Promoting your jewellery business.

I just sent my final article to Beads and Beyond Magazine (http://www.beadsandbeyondmagazine.com/) about promoting your business. Writing the articles has made me realise how slack I have been in keeping my website up to date and selling my jewellery but things are about to change. It has been difficult because I have been in London a lot with my 'real' job but things are about to change and I am going to focus on getting my latest collections on-line.

If you want to promote your website here are 10 things you can do, most of which will only cost you time, patience and some good organisational skills . . .

1. Include your web address in all your promotional material and stationary. This includes business cards, letters, flyers, invoices, receipts and wrapping. I use tissue to wrap up any pieces of jewellery I sell and I fasten it together with a small label displaying my contact details and web address.
2. Use an e-mail signature that gives your contact details, web address and a small description about your business. If the software you use doesn’t allow you to add a signature automatically just add your web address after your name at the end of your e-mail.
3. Get car-stickers made and give them to your family and friends to use. You can design and order car stickers on-line at http://www.stickers.signprint.co.uk/
4. Sign up for a free listing on www.yell.com
5. Put a free ad in www.gumtree.co.uk. If nothing else it will give you another link to your webiste.
6. Participate in discussion groups or forums. In discussion groups, you can promote your image by contributing suitable and useful information to discussions whilst adding a link to your website. The forum doesn’t need to be about jewellery. The fashion forums will keep you up to date with the latest trends and craft forums can give you ideas of techniques you could try. Try www.handbag.com or www.stylezone.com or www.crafteroo.co.uk and www.craftsforum.co.uk.
7. Get vistors to bookmark yoursite so that they can easily find you again. www.addthis.com allows you to add a button to your website so your visitors can easily add your website to their favourites and better still, share it with their friends.
8. Share photographs on www.flickr.com and show the world your lovely pieces.
9. Have an ‘Open evening’ in your home. Have a ‘drop in’ time and invite friends, family and neighbours to pop around during that time to see your work. This is less formal than holding your own jewellery party. If you want to extend it, leaflet drop a few local streets with the invitation and see who turns up. A lot of people are quite interested to know what their neighbours are doing and enjoy looking around someone else’s house but make sure that valuables etc are out of sight.
10. Wear your jewellery. You are the best advert to what you do and it feels great when someone admires a piece of your jewellery and you can say that you make it. Word of mouth recommendation is still one of the top ways to promote your business.

Selling hand-made jewellery is a competitive business and you can easily get disheartened but stay focus and have lots of fun on the way.