Twitter Tree 2-27-2013

The Twitter Tree© will be hosted by a different shop M-W-F.

Monday: http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/

Wednesday: http://elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com/

Friday:http://http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com

Instructions:

•          Only 2 Items per person
•          Each Tweet must contain the hashtag #retwt
•          Only 1 other Hashtag may be used.
•          Please include a brief description of your item in the tweet. 
•    Keep your Tweet under 140 Characters (including spaces).
•          No Mature Items
•          Tweet Everyone’s listings. (It is not fair to others if you do not fully participate. Team Leaders do watch who is tweeting and who is not.)

Limit of two (2) hashtags. 

Today's Tweeting Items:

  New Listing! Elegant Sky Blue Crystal Teardrop Necklace by @ElunaJewelry http://etsy.me/YxZ6IG via @Etsy #retwt #like2  


  So Comfortable! Small Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings by @ElunaJewelry http://etsy.me/Lpxwp4 via @Etsy #retwt #teamwwes   

So Comfortable! Small Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings by @ElunaJewelry

http://etsy.me/Lpxwp4 via @Etsy #retwt #teamwwes

New Listing! Elegant Sky Blue Crystal Teardrop Necklace by @ElunaJewelry
 http://etsy.me/YxZ6IG via @Etsy #retwt #like2









 Also please stop by and check out Christie Cottage's giveaway! 

F&TA:: Ideal Client Intensive Course

For the past few Tuesdays, I have been posting information to help get seen online; Twitter, Business Cards, Facebook, ect. These have mainly been infographic posts. I plan to continue posting informational graphics, but I wanted to take a break today to tell you guys about this course I signed up for.

Even though most business owners understand that identifying your ideal customer is just good business sense. Most of us are hesitant to do this. Why?

Personally, I am afraid that I will not identify to "right" customer. Or worse, that I may alienate a group of customers. These are my fears.

Logically I understand that creating a targeted ad campaign towards your ideal customer creates the highest conversion rate from marketing to sales.

Look at Nike.

This company targets people who like to play sports. "Just Do It" was a tagline aimed at sports players. Just get in there and play the game, was their message.

Even though their marketing targeted sports players, the general public did not feel alienated by the tag line. In fact, generally they continued to support Nike by purchasing their merchandise. The targeted marketing just created a niche for Nike to become even more visible to the general public.

I get it, I just fear making a mistake in who my marketing targets. So what can I do about it?


The Owners of Flourish and Thrive Academy are offering a 2 week course on identifying your ideal customer.  They are going to walk those who take this course through a step by step process to identify and get to know your ideal customers by heart. Plus they are offering hands on help to those in the course.

I have already signed up and I am anxious to get started with these mavens of the industry! 

Now this course is targeted to jewelry makers. But here is the link if you want to take a peek!
http://www.flourishthriveacademy.com/ideal-client-intensive/

Weekend Projects - Emerald

For the past few weeks I have been working on creating an emerald necklace. I have quite a few rough emeralds laying around my studio, just waiting to be cut and polished.

Well I finally got time to do just that with a couple of pieces. I had two emeralds that I cut an polished, along with a few other stones.

Once the stones were finished, I set out to create a sterling silver setting for each stone that I had polished. I have only finished one of the necklaces so far; the emerald.

I thought I would share it with all you lovely people!

This stone was left in matrix. The green is emerald while the black is biotite mica schist. Biotite mica schist is a common mineral that is found with emeralds in the matrix. 

Hope you all enjoyed this. 

Thanks

Thursday Thoughts 2-21-13

Well it is Thursday. It has been a long week for me. My son has been sick and my office has been in the midst of an upgrade. So all in all it has been a hectic week.

And during this week I have been pondering sales and marketing. I have been wondering if t may be worth it to create a few new listings that are actually grouping.

Do you think it would be a good idea to create listings offering multiples of my best sellers? Or maybe offering two different items in a package. Or two different sizes?

And the other idea I have been kicking around is an upgrade. Now don't get me wrong, Etsy does not technically allow upgrades. I can not create a listing that says you must buy A in order to buy B.

But I can offer a plain jewelry box with priority shipping, and let customers know that their products will be upgrade with priority shipping if they purchase both. As long as each listing is for actual sale, then it is Etsy legal to my understanding.

So what ideas have you been kicking around to increase your sales?

Twitter Tree 2-20-2013

The Twitter Tree© will be hosted by a different shop M-W-F.

Monday: http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/

Wednesday: http://elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com/

Friday:http://http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com

Instructions:

•          Only 2 Items per person
•          Each Tweet must contain the hashtag #retwt
•          Only 1 other Hashtag may be used.
•          Please include a brief description of your item in the tweet. 
•    Keep your Tweet under 140 Characters (including spaces).
•          No Mature Items
•          Tweet Everyone’s listings. (It is not fair to others if you do not fully participate. Team Leaders do watch who is tweeting and who is not.)

Limit of two (2) hashtags. 

Today's Tweeting Items:

Exclusive Executive Fashion! Purple and Green Bib Pearl Necklace by @ElunaJewelry http://etsy.me/ThzGkB via @Etsy #retwt #like2

 

 

Stunning! Blue Lace Agate Earrings by @ElunaJewelry http://etsy.me/O8hc0w via @Etsy #retwt #boebot

 

Also please stop by and check out Christie Cottage's giveaway! 

Business Card Psychology

Today's info-graphic is all about creating the perfect business card. This graphic examines the effects of color, font, and spacing play on the impression your card leaves on others. Enjoy.

Source: visual.ly via RingCentral on Pinterest

Thursday Thoughts

Well lets start out with a wonderful Happy Valentine's Day!

I do not know if you watched the Superbowl, or have seen any of the commercials from the Superbowl, but you have probably at least heard of these.

Like many people, I fell in love with both of these commercials. One was just plain cute and the other really touched home. So on this Valentine's day, I hope you enjoy!

And my other Favorite!







Hope you enjoyed them!

Twitter Tree 2-13-2013

The Twitter Tree© will be hosted by a different shop M-W-F.

Monday: http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/

Wednesday: http://elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com/

Friday:http://http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com

Instructions:

•          Only 2 Items per person
•          Each Tweet must contain the hashtag #retwt
•          Only 1 other Hashtag may be used.
•          Please include a brief description of your item in the tweet. 
•    Keep your Tweet under 140 Characters (including spaces).
•          No Mature Items
•          Tweet Everyone’s listings. (It is not fair to others if you do not fully participate. Team Leaders do watch who is tweeting and who is not.)

Limit of two (2) hashtags. 

Today's Tweeting Items:

Picasso Jasper Stone Bracelet  http://etsy.me/LAOhUn via @Etsy #retwt  #Sharethelove

Deschutes Picture Jasper Pendant http://etsy.me/PSnKm0 via @Etsy This is natural art at its best #retwt #like2

 

Also please stop by and check out Christie Cottage's new giveaway! 

Best time to Post of Facebook

I found this great infographic about the best times to promote on Facebook, so thought I would share it with you.

Source: amazinginfographics.blogspot.com via Mika on Pinterest

So to break it down.

• It is best to post once a day sometime between 8pm and 7am if you would like to increase your interactions. 
• Posting more than 7 times per week, can actually hurt your interaction rate.
• Generally speaking, posts on the weekend tend to get more interactions than posts during other times of the week.
• General retail fan pages tend to get good interactions first thing on Monday morning.
• Fashion fan pages have the best rates on Thursdays. 
• Advertising and Consumer Goods get higher interactions on the weekends.

The best advice from looking at this infographic.
Post once a day, but save your best posts for the weekend. 

Jewelry Boxes - Part 1

As I mentioned before,  I have been working on creating a nice box for my larger jewelry pieces. It is very easy to find jewelry boxes for pendant type necklaces. But for necklaces like collars or pearls, it is hard to find a nice box for them. So I have set out to make a few for my own creations.

It started a couple of weeks ago. I bought two unfinished boxes. I brought them home and began to stain them with a glossy stain. The problem is once dried, I broke one of the boxes.

So I went out yesterday and bought two more boxes. Both were finished. I am not ready to tackle the stain again!

I also purchase a product called Chacopaper.. I used the Chacopaper to transfer my logo onto the boxes.

At this point, I simply trace my logo with a pencil. The Chacopaper will transfer it onto the box in chalk, which is very easy to remove if there is an error.

From this point, I simply paint the outline!

 Next I will tackle installing a lining, but I need to get the lining I want first!

So what do you think about these beauties!

Jewelry Spotlight - Hypo-allergenic Necklace

One of the more common comments I hear at shows goes something like this.

"Your work is beautiful, I wish I could wear it."
"Why can't you wear the jewelry?"
"I can't wear most jewelry. I have nickle allergies (or metal sensitives)"

This really hits home for me. My mother is the same way, she can not wear most jewelry because she will break out from anything except 14 kt solid gold. We recently found out that she can also wear niobium! That was very exciting for me, because now it means that I have a metal I can create new jewelry for her.

I feel for those who have issues wearing jewelry. So I recently made the decision to create a line of jewelry just for people with metal sensitives. Today I am going to feature one of those pieces!

Meet the Crazy Horse and Picasso Jasper Necklace!

This beautiful stone necklace is made from several types of jasper stones in varying shapes. It is stunning. But that is not what makes it so special. 

I created this necklace without using any metal! The clasp is a handmade beaded toggle clasp. It was created to blend into the design while still providing a secure closure.  Here check out the clasp! 

Since there is no metal in this necklace, it is truly hypo-allergenic. I am planning to create more of these type of necklaces in the future. If you know someone who has metal allergies, check out my designs. You may find a new design just for them! 

Get out There

For a while I have been wondering why I feel as if I am not connecting to my customers. Don't get me wrong, I adore my customers. They are my bread and butter. But I have always felt a wall between myself and the majority of those I do business with.


I always try to maintain a level of professionalism with my business. But I am wondering if trying to be professional all the time may be coming off in the wrong way. I wonder if people may find me more personable if I blurred the line a bit.

So today I thought I would blur the line a little. I want to introduce you to myself and my family.

This is me! My name is April.

I am a wife, a mother, a chemist, and a jewelry designer. Like many people I have a forty hour a week job. And when I get home, I have a rambuctious four year old vying for my attention. I will admit I would not change that for anything in the world.  My son is the center of my world, but don't tell him that {he already thinks he should be in control of everything :)}

This is my husband. Mike.

He is my rock. He is the person that encouraged me to begin creating jewelry and to try my hand at creating a business.  He helps me at shows, and is very good with selling my work at shows. He jokes a lot that he is cheap labor and transportation. But he is so much more. He is my support and sometimes I think my biggest fan.

When he is not working, he enjoys playing guitar, and video games.

And finally my pride and joy!. This is my son CJ.

CJ loves Cars and Monster Jam. He is a sweet child, always wanting to make people smile. He is a ham too! He loves making silly faces just to hear you giggle. Like Mike, CJ is also a big supporter of my jewelry. With each new piece I make he makes sure to tell me how pretty he thinks it is.

I am glad you stopped by to meet my family. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here.  :)

Twitter Tree 2-6-2013

The Twitter Tree© will be hosted by a different shop M-W-F.

Monday: http://christiecottage.blogspot.com/

Wednesday: http://elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com/

Friday:http://http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com

Instructions:

•          Only 2 Items per person
•          Each Tweet must contain the hashtag #retwt
•          Only 1 other Hashtag may be used.
•          Please include a brief description of your item in the tweet. 
•    Keep your Tweet under 140 Characters (including spaces).
•          No Mature Items
•          Tweet Everyone’s listings. (It is not fair to others if you do not fully participate. Team Leaders do watch who is tweeting and who is not.)

Limit of two (2) hashtags. 

Today's Tweeting Items:

Sold and Relisted! Medium Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings by @ElunaJewelry http://etsy.me/ooP9cu via @Etsy #retwt #like2

RT Sold and Relisted! Tiny Modern Gold Hoop Earrings http://etsy.me/SNwhUz @ElunaJewelry  via @Etsy #retwt #ValentinesDay