[Jewelry making - Article 00020] - Re: [Orchid] Independent jeweler in today's marketplace

[Lee Einer]

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    My own experience is that if you are making your own jewelry and
    selling it yourself, you have a variety of tasks and skill sets
    required. Making jewelry is one of them. In addition- 

        Bookeeper
        Market Analyst
        Salesperson
        Public Relations
        Shipping & Receiving
        Buyer
        Webmaster (maybe)
        Small-object photographer
        Security
        Miscellaneous duties as required

    Being bad at any one of these could sink you, cause you problems, or
    require you to pay an outside person an amount which you cannot
    afford when starting out. 

    The hardest thing to do IMO is finding the connection with my
    customer. Particularly since what I am doing is a little out of the
    mainstream. I lay no claims to originality, I am just saying you
    won't find this stuff at Zales and you won't find it two booths down
    at the local art shows. There are people out there who like what you
    do AND have the money to purchase your work, but you have to figure
    out how to find them. Where are they likely to live? Where are they
    likely to shop? What shows, if any, are they likely to attend? How
    do they dress and talk? Will they perceive you as outgroup? Do you
    need to tailor your personal image in order to sell to them? Finding
    the connections can take quite awhile. 

    Unlikely as it sounds, I ended up in Phoenix with a fairly decent
    venue at the local Farmers Market. You wouldn't think that I would
    find my niche selling next to a guy peddling organic zuccchini, but
    it panned out; the market was in a section of town which was formerly
    very depressed but which was being repopulated by artists, poets,
    musicians and other counter-culture folk. The Farmers Market was a
    place where people came who were rejecting supermarket consumerism
    and looking to support local independent businesses. Most of those
    who saw me didn't have the cash in hand for my jewelry, but after
    being there two or three weeks they started coming back with the cash
    in hand. 

    You might assume galleries are the way to go. Maybe they are. Some
    galleries will use your stuff as window dressing while hard-selling
    their more bread-and-butter lines. Some galleries will attract
    customers, but not YOUR customers. Galleries can be as hit-and-miss
    as shows. 

    With shows, there are some advantages. The big one, IMO, is that I am
    the salesman. Galleries sell my work. When I am at a show, I am
    selling myself and my love of what I do as well as the work itself.
    Also, I can see not only what pieces sell, but I can guage the
    "fondle factor." Some pieces, people will see them from across the
    aisle and come over to look at them, handle them, etc. I can say
    "mental note, must make more like that." Not as easy when your stuff
    is at a gallery. 

Lee

 
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