After years in the basement working hard with blinders on, we are now trying to work smart. Online marketing is the business of choice for many people who want to work for themselves. They want to do what they want, when they want to do it. And the best part is you can do it wherever you want. You can be in your garage or your basement or living by the sea; it absolutely doesn’t matter! What does matter is to make money your website has to be found by the right people.

Whether you are blogging and collecting money from affiliate marketing or actually have a product to sell makes no difference, your website must attract the right target market. Online marketing is not any different than marketing 101, just more complicated! Instead of marketing a product you are now marketing your website. Is doesn’t matter if you make the best product in the world if no one can find it!

When we made our first website a few years ago, we sat down with a website designer and he made the website just how we wanted it. We were busy with our wholesale handmade jewelry business and didn’t focus on the website, it was just there. We had invested money not time to understand how to make the website work for us. It was like printing business cards before you know what you are going to sell, pointless!

In the last six months we have devoted a great deal of time to learn about internet marketing and to develop our website. It takes a lot of time, but research is the key to success. Knowing your target market and creating a marketing strategy are very important. This is not an overnight process; it takes time to find out what works and doesn’t work. It is a work in progress; every day we learn something new and try to apply it to our situation.

Six months ago you couldn’t find our website unless you typed in our URL. Now we are in the top ten for several of our keyword phrases and seeing improvement every day for the more competitive phrases. Every day we get inquiries about our handmade jewellery and unique gifts. The world is slowly opening up to our website and the future is looking fabulous!

We have been making handmade copper jewellery and unique gift ideas for almost 25 years. We have built our company from the ground up. We started with just a small table on the street, we had a retail store, we have participated in arts and crafts shows in Canada and the United States, exhibited at wholesale jewellery and gift shows and now we are online for the entire world! There is no overnight success in business; you need to build your business step by step on a solid foundation to ensure continued success.

A lot has changed over the years but we still find that the wholesale jewellery & gift shows are continuing to generate increased sales. Exhibiting at wholesale gift shows is still the best way to get your product noticed. Buyers from all over the country come to the gift shows looking for new products and suppliers. Even if you come away with just sales leads, they are targeted and with a few follow-up calls you will make the sale. You are showing your product to a targeted market that has been established for decades. People go to wholesale gift shows to place orders and see your products first hand. Even the best photos cannot sell your product as well as you can.

Most wholesale buyers still find ordering online intimidating. At wholesale jewellery & gift shows buyers see the product, touch the product and time and time again they order the product. They feel confident that they will be able to sell your products. The sale becomes more personal in a world that every day becomes more impersonal; there is nothing better than making the sale face to face. Buyers associate your product with you. The relationships that you build at the gift shows will continue for many years. We have found that many of our new customers are referred to us by our existing customers. There is no better compliment.

While online marketing opens the whole world for your wholesale products, it is still very important to have a continued presence at wholesale jewellery and gift shows. The majority of our orders and re-orders come directly from wholesale gift shows. We continue our online efforts to support our existing customers in Canada and the United States and we are making good progress to attract our targeted market from around the world.

If you have a retail store or boutique these days you have to stand out from the crowd. With so many products available, providing handmade jewellery and unique gift ideas for your customers makes your store stand out and people take notice. Variety is the key to great sales. Provide your customers a wide range of styles, shapes, colors and prices. Offer a choice of materials; stones, beads, shells, resins and metals. You will find that casual sales become repeat customers if you select a great variety of unique handcrafted jewellery and gifts that will suit everyones personal style! Aim to give your customers an unique shopping experience, unusual high quality products and excellent personal service.

Where do you find suppliers for wholesale handmade jewellery and gifts? You have lots of choices but obviously the easiest and fastest way would be online. Just Google or Yahoo! search “wholesale handmade jewellery” to find suppliers for your store, can’t get much easier than that! You can also search “handmade jewellery directories”, most web directories even have a separate section for unique handmade jewellery. You can search anywhere, anytime; whenever it is convenient for you. Today you can find everything you need online without all the expenses of attending the traditional Wholesale Jewellery and Gift Shows. Everyone has a contact us page so you can ask any questions you may have if its not already in the FAQ. Online companies try to give you as much information about their products as they can. This is hard to absorb in the hustle and bustle of shows but comes naturally when you are relaxed and interested in the product. You will know the special features and techniques used to make the handmade jewellery and gifts. This information will help you to sell the products better.

If you are more a hands-on type, wholesale jewellery and gift shows are the next best option. At these shows you will see the actual products but attending these shows can be quite costly, tiring and they are only held at certain times of the year. The wide range of products available might overwhelm first time buyers but you’ll quickly learn how to narrow your search to find the items you want to see. You may just find that you can sell the handcrafted products better when you have made a connection with a real person. Pay attention to how they sell their products to you and you can carry that over to when you are selling their products to your own customers. The better the personal connection with a product, the better your sales will be!

Handcrafted artisan jewellery will attract new customers to your store. Many jewellery artists have a loyal following who will seek you out in order to buy their favorite artists’ jewellery. Look to provide a range of products and prices. People generally look for that extra special piece once in a while; for anniversaries or weddings. Have some outstanding pieces for them and to draw people into your store. More reasonably priced jewellery will sell more often to more people. Pay special attention to what we call the “added value” jewellery - this is handmade jewellery that looks more expensive than it is. This is the impulse buy type of jewellery; who can say no to unique handcrafted jewellery that is affordable and you can wear it every day?

Your goal is to make your customers come back time after time to check out your great selection of handmade jewellery. Whatever the occasion handcrafted jewellery will continue to keep them coming back for more!

Sometimes the road to success leads to wonderful places! Sometimes the road is bumpy and sometimes filled with potholes! We have taken the road less traveled...there are times we know why it's less traveled. We hope you enjoy our stories about our Handmade Jewelry Business!
You’ve got great ideas; unique products and a lot of energy…So off you go to the local craft shows! Everyone loves your handmade jewelry so you come up with more great ideas, fun and fashionable works of art! You move on to juried craft shows in your area and then bigger shows, bigger sales. Life is great! You are doing something you love and everyone loves your work!
Sales are coming in and you can hardly keep up with your orders. You have to find ways to save time…you never have enough time before the next show. Eureka, you’ve found the answer and now it’s easier to keep up with orders, sales and traveling to all the best shows. But you’re starting to get tired of running here and there, setting up, tearing down… and the sun… and the rain…and the wind…
Below are some pointers that we learned the hard way along the way in our Handmade Jewelry Business. Some of the advice might seem simple but most mistakes are simple as well!
Outdoor craft shows and festivals are wonderful and fun to do and a great opportunity to showcase your handcrafted artisan jewelry, when the weather is nice that is. Unfortunately the weather doesn't always co-operate with the show schedule. Always remember the Boy Scout motto: BE PREPARED! These are just a few suggestions to keep everything going well:
1. Always have materials available to weigh down your canopy. We always had weights like paint cans filled with concrete, cinder blocks, empty jugs to fill with water for extra protection from the wind lifting your tent to OZ. Sometimes you will have to hang on as well! This is especially important if you are in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Art Festival; the canopy was being lifted right into the air! What goes up must be held down!
2. Always carry hammer, nails, wire, small pieces of wood, string, rope and the like. We liked to make sure all our display boards were securely hammered to the tables so they wouldn't tip over on a customer’s head when the wind blew.
3. Make sure to have all extra stock in watertight containers, especially for jewelry that is on cards or can be damaged by water. If the cards get wet or dirty it can really be a mess. You will appreciate this more when you are up to your knees in water, mud and sawdust!
4. Try if possible to put earrings on display boards or frames. This makes it much easier and quicker to pack up just in case of a storm or tornado.
These are just a few suggestions to those starting out on the craft show circuit. It may not sound like a lot of fun but I sure miss those “good old days”! It was a wonderful way to spend the summer and make some money besides!