Adventures in Handmade Jewelry

Welcome to part two! Recently I've begun working with my stylist, J, to sell jewelry in her brand new salon. In the last post I wrote about the more creative side of a venture like this; packaging, branding, whether to create an exclusive line or not and understanding the clientele of the business you want to work with. This time I'm going to cover the business end - Paperwork Pricing Inventory Your presence and online sales Papers, business papers Even if you've known each other for ages, be sure to get a wholesale or a consignment agreement in place before you place your products in the space. It should cover things like who is responsible for shipping inventory to them, what to do when things don’t sell, how you’ll be compensated for theft or breakage and of course, how much money each of you will get from each sale. Oh and sales! Can the retailer put your items on sale at a discount? If so how much, for how long, and who gives up the revenue? And how ...

Most jewelry artists are known for a specific look. Think David Yurman and you know there will be twisted sterling silver involved in every piece. Bankable and something customers come to depend on. But what about an artist just starting out? Should you stick to a particular look or design or should you branch out and have a wider field of possibilities? This is something I'm working through myself. In the early 2000s when I first started making jewelry, I followed the herd. Doing the easy stuff - the stuff I saw on other shop sites and at craft fairs. The problem is, I don't want to be known for stuff you can get at craft fairs. I don't buy or wear that kind of jewelry and making it doesn't appeal to me. So. I need to define my style and therefore my customer. In doing so, that means I can jettison some of the fussy/cutesy stuff that used to be in my line at first. Also, I can identify a particular type of jewelry that will help bolster that style to the cu...

Branding is important. Having a consistent look and feel to your work, your identity as an artist and in how you present your work is part of having your own business. It can be a little tough, but once you've got your logo and colors and associated motifs, that's enough, right? Maybe. Lately I've been trying to develop a routine with my business - to do at least one thing a day to promote or create or interact with other people in craft or home businesses. The other day I decided to work on packaging since what I had was running low and I wanted something more distinctive. That led me down a tangent, let me tell you! Part of what I need are stickers and while looking at my current logo documents, I did a bit of a refresh. Nothing too drastic, but definitely an improvement. Check it out! became  It's subtle, but I think it's important and I didn't catch it in my first go-round with logo design. A professional probably would have, but 'wh...

As a creative person you try anything, right? You make an item, sometimes just to learn a technique or because you saw something similar or thought it would be great, but it turns out not to be. We've all done it, but sometimes those things have to go on the block. The other day I found a necklace that I'd strung ages and ages ago and it never sold. No wonder since it was old fashioned, boring and something your grandma would probably wear in the 1970s. So I took it apart and put the components back into inventory. I did it again with a necklace I'd saved for myself but actually wore like once or twice. Plus other things I've never worn. Sometimes it's the only way. Clinging to a piece that never sells out of sentimental reasons is just plain silly. We all grow and improve and sometimes those early works are just plain embarrassing. I know mine are. Learning curves just shouldn't be seen sometimes. It's all part of defining your style and by exte...

Thanks ladies (Janice and Sherice) for the compliments on my tags. I tried the mass-produced little flocked ones, but my earrings always hung too low and it just looked generic. I want people to know and have a way to remember who made their jewelry and a way to contact me if they want more. I thought about stickers (you know, the Moo stickers), but again I was shackled to the size of the pre-fab plastic ones. Have to keep both stickers and cards on hand. No freedom there and it would run me more money, which until business picks up, this unemployed duck just doesn't have. So, after working with someone to come up with my logo, I thought that the easiest way to print tags myself was to produce a graphic that is business card sized so I can use sheets of the kind available in home office stores and not have to go to the extra expense of having them printed special. Now I can slide them into a little card rack on the counter, or punch a hole in the top to hang on pegs...whateve...

So that's my next step. Promoting my Etsy shop. One of my customers has done some of this for me, but that can't be the only thing. So I need to come up with a plan. Clearly this could be a full time job (and when would I make new things??), but I'm not sure I want it to be. I think I'd like this to be part time, which means I need a part time 'day job', but that's another post. My first step was to add Google Analytics to my shop. That way I can track comings & goings and spot trends etc. Second I've uploaded a feed to Google Base...so I will theoretically come up in shopping searches on Google. This has yet to prove useful, but I'll give it time. I've also submitted an application to an Etsy team and I hope that I can learn quite a bit from the more experienced folks there. One thing I still need to decide on with my graphics package is a web graphic. My dilemma is how big or small it should be. I have a very small ad banner alread...

As part of a design package I recently ordered from fellow Etsian, Helen , I finally have a proper banner. It was a heck of a process for me to settle on a design since everything she came up with was beautiful. But here it is and so now we have just a few more things to knock out and we'll be good to go.

So I've engaged a graphic designer to help me with logos and banners and such. So far the work is moving along well. Once I get everything done and in place, I'll announce with fanfare and trumpet her work directly. She's been great so far, taking my tenative suggestions and working with me. And she's fast, too! I got a bit overwhelmed with the process of getting my Etsy business underway, but have figured out that if I stay focused on the Etsy site itself first I won't get overwhelmed. The ways and methods to promote & advertise on other mediums like Twitter and Blogger is huge and I want to take those steps, but not until I have an actual site to promote. Then I have to find the time to actually make more jewelry. Oh yeah, that's a problem I'd like to have...so many sales that I run out of inventory! An inventory list was started yesterday. I pulled everything I'm willing to sell together and have started an excel spreadsheet with pertinent ...