Building on her success...

Part 4:
The Earring Angel -
Refocusing and Staying the Course

© by Lynn Williams; all rights reserved

Lynn Williams

(Catch the beginning of Lynn's story:

Part 1: The Earring Angel

Part 2: Earring Angel Business Expansion

Part 3: The Earring Angel Seller Secrets.)

Oh my goodness. The Jewelry Trees.

If you read back remember what I said earlier on how these came about. The jewelry / necklace trees that were available were not the best quality, they were too short and they were cheap, ugly, lightweight and made from mystery metal - and many even had lead in the metal and in their finishes.

I really wouldn't want to store something that touches my skin on or in a product that contains lead.

My original Jewelry Trees were shorter and lighter weight than they are now, but they were substantially better than everything else out there, in design, capacity, weight and aesthetics. As I have sold out I've revised and improved my designs.

Jewelry Tree display by Lynn Williams

Althought unfortunately the revisions make the item costs go up quite a bit, I refuse to skimp on quality. Because of this many people cannot afford my products, (shoot, I couldn't afford my products if I was not the manufacturer).

I cater my business to those who can afford them, but I do sell the Original Earring Angels on a different price point that's affordable for nearly everyone.

The concept of "sell to those who can spend money" is my philosophy, something I learned from Nordstrom.

Not everyone can afford to shop at Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom, but many of us can enjoy the atmosphere and have a cappuccino the coffee bar. My Lexan Earring Angels are my cappuccino and my Jewelry Trees, Metal Earring Angels & Accessory Angels are my couture.

Earring Angel display by Lynn Williams

Christmas 2008

"Lord help me!" That was my prayer daily. I was for the first time ever so overwhelmed with sales that I had tears in my eyes most days for about 6 weeks.

I was happy, don't get me wrong, but I was just so crazy busy that it took all I had to keep up and I did just that.

Customer satisfaction is crucial to any successful business and I always ship within 4-48 hours whenever possible. But I always under-promise and over-deliver to my customers - another secret to customer service success.

I post that items will be shipped within 3-5 days, but do my best to ship same day or within 48 hours. This makes the customers surprised and happy to get their items earlier than promised, and if for some reason USPS takes their time I have some buffer.

If you think something will take you 3 days, tell the customer 5 days but deliver in 2, since we don't know what lies ahead. Nothing is more frustrating to a customer than to be told 2 weeks and then it ends up being 6 weeks ... and so on.

I completely SOLD OUT of my Steel Products at Christmas, and all I had left were my Lexan Earring Angels, but only because I make them in the thousands and not hundreds. I sold and shipped over $20,000 worth of product in 30 days all by myself. Like I said I was crazy busy!

Oh how I wish I could have kept that money, but I had to reinvest every single penny to order more.

January 2009

I took another huge risk when I added to my manufacturing costs by redesigning and then reordering in this economic recession. This was my largest order ever. So I ordered Necklace Trees, Metal Earring Angels and my Accessory Angels from my metal workers.

Accessory Angel display by Lynn Williams

April 2009

My stock is finally starting to coming in. Hallelujah! I have been out since Christmas.

May 2009

More stock is trickling in!

Hope for June 2009: Having all items in stock and running like a well oiled machine!

05/21/09, Today - I have had a little stock only for a few weeks and they are selling fast, even though my price point had to go up for the additional design elements and adding steel plate to the bases to add to overall weight and stability.

Now I'm realizing that there is need in the commercial and retail market for these items as well.

Originally I was only thinking of jewelry organizers for personal home use, but now my business is growing and developing into another category - the Retail Jewelry Display Market, which is great!

Also originally I was only making the Jewelry Trees, the Metal Earring Angels, and Accessory Angels in a beautifully rich-looking black finish that everyone loved. Now I'm venturing into other colors and finishes - but as with anything they cost a lot more.

Two colors for Lynn Williams' Jewelry tree -
Black (left) and Tuscan Bronze (right)

I'm trying a beautiful color I call Tuscan Bronze and Stardust.

In the works are 2 new items - one will be a Jewelry Tree and the other a revision of the Table Top Metal Earring Angel. They will have a more southwestern, country, rustic look. The color will be called Rustic Bronze.

There's a lot of western themed decor here in Texas; you know - cowboys, horseshoes, deer antlers, cowhides and so on. Pricey stuff too, I might add.

I thank God the word has gotten out to many jewelry makers and artisans and they are using my products to display their work on. Ladies' boutique owners have purchased my products as well, and customers started asking where they got the Jewelry Trees, Earring Angels, and Accessory Angels etc.

So now some boutiques started not only using them as displays but also selling them - good for them and good for me!

Staying the Course

Still making everything in the USA and I am staying Green too! I have no intention of ever changing this.

Re-Focusing

Market niche - Staying with personal home use and expanding into retail and commercial use. Making products that can do both.

Refining my business name again - Angelynn Enterprises aka Angelynn's Unique Organizers.

Why?

So people can find me easier without trying to figure out a proper spelling.

For business names it's always good to give a hint of what you do, if you can. For example, Nike used to be Nike Athletic Wear, I believe, until they established their brand.

If you want to be found it would be better to use common spelling too, so Google and other search engines will bring up your website for people searching for those terms. Personally, trying to find a business with a non-common spelling is very frustrating and after a few tries I give up.

For example, if a business is spelled "Beauteeful Designs", this would be a problem for most people to spell - and why would you allow your name to be a problem for anyone?

If a friend were to ask another friend "Where did you get that? I love it!" The friend would reply, "beautiful designs". This customer would have to SPELL out your name for their friend to find you online, via 411, or in a phone book. And that's IF they remembered how to spell it themselves!

A better name would be "Beautiful Designs" with the proper spelling.

I know people use creative spellings because they're artsy or the business name with the correct spelling may already be taken. But it would be better for you to add a word to the name and use common spellings.

For example: "Beautiful Designs etc." or "Beautiful Designs & More" or "Beautiful Products" - or find another name entirely. Do you see what I mean? No one will find you otherwise and you will lose business.

Don't miss the beginning of Lynn's success story:

Part 1 - The Earring Angel

Part 2 - The Earring Angel Business Expansion

Part 3 - The Earring Angel Seller Secrets.