Jewelry Business Blog
March 2005
© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved
The Jewelry Business Blog has essential jewelry business tips, information, questions, answers, and news that you won't find anywhere else!
March 30, 2005 Have you got a nice stock of under-$20 jewelry items for your next show or party? Artists often sell enough pieces in this price range to pay for their booth fees. March 29, 2005 When getting ready for jewelry shows, set a date (such as a week before you leave for the show) when you will absolutely STOP making more jewelry for the show. After that point, you need to focus your energies on the other areas of preparing for the show - such as pricing and labeling any of your inventory that needs to be done, cleaning and polishing jewelry to a sparkling shine, determining your display setup for the show, loading up any displays that you can do at home, packing, planning your artsy-fartsy outfit to wear, etc. March 27, 2005 Bead organizing tip: Store each type of bead in its own little ziplock bag labeled with the type of bead, cost per bead, store/source that sells it, and stock number. This is a great organizing system for many other jewelry supplies too - findings, stringing supplies, wire, etc. March 25, 2005 You can save time when placing jewelry supply orders by keeping a list or spreadsheet of your most commonly ordered items. For each of these frequently used items, include the item number, price break quantities, supplier's name, and their URL or phone number. After all, there's no sense in looking up all that info over and over for things you order repeatedly. This list or spreadsheet can also save you a little money on shipping: When you place supply orders, you can also check this list to see if your stock of any of these commonly used items is running low. If so, you can add them to your order to keep from having to order them separately later and incurring more shipping charges. March 23, 2005 How do you copyright jewelry? What can you do to protect your original designs? Here's an excellent article on this topic: Jewelry Copyright Basics. March 22, 2005 A reader recently asked how to transfer photos to polymer clay for jewelry making. Here's a good online tutorial: Transferring Photos to Polymer Clay. This technique can be used to create wonderful, personal Mother's Day gifts. March 20, 2005 Could cell phone jewelry be in your business future? Some trends include charms or beaded dangles for cell phones, and beaded lanyards for carrying a cell phone around your neck. Instead of wire jewelry, I guess that would be wireless jewelry. :o) March 18, 2005 Here's an easy way to prevent misunderstandings when making change for customers at shows or parties. When a customer hands you cash and you need to give them change, set the money they handed you on the table between you while you count out the change and hand it to them. Not until they're satisfied with their change do you add the money they gave you to your "cash register". This prevents the possibility of the customer saying, "No, I gave you a $100 bill!" when you're sure they handed you a $50. While that can be an honest mistake by either party, it's also a common scam. March 16, 2005 Many people who work in offices are able to secure permission to display their jewelry at work. If you can get the boss to okay it, you have the opportunity to make some great sales this way. You might try having either a coffee break/lunch hour trunk show, or keeping a small jewelry display in your office. You can provide a wonderful, "easy-to-shop" gift service for your busy co-workers this way. However you decide to show your pieces in the workplace, be sure to consider how you'll keep the jewelry secure when you're not right there with it. March 14, 2005 An excellent way to increase your jewelry sales is to ask your satisfied customers to refer their friends, family, and associates to you. And when you do receive new business from these referrals, be sure to reward the customer who sent them - a nice discount coupon for their next purchase would be very well received! March 13, 2005 When consigning your jewelry to a shop, be sure you know how it will be displayed. I once consigned several pieces to a shop only to discover that the owner's idea of "displaying" them was to keep them in a closed box in a stack of other boxes, and show them only to customers who asked to see more jewelry. Needless to say, her shop wasn't selling any of my work - and probably not the work of a lot of other artists either. Not surprisingly, this shop closed due to poor sales (but not before I rescued my jewelry!). March 12, 2005 The Federal Trade Commission has a strict set of rules designed to protect jewelry consumers. For example, "It is unfair or deceptive to use the word 'real,' 'genuine,' 'natural,' 'precious,' 'semi-precious,' or similar terms to describe any industry product that is manufactured or produced artificially." It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the complete FTC Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries to be sure you're not inadvertently doing anything you shouldn't. March 10, 2005 Jewelry Business Success News issue #20 just came out. Among other goodies, it contains tips on writing your mission statement and preventing jewelry-related carpal tunnel syndrome. This issue marks the one-year anniversary of our newsletter, as well as another milestone - we just passed the 4000 subscriber mark, with this issue going out to 4068 subscribers! Subscribe to Jewelry Business Success News so you won't miss any issues. An array of unique and interesting jewelry business articles are scheduled for upcoming issues! :o) March 9, 2005 Ready for an inspiring new jewelry business success story? - Allyson Gernandt
The newest in our Jewelry Business Success interview series. Gemstone jewelry artist Allyson Gernandt shares a glimpse into her home jewelry business - from her first silversmithing lesson to her success at shows and festivals. Thank you so much, Allyson, for taking the time to give us some insight into your home jewelry business. :o) March 8, 2005 Guest author Sherry Matsen of Estate Jewelry International discusses an increasingly popular gemstone: Agate Lore and Legend
Agate has been used by humans for over 20,000 years. Although it is currently used mainly as a gemstone, it has been prized as a stone of healing and power. March 7, 2005 What is your ultimate dream for your jewelry business? - to have your designs in shops and galleries across the country . . . to make a nice annual profit that lets you become a full-time jeweler . . . to hit the road in an RV and explore the country between various shows . . . to have a team of employees creating your designs and filling orders while you operate the business . . . to have your jewelry business turn into a nice retirement income? Whatever your ultimate dreams are for your jewelry business, believe in them. Picture them every day, down to the last detail. Know that everything you do is moving you toward achieving your dreams. It really does work. Energy flows where attention goes, so be sure your attention is focused on the things you want to include in your life! March 5, 2005 Here's an emergency jewelry cleaning tip: Put a piece of jewelry in a small bowl, then add about 1 cup of water and two tablets of Alka Seltzer. When the fizzing stops, take the jewelry out of the bowl and wash it. Dry on a soft, lint-free cloth. March 4, 2005 My jewelry buddy and I are ordering some jewelry supplies this week - and we're saving a lot of money by getting better price breaks and splitting shipping costs when we consolidate our orders. Want to get the 25-strand bead price break at Fire Mountain? Or the 100 clasp price break? And how would you like to pay only half as much for shipping? If you don't have a local jewelry buddy or two, I recommend finding some before you place your next supply order. A neat side benefit is that it's fun catalog shopping with a kindred spirit. :o) March 2, 2005 Customers love small touches like a free surprise along with their purchase. When you package your jewelry orders, consider slipping in a little free gift like a tumbled stone or a crystal, a little ziplock with some no-tarnish strips, or a small piece of jewelry polishing cloth. March 1, 2005 Are you ready to be inspired and charged up with new jewelry business ideas? Don't miss our new Jewelry Business Success Story: Gretta Van Someren of Pizzazz Creations
Jewelry artist Gretta Van Someren invites us into her Pizzazz Creations home jewelry studio/showroom, and treats us to great photos, tips, and innovations for jewelry business success. This article may load slowly because of all the photos, but I promise you it's well worth the wait! Thank you so much, Gretta, for this wonderful interview and fantastic photos of your jewelry studio and showroom! :o) Return to current month's Jewelry Business Blog. Return to all Jewelry Business Blog Archives. Return to Home Jewelry Business Success Tips home page.
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