Lunch Hour
|
 Shelby Hill |
When I first saw it, it was love at first sight!
Most of my jewelry is imported already made from Italy, but recently I've been creating earrings, necklaces and bracelets from authentic Murano glass beads too.
My original idea was to sell jewelry only on the Internet, but I found it difficult to advertise and get the sales I needed for my new business, Parisii.
Murano glass earrings,
sold on Shelby's site
I went on to do home jewelry parties which were much more lucrative, but limited in the fact that I had a hard time growing my network.
Someone suggested that I go to businesses and ask to set up a table during the lunch hours. This is a common thing here in France but since I'm not French, that part of the culture was unknown to me.
I started calling banks, small businesses, insurance agencies, hospitals and other likely places to see if they'd like to offer their employees the chance to purchase some beautiful jewelry, in their place of work.
Jeweled theater mask,
sold on Shelby's website
Sometimes I must make a donation to the business's favorite charity in order to sell, but often I can do business for no fee at all. In those cases, I usually offer my contact person a gorgeous piece of jewelry.
For every purchase, I place the jewelry in lovely velour pouches. I offer gift wrapping, sell gift certificates, and also mail jewelry to the clients' "giftees". The customer pays the postage.
Shelby's custom jewelry shopping bags,
with stylized necklace and earring motifs.
Bags were created and stenciled by
Shelby's daughter, artist Gabrielle Hill.
I take special orders and then deliver the jewelry to the person's place of work. The customers appreciate the 'TLC' they feel when they come to my table. My attitude is that I'm there to serve them and wrap gifts and they never have to hit the stores and fatigue themselves for that birthday present they need to buy.
I try to collect email addresses and cell phone numbers of the employees so I can send messages of my specials. I also make sure I tell customers that I do home parties and that they can make great savings on jewelry by holding a party in their homes.
About 2 weeks before an an expo, I make up small posters that tell the date and time of the expo with some beautiful photos of my jewelry. I make sure that my contact info is clearly visible. I send these by mail to my contact person with a cover letter. If I have email addresses or cell numbers of any employees, I'm sure to send then a message with the info on the expo as well.
Shelby's jewelry show table,
sparkling with colorful glass jewels
Now at least twice a week I have a table in local Parisian businesses and my business is growing well!
Author Shelby Hill of Parisii says, "I'm an American in Paris. (Well, pretty close to Paris!) In October 2006, I created my online Parisii boutique to bring to you some fabulous jewelry at an affordable price."
All the glass jewelry featured on Shelby's blog is handmade. Many pieces have gold & silver blown in them while the glass is hot to give it true originality. This is called gold or silver leaf. Other pieces have glass flowers, stars or designs blown in while the glass is hot. This is "murrine," and the oldest form of murano glass. Every piece is unique!
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