic book characters, buttons, Legos, Braille letters, automatic weapon cartridges, fingerprints, pieces of a wine barrel, bar codes . . . and that's just the beginning!
It's hard to describe the variety of cuff link art there - but it sure made me see a whole new world of design possibilities in cuff links! :o)
Sell Your Jewelry Online
Grow a solid base 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
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 ~