Lost!

[sparklyscotty]

Nope, not the TV show, although as a Matthew Fox fan, I am easily distracted from work when that's on. :oops:

I have been in business for about eight months now, and feel a bit lost by the whole experience. I have so many questions, but amn't sure where to get advice. I know a couple of people in my industry who appear successful, but there are quite a few give aways that suggest they are struggling just as much as I am.
Maybe if I outline some of my major issues, people with experience can comment, and offer some suggestions of where I go next?

First - financially, my business debt has not gone down, but it's not gone up either. My books are a mess though. My personal and business expenses are all mixed up, because I don't pay myself a steady salary.
Second - Advertising is crippling me. I have tried just about everything but it is hard to tell what is working or WILL pay off after a period of time. I have tried big mag ads, internet ad words, newspaper editorials, press releases, direct-mail. No discernable increase in sales.
Third - the website is there, and acts as a brochure, but doesn't generate a lot of sales.
Four - Sales are up, and have been very steady since I began. My outlets are: trade, website, parties, bridal and craft fairs. There are loads of pros and cons to these, and I amn't sure where to focus my energies.
Five - My 'collection' consists of loads of designs. Do I have too many for people? Should I weed out unpopular ones and streamline my collection? Should I try for a theme for future collections like many other jewellers do?

In general, I just feel like I am chasing my tail. Money comes in, money goes out, and as both income and expedinture grow I find myself working harder for no more pay.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
-Angel-

[Rob Holmes]

Hi Angel - lots for members to ponder on - I wonder if people could possibly post the best thing they ever did to make a profit/positive change in their biz..?

[Rob Holmes]

About 2 years ago I doubled my prices (for consultations etc) - I lost just a few customers and everybody else was happy to pay more as they realised I was worth it.

Almost doubled my profits overnight, but I was too cheap before hand..

Rob

[webit]

Jeff Bezos (Amazon) said that some companies work to lower prices and other work to raise them. This means that some go in at a bargin price and operate based on max sales. Others go for few but higher value sales. (As Rob has done with his private hosting)

The bottom line is (IMO) that people and companies don't mind paying extra if the level of service matches that premium. Cost is usually not a driver within reason.

[webit]

Some further thoughts;

Advertising. The bigger the spend the greater the return must be. For that reason this needs to be seen to be sold. It is a very tactile product and no pictures are every going to do it justice. You need to be out there at places where people can see and hold these products. (The areas you list in item 4 list these outlets quite well).

The web site – Again I’d focus on testimonials, reviews etc to get people through the door (or you to them) rather than a display of products. I wouldn’t buy based on the quality of the picture so I’d focus on selling the concept with real world testimonials to back it up rather than everything under one roof.

As an aside (and probably one that you feel de-values your work) have you tried the likes of eBay to gets some cash in through the door.

[Jayne]

Hi,

Don't worry, it takes time to get a good reputation, that's when your sales will improve. You have beautiful items for sale, I think costum jewellery is pretty cheap to buy in the shops now, so i'd aim at the bridal market. I'd stop with the expensive advertising for now and take it to ground level. Start by going out to the local bridal shops, maybe up your prices a little, but offer commision for the shop owners to sell your products.

Ask in places like wedding cake shops, florists, catering palaces (who specialise in wedddings if you can put a poster up). Maybe take some pictures of your jewellery with brides waring them, show how lovely they can look.

How about home jewellery parties, with discount for the host (worked well for Anne Summers :D )

I'll have a better think! See if I can think of a way to help :D

Jayne

[sparklyscotty]

This is part of my dilemma... my prices have already doubled since I began, which has made a great difference. Now, if I raise my prices, I may lose customers from the craft fairs as well as not being able to be competitive for trade circles.
I suppose though, if I can't demand high enough prices, then I will eventually go out of business, so maybe I need to bite the bullet and try it.

[Jayne]

Hi,

Only put your bridal stuff up (not too much), the other prices are fine. Craft fayers are ok, but you'd do better with the high street shops! Lots of markets sell costume jewellery, maybe you could visit them and offer a bit of wholesale or sale or return.

I did this when I iced wedding cakes, it worked for me...got sick of making them in the end :lol: (not the sale or return bit) :lol:

Jayne

[William Wilson]

Leveraging your existing client base by up selling directly to them is one way.

i.e. offering a complimentary item because they already bought that as they head for the checkout. This seems to work with Amazon I bought two books that way, instead of the one I intended; now I look for these joint offers.

ps you have a nice site and products.

[c2webdesign]

To answer point 3:

I've taken a look through your website - maybe trying to find out why there isn't the higher number of sales you are looking for - and to be honest I think there could be a few changes.

First when a visitor enters the site you should ideally display a few products (preferably best sellers) and prices. Draw the visitor in immediately.

Next once you click on a category I would personally separate the products on to a few pages. Maybe there's too many all in one go - plus prices are not immediately clear as to what product they relate to. You also have no descirption here of what the product is. It's a key selling point.

Next - and here's confusion time. Your product page opens in a new smaller window and does not always fit product size.

If the visitors does get this far and adds a product to their cart they are kept in the small pop up window - and the cart displays no details as to what merchant will carry out this payment transaction or whether the payment is 100% secure (people are still very wary of plugging their personal details in to a site). You have these details in your Ordering page but you should also display on check out page.

From a critical point of view I think there is a few things here which would prevent (rather than promote) someone buying online.

I would use some of the budget to improve the website and make it very user friendly and visually enticing.

This way you can promote the website with anyone buying from you at trade fairs, parties, bridal fairs etc... and turn these in to repeat customers.

I do hope this helps,
Dean
C2 Web Design
http://www.c2webdesign.co.uk

Web Desgn | Online Marketing | Search Engine Optimisation

[MichaelG]

Leveraging your existing client base by up selling directly to them is one way.

i.e. offering a complimentary item because they already bought that as they head for the checkout. This seems to work with Amazon I bought two books that way, instead of the one I intended; now I look for these joint offers.

ps you have a nice site and products.

Good idea - existing clients are more likely to buy again from you.

Also on the website design - I think you need to sell these types of products with a little more emotional theme. Use pictures of smiling beautiful ladies wearing the gear.

Your main target are women - women love pictures. Try using more feminine colours too.

On the price side: be careful not to price yourself out of the market - stay competitive.

Look at other Jewellery websites - pick a few designs that YOUR customers might like and rework your website.

[sparklyscotty]

Thanks... I do have the skeleton of a better e-commerce site in the works, but it is a MASSIVE amount of work inserting all of my products into the database. :(
One other point: How do I emphasise that this is NOT 'costume' jewellery. I'm not trying to be a snob here, (although admittedly, the majority of my customers fit that category!) but my price is indicative of the fact that I use sterling silver, semi precious stones, and the highest quality pearls. It might look like some things you get in Accessorize, but the quality is the reason that it is ten times the price. It is also a distinction that I need to make to show that I am not competing with these markets, but instead creating high-quality unique designs that will last a lifetime.
The fact that people don't pick that up from the site makes me wonder how to better get that distinction across to browsers?
Maybe the tag-line 'Fine jewellery is for life... not just for Christmas' would work right now? :)
-Angel-

[Jayne]

Hi,

Sorry I called it costume jewellery, but in my head, unless it's not gold with real diamonds and stones, that's how I think of it. Dress Jewellery is what a lot call it, sounds a bit posher!

If you really want honest...I wouldn't buy silver jewellery, goes black too quick, hours of cleaning. I would buy cheaper costume jewellery if it was just for one evening, then give it to my niece for dress up. Your stuff lands in between. Too dear to give away and too expensive to wear once.

In a nut shell, I go for really cheap junk just to acessorise or I buy the really good expensive stuff (lasts a life time)

This is why I said the bridal market, your stuff is perfect for it :D

Hope this helps, didn't like to say anything in case it upset you, but maybe other women think like me :D

Jayne

[MichaelG]

Angel - your website design gives you a great platform to put this across. The nice thing about the web is that you can look at big as you want to be. Creating the right impression online is the first step.

Show off the products more and non cheesy tags like 'Fine jewellery is for life... not just for Christmas'

Your website must reflect your product price. Don't try and do everything yourself - get a prof in to help create that wining image and you focus on the business side of things - if your website looks chea, you get the cheap people and they won't buy at the price you publish.

I have to say, as a man when shopping for a present for the missy - quality as well as image counts.

[sparklyscotty]

Hi Jayne,
Thanks for your honest feedback. I agree with you, and think that is why my business is hovering in exactly the same kind of limbo as my jewellery.
The Swarovski designs sell well, because people can recognise that as a name of quality. The other designs that sell well are ones that have a 'designer' unique quality to them.
This is another reason why I need to refocus my collection.
I have a new collection launching to trade in January that is very exciting. (can't say right now!) But I am hoping that that will solve the problem.
As for silver, all of mine is now treated with an anti-tarnish finish. (A lesson learned the hard way after many hours of frustrating polishing of stock!)
-Angel-

[Jayne]

Hi Angel,

That's good to know, that they don't go black, you should put this on your home page. Then others viewing like me, will see it straight away and like me, change there mind about buying silver. :D

It's a shame you cannot get together with a good clothes designer and get your jewellery down the cat-walk :D

Jayne

[MarkPearson]

Hi Scott,

I may be interested in a small business deal with you.

You may be aware that I am about to launch my new business:

RosesByDesign - Personalised roses for every occasion

We are looking for some quality suppliers who can supply us with a few nice 'extras' that will be offered to all our customers on checkout.

We will stock extras including: wine, champagne, chocolates and teddy bears.

We will only be offering a few of each product as they are only extras to help customers bulk up their gift purchases.

I am also thinking about a few nice jewellery pieces and some pamper products.

Intrested?

[directmarketingadvice]

Hi Angel

Second - Advertising is crippling me. I have tried just about everything but it is hard to tell what is working or WILL pay off after a period of time. I have tried big mag ads, internet ad words, newspaper editorials, press releases, direct-mail. No discernable increase in sales.

This is a problem.

You need to be able to measure the return from your advertising. You need to know what's paying its way and what's losing you money.

Once you know the response, you can decide what advertising should be stepped up, what should be dumped and what's close to being profitable if you make some simple changes.

I wrote an article on this which may be helpful to you:

http://hometown.aol.com/Stevedgibson/IncreasingReturn.htm

Secondly, William is right, you should look for ways to offer additional items and products when people buy from you. Two companies that are excellent at this are McDonalds and, as William said, Amazon.

The up-selling techniques that those businesses use could be adapted to your business to increase the average profit you make per sale.

Thirdly, the best people to sell to are your previous customers. You've got a mailing list and some past clients, are you going back to sell to them again?

If you've already been going to your list with your own stuff, who else has products that you could sell to your list and share in the profits?

If you PM me your email address, I'll send you some information about marketing I sometimes send out to prospects plus, if I can find it, an article I wrote a while back about up-selling.

Those might help you think about your marketing.

Steve

[clairemackaness]

Hi Angel,

I agree with Jayne, your product is lovely but advertising is not the way to go. You need to look at who buys your products and where they can view your work. As with most jewellery I know I am always dubious about buying on-line as it can often look lovely in the photo but different when you get the actual product. I agree that craft fairs are also hard work as there are many people to be in competition with as well as high stall prices.

Why not look at parties like body shop and Anne summers. Offer a free bottle of wine and complimentary piece for the hostess and a discount if she gets a certain amount of orders etc. Ladies love an excuse for a get together and a glass of wine. People get to try out your product and then order customised pieces. Also offer a gift if the hostess gets two further party bookings and gradually your name will get around and with one party comes two more etc, etc, etc.

Good luck

Claire