Inspired by Wednesday’s  post over at Art Bead Scene (and a long lingering thought) it’s time for me to make a plan. I’m having some bead fatigue here lately, so this is a good time to sit down and get my thoughts in order.

Define what you make and sell. What do I make? I make beaded jewelry. More detail. I make beaded jewelry that often times has a story to tell or a meaning behind it. When I started making jewelry I only used gemstone beads and sterling silver. Now I have expanded my stash and use glass, copper, ceramic, and various metals. What sets my jewelry apart from every other beader out there? I’m not sure. Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that. I let my intuition guide my creative process and tell me how a piece needs to look when it’s finished. Each finished piece has a specific meaning to it. Many of my pieces are themed after Goddess from different cultures and traditions throughout the world. I firmly believe that every woman is a Goddess and has her own story to tell, I only hope that my jewelry can speak to their own story. I try to keep my pieces affordable for the average consumer, but do make things in varying price ranges. I want every woman to be able to have a nice piece of jewelry that makes her feel special and unique despite her budget. I lived most of my life with very little money. There were times when the thing that carried me through the day was putting on a special piece of jewelry that made me feel like a Goddess. I want to share that feeling with other women.

One of my favorite necklaces from 2008. Inspired by the Goddess of the Fall and created to inspire thanks and harmony. It now lives in the UK!

Marketing: I suck at marketing. It’s my least favorite part of the process. I currently sell over at Etsy and have been since 2007. It’s losing it’s luster. It is a good looking website and has a growing name recognition along with it. But, it’s laden with a lot of “hip” jewelry that sells cheaply that I just can’t compete with. I feel that my jewelry is different from the mainstream and doesn’t seem to ‘fit in’ over there. I’m also setting up an Art Fire shop. I’m terrible at participating in forums where I could promote my shop. I’m just not that social on line. I’ve never submitted anything to a magazine, but would love to try. I’m terribly intimidated, though. I have a very hard time documenting the process of creating a piece and writing instructions makes me freeze with fear. Honestly. It paralyzes me. How do you write instructions for a necklace that uses over 30 dfferent types of beads that is strung in an asymmetrical manner? I need to figure out how to do that. Doing some trunk shows at Ashley’s shop would be a good way to go as well. I just can’t afford advertising in a magazine, my budget is pretty much non existant. Maybe google ad words? I need to look in to that.

Operations: Last year, for a few months, I got in to the habit of treating my jewelry like a business. I need to get back to that. Devoting at least 5 hours a day to creating. I’m not going to set a production quota, I just can’t work like that. On top of those hours creating, I need to devote a couple hours a day to photographing finished pieces and editing those photos. My goal is to get three new pieces listed a week.

My beading table after a much needed reset (cleaning)

Finances: Who has money these days? My goal is to support my habit. I’m lucky that I don’t have to support my family (not even a little) with the money I make from my jewelry. I would like to make enough money to start buying some higher end gemstones and findings. I would also like to make enough money that I can buy new beads when I need them, even if it’s just a few. :)

Phew. That was a lot of mental dumping. I guess it’s good that I’m just about ready for bed. I can let this percolate in my mind while I sleep and approach the day with new eyes.

What are you planning?

1 Comment »

Trackback URI | Comments RSS