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Grow your business

Bead societies

March 20, 2009

Are you a member of a bead society yet? (Or a polymer-clay or metal-clay guild, or another craft group?) Rings & Things always encourages you to share knowledge and fun with like-minded souls in your area…

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“We’re here to help you”: join a bead society & meet some new faces!

There are lots of reasons to join a local group of beaders or other craft/jewelry artists.

  • Socializing with people who have similar interests
  • Learning new techniques & tricks that’ll help you “grow your business”
  • Donating your skills for a cause: editing a newsletter, scheduling workshops and field trips, organizing charitable fundraisers or educational workshops in local schools…
  • Membership is usually very inexpensive or free!

…but the simplest reason to join is for FUN! ☻☺

Do you realize how incredibly many of these groups exist? Check these constantly-updated resources to find a group near you:

There seems to be quite an upswing of interest in forming local groups lately. If you don’t find a group near you, will you be the founder of a new one?

Rings & Things wants to hear from YOU about any more bead societies and art guilds that haven’t made it onto our lists yet. Leave us a comment here with information!

By the way, Rings & Things doesn’t track the meeting times & places of all of these groups. (We’ve found that these may change.) But you can announce your bead society’s latest meetup schedule right here — so just leave a comment below to plug your group.

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

More uses for choker forms

March 17, 2009

In the spirit of multipurposing that our “grow your business” project often mentions, we’d like to report on some great uses people have recently invented for Rings & Things’ chokers.

We’ve been seeing some brilliant applications of wire-wrapping to our choker forms. A number of ideas involve wrapping part or all of the form itself. This turquoisey design is from Tish:

justatish_r_tchoker_zoom

Another take by Tish on the wrapped-choker idea:

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Dawno combined an inspiration from abstract artist Piet Mondrian with choker wrapping:

dawno_red-choker-form-with-dangles

Melanie at Earthenwood Studios found our choker blank provided a good structure to express her ongoing steampunk inspiration:

earthenwood_020

At her “A Bead A Day” blog, Lisa wrapped the entire choker form and added a pendant and coordinating bead accents:

abeadaday_universe22

In a similar vein, Tish went for a softer feel, designing a loosely ribbon-wrapped choker:

justatish_img_8742 (Tish provides a full, excellent tutorial on making this one!)

How about wrapping wire on some other element of your design? Dawno beaded the choker form itself, but wrapped the great dangles in this design:

cathedral-cut-magnetic-clasp-choker-bust

And Lisa made a stunning wire-wrapped focal piece in this choker design:

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Another wire-wrapping idea for a focal is this stunning bit of sculpture by Dawno:

dawno_silver-and-botmo-purple-swirly-choker

Somewhat more minimal wire work is involved in the hammered tendrils dangling from this “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright” choker by Margot Potter, a.k.a. The Impatient Crafter:

margot_tiger-tiger-burning-bright

What’s your inpiration for using choker forms? Share a comment–or even a picture!

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Brand your jewelry: custom metal tags

March 3, 2009

Rena Klingenberg mentioned a great idea in her “Jewelry Business Blog” (link removed 2019 because the original site no longer exists and now goes somewhere bad). Here’s a pretty artistic way to grow your business:

normal_upcycling_bracelet

There’s more than one way to use metal stamping!

Brand your jewelry! Now, Rings & Things is in the western USA. But I’m no iron-brandishing cowboy. I’m talking about a kinder, gentler way of making a lasting impression on your customers.

Mark your jewelry with small custom metal tags. They’re durable, they show that you care about the quality of the items you make, and they can coordinate with your designs.

  • There are companies who will sell you pre-made tags in the shape you like: hearts, ovals, diamonds and more.
    By shopping around, you can find these in sterling, gold fill, copper or other metals.
  • Just add your business name or logo to the tag — you can also get a metal stamp (die) custom-made with your design.
  • You can personalize the tags even more. How about enameling the stamped design? Or a quick bit of antiquing solution?

If you get tags in some quantity, you should be able to do all this for several cents to a dollar per tag. But there’s a way to lower the cost even more! Consider using metal-stamping tools, for a very quick and simple “logo”. Why not overlap stamped letters on each other for a monogram (or cattle-brand) look? And most metal stamp sets include one more more dies for symbols like &, @, or ?… With a bit of your creativity, you’ll have a memorable logo in no time at all. (Just think how recognizable the Calvin Klein “cK” logo is.)

Attach your snazzy metal tag to each jewelry item with a matching jump ring. You’ll be amazed how sharp and professional the results can look!

A side benefit: metal stamping jewelry keeps growing in popularity. You can use the same tools to create focal pendants and more…

Have you discovered other useful ways to “brand” your line of jewelry? Share them in a comment!

March news: New monthly drawing, right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs!

Books on wire wrapping

February 23, 2009

All around the world of handmade jewelry, we’ve been seeing quite a bit of wire.* This style has enjoyed sterling* popularity for several years. You can grow your business by making sure you have the skill to incorporate custom-made wire findings and more into your creations. How? Just wrap* your head around some of these fine* wire books, and make wire work* for you!

Choose from our large selection of wire wrapping and wire working books, including basic wire-wrapping instructions, volumes on a variety of wirewrapping techniques and hints, and advanced books on wire wrapped jewelry how-to’s. Because these are such popular resources, here’s a quick tour through the library.

“Findings & Finishings” by Sharon Bateman is a Rings & Things staff choice. This glossy, full-color how-to book, appropriate for novice through intermediate beaders, begins with a brief overview of findings and finishings through history. It continues with descriptions of materials and tools, and detailed step-by-step guides that progress from wireworking basics to seed bead caps and bails, clasps, edging and even fringe.

“Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies” by Heather Dismore and Tammy Powley is a best seller at Rings & Things. This easy-to-follow guide gives lots of hands-on instruction in making simple fabulous jewelry. It includes chapters on throwing jewelry-making parties, turning a hobby into a business and making money. From wire wrapping and knotting to weaving and polishing, you’ll get all the skills you need to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, pins, key chains and more.

“All Wired Up” by Mark Lareau is another best seller. Recommended by pro wire artists, this handbook is based on a series of classes Lareau teaches. It provides excellent tips on everything from making fancy head pins to avoiding “Quasimodo Syndrome.” Learn to make clasps, mounts, findings, chains and embellishments. This book features a gallery of contemporary pieces to get your creativity all wired up.

For many more exciting titles, check out our full selection of great wireworking books. You may find yourself getting into one of the great jewelry fashions of our time! When you’ve got the guidance of great wire-wrapping books like these from Rings & Things, wire jewelry is nothing to get bent out of shape* about!

*For some reason I just had to hammer* away at the wire puns in this post. A t least I marked them with warning asterisks, but… Sorry!! 🙂

Grow your business: Marketing your jewelry online

February 19, 2009

The most important part of growing your business is marketing. We’ll take a look at some pointers for getting the word out about the craft jewelry you make. Today let’s start with marketing online.

dollar_bill1

The more people that know about your jewelry, the more you can sell. Get noticed.

That’s marketing. Now with that out of the way, let’s move on: How do you make people aware of the stuff you’re selling? You could have a yard sale, but since you’re reading my advice through the Internet, let’s go right to the most sensible idea…

Be easily found. Online.

This means two related things. Have an online store. (If you don’t, how are people going to give you money?) And make sure people go there. (If they don’t, how are you going to have a business at all?) Luckily, both are simple to do nowadays. Read on.

Where to sell online

Here’s a short list of suggestions, but hang out on any crafts or jewelry discussion site and you’ll hear other valuable recommendations!

  • Etsy: The best-known shopping site for handmade stuff. Etsy offers you a ton of help, it doesn’t cost very much, it’s not hard to create a beautiful-looking store of your own, and there’s an existing community of fiercely loyal Etsians.
  • ArtFire: “Sell without fees. Create without limits.”
  • 1000 Markets: A newer site that works like Etsy: their home page features an ever-rotating selection of members’ stores and products. There’s lots of good buzz about this site.
  • Crafty Nation: Even newer, and full of enthusiasm and original ideas. (They had a “site-warming party”. You can submit your items to be reviewed. You can find people to collaborate with.) Worth checking out!

How to get noticed

Hang out where the people are. Yes, here too it’s all about community. And the more you hang out, the more you’ll hear of other places people like. Very serious advice: it may surprise you, but the single best way to attract eyeballs ‘n’ wallets online is to be a valued part of people’s lives. Better not stand around shouting, “Ooh ooh, I’ve got this for sale! And this! C’mon and buy something from me!!” Don’t lose your cool–connect with people. If you’ll take the time to show interest in what others are saying, naturally they’re going to spend more time paying attention to you. And to your wares!

Again there’s a very short list of obvious places to be:

Twitter: The fastest-growing, liveliest place to network with people whose interests relate to yours. It’s fun, too–you have to put your thoughts into 140 characters (letters) or less. A neat way to learn to express yourself clearly and reach many, many hearts and minds. You can include links to your store, or to any web pages you think are worth sharing. (Be sure to follow Rings_Things there, that’s us!)

Facebook or MySpace: These two are the biggest, best-known sites for reaching out to folks who might want to hear you. An advantage that both have over Twitter: you can personalize your page with pictures, music, or just about anything you want. Drawback: those hefty pages can take a long time to load on your visitors’ screens, and they may annoy people over 30.

Jewelry / craft blogs: Start one of your own. Use WordPress, or Live Journal, or Xanga, or whatever. (Google “how to start a blog” for all the guidance you’ll need.) And hang out reading & making comments at other people’s blogs of related interest. They’re likely to start conversations with you, quote you, and link to your blog or your store. Again, have something to say that’s useful, interesting and to the point. And in blog world, you need to be a regular…if people enjoy what you say, they’ll come back looking for you. Don’t be a stranger!

Discussion forums: Similar to blog land, you can join a few favorite discussion boards about jewelry making, beads, etc. They’re everywhere. (For an example, see Rings & Things’ Forum.) Usually when you join, you can set up your profile to link to your online store, blog, or both. Here too, be helpful and friendly, and attract good attention.

There are tons more of advice to share about particular ways of using the Internet for your business. But what you just read is the bare basics that’ll get you up and going. There’s time to learn more after you take those first steps.

Have some hard-won advice on what’s worked or not worked for you in selling jewelry? Share it in a comment below!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

*Dollar-bill image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Bead Silencer™

February 18, 2009

Val here at Rings & Things was photographing some bead assortments the other day: Scoop a sample, pour, catch the spillover in a bead tray. Which makes a considerable racket–especially if you sit near the boss, who’s talking on the phone. Necessity (or Val) is the mother of invention, so spying a sheet of foam, Val lined the bead tray, and…

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing The Bead Silencer™!

beadsilencer1

I’m going to keep this post nice and simple. You never know where a great idea is going to come from, to grow your business!

  • Consider trademarking any snazzy names that you use.
  • And think about the possibility of marketing new products.

beadsilencer2

By the way, Val’s invention is actually made by cutting up one of these beading mats.

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Bead news, good news: RSS

February 17, 2009

Yes, I said bead news. ?

A secret of many thriving Internet jewelry and craft sellers is called RSS. Use it to keep up on trends and grow your business!

RSS means “really simple syndication”. Actually, that doesn’t mean very much, does it… It boils down to getting news sent straight to your computer desktop. With RSS, you don’t have to remember all those websites that you like, or fumble through a huge Bookmarks or Favorites list.

Instead, at a website that offers RSS, you just click on the snazzy orange icon…

…and it installs a news folder right on your browser’s toolbar. Now, every time you sit down at your computer, you can just click on that toolbar folder to see the newest headlines pop out. Here’s what that looks like (*if you’re a maniac like me, who has dozens of feeds) :

Each of these headlines is clickable, and takes you into that website for full information. Why is this a competitive edge for your craft jewelry business?

Because RSS is such an easy way to keep up with multiple sites and pages. Especially ones that are updated a lot. Sites like Rings & Things provide several examples of this “newsy” material (you can click “RSS” here to check out our news feeds):

If you’re on Twitter, you can use the Search feature to locate favorite artisans or suppliers, and set up a custom RSS feed of their “tweets”. And if you blog, you might even provide an RSS feed for your readers. These are just a sampling of the possiblities!

You’ll figure out for yourself which RSS feeds are the most useful. You may be amazed how much you’ll start relying on them to point out great new beads and findings, styles, and more.

How do you use RSS? Share your experiences by posting a Reply!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Multi-purposing your creations: add value for your customers!

February 12, 2009

Another way to grow your business: Multi-purposing.

Big word. Simple meaning: Plan at least some of your jewelry pieces so that they can be used in more than one way by your customer.

noeasybeadsnoeasybeads @Rings_Things I would use a pin bar with a bail. To be worn as a pin or a pendant on the cable. [Visual aid:]

Have you multi-purposed any of your creations lately? Share ideas with fellow artisans by leaving a note below!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Never lose your bookmarked beady websites!

February 6, 2009

To paraphrase Billy Joel, I’m in a bookmarks state of mind. I was writing about book thongs the other day, and now on to social bookmarking.

What is social bookmarking?! Is that like Stitch ‘n Bitch? Or the bead society meeting where everyone does a beaded-bookmark challenge? Actually, it’s something way better. Something that can help you grow your business!

Social bookmarking is a version of the Bookmarks or Favorites function you’re probably already using on the Internet. You’ve probably got a lot of places ‘Favorited’ in your computer already. But what if you’re traveling without your computer?

  • You might need to place an emergency order for jump rings from, oh, who was that supplier?
  • And who was that cool artisan on Etsy who you wanted to refer your sister to?
  • How about showing a craft-show customer something in your online store, via someone’s wi-fi?

Human memory sometimes helps out… But if you install a social bookmarking button in your browser’s tool bar, every Favorite will be stored online. That means you can go back to that social-bookmark site wherever you are in the world, from any computer, and use your bookmarks. Never miss an opportunity to support handmade businesses again!

And when you bookmark a favorite site online, you can add some descriptive tags to it. So other people can then find recommendations by searching for tags that match their interests. (That’s the “social” part of it.) For example, if you bookmarked Rings & Things and tagged us as ‘bead supplier’, ‘beads’, and ‘findings’, searchers with similar interests could find this site too.

I should explain that what you’re really bookmarking is web pages, not whole sites. This means you can save as big a list as you want of various neat things that you found on any given site. An example from Rings & Things again might be bookmarks of our lead information page, our inches to millimeters conversion page, our blog’s main page, and The Tank bracelet (it’s awesome) in our Design Gallery.

There are dozens of social bookmarking sites. Check out a few major ones:

  • del.icio.us (great website address, huh?)
  • Digg (this is more about sharing recommendations of good information, like a neat blog post, cool tutorial, a news article, etc.)
  • Technorati
  • Bloglines (if you read a lot of blogs, this is a good tool for managing the bookmarks on one page)

Did you know, you’ll be helping out the sites that you bookmark? The search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN all pay attention to social bookmarks. Every bookmark you make is a recommendation to the search engines that “this is an interesting site.” As a result, that site tends to show up a bit higher on the screen when people go searching.

Have other favorite bookmarking sites? Use them for other reasons? Share your thoughts by leaving a Reply!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Smithsonian catalog or your store?

January 27, 2009

Who needs the sales more?

You often see mail-order catalogs that include jewelry. And you know the prices they charge. Sometimes one of us is lucky enough to land a commission supplying that jewelry for a catalog.
But most of the time, most of us need to see some sales now, in our stores.

Why not create and sell the handmade equivalent of the catalog item? You’ll be able to offer it for a much lower price, and still make a nice profit.

I have an example in mind, because I’m looking at a recent Smithsonian gift catalog. They’re selling a hand-knotted (no-clasp) necklace of round lapis beads set off with 6 gold spiral beads, for $350.
A rough estimate from Rings & Things’ online store suggests it would cost you about $24 to make a copy.

(About $18 for lapis beads,

$6 for gold-filled beads,

and a few cents for silk cord.)

That’s less than $20 a necklace if you buy at our quantity price breaks.

You figure out what you’ll sell it for. How will you promote it? “Compare at $350 in Smithsonian gift catalog”? I’m sure you can think of 10 more examples like this.

There’s room here to compete, and profit, and prosper. ?? Grow your business!