The reason some people fail when selling handcrafted jewellery and what you can do to avoid becoming one of them

Years ago I had a light bulb moment. I was going for a job interview on a magazine. The position was as a sales executive selling advertising space. I didn’t know at the time but I was going into one of the hardest professions in the world – selling blank space is not easy.

I hadn’t planned to go into sales and I didn’t consider myself to be the stereo-typical salesman type, but I needed a job that paid (it was the recession of the 80’s) and I knew that these jobs paid well.

Whilst at the interview, the man interviewing the 19 year old girl in front of him said, what do you do when you call someone up and try and sell them some space and they say no. I said, well I would just move onto the next client, and try my luck with them. After all I couldn’t do anything to make someone buy something. That is where I was wrong.

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Letter template for introducing your jewellery to shop owners

Letter template for introducing your jewellery to shop owners.

One of the fundamental things that most people don’t realise when selling their jewellery to stores, is the fact that shops are not going to stock your jewellery as a favour to you. They have to be sold to and convinced that you jewellery will sell and make them profit.

Here are some ways which will greatly increase your chances of store owners stocking your jewellery.

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What are focal beads and how should you use them?

Focal beads are beads which draw the attention of the eye and become the focal point for your piece of jewellery.

In most cases the bead is handmade and more often than not a lampwork bead which has special detailing that make the bead stand out from other regular beads  .

Using focal beads is a great way to minimise costs in jewellery design whilst making the jewellery appear unique and different. And the use of focal beads in jewellery design also prevents jewellery designers from making classic design mistakes by overloading jewellery with competing beads which scream out for attention and detract from the overall look of the jewellery.

Focal beads can range in price from a few pence to a few pounds or dollars. Some Individual glass blowers make their living from creating really unique focal beads. These beads are also sometimes referred to as art beads, and they can in fact be works of art in themselves.

To source unique art or focal beads it is worth getting in touch with individual designers who often belong to glass blowing or beading guilds and having a look at their work.

Below is an example of using a focal bead.

The red focal bead takes centre stage. Co-ordinating red beads are selected and crystal bicone beads in an olivine colour pick up on the accent colours of the main focal bead.

Try http://www.gbuk.org/pages/gallery/marion-sidebottom/ for a look at what is happening in the UK

Try http://www.aussiebeadmakers.com/ for a look at what is happening in Australia

http://www.isgb.org/ Here is the international association of glass bead makers based in the USA

Ladder Bracelet

Jewelry Project

An eastern inspired design blending the best in ancient and contemporary style.

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