by Shasta McLaughlin
The Extravaganza Craft Productions
copyright 2010

?How can you make your booth stand out at jewelry shows?

1. Specialize in something!

Artisans can specialize in:

* gold or silver jewelry
* vintage pieces
* bridal jewelry
* jewelry from natural gemstone, precious or semi-precious stones
* Western, outdoor, rugged, or nature jewelry
* Silverware jewelry
* Pieces inspired by any race or nationality
* Beaded jewelry
* remake antique jewelry

Your pieces can be inspired by a place such as all your pieces having the colors of the Grand Canyon or your favorite mountain scene. They might be inspired by your favorite city, or even by an industrial building.

The key in specializing is to choose a large group of people with similar tastes in handcrafted jewelry and design jewelry specifically for them.

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In almost any store where you shop, you will be asked at check-out for your name or telephone number, or if you have a store card. Most people comply and whip out that card, because it entitles them to sale prices or special discounts. The requested information or the card keeps track of customer purchases, and the information is automatically entered into the store’s database. The collected data is used to determine and implement more productive marketing strategies.

Use your jewelry software to create an account for each customer. Along with the usual name, address and phone number, enter the following information:

· E-mail addresses
· Product purchased
· Purchase price
· Services, including repairs and appraisals
· Purchases of warranties and insurance
· Style preferences
· Special requests for items of information

With the jewelry software, you can assess relevant market conditions and sales data to determine your marketing strategies. You will see what items sell well, and which don’t. This will help you determine what inventory should be increased or decreased. The average price of items being sold tells you in what price range customers are most likely to make a purchase. Whether you make you own jewelry or purchase your stock, some items will have higher rates of return or need for repairs. If you make your jewelry and reports show that a certain brand or type of clasp or crimping bead breaks quite often, you will know to change to a more reliable brand. The same applies to brands or styles of ready-made jewelry.

Set specific goals for you business. For instance, you may want to increase the percentage of sales for a certain item, or phase out a product that doesn’t sell well to make room for a new line. Use the jewelry software to help you determine where to apply the correct strategies for attaining your business goals. As you become more experienced in using the software, you will be able to determine where to increase product investments and view your available assets, such as liquid assets, cash flow, equity and inventory. You may find jewelry software such a valuable tool that you’ll wonder how your business ever got along without it!

Gary Capps is the general manager of Beading-Software.com.  Contact us through our website http://www.beading-software.com for tips on jewelry making and setting up your own home jewelry business.

Determining which items will sell at craft shows is a very hard process.  Each and every buyer at a craft show will have their own individual experiences, styles, tastes, and needs.  Many other factors may also play a role in sales such as local economy, demographics of residents, what other events are happening in the area, etc…

So how can you know if your art or craft will be a profitable business for you?

First you have to determine if there is a market for what you’re making.  Be sure there is a large enough market for your specific product not for a broader category that includes your product.  For example…

While there is a large market for jewelry each buyer of jewelry has their own individual needs.

Not every jewelry buyer will buy EVERY kind of jewelry.

Jewelry buyers have styles as varied as Western, Oriental, Vintage, Classic, Contemporary, Magnetic, and many more.

You will only waste your time and money if you try to sell Vintage jewelry to every jewelry buyer.  Unless you’re extremely talented and have unlimited time and resources you probably won’t be able to create jewelry to fit every style.

If you’re making vintage jewelry you need to determine how many jewelry buyers are buying vintage creations and then you need to determine where they go to get it.  Remember that if they go to flea markets looking for vintage jewelry they will expect the price to reflect the “flea market idealism” which might make the product unprofitable.  Yet if vintage jewelry buyers go to up scale, high end boutiques in a classy area, you might be able to make the same product very profitably.

See the Thrive Website for more information on determining if there is a market for your craft at:

http://thrivestrategy.com/blog/

So how do you guarantee that the product you sell will be profitable.

• First do your research.
• Second choose a niche market.  Choose a specific group of people to serve and meet a specific need they have.
  • For instance: Meet the needs of women who buy vintage jewelry, create and sell vintage jewelry. Don’t just create jewelry in general and try to sell it to vintage jewelry buyers or create vintage jewelry and try to sell it to everyone.
• Third verify that the niche market you choose has a large number of buyers and a small number of competitors providing that service.
• Fourth sell your product to the right people, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price.
• Fifth offer a complimentary upsell to every purchasing customer at a small discount.
• Sixth collect your customers contact information (with their permission of course) and continue to contact them regularly with relevant product information, discounts, services, your show schedule, etc.
  • Don’t abuse this or you will do more damage to your business than good.

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I first stumbled onto the “jewelry shopping service” approach to marketing my #handcrafted jewelry a few years ago.

I couldn’t believe I’d never heard anyone talk about this before – because it’s a wide-open field with TONS of opportunities to sell your jewelry. It’s the main way I sell my jewelry now. Personal shopping services are a growing trend in all kinds of market niches.

Typically a personal shopper helps clients determine what they should buy, locates the best deal on an intended purchase, or finds the perfect gifts for customers to give.  Personal shoppers tend to specialize in a particular area of expertise, where they know a certain market and its suppliers inside and out.

Above all, personal shopping is a service business, and as people get busier and shopping options get more overwhelming, there’s an increasing demand for specialized personal shopping service businesses of various types.

What if you operated your handcrafted jewelry business like a personal shopping service?

There are absolutely immense opportunities for jewelry artists to sell their work this way, as you’ll see in “Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service”.

A jewelry shopping service could easily be your entire jewelry business, or just one income stream of it.

It’s a very flexible way to sell your jewelry, and I’ve found that it’s very easy to fit it in around all the other things going on in your life.

Why It’s Such a Profitable Way to Sell Your Jewelry

By operating as a jewelry shopping service, you’ll be selling directly to your clients at full retail prices, so you won’t be paying any booth fees, shop commissions, party hostess incentives, wholesale discounts, etc.

In fact, one of the best things about it is that you have very few sales-related expenses, because there’s no “middleman”. Nearly 100% of the proceeds go directly to your business.

And what’s more, many of your clients will be fairly big spenders. They’ll shop from you over and over again because they love your customized products, personal service, and the way you take their problems out of their hands – and they’re willing to pay quite well for it.

The book also has a chapter describing a clever strategy that will increase your profits even more; I give an example of this strategy from my own business, and explain why it’s so profitable.

Everything You Need to Know
to Start Your Own Jewelry Shopping Service

In this ebook I share my entire successful business model with you. It’s easy to do, and it really works. I’ve tested and refined my jewelry shopping service strategies, and I describe them in detail in this step-by-step guide.

I also share dozens of real-life examples of successful products, services, marketing methods, and stories from my own jewelry shopping service, to help you get started.

You don’t have to re-invent the wheel and go through the same learning curve I did to figure out what really works (and what doesn’t!). It’s all in the book. )

———————————————-

Unlock the secrets of a new way to sell your jewelry to customers who are VERY willing to buy from you, again and again, in Rena Klingenberg’s ebook “Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service” -
http://www.jewelry-books.com/shopping-service.html .

Today I was wondering what artists and crafters favorite (or least favorite) thing was about art and craft shows. So how about it, will you share with me what you like (or don’t like) about craft shows?

My favorite thing about craft shows besides all the handmade crafts, are all the talented and interesting people I get to meet.

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Get more information on finding great craft shows at www.extravaganzacrafts.com.

What would be easier trying to make everyone aware of and want your product OR trying to sell your product to people who already want it?

A key building block to a successful business is knowing who your target audience is.  Without knowing your target audience it’s likely you will spend your money trying to make everyone aware of and want your product instead of trying to sell your product to those people who already want the product you are offering.

Demographics is the word used to describe the characteristics a group of people have in common.  For instance the people who most often buy jewelry have many things in common that will help you know exactly how to market your product to them.

I’ve found that getting the demographics for any particular group of people could be especially cost prohibitive for artists and craft persons.  Most of us can’t afford the $2500 it costs us to get a professional report on who our target audience is.  I was thrilled when I found so much free information about the demographics of jewelry buyers on Google Answers http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=339097.

Of course you might find that your exact customer doesn’t fit the mould of most jewelry buyers.

The best way to obtain exact information about your target customer is to survey the people who buy from you.  Ask questions like age, average income, amount spent on jewelry a year, who they usually buy for, how much they are willing to spend on one piece, time of year they spend the most on jewelry, if they usually buy one piece or multiple pieces, etc.  Asking this many personal questions will probably require an incentive so you might consider offering a coupon for a free or discounted piece of jewelry to respondents.

One thing is certain your business will be more successful if you gather the demographics of your customers and then market specifically to that group of people.

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First of all Happy Independence Day! I’m grateful for this nation and all the freedoms that we enjoy.

Today I was writing a note to my artists and crafters to wish them a Happy 4th when I realized I should just write a quick note for every holiday and include them in my auto-responders (I can set the day they will go out so they will deliver automatically). I used the same formatted note I just copied and pasted it to each one, then edited each one for the holiday it should go out on.

I will set up pages with a free article(s) for each holiday so when my customers get the note they will also get a free goody. The free
information will let them know that I care.

Reasons you can send a note to your customers telling them you care:
New Years
Valentines
St. Pattys Day
Easter
Mothers Day
Fathers Day
Grandparents Day
Secretaries Day
4th of July
Halloween
Thanksgiving -Send Thank You Note for being your customer
Christmas
Customers Birthday

You can also send information about your products or services as well as updates and exciting news about your business. Staying in touch with your craft show customers reminds them of your business when they are thinking about buying. Sending them a personal note builds relationships and trust.

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I was reading a post by Carla of Cobweb Corner and it got me thinking how she got her prospects (people in her craft show booth) into the buying mood making them buying customers.

Read her post here:
Jewelry Shows – There’s Something about a Sale

The internet marketing gurus I’ve been studying suggest creating a loss leader (a product you lose money on in the beginning to get people buying). They often offer a free product to gain the trust of the prospect and charge shipping on the product because if the customer would pay for shipping they are a qualified buyer.

The thing I didn’t see in her post was after she had her craft show prospects in the buying mood, what she did then.

The thing I’m learning as I study marketing is always offer an upsell or a downsell when a customer is making a purchase.

When you have a customer making a purchase always offer them a complimentary product (meaning a product similar in style or nature to the one they are already purchasing) as an upsell. You can even offer a product that is twice the price of the original one they are buying. Keep offering additional upsells as long as they keep saying yes.

When they say no, offer them a down sell. A down sell can be another lower priced product, a discount on the whole set, or a payment plan.

Tell me what you offer as an upsell or downsell.

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I came across a new resource today.  I know that many of you come here looking for photos of art and craft show booth displays to gain inspiration for your own show booths.

Today I found out that Flickr has very many art and craft show booth pictures.  I saved several of them to my favorites to share with you.  You can view them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37771513@N02/favorites/.

Many more pictures of art and craft show booths as well as the merchandise being sold were copyrighted so I haven’t included them.

Keywords you can use to search for more great pictures are:

• handmade
• arts market
• arts & crafts
• holiday craft show
• holiday
• art
• art show
• craft show
• farmer’s market
• market
• craft
• indie craft fair

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Use this bracelet stand to display your jewelry in your craft show booth.

Do you have a hard to display craft? What it is? How have you tried to display it in your craft show booth in the past?

Do you want to win a free wood jewelry display?

Z28 Woodwerks (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Z28Woodwerks) on Etsy has generously offered us the opportunity to win a free ladder rack and one-tier bracelet stand.

Necklace and Bracelet Jewelry Display Stand for Your Craft Show Booth

To enter just comment here and tell us about your hard to display item?  What is it?  How have you tried to display it in the past?  What has worked best to display your item?  You can even show us a picture of your craft show items or craft show display and booth.

We will draw a winner from the entries when we have received 30 responses.  So tell us about your displays and good luck!!