Can't Find a Way to Increase Jewelry Sales and Have a Steady Income

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Can't Find a Way to Increase Jewelry Sales and Have a Steady Income

by Yaz
(USA)

Charlie earrings in golden strawberry - materials: 100% genuine leather.

Leather Glamour Feathers earrings in licorice and vanilla frosting - materials: genuine leather.

The Dreemlover bracelet in licorice and appletini frosting - materials: birch plywood.

Maze earrings - a twisted combination of blueberry frosting and grape cream make this pair of beauties a-Maze-ing! Materials: birch plywood.

I design hand painted jewelry, and I have had many sales but I am having trouble generating steady sales from my website.

I think one reason I don't get as many sales as I should is because I don't have pictures of models wearing my pieces.

Also, on the weekends I travel to different beauty salons and while I hear the same speech about how different and beautiful my work is, I am not getting enough sales.

I have tried etsy, ebay, facebook, twitter, consignment shops, selling on foot and I am concerned at this point.

People continue to tell me how talented I am with my jewelry but I can't find a balance on how to make steady income from it. I don't know what else to do.

I read a lot of articles from this website and find it very helpful.

I am planning a one woman trunk show in two weeks at a local cafe but I'm stuck and I don't know why I can get sales every now and then.

I don't mind selling out among people daily but I need additional sales tips.

Yaz
Candied Accessories

(Note from Rena: When I posted my comments below, Yaz had only sent me her first photo above, and I didn't have her website link. So I thought her entire jewelry line was leather.

That's why my tips for her below may sound a little off-kilter now that we have the three other lovely photos and site link that grace her post!

Still, there are some sound success strategies in my post below for her leather jewelry, and for anyone who creates a "niche" jewelry line.) :o)

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Can't Find a Way to Increase Jewelry Sales and Have a Steady Income

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Targeting Your Customers for a Steadier Jewelry Income
by: Rena

Hi Yaz,

Because of the photo you included with your post here, I'm assuming that your hand-painted jewelry is mainly leather jewelry.

It sounds like you're putting lots of effort into your sales - but I don't think places like beauty shops are your best bet for making sales with leather jewelry.

I think if you can target your efforts more toward people who are likely to obsess on what you make, you'll be sitting sweet! So let's see what we can brainstorm here . . .

Although a lot of mainstream people love and wear leather jewelry, we're going to focus on people who really, really love leather jewelry.

Can you come up with a few targetable groups of people who obsessively love leather jewelry and accessories? Here are just a few examples:

Motorcyclists / bikers
Cowboys / cowgirls / horse lovers
People who love Western / Southwestern style
Hippies.

Now, if I wanted to sell leather jewelry in person at trunk shows, shops, and public events, I'd find venues where there will be a high concentration of these targeted groups of people. Just a few examples:

Biker rallies
Motorcycle shops
Biker bars / cafes
Truck stops
Gun and knife shows
Rodeos
Horse riding events
Tack and feed stores
Western / southwestern themed venues
Western-style steak houses
Country-western bars
Southwestern-themed clothing stores and galleries
Southwestern-themed restaurants, bars, cafes
Hippie communities (do a Google search for "hippie towns" for lots of suggestions)
Hippie festivals (do a Google search for "hippie festival schedule" for a ton of possibilities).

Google can help you find loads of specific events and businesses for all of the above examples.

Now you've targeted some people who are likely to be extremely interested in your hand-painted leather jewelry.

And you've pinpointed some specific places that should be excellent venues for your trunk shows and other jewelry shows that will reach these targeted people.

So now if you want to sell your hand-painted leather jewelry in person, it's time to schedule your jewelry events at those targeted venues, and work on publicizing your presence there.

You can also schedule appointments with some shops that serve these same targeted customers (clothing stores and gear-oriented stores that serve your targeted customers are often a good bet for carrying your jewelry).

You've just created some outstanding opportunities to sell a lot of your work in person to the people who are most likely to love it, appreciate it - and buy more of it in the future.

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( . . . continued from above)
by: Rena

Now what about selling your hand-painted leather jewelry online?

There are two excellent ways to sell your niche jewelry products on the Web:

Find online forums or social networking groups where your targeted groups of people (motorcyclists, cowgirls, hippies, etc.) hang out, and join those communities. But don't try to advertise or sell your work there. Instead, participate in the discussions as a genuine member of the community, and let your forum signature or social networking profile there lead your new networking friends to your jewelry website. You can also ask your fellow community members about their favorite events, restaurants, bars, shops, towns, etc. for more ideas of places to sell your work in person.

Do some good keyword research to find out what jewelry items people are searching for online, that you can provide. You're seeking keywords that have a fair demand and low supply online - in other words, items that a reasonable number of people are searching for, but that very few vendors are offering. Then create those jewelry items and optimize your web pages and jewelry listings for those keywords.

For keyword research, try Google's keyword research tool or Wordtracker.com.

Then see my website optimization tips for ways to optimize your pages and jewelry listings for your chosen keywords - and link popularity for how to get backlinks to your pages.

I did some keyword research on "painted jewelry", "handpainted jewelry", etc. - and I found that there are very few searches for those items online.

That doesn't mean that no one wants painted jewelry. As you mentioned in your post, people love it when they see it! But most people aren't really aware that painted jewelry exists, so they don't know to search for it specifically.

However, there are many great keywords for leather jewelry. For example, (as of this writing) there's a fair amount of demand and very little competition for all of the keywords listed below:

Bracelets:

Leather bracelets are hot. They appear to be the most in-demand leather jewelry item online.

black leather bracelets
braided leather bracelets
brown leather bracelet
custom leather bracelets
leather ankle bracelet
leather ankle bracelets
leather bead bracelet
leather bracelets personalized
leather buckle bracelet
leather cuff bracelet
leather cuff bracelets
leather id bracelet
leather id bracelets
leather watch bracelet
man leather bracelet
men leather bracelet
mens leather bracelet
mens leather bracelets
pearl and leather bracelet
personalized leather bracelets
plain leather bracelet

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( . . . continued from above)
by: Rena

Necklaces:

Not as hot as bracelets, but still receiving a lot of searches.

black leather necklace
braided leather necklace
braided leather necklaces
leather choker collar
leather choker necklace
leather cord necklace
leather cross necklace
leather pearl necklace
man leather necklace
mens leather choker
mens leather necklace
mens leather necklaces

Earrings:

These earring keywords receive far fewer searches than bracelets or necklaces, but they may still be worth targeting.

leather earring
leather earrings

I would recommend placing more emphasis on your more popularly searched-for leather pieces (such as bracelets and necklaces), and enticing some of those visitors over into your leather earring selection once they land on your website.

Motorcycle Accessories:

These keywords may be worth targeting, especially if you're interested in designing jewelry for the biker crowd.

custom leather motorcycle accessories
motorcycle leather accessories

Other Leather Accessories:

You might use these keywords for some of your leather "odds and ends" pieces.

handmade leather accessories
man leather accessory
man leather jewelry
leather hair accessories
leather hair wrap
black leather ring

Pet Collars:

Many pet lovers are willing to pay handsomely for special, personalized, or handmade collars for their dog, cat, or other pet. I know pet collars aren't precisely jewelry, but there's a tremendous demand online for them!

Here are some in-demand pet collars (with potential for hand-painting!) that have very little competition online.

custom leather dog collar
custom leather dog collars
custom made leather dog collars
designer leather dog collar
handmade leather dog collars
large leather dog collar
large leather dog collars
leather cat collar
leather dog accessories
leather pet collar
personalized leather dog collar
personalized leather dog collars
pink leather dog collars
purple leather dog collars
rolled leather dog collar
small leather dog collars
tooled leather dog collars
white leather dog collars
wide leather dog collar
wide leather dog collars

How to Use Your Keyword Research:

Okay, so how might you use some of this "leather jewelry" keyword research to bring people to your hand-painted leather jewelry online?

As I mentioned above, there are not many searches for anything related to "painted jewelry" or "hand painted jewelry" - most likely because people aren't really aware it exists.

(continued below . . .)

( . . . continued from above)
by: Rena

But the keyword "mens leather bracelet" (for example) has a lot of searches and not much competition.

So you could create hand painted men's leather bracelets, and get traffic from the "mens leather bracelet" keyword searches.

Although people who search for that keyword wouldn't necessarily arrive at your jewelry listing with "hand painted leather" in mind, there's a good chance they'll love your painted leather pieces and buy them - because your painting made the "mens leather bracelet" so cool.

Another good keyword with lots of potential for your hand-painting is "personalized leather bracelets". People love personalized items. You could probably do quite well with custom hand-painted names, initials, monograms, words, quotes, and even pictures to personalize these leather bracelets for people.

Other Ideas for Leather Jewelry Designs:

You may want to consider repurposing the leather from old belts and purses into jewelry, and going for the "eco-friendly" or "recycled" crowd who aren't specifically out looking for leather jewelry but would appreciate your green approach and cool designs.

Western / Southwestern style jewelry is especially popular when it includes turquoise, black, or red elements - and also either silver or copper metal.

Profit by Teaching Workshops:

You could teach leather jewelry making workshops to people within your targeted customer groups.

Workshops can bring in a nice additional income during times of the year when your finished jewelry sales are slower.

These would be especially great if you targeted the jewelry workshop project to the group taking the class (biker styles for biker students, cowgirl styles for cowgirl students, hippie styles for hippie students, etc.). Also teens would probably enjoy leather jewelry making workshops.

And remember that workshop students often love to buy a piece of the instructor's jewelry after the class - so have a nice display of your own finished pieces on display during the workshop session!

Educate Customers about Your Artistry:

Help your potential customers appreciate your jewelry by educating them on what's involved in creating one of your hand-painted leather pieces.

I share extensive details on educating customers on the value of your art - both in person and online - in my comments below the main post in Selling Through Third-Party eCommerce Services.

Well, I think I'm finally out of ideas here. :o) I hope you found some of this helpful, Yaz! I think that by targeting your sales efforts more precisely to groups of people who are likely to adore your artistry, your sales will really start to pick up!

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Great Advice!
by: Diane - Earth & Sky Studio

Wow! This article gives fantastic advice, not only for Yaz but for other jewelry designers like myself.

Yaz, I wish you the best in your quest to find your niche. It appears from the article that there is definitely one there for you. Woohoo!

Thanks, Rena, for the wonderful suggestions and directions in which we can go to find our own jewelry niche - both in the virtual world and the physical one. ^_^

You're welcome!
by: Rena

It was my pleasure, Diane! I'm so glad to hear you found it useful. I hope it helps you find some new raving fans of your work, and places you can connect with them!

Thanks Rena
by: Anonymous

Wow, thanks Rena for all of that info. I learned a lot. Especially about telling folks how one makes there jewelry.

Leather Jewelry
by: KathieL

Your jewelry is awesome! Rena's "Biker" idea rocks... I make jewelry AND my hubbie & I have a Harley..... May I suggest that you contact Harley? You never know & Bike Rallies will be a great place too! Good Luck!

Great advice
by: Dee

Rena what an awesome response!!! This provided great advice, guidance and examples. She couldn't have gotten better service from Google! lol...You Rock!

AWESOME ADVICE NEW
by: seller

YOU're AWESOME SEO speciallist that I wasn't ever seen so far !
VERY Helpful ~~~~~
Thank you for your BRAIN !
You're BEST of the BEST !!!!

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