Jewelry Blogging Tips
for Success

Here are some blogging tips for your online jewelry business. I'm also including the definition of the funny word "blog" and reasons why you might want one:

Your jewelry blog is an important element in your marketing toolbox.

The word "blog" is short for "web log" - an online journal that's created with special blog software or blog hosting.

Basically, a blog is a type of website that's a collection of entries, published chronologically with the newest content at the top. "Bloggers" (people who write and publish blogs) can also create categories for organizing their entries by topic.

Blogs usually allow visitors to post their own comments after each entry, so a sort of conversation can take place on each blog post.

If you don't yet have a blog, there are several free and paid options. Among the best, easiest and most functional are:

• WordPress – the free option is excellent; there are also paid upgrades, which you probably don't need when first starting out.
• TypePad - Charges varying monthly fee, depending on the features you choose.

My Jewelry Business Blog, published with WordPress.

More and more businesses are blogging as an important part of their marketing plan.

Posting regular updates about your jewelry and your business can really boost your traffic - and of course, your sales.

The more someone reads your blog, the more of a relationship you're building with them. And once they've gotten to know you through your blog, they're much more likely to turn into a jewelry-buying customer.

(See a jewelry customer's explanation of why she buys from a jewelry blogger.)

Blogging even a couple of times a week can bring visitors back often for your new content. In contrast, a rarely-updated jewelry website doesn't give people a reason to return.

Also, as you write your blog entries, you naturally tend to use keywords that are related to your jewelry.

When blogs are regularly updated with new entries, they bring search engines back often to pick up and index the new content. Then when people search for these keywords on Google or other search engines, your blog entries may turn up in the search results.

A blog is a great way to create an "artist's journal" of your jewelry creations.

Also, as many jewelry artists are doing successfully, you can sell your jewelry directly from your blog.

• Include lots of images of your jewelry. Jewelry is a visual product, and people want to see as much of your jewelry as possible!


• Lean toward keeping your blog entries short and clear. Readers don't really expect to read a long article in a blog entry; try to keep each post to a couple of paragraphs. If you have several paragraphs, consider breaking them up into two or three entries. Each entry should concentrate on one single point.


• Use keywords in the titles of your blog entries. Especially try to use phrases your customers would be likely to use when searching for jewelry like yours. Titles should also be used as a way to capture your readers' attention, so be sure to make them interesting in a way that will make people keep reading. (Needless to say, the title should also be a good description of its blog entry.)


• Add to your jewelry blog regularly. You may not be able to post an entry every single day, but try to add new content at least once a week. A blog that hasn't been updated for awhile makes a jewelry business appear abandoned, and won't give you the benefits of constantly updated content.


• Keep an idea list for blog entries. If several topic ideas occur to you at once, write them all down and add them on separate days. Sometimes you'll sit down and not be able to think of a single thing to blog about, and an idea list can be a real help on those days.


• If you know of an upcoming event that relates to jewelry (or any shows you'll be participating in), blog about it a few weeks in advance. Then, when the event comes up and people search for information about it on Google, your site will pop up as one of the top sources of info for that event. Do it early, because if you wait till the event is actually occurring, your page may not have had time to hit the search engines for that keyphrase yet, and you'll miss that opportunity.


• You can put your customers' feedback and testimonials in blog entries, or let them add their own if your blog allows readers to post their own comments. They might also post suggestions for styles or pieces they'd like to see you offer.


• Pretend you're one of your jewelry customers. What kind of blog entries would you want to read?


• Think about writing entries that would interest jewelry customers. Here are some examples:
• gemstone lore


• history or cool facts about your jewelry medium


• jewelry care and storage tips


• jewelry gift ideas for teenage girls


• a beautiful new batch of Swarovski crystals you just got in and are working with, etc.


• new products added to your online jewelry store


• three new pairs of earrings you've just added to your site


• a sneak preview of your spring jewelry styles


• announcements of a big sale on your website


• mention of hostess benefits for home jewelry parties


• announcement of upcoming art shows you'll be in.
• You might want to consider livening your jewelry blog with some slightly more personal entries, such as a photo of a custom necklace you made for your best friend's wedding. Or personal jewelry-related news, such as "I took all my jewelry supplies with me in a rubbermaid tub when I evacuated before the hurricane".


• It's up to you to decide how well you want your customers to know you; just remember that you never know who's reading what you write, so you may not want to write things you wouldn't want your grandmother to read! :o)


• In your blog entries, add links to all the things you mention - for example, link to your spring styles from the entry that announces the preview of them. Link to the websites or blogs of other people when you mention them.


• Keep your writing style in your own personality, and don't be formal. Just talk in your own way to your customers. That's especially important for a handcraft business. You can make your customers feel that there's a real person behind the web business, which is a difficult thing for large companies to achieve. People buy from someone they feel they have some sort of a relationship with. So think of it as a way to keep in touch with them.


• Bring more traffic to your jewelry blog by adding a link to it in your email signature - even in your non-jewelry-business communications.


• Keep your blog attractive so visitors will keep returning to read more. Work toward making it clean, easy to read with enough empty space, large enough fonts, and nice colors. Think of how you can style it to go with your jewelry style. It's a part of your overall business image.

Blogging can be a really neat professional communication and marketing tool, keeping customers updated and in touch with the artist's jewelry business.

Have fun writing and designing your jewelry blog!

I think you'll find blogging to be quite addictive - I certainly have.

Learn more strategies for using your jewelry blog to sell your work, in my book Social Networking: Sell Your Jewelry Online the New Way.

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