In these hard times

times are difficult, i work repairing violins by day(dayjob), and i
make wood jewelry at night for a few different nyc fashion
houses, as i have been told lately,“retail is dead right now,
please don’t make anything until notified david”, i figured that i
might as well advertise my skill on here, since i am having trouble
making bills, why not? i have been making and designing jewelry for
25 years, mostly wood, and i can serve you if you wish, i have
an excellent resume, but no website, however my work can be seen at
websites of employers i work in many types of wood, am very green
conscious, use mostly local found wood, i particularly like to
make large, very sculptural cuffs, pendants, beads, barrettes,
earrings, hairsticks, combs, but i can make small things as well,
and production is also no problem, i do not use a lathe much,
carve with benchmounted wheel and flex, have many pictures as
well, i can work very cheap, or extravagantly expensive, for
wood jewelry that is, email @Dave_Piccoli, my name is
dave…

I think if every one of us who is struggling in these hard times
would post our story on Orchid it would be overwhelming. There’s not
much else to do if we’re trying to sell non-essentials. People have
to eat and pay mortgage and utilities, me included. I have no
business coming to me even though I chase after it constantly.

Margie
www.mmwaxmodels.com

I have to chime in here. Even with the bad news in the morning paper
every morning I have been staying busy. I can tell things are
different for a lot of people out there. But after 30 years of being
in business and doing the best I can do for my customers, it is
paying off. I am still seeing new customers on a regular basis. I
live in a smaller community, maybe about 150,00 in the greater area.
I do just about no advertising and keep busy 5 days a week. I think
there will always be people who want quality repairs and custom work
done. You have keep overhead low and deliver on time quality work.
Just my 2 cents, maybe worth more than that these days. Janine in
Redding, CA. Where we really need RAIN. pray for Rain.

I think if every one of us who is struggling in these hard times
would post our story on Orchid it would be overwhelming. There's
not much else to do if we're trying to sell non-essentials. People
have to eat and pay mortgage and utilities, me included. I have no
business coming to me even though I chase after it constantly. 

My only problem right now is getting the time to do the work I have
in house, but I think this is actually a good time for those people
who are struggling to look at their business plans and figure out
what’s wrong with it. Some people are still making money out there.
Apple is selling their product like crazy AT FULL PRICE. Why? They
have a good, fun and desirable product that they market creatively
and extensively. Can you say the same about your product (not you
specifically Margie, this is a more general “you”)? If you’re not
selling then you have to look at what you’re doing wrong. Are you in
the wrong area? Are you not spending enough on marketing? Do you
present a poor image of your business? Is your product more suited to
retail but you’re wholesaling (or vice versa)? Are you in the wrong
price range for your market? Are you in the wrong price range for you
to make a living? Are you talented / creative / artistic / personable
enough for this job? When was the last time you redecorated? When was
the last time you sent out a mailing to all of your existing
customers? There are an endless number of questions you can pose
about how your business is run and how it can be changed. Or you can
just blame it on the economy. Personally I prefer to ask, and try to
answer, the questions.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC

You can have some of our rain. I will just puff up my cheeks and
start blowing south. I hear what you are saying. The only
advertising I need in my community is by word of mouth from many
satisfied customers. I have received so much custom work that my head
spins and then the ladies want me to find some rare stones and set
those also, never an end when you can keep your overhead low and pass
on the savings. Just my 2 cents which is probably worth about 1.3
cents now.

Leslie

What is fascinating me is the huge increase in custom orders and
repairs that I am getting… The repairs maybe an expected thing;
the custom orders not! And some that are, for me, high end custom
orders… Nice. Not going to complain at all!

That said, my first show of 2009 will be next weekend, and I will be
very interested to see how it goes. It is a new show for me, so I
won’t have a previous experience to judge it against.

Anyone else done any shows yet this year? How are they going?

Beth Wicker
Three Cats and a Dog Design Studio

http://bethwicker.ganoksin.com/blogs/