Excellent Read for Business Minded Jewellry Artists, Blog 1

On yesterday, I had the pleasure of showing a very nice and fashionable lady at my "day job"a "private viewing" of my jewellry artistry. I just happen to have my rollercase in my car to show another co-worker. I advised her that I would be available to show her  my work during my lunch break (trying to keep everything kosher at work, :-) and still get my business networking done). She viewed just only a few items of my work but I put out some of my more standout pieces. She bought 2 necklaces from me! After a long conversation in getting to know something about each other, this kindred spirit of a woman offered her condo to me for a home jewelry show party and to do some activities with her church!!!!! And to think, all this stemmed from a picture of my earrings that I have on my debit card when I made a purchase for my breakfast. The lady swipped it and commented on the picture and I advised her those are my earrings. "I make jewelry", I follow-up. My new client, awaiting to place her order, asked to see it. The rest would become my new history and story.  Talking about making sure you use every opportunity for your business to be seen. Lord, I tell you. It's these not so little milestones that keeps you inspired as an artist and to go just a little harder, a little further, a little more longer. So...this leads me to tell you about a wonderful little book that has really helped me to look at my work in a different light and to handle it accordingly.

The book "Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry" by Viki Lareau, is only a 94 page book but, it packs a ton of bare bones, straight to the point information that most individuals starting off will need in order to get off to an excellent start. I read a bit of this book while at Barnes & Noble and read enough to make the official purchase, on Amazon, of course. Don't dare pay full price when you don't have to! I read this book from cover to cover in 1 day. I decided to try several of the items suggested in this book along with a few other thoughts I've collected from my daily observation.. Mrs. Lareau speaks heavily through this book on having an identity; your brand. You must be recongnizable, which is so very important. This very thing will speak to everything you do from your color schemes,  your displays, cards, invitations, website, etc. The author also tries to have the reader to see yourself as not only an artist but as a multi-facted thinker, which you must be. So, to be quick about it in this blog, I will highlight of a few of things I've revised upon reading this book:

Name Sync ( TheChange)

My former name, Curveology, just didn't sit well with me anymore. This name was formely meant for my crochet and knitwear line from 2006 I was working on but figured, it took so much of my time to construct. I needed something that would reflect the feeling and underlying message of my jewelry and that is the "Art of Adornment & Regalness". So....I sought out the word "deity" but, I wanted a slightly fancy way of saying it. So, I looked up a few words in various languages and came across the French word, " Divinite' ", pronouced "di-vin-it-tay", which is the French for "deity".  It took a moment to come to this name. Once the final decision was  made, I purchased the web domain, pointed my new domain name to my Etsy shop, found the font to reflect the name which also doubles as my logo and changed my Etsy shop. I will be getting the registration for this name completed this month. The name change definitely set the pace for the overall look my work and how I view it. All of sudden, I must say, that things began to fall in place for how I am now approaching my work thru marketing, packing and construction. The name change was the perfect start to the much needed makeover. I can now work on my identity.

Identifying Your Jewelry

This one action phrase is a heavy one, indeed. Contrary to belief, it isn't always obvious as to where your jewelry will fall into, looks wise. This took me a serveral tries, discussions with others, observation from my previous jewelry show and taking a look at the root of what I truly gravitate towards: Big, Chunky, Ethnic, Colorful and Soulful Beads and Pendants, world wide. So, from this observation, I came to the realization that I am more modern, artsy, ethnic and soulful in styling and that I desire for a woman to be seen before she is ever heard. Bold is what I aim for. Color is right by Bold's side and Artsy is on her other side while they come to meet Ethnic and Soulful under the house of Modern Ethnic Art. After this indentification process was completed, I became "ready" to set out (marketing, display vision, shops to venture to, audience, ect.) to get my work and name out there.

Marketing

Branding, Branding, Branding!!!!! AHHHHHHH, I am working on this as we speak but, I am getting somewhere. I just created some new business cards and postcards with some guidance from the photos in this book. My older cards still have my old name on them which I spent money on for a generic template, although beautiful, can be used by many other people, I will still hand them out if I absolutely have nothing on me. There's nothing like seeing someone else's card that looks EXACTLY like yours, ugh. My old domain name still points to my new address so that I don't loose new viewers. Even though I am working on my marketing endeavors, I've managed to at least create some custom business cards and postcards through the design template from Overnightprints.com.

My New Business Cards

(showing my colorful work. Simple but effective)

My Postcards

(Showing more of work with more information and a coupon)

It didn't cost much to produce these but I was more than satisfied. I know everything won't be perfect, yet, :-) but I like to make sure I get as close to it as I can. I found it better to use pictures of my own work than to use a template. What better way to get someone interested in your than having a picture of the real thing on your cards? No need for fancy, embossed fonts and abstract coloring. Just show your work on a clean background and this will be more than sufficient! Allow your work to become the spokesperson on your card.

So, the next project, which I will speak about in the next blog, is packaging.

I have more to tell you, but I will stop here and follow-up in my second blog on this book.

Thank you for reading! I hope this could serve as an inspiration to get you to revamp a few things.