Jewelry Promotion

Jewelry Discussion
1

After almost 30 years working in a retail jewelry store, I have
decided to try to work from home.

I do have a small following but not enough to support myself. I have
be en sending out about 600 Postcards each month for 10 months now
and the results have not been satisfactory.

I am trying to promote my website at www.outdrs.net/~demark as well
as Jewelry repairs and Custom Design work using my materials or the
clients materials.

My question is, does anyone else working from a home based studio
have any ideas how to reach new clients or market their work? Any
help is appreciated.

Greg DeMark
email: @Greg_DeMark
Website: www.outdrs.net/~demark

2

Greg, the first thing you need to do is view your website in
Netscape. With Netscape 7.2, there are no graphics (background,
etc), no product photos… Nothing except black type on a white
background and lots of little broken image icons.

Also, you don’t mention anything except sending out post cards. Have
you done the usual search engines submissions tweaked for SEO?

What I saw with Internet Explorer was lovely work.
Dorothy

3

Hi Greg

You said you have worked 30 years in a retail store and decided to
work from home.

Was this your store and you closed it OR did you quit your job to go
out on your own.

Sending out 600 postcards by itself is not the answer. What was the
headline? What did you offer?

Who are you trying to reach and who were these people who received
the card.

Jewelry is a luxury item, a home setting for clients in my mind is
just “small thinking”. I know many here work from home but it’s not
the best. If you make jewelry and place it in stores for resale,
that’s OK. But to have clients in your home shop is tough.

Going back to the postcards, direct mail is wonderful, but if it
looked like your website, then I can understand. I hope you have some
“tough skin” (as you asked for help). Do you sell those things on
your site? Looks like waxes from a wax catalogue, casted and some
stones thrown in. Do these represent what you really make for folks
or what you did up because they were easy.

You’re in retail. And the prices on your site should reflect retail.
$615, $610 is not retail pricing. $599 is.

You don’t accept credit cards. Trying to sell on the web usually
doesn’t do well at all anyway, but I can’t imagine trying to sell
jewelry and not offer credit cards. Even if you wait on the customer
face to face.

To work from your home requires a LOT of marketing and a lot of word
of mouth. Are you looking to SELL your designs or do designing for
customers? If you’re looking to sell designs I’d suggest finding out
about renting a spot in a “Friday, Sat, Sunday” flea market setting
ever weekend, you’ll get more traffic and can have the week to your
self.

If you’re looking for better postcard promotions, go to

They have Jewelry pictures already done up.

Hope this helps and I would look over your past business and compare
what you really sold to what you have in stock.

David Geller
JewelerProfit
510 Sutters Point
Atlanta, GA 30328
(404) 255-9565
www.JewelerProfit.com

4

Greg, I went to your site and none of the pictures opened for me.
All I got was black type. I’m on a Mac using Explorer. This could
affect the sales that you are not getting from the site.

Marilyn smith

5

Greg I checked out you site, and there where no images of your work,
I was a bit disapointed as your descriptions sounded really
beautiful. I feel sales will only take off when you provide Images of
each item for sale.

Tina
Ireland

6

Dear David,

Thank you for your impute. I know you are a professional since I
read your columns in Trade Magazines. Yes I do have tough skin and I
prefer negative feedback instead of a pat on the back since this is
the way we learn.

As for my experience, I owned my own store and closed it 4 years
ago. I thought I was leaving the jewelry business for good and
destroyed all my records at the time. I compiled a list of people I
could remember were regular customers and started doing mailers to
them last October. I started with a letter to let these people know
what I was doing and have followed up each month with a Postcard. I
have attached a copy of one of my Postcards below. I have changed the
picture on the right each month.

I started with about 500 names and due to people moving, getting
divorced etc. my list of past clients is now down to about 250. I
also have picked a neighborhood in our area of cold leads to add to
the mailer. I have drawn people from my old customers but have not
been able to add new business from the cold list.

I do what ever work I can be it repairs, custom design etc.

I am no longer in a position to reopen a full jewelry store due to
the money involved and due to my health. I have set up a nice studio
in my home and get positive feedback about it from the people that do
come to have work done.

Any additional impute you may have is appreciated. thank you again.

Attachemt Removed

Greg DeMark
@Greg_DeMark
www.outdrs.net/~demark

7

Hi Greg,

You have beautiful jewelry and a very nice website. IMHO what you
need to do is the work it takes to get your website listed better on
the search engines because if nobody finds you, you wont make any
sales. I would suggest following the forums on webmasterworld.com
Tons of info there and it takes some digging to find it all but there
are ways to make you site more search engine friendly - and it has
nothing to do with how your website looks or how beautiful your
jewelry is. Concentrate on getting good listings on Google. Also,
stress that you do custom work - I have found that most sales come
from doing custom work. With your beautiful jewelry you will soon be
busier than you want to be. Hope this helps.

Jan McClellan
www.designjewel.com

8

Please contact the author off list at emark@outdrs.net

I want to thank everyone that responded to my previous post about
Jewelry Marketing.

A number of people told me that my website would not load for them.
I think we have solved the problem but I would like to hear from
anyone that still can not load our pictures.

I would also like some constructive criticism concerning my website
and my jewelry designs under Custom Jewelry and Rocky Mountain
designs.

I have had some people tell me my site and jewelry is boring and
common and others tell me they liked what they see. If my site and
designs are boring I need to make some changes. Please be honest
and straight forward.

I would also like to hear from people that are marketing their
jewelry through websites and what kind of success they are having.

What Meta Tags are people using to drive people to their sites etc.
Any feedback is welcomed.

Please contact the author off list at emark@outdrs.net

Greg DeMark
email: @Greg_DeMark
Website: www.outdrs.net/~demark