1. New Jewelry Business Tips and Techniques:
   - 3 inspiring new articles
   - 2 clever new jewelry display and packaging ideas
   - 3 bonus new jewelry artist stories

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

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

4. Your Profitable Jewelry Business:
   How to "Unsaturate" Your Jewelry Market

5. Neat Jewelry-Related Website:
   3-Ring Circuits

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

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 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 Vic says, "Thanks for doing the research and laying out these strategies, your book makes perfect sense. I have a full-time job so time is short for me, and thanks to you I'm doing social networking strategies that don't waste my time."

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

1. Selling Jewelry Online
   How to promote your work successfully when selling jewelry online. Experienced online seller Carolina Gonzalez shares the mindset and tactics for getting your jewelry noticed on the Web, and turning visitors into buyers.




2. Researching Jewelry Market Trends
   Amber Nash shares tips on researching the jewelry market for what's hot, and incorporating current trends into your own unique designs.




3. Dealing with Copycats
   What you can do when copycats make and sell knockoffs of your pieces, and where to find out how to legally protect your original jewelry designs. By Rena Klingenberg.




4. Tiara Display Idea
   See how Karla uses her magic touch to turn ordinary styrofoam wig displays into enchanting ladies modeling crowns and circlets. Includes several beautiful photos.




5. Wire Trash Can Earring Display
   Duffy Brown shows her surprisingly elegant earring display made from a wastebasket and a lazy susan.




6. New Jewelry Artist Stories
   Read and comment on these new stories by jewelry artists: Carrie and her 70-year-old aunt, whose Kazuri bead jewelry keeps Kenyan women employed; flight attendant Joyce, who crochets jewelry everywhere she goes; and Tamy, who turned a hobby into a corporation. You can also join the fun and share your own jewelry story or photo!

Don't miss out on prime opportunities to sell your jewelry to customers who are VERY willing to buy your unique handcrafted pieces – again and again. This is 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 Charlotte says, "What great tips and ideas you've included in this book. I'm getting busy following your tips now, so this year I'll be profiting big time from the holiday shopping season!"

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!

A reader named Jessica wrote in to ask me,

"Is the jewelry market saturated? It seems like everyone is selling jewelry these days.

Almost every shop I go in is consigning jewelry from at least one artist, and fairs seems to be at least 50% jewelry booths.

Is there still room for me to sell my jewelry?

Thanks for your great sites!"

Thanks for your excellent question, Jessica!

In my opinion, as long as there are humans there will be an insatiable demand for jewelry.

Our earliest ancestors enjoyed adorning themselves (75,000-year-old beads were discovered in a cave in South Africa!). Among modern humans, jewelry is one of the most frequently given gifts, and one of the busiest retail shopping categories.

Just as an example, yesterday morning when I got up I had no intention of buying or selling jewelry that day.

But a few hours later I bought a bracelet from Etsy seller Lisa Lehmann, and in the afternoon I sold nine pairs of earrings to a customer who called to ask if she could come over to my house to shop (she bought eight pairs of earrings for gifts, and one for herself).

So there is a voracious demand for jewelry out there, and plenty of room for jewelry artists to develop their own clientele and market.

Success Strategy: Niche Markets

One of the most common challenges in selling handcrafted jewelry is finding a market for your work.

Many of us (including me!) started our jewelry business thinking we should make jewelry that most people would want to wear.

But creating and trying to sell jewelry that "most people" would like is a difficult business strategy. The problem is that while "most people" think it's pretty, it doesn't deeply grab very many people - so although our work is beautiful, our sales may be very slow.

And trying to sell it in a show where nearly half the booths have some jewelry increases the challenge!

In my own experience, serving niche jewelry markets by offering niche jewelry products to people with specific interests has been a FAR more successful strategy.

When you focus on niche jewelry markets, you'll find that you can make way more sales to a much smaller group of people, simply because they're already intensely interested in what you have to offer.

You're also very likely to have a lot of repeat customers because of how closely your products match their focused interests and needs.

When you're serving niche markets you'll probably find that mainstream shops, galleries, and shows aren't your best way to connect with your intended customers. Instead, you'll need to focus your marketing efforts just as you focus your jewelry lines.

Step 1: Find the Right Jewelry Niche for You

There are literally unlimited jewelry niche markets you can choose to serve. Let's look at just a few examples of jewelry niches, to get you started thinking of a niche or two that you might like to serve:

• earring lovers who have metal allergies


• people who love fantasy and science fiction


• gifts for teachers


• school spirit jewelry


• holiday-themed jewelry


• jewelry for a specific religion or faith


• mourning / remembrance jewelry


• right-hand rings (worn by women celebrating being single)


• wedding jewelry (including pieces for bridesmaids, flower girls, groomsmen)


• anniversary jewelry


• Victorian style jewelry


• adoption-themed jewelry


• pet jewelry


• engraved jewelry


• goths


• jewelry for horse lovers


• mothers' / grandmothers' jewelry


• fathers' / grandfathers' jewelry


• jewelry-making kits for teens


• tea-themed jewelry


• modern-art jewelry


• photo jewelry


• rustic, natural jewelry


• people who love tiny earrings


• charm jewelry


• regional jewelry (southwestern, African, etc.)

... and truly, this is barely the tip of the iceberg! There are infinite other jewelry niches!

Search through your own particular interests, passions, skills, experiences, knowledge, etc. to come up with a jewelry niche you'd enjoy serving.

Step 2: Go Where Your Niche Customers Are

So once you've decided on a niche for your jewelry, how do you start selling your work to the niche of people who would be interested in it?

Although you may make some sales at local art and craft shows and galleries, you'll do much better by simply taking your jewelry where your niche customers are.

For example, let's say you choose "people who love fantasy and science fiction" as your jewelry niche.

You might make elvish earrings and circlets, space-age bracelets, chain maille belts, poison rings, cloak pins, chatelaines, and other neat treasures.

So then where would you find people who absolutely love this sort of jewelry? Here are just a few examples:

For shows:

• Conventions such as Dragon Con (which attracts tens of thousands of avid sci-fi / fantasy fans over a four-day weekend). There are hundreds of large and small conventions (or "cons") like this one, all over the world.


• Renaissance faires


• Celtic / Scottish games gatherings


• Sci-fi / fantasy writers' conventions


• Faerie gatherings


• etc.

For shops:

Look for specialty stores that sell things to the sci-fi / fantasy market.

With a bit of Googling, you can turn up shops that carry items like wands, faerie wings, cloaks, gaming supplies, books, magazines, collectibles, replica weapons, and more for this market. They're prime targets for this type of jewelry.

Contact any shops that seem promising, and inquire whether they're interested in carrying a line of handmade fantasy / sci-fi jewelry.

Important: Any time you get "no" for an answer, don't be discouraged. Simply ask if they know of anyone else who might be interested, because this is often how you'll get referred to the very best sources!

Online:

Find and join fantasy / sci-fi social networking groups such as EnchantedFolk and Wonderlands. You can locate them by Googling things like "sci fi social network" and "fantasy social network". When you find social networks you'd like to join, don't do any advertising. Simply enjoy participating as an active, caring member of the community and let your profile page lead interested people to your jewelry business.

Also, join forces with other fantasy / sci-fi artists and business owners you meet via networking, and promote each other's work.

"Unsaturate" Your Market!

You can focus the above tactics on any niche jewelry market you decide to go after.

Jessica, you're right that mainstream art and craft shows with a high percentage of jewelry booths can be a saturated market.

But try focusing on a niche market or two, and I think you'll be amazed at how much more successful your jewelry business is!

Our interesting site today is Debby Arem's 3-Ring Circuits.

Combining geekery with fashion, Debby repurposes printed circuit boards, electronic components, and metallic stampings into eye-catching jewelry.

The geometry of these digital elements results in beautifully artistic wearables, and Debby's pieces are durable yet lightweight.

I love Debby's work for her recycling efforts, stylish designs, and clever "3-Ring Circuits" title!

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 Pat says, "I have to tell you what a difference this book has made for me. At last weekend's show I followed your advice in this book to the letter, and MY booth was the one people were flocking to! I could hardly keep up with the sales, and I still haven't recovered from the excitement. Thank you so much for sharing this information!"

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

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.