hello everyone,

Currently i'm still studying to become a goldsmith,
I have got a room in my house wich i can use as a working space.

As soon as i have got the papers that are required
i want to start my own Business as a goldsmith.

The problem is,

How can i sell my jewelry,
i can not live on family and friends, and i do not want to make money
of family and friends.
But i do not have a store, and i can not afford one from the start.
my house has a bad location to start a store from.

How should i promote myself to a jewelrystore?
Should i just walk in with some of my creations?
Should i make a brochure so they can see my product?
Maybe some one here knows a way to get noticed by a celebrity,
That would be really nice.

I really like what i am doing. I hear that i am good at what i do, and do think so myself.
Now i need to make it a succes!

just need a hand to push me the right way

(i'm not from the US, so do not mind the mistakes in my spelling)

Thank you for your time

Hello. I have worked as a jewelry buyer and also created & sold jewelry to the store I worked for. Some artisans create single one of a kind designs and some reproduce a selection of work (called collections) that they think will sell well/have good response to. If you are going to do one of a kind pieces, you would probably want to photograph them for your own reference and possibly for ads the shop could use. Then you would probably put them in clear baggies or for a nicer presentation,, have them displayed on jewelry boards (can be ordered online) or made with sturdy cardboard & fabric). You would call each shop owner to set-up a meeting to review your work. Most businesses try to avoid drop-ins. Determine what you need to make for each piece (that is called wholesale cost). Jewelers will usually mark it up (double - 3x) depending on cost, value, etc. Don't undersell your work, but you need to be realistic about what a customer will pay also. It's tricky, I've been there before. I tried to double my materials, plus give myself a decent hourly wage to come up with cost. You can get formulas online. I hope this helps. Best of luck.

Amy

Hi Amy

Nice pointers there, thanks!
i do have a question though,

Since you have worked in this business,
can you tell me a bit about the down side of this business?
I know every thing has their down side, and as i want to know
plus side, I also would like to know the less positive experiences of people who know more about it then i do.

Thanks again for your response

Here are some ideas off the top of my head:

Get a good portfolio website going, you can do that with wordpress, or even blogger.com (free). The trick here is in taking good pictures that look like your actual product.

You can also build a site that offers the ability to buy the products by using a site with a shopping cart, you can do this via many avenues, depending upon your ability to build the site, there are easy ways that don't look as great, and there are harder ways that look better, and then you can hire a professional too - or a combination of these.

Then you can advertise via google ad words, article marketing, blogging, relationship marketing and many avenues such as those. You can offer to teach free classes, or document the making of each peice via video and show it on youtube, then have people bidding on your jewlry if you wish. (check out valsartdiary.com) she is really good. She sells art, but the way she does it is what is important here.

Then you can also submit pieces to galleries and museums.

There is a great site called etsy.com which you can place your work.

There are also many, many other websites out there where you can showcase your work online.

The trick is to do many of these things. You might have to get a job as a food server for a bit, but if you're good, have the right niche, and marketing plan, you CAN make money selling your jewelry.

My uncle and his wife once decided to sell their jewelry in the 80's, they took samples to small specialty stores in the area, and before they knew it hey were making a living selling the jewelry. If they can do it, so can you. That was Pre Internet. Also I never thought their stuff was all that great but they did sell it.

As to the downsides, don't look at the downsides. Look at the good and then write down a plan, and stick to that plan.

Wow thank you very much!!

This is why i'm here, I realy like your thinking!
In school They don't talk about documenting your work and show it on youtube.
And now that you mentioned it, it realy sounds like a logical thing to do,
but I just didn't think of these ways to promote myself.

I also like valsartdiary.com, i think i should check it out some more
and see if she can give me some pointers too.

thanks again, and if you get some more ideas, they are more then welcome.

greets
Deny

You are welcome :)


Stephanie