A Product Catalog
for Your Jewelry

© by Lori Hodges; all rights reserved

I've found that a product catalog is extremely useful for a jewelry business that is generally advertised by current customer sales and word of mouth.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy. However, having a catalog that displays your products will help you generate a lot more sales than just trying to explain what kind of jewelry you offer.

I send my product catalogs to work with family members and always carry them with me if the subject of jewelry comes up (which it generally does) while I'm out somewhere.

And if you offer home jewelry parties, the catalog can sell an additional $20 to $100 of jewelry - or more. I typically give my hostess a closing date of one week after her home party. I supply her with three of my jewelry catalogs for her to show to guests who were not able to attend - being able to "show" them my products has definitely helped boost additional sales. I generally ask for these catalogs back; not only to save on cost, but to lower the risk of having my jewelry ideas copied.

If you have a digital camera, a printer that prints decent pictures (mine is just an HP Deskjet and it prints pictures nicely), along with software that can print catalogs / brochures (I use Publisher), you're set. Having Photoshop or another photo editing program can come in very handy as well to be able to crop and edit your photos.

With some cameras, if you try to take close-ups of jewelry they tend to turn out blurry. When taking pictures of my items, I have found it useful to not take a close-up. As long as I can see the product clearly (including any letter beads) on my camera screen, I can take the picture. Photoshop allows you to crop the picture to size. When you do, you'll notice that the item seems to become much clearer and bigger in the picture.

Also, I place each individual piece of jewelry on something white for the background (I use my white desk). The flash from my camera tends to work with the white background to brighten up the picture and enhance the jewelry.

Many people use props for their jewelry in pictures. I commend them for their creativity - it does make the picture look nice. However, I chose not to do it this way. Maybe for a few items in a brochure, but a catalog has a lot of items. I was afraid the props might takeaway from the jewelry.

After taking your jewelry pictures, download them onto your computer (refer to your digital camera directions).

I have a card reader installed onto my computer which makes transferring photos a breeze. If you work a lot with a digital camera transferring photos for whatever reason, I HIGHLY recommend investing in one. They are actually pretty inexpensive...I believe around $60-$100.

Anyway, once your pictures are in a file in your computer, open them up, one at a time in your photo editing software (this is the most time-consuming of the entire catalog), and crop them down. Then save the revised photos - you may want to rename them in a way that's easy to recognize in the future...such as what you call the piece of jewelry.

Once you set up your product catalog, type in your info and transfer in your photos. In Publisher, you can add pages as you go; I believe Printshop also has a catalog / book option. In Publisher, you simply click on "insert", then "picture", then "from file". Go to your pictures and double-click on the picture you want...it's as simple as that. You may need to move the picture or shrink the picture down to size by going to a corner of the photo, holding down your left mouse button, and bringing your mouse down until you reach the desired size. Sorry, you probably already knew that :)

I have assigned each product my business initials plus a number, which I type in next to each picture (along with the description and price). This allows a customer to simply give me a product number, and I know exactly what she wants.

Each product number corresponds to file cards on which I have each individual product recorded. Each card shows exactly what supplies I have in its corresponding product, (I price per each bead, etc.), how I arrived at the cost, etc. If a customer placed an order for a particular bracelet, for example, but wanted to change the spacer beads and have cube beads instead of bicones, I would just look up the product number figure out what the new cost would be.

I also have a binder where I list my individual supply items (toggle, 4mm Swarov. bicone, etc.), along with their individual prices...making the process of pricing items extremely easy.

This pricing method may seem a little far-fetched at first, but it takes no time at all, and is especially convenient when a customer has a special order when I'm pressed for time (say, at jewelry party) want to give her a ballpark figure.

Okay, now ready to print your product catalog? Be sure to set it for "booklet" form before printing so the page numbers come out right. I have found it easier and cheaper to just print them out myself. Remember, you are your own boss, with your own expenses. You don't work for a company that sells millions of products and is able to pay for those nice, slick catalogs. Your customers will understand. And these product catalogs turn out pretty nice, anyway.

I have priced them at the least expensive professional printer / copyshop I could find - but I was still uncomfortable with the price. I have a 40-page catalog (actually 10 to 12 full sheets, printed on both sides, folded into a booklet), and the printing quote I received was around $10 to $15 to print one copy. Color printing - very necessary to make your jewelry stand out - is what makes the cost so high.

Putting together a product catalog may take some time and effort - and maybe a few ink cartridges. However, having one can definitely boost your sales and make your jewelry business appear more professional! Don't forget to include in the catalog all of your contact info - and the benefits of hostessing a home jewelry party!

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