Secret #1-UPS
The marketing gurus call it a unique positioning statement (UPS) or unique sales position. In simple language, it’s your slogan. In just a few words, your UPS needs to tell a customer why your jewelry is the best.
For example:
o Jewelry with flash…for not too much casho I don’t sell jewelry to strangers, I create art for friendso Nothing is more personal than jewelry with your name on it
Secret #2LOW PRICE IS A PLUS
One of the chief complaints many people have about jewelry is the cost. So why not position your wire name-jewelry as the best value – a.k.a. CHEAPEST. Warning: Be sure to say, “my prices are the cheapest”…not that “my jewelry is cheap.” The first is a positive statement about what you charge. The second is a negative statement about the quality of your work and materials.
SECRET #3 – CARVE YOUR NICHE AND SPECIALIZE
You can’t be all things to all people. With over eight million people selling jewelry online and another ten million selling off- line, you can’t possibly compete with all of them. So why compete when you can sell a heck of a lot more jewelry by being an expert in jewelry making and positioning yourself as the specialist” in
o Wire bendingo Name-jewelryo Personalized Jewelryo Initial Jewelry
SECRET #4- THE TOP 10 (PERCENT)
Cater to your top customers. If you have a list of 500 customers who purchase your jewelry, extend a special offer to your 50 top buyers (the Top 10%) -the ones that spent the most money with you in the past. It can be a discount, a free item, or a special service…anything that makes them feel special.Be sure to tell your Top 10-ers that you appreciate their business and are pleased to have them as part of your “preferred customers” list.
Success key: Make sure the price of your jewelry is worth all the trouble.Don’t offer your Top 10% your low end items; hit them with yours
SECRET #5- THE CUSTOMER ISN’T ALWAYS RIGHT…FOR YOU
One of the pleasures or working for yourself is that you don’t have to “suffer fools.” If you have a few customers who are too demanding or difficult and who can raise your blood pressure 20 points just by approaching your booth, feel free to decline their business…gracefully.
Simply say that you have too many other projects or that you’re trying to phase out whatever it is that they want.(If necessary, you can be a bit more direct to drive the point home.)
Instead of letting a negative buyer suck the energy and creativity right out of you, get rid of them and put your skills to work on a more gratifying project for a more appreciative customer.
SECRET #6 – BARTER IS BETTER
Once upon a time, before there were Washingtons, Lincolns, and Benjamins in our wallets, everyone bartered for everything. Today, however, very few people use this method to pay for services, otherwise paid for with cash, so the “field” is wide open for you. A custom piece of name-jewelry with your vendor’s daughter’s name on it is a perfect barter item. And you don’t need to limit your bartering to business-related items. You can barter for another craftsperson’s product, too.
Here are just a few things you can receive in exchange for your jewelry:
o Jewelry-making supplies (wire, gemstones, clasps)o Office supplieso Advertising in your local penny savero Online advertising
SECRET #7- PICK YOURSELF UP AND DUST YOURSELF OFF
Failure may not be fun, but it’s inevitable from time to time, and — believe it or not– failure is good for you. You may fail at selling, fail at making jewelry, or fail at making your business thrive. It’s what you do AFTER you fail that counts. That’s why you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, examine what went wrong, and then get right back up and go for it again and again (and again!) until the door marked “Your Success” swings wide open.
Words to live by: Failure is a great teacher, with lessons that can’t be taught by another. The most important lesson of all: Never give up.