Excellent Read for Business Minded Jewellry Artists, Blog 1, Continued



Happy Friday, Everyone!

Thank you God, it's the weekend!!!!!! I am very thrilled as I have some projects and logistics to sketch out for my jewelry and....I am dreading it, doing some packing. But, I will incorporate a little fun by maybe visiting a bead shop to see what's new. So, the other day, I thought to share the little wonder book with you guys and gals that I've been using to kind of restructure, well, begin some sort of structure and direction with my jewelry. I needed to add two more items that I left off  the previous blog to continue in this current blog. I also found 2 other books I stumbled upon last night at Barnes & Nobles, but I will save it for another day. I just ordered the two books today on Amazon. For right now, I am going to finish off the remaining 2 important points that was critical for me after reading this book.

The Four P's: Packaging, Promotion, Presentation and Perseverance

Okay....this here take A LOT consideration; trial and error, which in terms begins your first of the P's, perseverance. It's easy just to choose a box or bag and just place the item(s) in there with a receipt and send your client on their way and that's just fine for starting out. But as you begin to see your work as more of a business, you begin to put more thought into what you place your items in. After all, this is your image and your image speaks through your jewelry, right down to the font you use for your business cards, which is precious work. So, why not add a little more to the true value of your piece and think about the packaging? Originally, I was placing my items in black or kraft gift boxes and black takeout cartons with the items placed inside of a clear zip lock bag relative to the size of the item(s). This was working just fine however, this was somewhat expensive and I still have a lot of these boxes, which I still use but for presentational purposes, I wanted something a little more surprising, beautiful and could also function as a keepsake; a added gift. I am now using beautiful satin bags/pouches.

Now...if you were someone working in a boutique and had an artist interested in showing you their line of work to possibly add to your current collection, which one of these would make you  excited? Me personally, I would love the excitement of various jeweled tone colored satin pouches with jewelry in them so that I can take my time opening each up to see what my surprise may be. It's much easier for me to tote around as opposed to the boxes since I place much of my inventory in a traveling roller case so accessibility and to increase my readiness. You never know when someone might want to view your work! So, this takes care of packaging and some of presentation. Promotion is quite simple to me, get on every social networking site that you know for sure you will touch basis with at least once a week (this was a weakness for me since I am bit of a hermit and like work on jewelry versus being on the computer). Also, networking the good old fashioned way, talking to people face to face. Wearing your work increases the chances of this possibility, of course and also looking the part of your jewelry. If you are charging $500 a piece for your work, you should also look as if you as well purchase work for that amount as well...not saying that you have to be decked out in the finest of clothing. Just look the part is all you have to do. And here are just a few others and recaps on previously stated points:

• Keeping current business cards on  you at ALL TIMES
• Wear your work
• Blog
• Update your social network sites at least once a week-trying to improve upon this myself, :-).
• Join meeting groups with like interests to meet other artists
• Leave business cards/postcards at places where people are likely to see and take
• Try to have few items on you (if feasible) just for show in case you have an impromptu private showing.
• TALK and get involved in various community activities (donating your work, time, etc.)

Pricing

This is still quite a dilemma for me. I am working to limit my visits to the bead shops, which is so terribly hard. I try to use what I have first or at least wait until have quite an amount for which the more you buy, the vendors tend to be a little more generous with discounts, additional free items, etc. I am also trying to work on my efficiency when I am beading. I want to take my time in designing my jewelry but, I also have to factor if I can become a little more efficient in how I work with my components, I may be able to produce a few more items or at least add in more administrative work. By all means, never skimp on taking time to create your work. After all, handmade items are about quality time, thought and love in each and every component. I haven't quite mastered this part but I am quickly working to improve my understanding of this section.

Overall,  I think this is an excellent book for any jewelry artist just starting out and wants some guidance as to how they should approach this genre of arts and crafts.

I just purchased two books today that will be a great follow-up to this book, but I will tell you all about it once I am done reading them and have applied some of the principles I have learned from the books.

Do me a favor and have yourselves a wonderful weekend. Be sure to learn something new about your craft over the weekend.

Peace,  Love and Beads!

Porchia
http://www.divinitejewellry.com/