1. Did You Miss Issue #77?

2. New Jewelry Business Tips and Techniques:
   - 4 inspiring new articles
   - 2 bonus jewelry stories

3. Sell More One-of-a-Kind Jewelry

4. Share Your Article, Project, Tip, or Photo -
   and Get a Valuable Link to Your Website

5. Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
   Charging for Extras vs. Giving Them Away

6. Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
   Spoon Fed Art

7. Sell More Jewelry at Shows, Fairs, and Festivals

If you didn't receive Issue #77 of this newsletter - you're not alone.

Unfortunately, when I sent out the last issue, there was a repeat of the electronic glitch that also prevented many of you from receiving Issue #75 in back April. The glitch occurred during the mailouts of both Issue #75 and Issue #77 of Jewelry Business Success News, so not all of my subscribers received them.

If you're one of my readers who missed the last issue, #77 (which went out on May 28), you can read the archived version online here:

The featured article in Issue #77 was "Four Ways to Have a Profitable Jewelry Show During an Economic Downturn".

Meanwhile, my tech support says this glitch has been resolved now, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of you will receive this current issue! :o)

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

Using the step-by-step strategies you'll learn in my new book, Social Networking: Sell Your Jewelry Online the New Way, you can easily develop your own online customer base, and you won't have to worry about competition from other jewelry artists.

A reader named B.J. says, "Thank you, I never understood how the social websites could help anyone's business until I read your book. Now a light bulb's been turned on and I'm amazed at the possibilities here! Thanks again!"

Social networking on the Internet is still relatively new - but it's growing at a tremendous rate. By starting now, you'll have a huge advantage over other jewelry businesses, large and small, that start their own social marketing later.

Invest in this 192-page, step-by-step resource now:

1. Hosting a Jewelry Open House
   Shannon Orr wanted to host a jewelry open house to showcase her work without breaking the bank. Here she shares her tips for hosting an elegant open house on a small budget.




2. Jewelry Website Optimization - A Jewelry Artist's Experience
   After a bad web designer got Catherine D'Arcy's jewelry site blacklisted from Google, Catherine started over - this time optimizing her jewelry website properly.




3. Building Customer Confidence in Your Jewelry Business
   From my blog: A quick customer relationship-building tip to help potential jewelry buyers feel comfortable with shopping from you online.




4. How to Make a Strong Beaded Bracelet
   Brenda New shares six tips for making secure, strong beaded bracelets that can be worn for years.




5. New Jewelry Stories
   Read and comment on the new stories by jewelry artists in this brand-new section of Home Jewelry Business Success Tips. You can also join the fun and share your own jewelry story or photo!

Do you prefer to make one-of-a-kind jewelry? Learn how to find people who want exactly what you make - and can afford to buy it.

Don't miss out on these prime opportunities to sell your jewelry to customers who are VERY willing to buy your unique handcrafted jewelry – again and again. It's the main way I sell my own jewelry now.

You'll find everything you need to get started selling your own jewelry this way, in my book Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service.

A reader named Crystal says, "Your tips for working with businesses to offer your jewelry as business gifts really wowed me. I have several acquaintances who own businesses, and I'm excited at the prospect of working with them this way."

Invest in this 115-page, easy-to-read guide now, and make this your best jewelry selling year ever:

Share your own jewelry business article, tip, project, or advice - and build traffic to your website at the same time. You can also include any photos you have that illustrate your contribution.

When I publish your contribution, you'll receive a free permanent link to your website from my site - and your content will be read by thousands of people in the jewelry industry. My guest authors report a significant flow of traffic coming from their links on my sites!

I like to analyze all sorts of other businesses, and consider whether I can apply any of their ideas to my jewelry business.

However, I also often see other businesses doing things that are lessons to me of things I'd prefer to avoid doing to my own customers.

Here's an example:

Last week we went to a dinner-and-show establishment to celebrate a special occasion. This place has a unique, fun theme, and we've been there three times over the past few years.

The dinner tickets are expensive, but you don't mind that because the food is good and you know the price also covers the excellent show.

However, all evening long this business continually tries to pump its customers for more and more money at every turn. Here are a few examples:

• As soon as you enter this establishment, they take take your picture and use it to create an image of you dressed in the theme of the place - which they offer to sell to you at a fairly high price later in the evening.
• They ask you to arrive 90 minutes before you're seated for dinner - during which time they have you wait in the pricey gift-shop and bar, where there's nothing to do during that hour-and-a-half but buy souvenirs and order drinks.
• While you wait in this gift-shop area, they also offer to help you pass the time with two small bonus attractions lasting about 5 minutes, each for an additional fee.
• After you're seated at your dinner table, waiting for the show to begin, a variety of vendors approach your table and try to sell you more souvenirs.
• During the show, more photographers come to your table to take a picture of your group - which they will try to sell a copy of to each person in your group a short time later.
• When the show ends, you're led back out into the gift-shop and bar area, where you're encouraged to shop some more before you leave.

I understand that this business is there to make money while they entertain their customers - and the evening is definitely fun and entertaining.

But by the end of the evening I don't feel like they think of me as a customer.

Instead, I feel like they think of me as a wallet.

On the drive home, I thought about that - and pondered whether there was anything from our evening there that I could apply to my jewelry business.

On the one hand, it's a good business model to offer your jewelry customers add-ons or "upsells" that they can purchase if they'd like to spend more. For example, a chain to go with their pendant, matching earrings to go with their bracelet, engraving or personalization, small impulse items like cell phone charms, etc. You can add hundreds (or even thousands) of extra dollars to your annual income this way.

But on the other hand, it's also a good business model to give things to your jewelry customers (and prospective customers) - without expecting anything in return. For example, a crystal or a tumbled gemstone, free gift packaging, or free printed information (such as a gemstone lore guide or birthstone / anniversary stone list). For a few pennies on your part, you can turn passers-by into buyers - and build priceless long-term relationships with all of your customers - by giving them something they perceive as valuable.

I think there's a big difference between thinking of customers as a source of cash, vs. thinking of them as valued clients.

And (speaking as a customer) I think customers feel this difference too.

Our neat site today is Spoon Fed Art, featuring Karin Collins' dreamy, stunning collage pendants.

The story behind Karin's work (and her business name) is that she began to create collages as therapy for an eating disorder. That hobby grew into a jewelry business that now contributes to the National Eating Disorders Association.

To create one of her pendants, Karin removes the handle from a spoon and designs a collage in the "bowl" of the spoon. The result is one of her extraordinary works of art - Spoon Fed Art.

Sell more of your jewelry this year with the success secrets you'll learn in my book, Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth.

A reader named Karen says, "I was so nervous about doing my first craft show, until I read your book. I learned so many tips that probably would have taken me years to discover on my own. And I actually turned a profit of over 400 dollars at the show."

Don't wait to discover hundreds of things you can do to sell your jewelry like crazy at shows, fairs, and festivals. Invest in this 176-page, step-by-step resource before your next show:

Looking for specific jewelry business information or the answer to a question? Try my Search This Site feature to scour Home Jewelry Business Success Tips for any keywords you enter.

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

Home Jewelry Business Success Tips

Jewelry Display Ideas

Jewelry Business Blog

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