- Find Kindred Spirits at Jewelry and Beading Meetups

- Delight a Customer with a Special Extra Touch

- What's new at Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

- Article: Selling Your Jewelry to the Tourist Market

- Neat jewelry-related website to visit - Just Gemstones live silent auctions

Find Kindred Spirits at Jewelry and Beading Meetups

Here's a fun way to meet and connect in person with other jewelry artists in your area. Visit Jewelry Meetup for fellow jewelry artists and Beadwork Meetup for fellow beaders. Meetups can happen in up to 646 countries worldwide simultaneously - there may be one scheduled near you!

Delight a Customer with a Special Extra Touch

Earlier this week, the art teacher at my son's school gave me five long strands of beads she'd had for years, and asked me turn each into a multi-strand necklace. One of the strands had enough beads for me to save a few aside to make a matching pair of earrings, so I made the earrings as a fun bonus at no extra charge, even though she hadn't thought to ask for them. When I delivered her necklaces today, she was thrilled with her surprise free earrings! For a few minutes of my time plus the small cost of two headpins and a pair of earwires, I added a lot of perceived value to her custom order.

What's new at
Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

Don't miss these great new articles that have been added to Home Jewelry Business Success Tips since the last issue of Jewelry Business Success News! -

Guest author Sandy Paluzzi, of The Bead Peddler and Beading Times online magazine, has a second informative article about pricing jewelry:

Price Points for Your Jewelry Line -
How to use the strategy of offering jewelry at various price points to increase your chance of making a sale. Tips on determining price points for your jewelry line.

Guest author Cheryl Coccaro, of Easy Internet Selling and My Perfect Ear earring displays, has a new eBay success article for us:

Packaging Your Winning Auctions -
How to package and ship your jewelry auctions to enhance your winning bidder's impression of your business.

Selling Your Jewelry
to the Tourist Market

Here are some great statistics for jewelry artists, from a recent Michigan State University study:

- tourist shopping accounts for a major chunk of the U.S. travel and tourism's $327 billion per year industry;
- local handcrafts receive the second-largest total of travelers' shopping dollars (after vacation T-shirts / sweatshirts);
- over 70% of tourists buy gifts to give for upcoming holidays when they travel;
- tourists like to purchase handcrafts that are signed by the artist or limited edition, and that evoke the region they're visiting.

You can tap into this lucrative market very successfully if you do a little research and then design and package jewelry in a way that appeals to the people who visit your area.

Success Tips for Selling Your Jewelry to Tourists

Tourists place sentimental value on handcrafts and other souvenirs they buy in their travels, and these things are often among their favorite possessions. With this in mind, you can brainstorm ways to add sentimental value to your jewelry and its packaging.

Some artisans sell successfully to the tourist market by being part of a tourist attraction. They dress and play the part that tourists enjoy associating with their products and the local region, and enrich tourists' shopping experience by demonstrating and discussing their craft. They pay close attention to how they package and present their work, and identify themselves as artists, folk artists, artisans, craftsmen, or designers. They also tend to concentrate on a particular medium or technique and offer fewer types of items in a product line.

Other ways you can make your handcrafted jewelry appeal to tourists include creating high-quality, unique pieces that evoke your region; signing your work in some way; designing earring cards, hang tags, and business cards that express how your jewelry pertains to your region; and offering some limited edition pieces.

Although craft shows, festivals, and open studio demonstrations are good ways to sell directly to your local tourists, many successful handcrafters reach the tourist market through wholesale channels. These artists sell their work to retailers on an individual contact basis or at trade shows and gift marts. Others work through sales representatives.

You can also reach the tourist market by targeting communities, attractions, shops, and craft fairs that serve the type of tourist who's most compatible with your jewelry; making jewelry that's in line with tourist demand; and continually developing new, original designs.

Designing Jewelry for the Tourists Who Come to Your Area

To market your handcrafted jewelry to tourists visiting your region, you'll need to find out:

1) Where your local tourists spend their shopping dollars.
According to the Michigan State University study, craft fairs and festivals are generally among the most popular places for tourists to purchase handcrafts. Gift shops are also popular, especially if the shop is part of a local attraction such as a museum, historic building, or rustic location with local flavor. The ambience of the shopping experience itself is a major factor for tourists buying handcrafts.

2) How they find the places where they shop.
The major sources of tourists' information on places to shop include tourist brochures, state travel packets, travel magazines, guide books, directories or maps of art and craft events, hotel information, and word-of-mouth from local residents or people they know who have traveled to the region previously.

3) What tourists in your area are looking for.
Ask local retailers what trends they see, and what items tourists are asking for. Design jewelry to fill those needs. If you decide to sell to the tourist market, stay updated on the products and vendors in your area that are already serving that market.

4) The type of tourist who visits your area.
You'll make more sales if you tailor your products to the types of tourists who visit your area. The Michigan State University researchers group tourists into four main types, and believe that each area tends to attract one of these types:

A) Ethnic, Arts, and People Tourists enjoy visiting ethnic communities, local festivals, art galleries and museums, and getting to know local residents. They tend to buy ethnic, folk, and traditional handcrafts that are useful, and handcrafted jewelry. They shop at galleries, antique shops, museum shops, art and craft festivals, and artists' studios, and enjoy purchasing from artists who demonstrate their work.

B) History and Parks Tourists are introspective and enjoy visiting historic places, museums, living history re-enactments, gardens, and state and national parks. They buy handcrafts with a regional, historic, ethnic, natural, primitive, or western feel that are themed to the site they visited. They shop at parks and tourist sites, highway stops, craft and gift shops, craft fairs and festivals, and museum shops.

C) Active Outdoor Tourists center their trips around physical activities and sports and visit national parks, lakes, nature trails, and golf courses. They don't buy many handcrafts, but if they do, they tend toward natural materials and a rural, western, recreation, or folk art theme. They shop in general stores of resorts and campgrounds, gas stations, convenience stores, and park or recreation gift shops.

D) Urban Entertainment Tourists visit cities, are constantly on the go, and shop till they drop. They go dancing and nightclubbing, visit theme parks, and attend professional sports events. They purchase handcrafts that are designer or contemporary and make a visual impact - especially jewelry and home decor. They shop everywhere they go - theme parks, sports centers, hotels, restaurants, visitor centers, gas stations, coffee shops, and clothing boutiques.

For specific tourist information on your local region, visit the websites of your area's tourist departments, travel centers, lodging and resorts, and Chambers of Commerce. You can also visit these offices in person and pick up their brochures and other tourist-oriented literature.

Visit Packaging Jewelry for success tips on creating packaging that encourages jewelry sales.

Neat jewelry related site

Just Gemstones has ongoing live silent auctions for loose gemstones and finished jewelry, with low opening bids. Scroll down the menu in the left frame of their site to "Live Silent Auction". Live silent auctions are different than eBay-type auctions, and these last only 24 hours each. If the item receives no bids, it's rolled over to the next 24 hours. You may find a real steal! :o)

Visit the Jewelry Business Blog

Stop by the Jewelry Business Blog for the latest tips and information about the business of jewelry art! And feel free to post any questions or tips of your own - just use the form at the bottom of the blog to post your comments; I'll add them when I do the next blog update.