Celebrate and Have a Jewelry Sale

Celebrating an event and having a sale on your jewelry is a great way to bring customers back for repeat business and an opportunity to acquire new customers.

August is a great month to celebrate with these 3 holidays:

1. August 1st is National Bestfriend's Day
2. August 3rd is Sister's Day
3. August 15th is Best Friends' Day

Offer a limited edition jewelry design to help customer's celebrate and honor the special people in their lives. Why not include a quote in your packaging to make it an even more meaningful gift?

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."
- Thomas Jefferson

To your jewelry marketing success,

Randi

Get Mark Joyner's New Book for FREE

I have devoured a huge amount of marketing and pr "how to's" since I started my jewelry business. I'm a huge proponent of investing and growing my marketing expertise to assist in the growth of Designing-Diva.

I'm excited to announce that Mark Joyner who is a well known and respected internet marketer has a new book, Integration Marketing, that will help you grow your business.
He is an #1 best selling author and Dearl Miller has called him " the greatest marketing mind of our generation". This new book is NOT yet available in book stores but for a limited time you can download it for FREE! If you want to learn how to grow your business, this is an absolute must-read ( and yes, I've already read my free copy!)

To your marketing success,

Randi
P.S. You might also want to check out the great resource Integration Marketing Deal Board
too!

Two Tips to Make Buying Jewelry into a Necessity

Let's face it.....purchasing jewelry is a want NOT a need and is often perceived as a "luxury" item.

How many times have you been "close" to making a sale at your booth and all of a sudden the customer goes "cold" ? What stopped that customer from purchasing your artisan jewelry?

The psychology of the sale is important. It is important that you turn a perceived luxury item, like jewelry, into a necessity in the customer's mind.

But how???

• Involved the customer in the sale-When a potential customer comes into the booth, they will tell you what "drew" them if you ask the right questions by establishing a relationship and getting them involved with the story behing jewelry design/concept. Always ask open ended questions that require MORE than a simple yes or no. For example, "What drew you to that design? color? stone? style?"
• Try it on-Once someone tries on a piece of jewelry and can see how it looks on them, it often goes from a luxury sample to a necessity. Encourage your customers to handle and wear the jewelry you have designed. Plus, make sure you have a mirror so they can see themselves and imagine it's already theirs.

Try these techniques out in a way that is authentic and you will see a difference in your sales because your customer's can't live without your "jewelry " now....it's not a luxury but a necessity!

Non-Profit Events are a Great Opportunity to Raise Brand Awareness in the Local Community

As my jewelry business has grown, I've had the pleasure of partnering with a variety of non-profit organizations from local to nationally recognized. I consider these partnerships to be WIN - WIN relationships; I get the opportunity to support the community and causes that I'm passionate about and also get the bonus of having the opportunity to raise brand awareness for my artistic entrepreneurial passion, Designing-Diva.

A few months ago, I participated in an Earth Day event in Oak Cliff where I had the opportunity to meet Fran Anderson. Fran works in development for the non-profit organization, Texas Discovery Gardens. This led to opportunities to be involved in events held at the gardens.

I've been invited to host a table at the Organic Fashion Show hosted by Texas Discovery Gardens on Tuesday, August 5th. I will be showcasing jewelry designs made from renewable and recyclable resources. 15% of the jewelry sales proceeds will be donated to the Texas Discovery Gardens. I and other participants have also donated items for a Silent Auction.

You can purchase a ticket and help support this non-profit organization here. I do hope you can join me to support this amazing facility in the heart of Fair Park, Dallas!

Hope to see you there!
~Randi
P.S. You never know who you may meet and what connection or opportunity may arise. Always be open and have your smile on so you don't miss out on wonderful opportunities!!

Call for Entries-2009 Beading Contest at Fire Mountain Gems

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye....calling all jewelry artists....Fire Mountain Gems is now accepting applications for the 2009 Beading Contest. Not only could you win a $1000 gift certificate from Fire Mountain Gems....just imagine the PR you would get from having your jewelry creation photographed and "included" on their website and catalogs!

This is a fantastic contest to enter because of the variety of mediums you can enter in....from "findings" to "Kato-polyclay" and everything in between.

An no excuses because you have plenty of time to experiment and design as the contest deadline is April 15th, 2009.

Just remember, you will never know if you do NOT create and enter! Imagine the possibilities and create with passion!

Okay, I'm off to sketch away (yep, I'm a sketcher) and see where my imagination takes me in my designs!

~Randi

Social Networking-Face to Face

Social networking is a great way to market your handcrafted jewelry/art whilst meeting like minded people.
On the web, there are a huge amount of social networking sites (like Facebook and MySpace) but this post isn't about what you can do online but "off"!

So, where you can you network offline? Here are 3 places to get started....

1. Call your local chamber of commerce for meetings and events.
   
2. Contact your local SBA.
   
3. Find a beading or artist society and be an active member. Ask where you buy your supplies.

Can't find anything in your area? Start a group up yourself.....meet for coffee, share resources like shows and suppliers, spotlight a member monthly , etc....

Don't Let Fear Stop You From Marketing

I recently networked with other new and seasoned artisans and as we were "chatting" about marketing and PR I had a "light bulb" moment. I heard several artists discussing what they "would like to try/do" and "why they had not"........for most, it was a case of "fear" preventing them from doing anything!

Does that sound familiar to you? If it does, hear is your wake up call. Do NOT let fear prevent you from pursuing your passion designing your jewelry and having a market to sell it to!

Whether you want to create a press release, submit or pitch a product to an editor or partner with another business, do NOT let fear prevent you from getting started. There is a wealth of information on "how to's " on the internet, book store, and do not forget any mentors you may have.

Still need a little inspiration? Check out this wonderful blog post on Getting Press for Your Jewelry by Peggy Li. If your still wondering where to start, do not forget to check out the forums at The Switchboards (this is a HUGE resource...be careful you can lose hours reading posts! ^-^)

If you are serious about growing your jewelry business, you must market and get as much PR as possible so that your brand is recognized locally /nationally/internationally (whatever your goal may be). Getting in front of the public and your "niche market" is the key to not only sustaining but growing your business.

Marketing will take a "chunk of your time" if it is to effective and must be conducted on and offline (even if you are e-commerce based).

Write /type your PR goals . Leave space after each goal to document how you will achieve your goal. Prioritize your goals and take the top 2 or 3 and work on them consistently. Put a sticky note on your computer to remind you of what you want to achieve.

Here's to the NO FEAR approach to marketing your artisan jewelry!
-Randi