Promoting your Handcrafted Jewelry

“Without promotion a terrible thing happens, nothing!”
P.T. Barnum

What does promotion include?

• Press releases
  
• Advertising
  
• Marketing (yes, the dreaded M word)
• Branding
• Publicity
• Public relations

In order to attract customers and have a financially successful handcrafted jewelry business, you must promote you wearable art and your business. There is NO magic formula-it just requires consistent daily activities that produce results which means "work"! You can't expect your jewelry business to take off and be an overnight success without promoting your wearable art consistently.

It can be overwhelming as an emerging jewelry designer /artistic entrepreneur to have to deal with the business side so you must take the "bite size" approach when you initially start.

The internet is fabulous way to get started. You can start your own blog and share you art or join social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc) to find folks with similiar interests; these are fantastic tools to share your personal stories and passions that will allow you to "connect and have a relationship" . Whether you realize it or not, you are in the business of having a series of conversations/relationships with your customers .....if you tell and do NOT sell, you will blow the competition out of the water. Engage your potential customers. Whether they buy from you today or not, is irrelevant; find a way to connect with them and stay in front of them and when the time is right, they will be knocking on your door!!!!

If you have a promotion question, leave a comment so others can learn too!

Wedding-Bridal-Prom & other Black Tie Events....

With Spring in full gear and summer just around the corner, you should be thinking of these markets---

*Wedding
*Bridal Party
*Prom
*Other Black Tie Events

All of these markets need your service-your handcrafted jewelry.

But how do you get in front of them???

Get the 411 on wedding planning events in your area by doing a Google search,scouting the newspapers, picking up the Yellow pages and calling local bridal shops and ASKING about upcoming events they are aware of....

Host trunk shows at bridal events or a bridal shop (if you can get the owner's permission)....ask for referrals. Get pictures. Submit a press release....share the story behind the couple....and the jewelry she choose from you! ;)

Is your brain on fire yet??? It should be...

All these principals apply to prom or other formal events. I live in the Big D and there are always charity balls, galas, and special events going on. I continually network for exposure to get in front of the folks who need my services! Plus, I offer baubles for Silent Auctions and get publicity and press exposure just for helping my community out!

Got any other great ideas??? Post your comments so we can all learn something. Don't' be shy!!;) We all have valuable experiences to offer and often know more than we think!

How to Get Publicity for your Jewelry Business-Write a Press Release

Sooner or later you are going to have to learn how to write and submit a press release. Why? Free publicity!

There are several places to learn about writing a press release and how to format (just do a Google search and you will find what you are looking for).

Once you have a sample press release, read it again and have someone else read it. When you read the headline, ask yourself, "Who Cares?" If you can't answer that question, rewrite the headline. The headline is the attention grabber so you should spend more time on that than anything else (80% on headline and 20% on body. Look at newspapers and magazines. What headlines grab your attention and make you want to read? Yep, more homework for you.

Make sure you can get to the point in 2-3 sentences. If you can NOT, go back to the drawing board. The press release needs to get to the point and quickly if it is going to make it past the journalist's desk and not end up in the wastebasket!

Give the press release credibility by having a quote from you commenting on the topic.

Your call to action is very important; make sure you tell people to shop online at ----- or to buy----shop at ------. If you do not tell them what to do, they won't do it!

When submitting a press release to a newspaper or magazine, include your bio and company's background. If they have any questions, this extra information should assist them. Ensure your contact information is accurate in case they want to follow up with an interview! Yes, it happens all the time.

Don't forget to submit your PR online as well so it may be archived. Whenever someone searches for your business, they will find a press release which gives your jewelry biz credibility and establishes your company as a solution!

So, what are you waiting for, do a little homework and get to that press release!

If you have a website, make sure you have a page for media and press. Check out Designing-Diva Jewelry's press and media page. Note, I have my press releases and articles archived. I have made it easy for the media to gather information about my jewelry business and myself by having all the information accessible in ONE place!