Do you want to turn your handmade hobby into a highly profitable business?
In this video,
I'm going to share five steps for starting your online jewelry business and I'll
give you a free and powerful advertising strategy that I still use to this date
to promote your products when you're just starting out to promote your products.
When your, my name is Mei and I help makers,
artists and designers create a consistent income selling their handmade products
online.
I've been selling my own handmade jewelry at tinyhandsonline.com for over 14
years and it is such a dream that I've been able to turn my hobby into a career.
Well,
it has gotten a little bit crowded in the jewelry market since I first started,
but in the us alone,
the jewelry industry continues to generate about $70 billion a year in sales.
So if you follow the tips I'm going to share with you in this video,
you can still carve out pretty good slice of that pie for yourself.
Starting a handmade jewelry business comes with its unique set of challenges as
with everything, right?
But I can tell you from personal experience that the pros far outweigh the
challenges you'll face.
Handmade jewelry making is a low investment business with incredibly high
earning potential.
If you can find the right types of customers for your products,
and if you love being creative and working with your hands,
it won't even really feel like work half the time.
It's also one of those businesses you can start on the side.
So if you don't want to or simply can't dedicate your full time to starting a
business,
you can start putting your craft out there one step at a time until you're ready
to make the full transition.
So whether you're looking to start a profitable business, uh,
first thing tomorrow,
or you want to slowly turn your hobby into a full time income,
here are the five steps you'll want to follow. Number one,
you need to find your unique angle.
The jewelry industry is very profitable right now,
but it's definitely a little bit oversaturated.
So in order to be successful in 2020 and in future years,
you'll need to set yourself apart by finding your own unique angle.
You can separate yourself from the rest of the people making jewelry with a new
jewelry making method or revive an old school technique by giving it a whole new
spin that hasn't been done before.
There are so many variables in jewelry making that can help you distinguish
yourself like the theme your jewelry follows,
the types of materials you use and the kind of audience you cater to.
You may want to serve a mainstream audience by getting into fashion costume
jewelry, which is more trendy and uses affordable materials like beads,
wire played at metal end, synthetic gems,
or you can focus on fine jewelry using more precious metals and gems,
which is a little more niche but sells at a much higher price point. However,
those are just the broad categories of your jewelry business and to really set
yourself apart, you want to niche down even further.
There are many ways you can achieve this.
You can combine separate niches into one idea like what I did with my food
jewelry or you could base your designs around a specific occasion or lifestyle,
which is what QALO has done.
QALO is all about family oriented couples who are proud of their relationships
but are bored by the traditional and usually pretty expensive metal wedding
rings.
Another unique designer is Vivian Frank who combines Bohemian style jewelry with
more urban designs and only uses a fair trade materials which are ethically
sourced in the U S she handcrafts everything herself and once a collection is
sold out, it's gone forever,
which only adds to the uniqueness and exclusivity of her brand.
The point is to study your competition and potential customers and start asking
yourself questions like,
can I cater to a certain hobby or interest or niche or group of people?
Can I build my jewelry around a specific trend or lifestyle?
Can I source special materials or design them using a unique method?
Will I do customizations?
Can I add special features or benefits to my jewelry that others don't have?
You can use sites like Instagram at Pinterest and jewelry blogs to start
gathering some ideas that inspire you and eventually come up with your own
unique twist, right? That's how you'll stand out in a competitive market.
I promise you,
even though it feels like there's no way to make anything unique these days,
if you try and dig deep enough, you can find something now,
it's not going to be easy because if it were,
there would be far more people selling jewelry online than there are today.
Having said all of that being unique is only one part of the formula.
You want to make sure there is a fine balance between what you love doing and
what your customers want. If you're not passionate enough about your craft,
you'll have a hard time sustaining your business and if you only make jewelry
for yourself and don't take into account your customer's feedback and their
desires and what they want,
you're going to have a hard time selling balance is where it's at. Now,
I won't get into the nitty gritty of finding your specific angle right now,
but I'll link a video in the description below where I'll show you exactly how
to stand out in a saturated market. Number two,
you need to master your craft.
Now you don't need it to be a master artist with a PhD and multiple degrees to
start out,
but you know some of the biggest brands in the business are still refining their
craft to this day.
You do need it to reach a level of skill that customers are willing to pay for
them, but even with me with tiny hands and my scented food jewelry,
I learned everything I know through watching YouTube videos and going onto blogs
and just doing a lot of trial and error.
Depending on the kind of jewelry you'll be making,
there are different techniques you may want to learn such as soldering
goldsmithing, maybe even 3-D printing, weaving.
There's just so many techniques you could learn.
There are several places you can go to learn the crafts you'll need to design
and develop beautiful products. You can start by going to local jewelry.
Making classes in your spare time,
which is a great way to start connecting with people in the industry or you
might want to consider a more formal education at schools like the American
school of jewelry and the Jewelers Academy. That being said,
you don't need to earn some full fledged diploma and jewelry making because
think about it,
when was the last time you bought jewelry based on the designer's level of
education? You're never, at the end of the day,
all it comes down to is whether your customers like your art and are looking to
buy what you're selling. That's why I highly recommend online courses,
not just because they're affordable but because the internet gives you access to
all kinds of online courses in specialized skills that you might not be able to
find in your local area.
Websites like my blueprint.com bead location and you to me are free or very
affordable resources offering online jewelry,
making courses from experts in their fields. Number three,
it's time to set up your workspace and gather your supplies together.
If you're starting from home, you'll need a workspace that is comfortable,
accessible, and well organized. You want to be able to work efficiently.
You might also need special equipment depending on the style and technique of
your jewelry designs, right?
You may need to budget for things like a soldering iron, a laser cutter,
or even a three D printer if you're making your pieces from scratch or you may
just be ordering preexisting elements like chains and wires and beads,
in which case you'll only need some basic tools like a good pair of pliers and a
hammer and some wire cutters. If your budget's low,
assembling premade supplies is an easy and affordable way to get started with
making jewelry, whichever route you choose.
You'll want to make sure you have a steady and reliable source of supplies for
your jewelry. You can ask other makers who their suppliers are,
but just bear in mind, this information is usually trade secret,
so don't be upset if no one wants to tell you or you can find your own suppliers
online. Some great places to start are websites like fire mountain gems,
Rio Grande, Bead-a-Holique,
and RingsThings I recommend not going too crazy when first stocking up and
buying just enough supplies for a line of 10 to 12 pieces.
Once you see which pieces do best with your audience,
you'll know which supplies you need to buy more off in the future.
Another good way to lower starting costs is to use the same materials for
different items in your line. Once you've prepared your first batch of jewelry,
you need to get some product pictures done. If you're just starting out,
you can learn to take some really good pictures using minimal equipment and your
smartphone. Alternatively,
you can outsource it to a professional photographer at affordable prices on
sites like fiverr.com not with your products and pictures ready.
You're now ready to set up shop and start selling. So number four,
set up your shop online.
There's a lot of ways you go about selling your jewelry and eventually the more
you diversify,
the better you can sell your products at various fairs and even get into
wholesale later on. But as a new business owner,
the bulk of your sales are going to come from online,
which is exactly where I suggest you get started.
Before you look into big marketplace sites like Amazon and Etsy,
though I suggest starting your own shop on Shopify,
Shopify as a reliable online shop builder platform that's incredibly easy to get
started with and offers a ton of powerful marketing tools. Now,
I'm not going to get too deep into why I recommend Shopify over marketplace
sites like Etsy or Amazon, but if you want to know,
I do have a video talking about that here.
Shopify allows you to build your own site that you have full control over.
Unlike marketplace sites like Etsy and Amazon,
having your own store allows you to do things like build an email list,
retarget your site visitors with your own personalized ads.
I know these things make it so much easier to build a more loyal following and a
returning customer base, which is what you need for longterm business.
You should never rely exclusively on sites like Etsy and Amazon for your
customers.
It's like you're a guest on those marketplaces and they're constantly updating
their rules,
which could negatively affect your business from one day to the next.
It's a roller coaster.
Being in business for yourself and being on marketplace sites exacerbates that
problem so much is out of your control and Etsy and Amazon and in fact,
I see just recently made some not so great changes for a sellers and while I
continue to use their platform, I'm glad it's not my only source of income.
Whichever way you go about it,
your own website should always be the core of your business.
You'll have a lot more freedom and control and it'll have a lot more longevity
and endurance. Number five, market your products. All right.
Once you've gotten your products online,
it's time to get them in front of your potential customers,
but where do we begin? Right?
There are so many ways you can promote your products online.
You've got paid advertising like Facebook ads and Google ads,
although they're insanely effective.
They're a steep learning curve and most people jumped in and lose money because
they're not prepared. Paid ads requires a lot of testing to do well with.
It's like you have to be a scientist and you're always experimenting until
something sticks and then there's also organic social media like Instagram and
Facebook. Lots of other shops are doing this, but seriously,
it's a very slow burn way of promoting your business online.
There's so much competition on social media.
It will take years before you make any meaningful, consistent sales from there.
So for those of you who are just starting out,
I'm going to give you a far more powerful and free marketing strategy I still
use to this day. In fact,
you can run your entire business using this method alone without ever needing
any paid advertising.
And that method is influencer marketing and media outreach.
They're kind of the same thing.
Influencer marketing and media outreach is especially effective when it comes to
fashion and lifestyle products like jewelry.
It's one thing to see a picture of a nice necklace,
but it's a whole other thing to see that necklace on a person you admire or look
up to or displayed on the pages of a magazine that you love reading.
If you can get someone who has a really big audience,
I'm talking like tens of thousands and upwards to wear and promote your products
on a platform like Instagram or YouTube or on their own website or on their
magazine,
chances are high that their followers will become your loyal customers as well.
But how do you get influencers and movers and shakers to work with you for free,
especially when you're just starting out? Aren't they expensive? Right. Well,
that's why I suggest working with micro-influencers or highly specific and
targeted influencers so they can have a huge following.
They just have to be very specific to your product.
And regarding micro influencers,
these are people who have a few thousand or you know,
a smaller following of highly engaged followers,
but they're still on the rise or what I mean by like highly targeted and
specific influencers or magazine outlets.
These are people who have huge audiences, but who don't get pitched jewelry.
Very often.
Influencers are always looking for interesting content ideas for their audience.
So by sending them a free product,
you know the love and providing them with an exclusive discount coupon code that
they can share with their fans.
You're actually giving them valuable content for their audience,
which in turn allows them to grow. Sure,
you'll need to cover the cost of making and shipping them your jewelry,
but even if a single person buys your product, you'll have major money back.
Also, don't forget that influencers are also friends with other influencers.
Getting your products out there is always going to be better than just keeping
your products at home. That's how my jewelry got on the TV show,
parks and recreation where Amy Poehler wore one of my necklaces.
It was because my jewelry was featured on a small bloggers website and the
wardrobe stylist of the TV show happened to be a reader of that site and found
my work on there. You could end up on bigger influencers,
radars just from the mere act of putting yourself out there.
Influencer and media outreach is so powerful.
It's how I started and established a consistent income for all my businesses.
If you want to learn more about how to do this,
I'll include a link here for a step by step video tutorial.
I've been selling my own handmade jewelry at tinyhandsonline.com for over 14
years, and it is such a dream.