Unwillingness to help

Jewelry Discussion
41 
I think the problem with successful people who aren't technically
brilliantis that they will be very scared by helping someone else
- if they managedit by good contacts and PR skills alone, they know
how easy it is for someone else to do the same!

I think the market takes care of those on its own because they
usually come and go quickly… replaced by the next “Pet Rock”
moment in jewelry.

The issue is not that they are “scared” at all but, that it takes no
effort to write an email via a corporate website - they may get
thousands in a month for all we know. It takes effort to attend
shows, to go to lectures, to read books, to study past articles on
the designer and to then ask specific questions based on knowledge
gained (i.e., “How did you make the jump from craft shows to
Bloomingdales in 1982?”). It requires time to find a legitimate
contact in their organization who can either answer/forward the
query OR alert the writer to the designer’s next public event where
they might meet. It takes intellect to turn historical events and
paths of success and translate them into the current marketplace
(i.e., Amazon, social media, etc.) - - the query has to be artful
and thoughtful.

All this being said, I just spent two hours answering a series of
questions by a school-aged child who wanted to interview a jewelry
designer… why?

Because she hopes to be one and she reached out to me in person to
ask if I were willing by coming to one of my stores with her
mother… she made an effort. I respect her for that.

Again, while there are always moments of good fortune in everyone’s
life…luck is when preparation and opportunity meet, it is
insulting to think anyone with any staying power in this industry
has not earned the right to be there or that they somehow owe
someone who has taken 5 minutes to ad lib a note on a corporate
“contact us” site.

42

Okay, have to throw my two American cents in.

Let me caveat that I’m not a superstar jeweler. Nor would I ever
want to be- too much pressure. For me it would be much too easy to
lose that wonderful spark and drive to create when one has thousands
of people who hang on everything you do, breathing down your back.

Amy, if you really want to be a superstar, you must do the work. You
must take those jewels you have made and do more than simply stick
them on a website. There are millions of jewelers out there who do
that. Take a tour of Etsy, eBay or any other web-based marketing
place, and you will get pages and pages of what you have: a pretty
place to visit, but lots of others who do what you do, some better,
some worse, and many for a lot less.

You must make a name brand for yourself and think like a business.
Ask yourself:

  • What makes my work truly special?

  • Can I describe in one sentence (7 words or less) what makes my
    work so special?

  • Who is your audience and market? Who do you want to wear your
    creations?

Research, research, research. Find out about what appeals to the
people you want to sell to. Find out who buys jewelry for stores and
boutiques and catalogs that market to your selected audience.
Develop a business plan and use it.

Next, you have to do the hard work. This means lots of cold calls
with polite and pleasant written followup, visits to buyers and
stores, participating in general public and to the trade shows, and
putting yourself out there.

You have to make a name for yourself - and yes, you are selling you,
not your work. Be prepared to get cold shoulders, doors closed, and
so on. It will not be handed to you in a hermetically sealed
envelope on a platinum platter. Be prepared for a lot of expense,
hardship and disappointment. If you find yourself being rejected
over and over, you need to take a hard look at yourself - and be
willing to change something to make it work. You cannot afford
arrogance if you don’t have the support for it!

Be prepared to have a short shelf life, especially if you’re doing
fashion jewels. These days you can be the flavor of the day one
minute and out to the recycle bin the next. Get people to help you
with the legal stuff, the business end, and anything else - and be
prepared to give up a lot of the precious time you now use to
create. Be prepared to be copied and knocked off by people with lots
more resources and much cheaper labor cost.

Last, you have many of your resources and tips right here on Orchid.
There is an immense amount of knowledge here - probably more than you
could ever think of. I am always in awe of what I continue to learn
here.

Caren Johannes
The Amethyst Rose

43

The Jewellers and others like Gucchi, Tiffany, Chanel etc, on 5th Ave
in New York, Paris London and LA, are not run by nice hard working
craft jewellers.

There run by hard nosed business men whose 1st priority is to keep
the big buck spender buying into the life style they are selling, and
the feel good factor this is supposed to provide. So the last thing
these hard nosed business men want is another competitor.

However, if you can come along with something new, fight your way up
to the top of this game, then theres nothing to stop you making the
success of what you want to do. As I implied in my earlier post, the
world doesnt owe you a living, Youve to go out there and prove
yourself.

theres no easy way to the top.

cant get anywhere else, will they actually listen to you. Then youve
a barganing position to work from.

You have to ask yourself the question? do you have this something no
one else can offer?

Ted.
Sits really nieve of you

44 
How to get in the PR door to get big name clients. Seems like you
have to know someone who knows someone or be a relative (just like
the actors/actresses). If that is not the case, these people like
Me&Ro should share for goodness sake--PAY IT FORWARD.

Unfortunately, it’s not what you know it’s who you know.

I know of many success stories where the items produced are
mediocre, at best. Having contacts does help significantly. One
artist/painter I know can’t paint at all, and has zero talent, but
she can’t get enough product out the door. How has she done this with
no talent(?), she identifies and promotes herself within an
ethnic/cultural group.

If you want big name clients, then you have to give out free stuff
first (and possibly a lot of it), or be lucky enough to have a big
name client acquire some of your work.

Usually there’s a lot of leg work into getting a reputation, time,
money and effort. I personally wouldn’t expect anyone to give me
something that valuable for free.

Just do excellent work, work on your reputation, network with your
target market, maybe send Oprah a gift :wink:

Personally I just want to produce products people want to buy, I
don’t really care about who they are.

Regards Charles A.

45

ataei, i liked these ones below alot and i love the feel of pieces
like the victorian, and the flat bracelets, also it would be good
to add totally natural elements like unfinished stone, polished
stone, wood beads, knotwork, driftwood?? somehow, also motifs with
the separations of the pieces in the cube, and as for making it to
the fashion world, join fragments in manhattan, or another
reputable showroom or in another city, and get hooked up with neiman
marcus, bergdorfs etc., is it difficult to make the plastic beads
look classy?, they look good in the photos, showrooms get a
generous amout of buyers, i think some of your stuff could easily
handle a centerpiece of some sort, and the natural materials
etcetc, david

Grey Netted Necklace
Victorian Spiral Necklace
Houndstooth
Cube
Bracelet

46 
I thought these successful ones would have felt blessed enough to
pay it forward. It is amazing how many people on Orchid who have
responded to my post have sounded so resentful of me--I was only
speaking out about the frustrations I face.

What makes you think they AREN’T?? Just because your chosen targets
haven’t dropped everything to help you, out of all the people in the
world, does not say anything about them at all, though since the
common denominator is you, well, it probably says something about
you. We aren’t “resentful of you”, many of us are resentful of your
tone of entitlement, and your dismissal of the hard work and talent
that go into success. Luck? Not likely. The talent may be for
marketing, self-promotion, business, sales, or other skills that we
all need to try to master if our work is not to sit in a drawer in
our spare room-- as well as for making jewelry, of course.

Nobody owes it to you to smooth your path. Most people, if
approached right, will give some help and advice, and sometimes more
than a little. But God (and successful jewelers) help those who help
themselves.

Noel

47 
But that is exactly what I am in need of---how to get in the PR
doorto get big name clients. Seems like you have to know someone
whoknows someone or be a relative (just like the
actors/actresses). Ifthat is not the case, these people like Me&Ro
should share forgoodness sake--PAY IT FORWARD

But that is just exactly what absolutely everybody here has bee n
telling you, over and over again, Amy. I don’t see anything in your
work that’s going to attract big-name clients, though you never know
when anything will hit. You could maybe get into department stores,
but that’s a mixed blessing. I could introduce you to someone, but
they’d just say, “Meh…”. First you need the product, you just
can’t fool all of the people all of the time…

It’s all about merit, you see.

48

Not only am I a jeweler, I have recently had another business, a
bakery where we made high end wedding and specialty cakes called
Cake City. We had a very high standard of what our cakes would look
and taste like and if it wasn’t right, it didn’t go out of the
bakery. On average we had a handful of people who would approach us
on a monthly basis, looking for work as cake decorators. They would
submit resumes and or photographs of their work. Never, I mean never,
in two years of being there did any of the applicants say they wanted
to come in and learn the business, would be happy to wash dishes or
whatever to be there. They always wanted to be the Cake Decorator,
because they had a passion and their friends and family told them
their work was the best they’d ever seen. 99% of them had never been
to culinary school. 99% of them submitted photographs of mostly
crappy work that I would not even consider selling, but they wanted
me to move over and just treat them like a star!

In all of that time, I hired eight employees. Three were willing to
work hard, two really did not have the passion, only one had it all
and her work was passable at first, and it improved tremendously in
the six months she worked for me. It broke my heart to tell her we
had to close the bakery but I gave her a month’s salary, some cake
orders, a ton of supplies and she is now getting orders and starting
to build her own business. But she never came to me and asked me to
give her a hand up. Instead, she came and asked what we needed her
to do and she got to work. She welcomed my teaching her to make a
better product, how to finesse the material to give it that
professional look, not an amateurish one. Her work improved leaps
and bounds and I am so proud of her, if I could, I’d invest in her
venture like she was my own child.

I know this is not jewelry but it doesn’t matter what your product
is when you are talking about mentoring and getting advice. If you
want real advice, I will tell you my observations.

Your website looks like a first draft of a website. It is all
slammed againgst the left and has no polish, structure or a
professional look. If web design or graphic art is not your field of
expertise, find a graphic arts student at your school and get some
design work done. It might cost you a little but it won’t be as much
as going to a professional web designer.

Take a good hard look at your pieces. They a nice but nothing really
jumped out at me. I saw some prosaic commercial looking pieces that
didn’t telegraph a masters in fine arts. But then it might have been
the photography that seemed a bit dark. In any case, it did not
convey Art Deco at all and did not show any of the awesome design of
that period, which you stated was your favorite.

If your are aiming for a bridal clientele as someone suggested,
design your website towards that demographic. You need to look at a
lot of websites to see what grabs you or you have to find a look
that will grab the clientele you want. Do some better pictures of
what you have, in focus and with a better resolution. Either have
thumbnails that will expand or have bigger pics but not so big they
take forever to load.

Sit down and write a business plan, or just some kind of goal list.
This might give you an idea of what direction to go. What do you
really want to do for the next five, two, ten years. Pick one, think
about it and find out everything you need to make it happen. Go to
the library, not just look online for someone to hold your hand. You
need to get off of your butt and stop dreaming on the computer. My
husband knew an astronaut that said when he was a kid all he wanted
was to be an astronaut. He focused on that and whenever he was given
a choice of something to do, he asked himself if it would bring him
closer to his dream. If not, he was out. That guy ended up being an
astronaut, going out into space!

You have to be totally honest with yourself about your goals, your
work, your designs, your work ethic, and your character. If you are
going to just be pissed off because people won’t give you the
attention you want, you have to ask why they won’t and why you are
pissed off.

Bright blessings and the best of luck.

49

I usually stay out of this type of discussion but I have had one
question since the OP. The same question was my only reaction, Amy,
when you said in a recent response:

(quote) If that is not the case, these people like Me&Ro should
share for goodness sake–PAY IT FORWARD. (end quote)

My question: WHY? I’m not being snarky. I’m honestly interested in
your rationale for seeming to believe that someone who has put in the
work to be successful should be expected (required, even) to hand the
sum of their knowledge over to you??

Dorothy

50

My advice Amy comes in the form of an old adage - Good fortune
(luck) is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

At this point in your career you might be best served by spending the
bulk of your time on the preparation part of the equation, and let
the opportunity part take care of itself. It will, but in it’s own
time. You really can’t force an opportunity to open up for you, all
you can really do is make sure you’re ready to jump when it does. And
when opportunity does come knocking, make sure you’re listening so
you don’t miss it’s almost imperceptible sound. It won’t come with a
warning horn or a flashing light. It’ll probably appear to be a lot
more boring and mundane than you imagine and if you’re not careful,
you might just mistake it for nothing more than a mind-bending
amount of work

Dave Phelps

51

John/Jo-Ann–I AM a jeweler, a very good one in fact (make fun, I
don’t care). You apparently did not read my email as it was intended.
I just wanted to know how I can break into the entertainment industry
to get noticed by celebrities–they happen to be great promoters. The
well-established artisans I contacted cater to the celebs. So, how
did they do it? If they do not reply because they are thinking I
would be the competition, shame on them. They should be blessed to
feel their success and PAY IT FORWARD. I have said this many times in
my responses on Orchid, so just leave it to that everyone. I said not
to take my post personally–this is just venting regarding impolite
established artists. If you feel you (Orchid members) are one, then
lend a hand how to get my jewelry worn by those who can springboard
it: celebs!

Amy L. Ataei
http://www.crystallizedgems.com

52 
this is just venting regarding impolite established artists. If you
feel you (Orchid members) are one, then lend a hand how to get my
jewelry worn by those who can springboard it: celebs!

Wow, who wants to say they are an “impolite” established artist? I
don’t think there are any on Orchid, so doubt this approach will
yield any results for you.

53

Hi Amy,

How to break into the entertainment industry… hard work and
freebies (marketing tax write-offs). Schmooze, the more you schmooze
the more contacts you will make, the more items you give away the
more demand you will create.

The businesses you have contacted don’t reply, because you “are” a
potential competitor, that’s a fact, there’s no shame on them, it’s
their business. Chances are they have had a little luck, but I
expect there is a lot of money used in self promotion.

“Pay it forward” is a very old concept (317 BC), but it can’t be
demanded it has to be given freely, and when the person has the
right inspiration to do so. Expecting someone to “pay it forward”
will usually lead to disappointment, as you’ve found out.

I don’t take your letter personally, but you must realise that the
artists aren’t being impolite, they get thousands of people such as
yourself emailling them asking them the same thing, and everyone of
those posters (including you) is a potential competitor. So you
should be able to understand why they don’t answer questions like
yours. They treat it like spam.

The only person that can help you to get celebs to wear your
products is you.

  1. Free handouts. Until you have a name you aren’t going to be able
    to “lend” celebrities items for exposure at celebrity events. Chances
    are they will not buy your items until your items are in demand.

  2. Make friends, attend events where celebrities are, go to book
    signings, give out more free stuff.

  3. Concentrate on making stuff, get involved with that. Don’t think
    too much about hitting the big time, it just leads to
    disappointment. Your self esteem with get a flogging when you aren’t
    where you think you should be.

  4. Warning This is constructive critism. Spruce up your
    website, get some better photographs. I have commercial training in
    website production, and if you compare your site to say this one :-

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep7z2z

Which do you think would have more chance at attracting the high
level clients?

Basically it will cost you money to be noticed.

Regards Charles A.

54 
But that is just exactly what absolutely everybody here has bee n
telling you, over and over again, Amy. I don't see anything in
your work that's going to attract big-name clients, though you
never know when anything will hit.

I worked for someone who did jewelry pieces for Bob Dylan, Joni
Mitchell, George Harrison, Cher, Neil Diamond, and Michael Jackson

He had a few commissions for pieces used in movies.

His work is amazing, but he spent time and money to make the
connections. I remember his wife dressing up for appointments to meet
with people at the movie studios. He moved to Malibu California to
pursue this. Link to his site of work for celebrities:

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep7z2y

There is also a way to see the websites of apprentices that have
worked for him, and you can apply to be an apprentice.

I have seen some jewelry by designers that have had work worn by
those o= n the red carpet that was not all the spectacular on it’s
own, their work was worn by someone who new or saw someone who
promoted it for the designer, the designer did not go out trying to
get noticed. People see someone wearing someone’s work and that
creates the desire for some to own it or something like it.

Sometimes someone who makes work that is not that special gets a lot
of attention as a result of a lot of work by the designer to promote
their work by marketing. There is a lot of work that is similar, a
lot of money and time is spent promoting. It is a job in and of
itself. Persistence pays off. It might take ten years for someone to
realize their vision.

I tell people there is a front end and a back end to making money
making jewelry. Front end is the making of the jewelry, back end is
marketing.

A lot of passion, strong vision and a lot of work is how some people
get where they want to be, and for some it is serendipity.

One of the best example of someone making it in the jewelry business
in a big way is Todd Reed. He hammered the market by promoting his
work relentlessly. From what I understand, he got an article in
Ornament Magazine by virtue of submitting his work so many times
they capitulated and did the article.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

55 
l end a hand how to get my jewelry worn by those who can
springboard it: celebs!

I’ve sold jewelry to celebrities, so have some of my jeweler friends.
They are just as wrapped up in their own lives as anyone else. It
isn’t a springboard as far as I can tell, just another sale. But, if
you insist that this is the magic way to success, contact fashion
designers and loan them your work for fashion shoots, same with
fashion magazines, send out endless series of press photos, something
might eventually stick. Move to NYC, make a lot of noise. Somebody
might notice. It does, however, take a lot of patience, luck, and
having the right thing, however clever or mundane, at the right time.

56 
I just wanted to know how I can break into the entertainment
industry to get noticed by celebrities--

Amy, Amy Amy… this is pretty useful for all readers, I suppose,
so it’s not really just Amy.

Bill Wismar posted today how to do that very thing, and said it very
well, to boot.

I know, or have known, various people who’s names I won’t drop who
qualify as celebrities. They’re my friends. The moment you hand them
a sales pitch, you are history… Just like everybody else in the
world, if they don’t actually like you, they don’t like you. Meeting
anybody is different from having friends. And blatant social climbing
is pretty gauche. Stick with what you know, don’t put your head on
the chopping block… It’s just social relations, not some magic
bullet. And if you have work that anybody in the world can make or
buy, it has nothing exclusive about it to begin with… I also
know a salesman at Graf - that world is like an alien planet, and the
social skills to navigate it and survive are not easily learned.

57

Ok, I will tell you how to get celebs to wear your jewelry - Offer
to pay them and pay them big money. One of them is bound to bite.

Barbara

58 
Do you go to the restaurants where people that would buy your work
hangout...

I met a clothing designer a number of years ago who had worked at
one of the big fashion houses–I forget which one. She had learned
about who they contracted with in India for their beadwork and
pricing, scheduling, etc. When she came back to Colorado, she
designed custom ski suits, with fabulous beaded snow leopards on the
back. She knew how to custom fit garmets perfectly. She had the bead
work done on flat fieces, then assembled the garment herself. She
priced them around $3000 (they’d be more like $5000 today). Then,
she’d go ski under the lifts at Aspen. People would notice the
sparkling, amazing pieces, she’d chat with people in the lift line,
and that’s how she made her sales and her reputation. I thought it
was a wonderful story.

I also met a graphic designer who created his postcard campaign at
one time for the entire year-12 cards. He researched the art
directors he wanted to work for, and mailed them a card every
month-not a sales pitch, but a friendly, here’s my work sort of
card. After many months, he’d contact them asking for an interview,
and they often “remembered his name from somewhere…” and he got a
chance to show them his work.

A jeweler I’ve met ALWAYS wears her fabulous work. If someone
compliments her, she ALWAYS says, thank you, I made it and its for
sale for XXX dollars, all in one breath. Somehow she works her name
in there too. People know her, her work, where they can get it and
for how much.

When I worked for the airlines and sold plane tickets, they trained
us not to “sell to your own wallet.” In other words, I myself
couldn’t and wouldn’t pay $3000 for a first class plane ticket, but
for international flights we always inquired if the person would be
traveling first class or coach. We had no way of knowing what their
circumstances were and I was surprised at the number of people who
DID want to pay $3000 for the ticket. When as employees we traveled
on passes we were REQUIRED to dress nicely and most of us enjoyed
NOT disclosing that we’d got the ticket for free. Boy do I miss
those benefits. The lousy pay and hours, not so much.

Maureen M.

59 
His work is amazing, but he spent time and money to make the
connections. I remember his wife dressing up for appointments to
meetwith people atthe movie studios. He moved to Malibu California
topursue this

I’m not going to pound away at what has been, but I’ll give a bit of
a reality check here. I hang out in another place online at times,
and the question was asked once, “If I have this famous person who I
adore in my house and take pictures of them, will they pay me for
them?” Much like the OP on this thread… First you call their
agent, then you negotiate a contract. They will arrive and leave at
the proscribed times and then you will pay THEM. Otherwise, why on
earth would they be in your house, you’re just another
papparazi…

Paul Newman said he was standing in the men’s room in a restaurant in
LA, doing what people do, and someone walked up to him and asked for
his autograph. That was the last autograph he ever gave, he said. We
were standing outside a restaurant here in SF and a limo pulled up.
First came a couple of heavyweights and then Willem Defoe got out and
RAN into the place with this “leave me alone, I just want to eat”
look on his face, his security ready to tackle us if we didn’t
behave. I was sitting in a restaurant and sitting next to me at the
next table was a woman. I just looked over, as people do with the
next table, and I thought of saying to her, “You know, you’re just
the spitting image of Joan Baez…” Until I realized it WAS Joan
Baez and her profile towards me said also, “Leave me alone, I just
want to eat…”

Celebrities of all sorts are not toys, they are not there for your
purposes or your plans or your profit. The reason they have layers of
protection is to keep the very people and attitudes the OP wants us
to believe at arm’s length, and to be people and live a life just
like anybody else. Not to mention that nobody at that level is going
to fly to Iowa to drop by yourhouse, whoever you are.

How it does work? You’re at a party/club/event, you strike up a
conversation, you find each other amenable and interesting, and
decide that you are friends on some level. Just likeother human
beings do.

Or you call their agent, cut a PR deal and pay for the time. There’s
a good chance they won’t do it if they don’t truly respond to your
product, though.

60 
As a sailor also, do you go to yacht club functions looking great
with your jewelry on. Do you go to charity functions looking great
with your jewelry on. Do you go to the ballet, opera or symphony
looking great with your jewelry on. Do you give away your jewelry
for silent auctions at charity events. Do you spend at least two
days a week calling on stores to sell your work. Do you do bridal
shows in your area. Do you go to the restaurants where people that
would buy your work hangout, or do you hang out at coffee shops
with people that could not afford your work. Do you send out cards
to old clients at least twice a year. Do you call them to ask what
a good show to do in their area would be, or if they have friends
that might like your work.

Bill, You just handed out some pretty invaluable advice. So, ok,
this year I will be going to the ballet, symphony, better restaurants
and more charity events with my jewelry. It’s the old adage, it takes
money to make money. If I go to places where people can only afford
$20 earrings, I’m only going to get $20 for my earrings. If I want to
work in the materials I like and they’re more expensive, I need to go
where the people who can afford it go. I’m not ready to sell my stuff
for $10,000. Still got my butt nailed to the bench. But I’m
definitely ready for a step up.

Thanks!
Michele