Have you ever stopped to consider how many potential places there are for you to sell your handmade jewelry? A quick perusal of the yellow pages will give you tons of ideas for selling your jewelry either wholesale or on consignment to a variety of types of retail outlets. Here’s just a partial list I came up with.

Hopefully these will spark even more ideas for you:

1.  Craft galleries
2.  Art galleries
3.  Nail salons
4.  Hair salons
5.  Bridal shops
6.  Gift shops
7.  Clothing stores
8.  Coffee shops
9.  Christmas stores
10. Hospital gift stores
11. Hotel lobbies
12. Pet shops
13. Museum stores
14. Shoe stores
15. Religious book stores
16. College book stores
17. New age stores
18. Food coops (New age jewelry sells well here)
19. Retirement homes

Read more “Jewelry Marketing 101”

As a jewelry designer, there are so many ways to market your jewelry. I’ve already written a lot of articles on this topic and feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. Here’s a local market that can be potentially quite profitable for you and get you some free publicity at the same time.

If you live in a moderate sized city, you probably have cultural productions such as ballets, plays, and theatrical productions taking place in your area. These productions often employ the services of a costume designer to design beautiful, elaborate costumes for the events.

Not only do these productions require special costumes, they also need uniquely designed jewelry to coordinate with the costumes. This is where your services can come in. Why not call your local arts council and find out the names of the important costume designers in your area? Give them a call and see if you can design jewelry to coordinate with the special event costumes. Read more “A Local Niche Market For Your Handmade Jewelry!”

We have all probably had some questions about diamonds. There seems to be so many facets that make up a great one, from the color and carat to the clarity and yes, cut. But what exactly is a diamond cut? Is it the same as the shape?

Why does it matter, and how does it affect the quality of the stone? These questions all deserve to be answered, and we will tackle each one in this article. Get ready to find out a lot more about diamond cuts than you ever thought possible!

What is a Diamond Cut?

The cut is simply the way that the stone is chiseled out from the rock it originally is, to the glimmering stone we see on rings and other jewelry. There are different degrees of quality. The more lined up and perfectly mirrored the angles of the gem are, the better the cut is.

This is due to the angles bouncing shine off of one another. A good cut will have a lot more glimmer and sparkle than a bad one. It is wise to aim for a good cut because diamonds are famous for their shine. Read more “Types of Diamond Cuts”

Hi everyone! I just completed a project and I want to share the results with you. I know many of you would like to get your handmade jewelry into galleries. I wanted to find out directly from the gallery owners and decision makers what jewelry designers need to consider before approaching a gallery.

To do this, I called a representative group of 20 galleries across the country and ask them for pointers I can give you on how to approach them. (believe me it’s not always easy to reach the person in charge). Here’s what I found:

1. Gallery owners overwhelmingly prefer that you approach them only after calling first and setting up an appointment. Drop in visits particularly during busy days are frowned upon. Several of them noted that Saturday is the absolute worse day to approach them either in person or by phone. One gallery owner said that if a designer drops in on a Saturday unannounced, she’d be unlikely to even consider them for her gallery as it’s a sign of unprofessionalism.

2. Your personality can play a role in whether or not your jewelry is accepted into some galleries. Gallery owners don’t seem to appreciate pushy designers and those who push too hard to “sell” their products. A polite demeanor and good manners go a long way towards establishing a relationship and can increase your chance of acceptance if you have a good product. Read more “So, You Want to Market Jewelry Through Galleries & Boutiques?”