How To Start A Successful Jewelry Business | The Ultimate Guide
How do you start a jewelry brand, i've got the answer with nine tips to get you started today, make sure that you stick around till the end because tip number eight, is to think outside the box way to get your business, off the. Ground. Right when startup brand finley jewelry launched, they got 15, 000 orders and they did it by giving away real gold and silver jewelry away for free, and yet they still remain profitable. So we'll talk all about that and how to market your business in tip number eight hi i'm your host michelle bally and in this video, you're gonna learn how you can start your own jewelry business, this video is perfect for people who have never started. Any type of business before and need needs step-by-step, instructions, so if you have a passion for jewelry, and want to turn it into a profitable, business then you're in the right place. Grab a drink get settled because this is going to be a complete, guide, we're going to go from top to bottom, from finding your manufacturers. To running the financial side of your business, and then we'll look at effective marketing strategies. I was one of the first hires at findlay so i'll uncover, what the day-to-day, is actually like working for a startup jewelry brand, and what you can expect when you're starting your own jewelry company. Define, who you are as a brand, so you're going to want to define your brand story. With the amount of choice that consumers, have you can't really get away with not having a brand story your brand story will make you memorable, and it will build an emotional, connection with your audience. So for example. Finley's brand story is centered around ethics, and sustainability. The jewelry industry can be pretty nasty, where the environment, and workers are exploited. So finley's brand story hits three main points. People. Product. Planet they're good to their people, they sell superior, products, and they take care of the planet. Super simple, ask yourself these questions to get you thinking about what your brand story could be. Is there something interesting, about the way that i've started, or will start my company.
Maybe You have a story about how you realize that the world needed your products. Ask yourself, do i stand for a specific, cause, a portion of your sales could go towards building schools for example. And ask yourself can my products solve a problem. Maybe you make replica, diamonds that stay sparkly, and shiny forever. Ask yourself these questions, and stick to one idea, sticking to one main message will make it very easy for your consumer to understand, your values. Decide what kind of jewelry you'll sell, after figuring out your brand story you'll be able to narrow down, what kind of jewelry you'll sell. Family for example, focuses, on delicate, and dainty pieces. So start by thinking about the design. Do you want to sell everyday pieces, or cocktail, party style pieces. Also consider the material. Do you want to sell gold plated jewelry, or solid gold jewelry, you can even play with other materials, like pearls, beads, and silver, which by the way are all on an upward trend during the time of filming this video. You can also look at google trends to identify, any upcoming, styles that you might want to capitalize, on, to do this just visit, trends.google.com. And type in a keyword to see how many people are searching for it in different parts of the world. Define your target audience. Having a good understanding, of your target audience, and creating messaging, around what they can relate to, will exponentially, increase the amount of sales that you make, and how well your marketing campaigns perform, so you don't want to miss this step with finley for example, our audience values a good deal. Our emails that go out surrounding, a sale make thousands of dollars whereas emails with product drops don't really perform, as well, step number one is profiling, your target customers, by looking them up on social media. You can literally, use instagram, stories to find out what your target audience lives are like, so look at what they do on a day-to-day basis, what kind of homes they live in where they spend time, and what music they listen to. You want to be as in tune with your target audience as you are with your close friends. That way when it comes time to make a decision, like dropping a new collection, or featuring an influencer, you'll know exactly what they want to see you can also look on reddit to see what people are talking about as it relates to the jewelry industry. Just did a little peruse myself, and saw that people are interested, in matching jewelry sets, jewelry, cleaning tools and wedding rings. Reddit, is a gold mine of honest information, because people feel safe enough to express their true opinions. And converse with each other. So by doing those two things you'll have an idea of who your audience are as people, and their feeling towards certain aspects, of the jewelry industry. Create your visual identity. Unless you're a graphic designer, i would recommend that you work with someone to do this step with you, your visual identity, includes your logo. The fonts that you use and your brand colors, check out fiverr freelancer, upwork and behance. These are platforms, that are going to connect you to a graphic designer, look at password, and make sure that they understand, your vibe, ask them to create a style guide and a logo. A style guide is a document that outlines what your brand looks like, work with a designer by communicating, what you're going for. But in order to stay unique, try not to rely, too heavily on visual examples. Otherwise, you might just end up looking like every other brand. Let's look at sourcing your products, starting with the materials 101. So let's go through a crash course on materials, so that you understand, the price point and the quality of each, solid gold, or 24, karat gold is the most pure gold, however you can't use this in jewelry because it's too soft and it'll get damaged. So gold is mixed with other alloys, like silver and copper. The higher the carrot the higher amount of gold, in the piece. The most common types of carrots are 10 14, and 18 karat gold the more gold in your piece the richer the color and the more expensive. Gold vermeil, is sterling, silver that's been gold plated, this is a good option for businesses that want to provide an affordable, piece, but keep in mind that these don't hold well in water, and they can tarnish. So if you're selling gourmet pieces make sure that you have a care section on your website to avoid any customer complaints, and returns. Gold-filled, jewelry contrary, to the name is not actually filled with gold rather it's a thick layer of gold that's bonded to another metal like brass. Gold filled is more expensive, than vermeil but if it's taken care of it can last as long as solid gold and won't tarnish, wearers who have sensitive skin can wear it without worries of an allergic reaction. Silver, and stainless steel, are trending metals in street wear, these metals are affordable, for businesses that are just starting out, and they're durable.
Unlike Other metals like copper brass, and aluminum, silver and stainless steel will never turn your finger green. Find a manufacturer, or a supplier. When you're finding a manufacturer, or supplier, there's three ways that you can go about this, you can go directly to the manufacturer. You can buy wholesale, or you can work with a local artisan, to work directly with a manufacturer, check out alibaba. Dhgate, and aliexpress. So right now we're on alibaba.com. Type in a keyword, i'm going to pretend i'm selling initial necklaces. Now, when we find something that catches our eye, we're going to want to do some vetting. Check out reviews, and actually read them, take a look at the prices, and the minimum order quantity, i recommend starting with no more than 10 pieces of each style. You want to test the market before tying up all your funds and inventory. The price of shipping will change depending on what your order is so take this figure with a grain of salt. Look at the response rate there's nothing more frustrating, than not being able to get in touch with your manufacturer. If you have to change an order or if you have questions about a product. Also, look at their on-time delivery, rate there's nothing more frustrating, to the customer, than not getting their order on time. Take note of the badges, you want to make sure that your suppliers, have badges, and good ones, click on the icons, to find out more about what they mean. Also take a peek at their return policy. The next step is to send them a message and let them know that you're interested. Take this opportunity, to ask as many questions as you need, ask them about the factory, working conditions, confirm lead times and basically, everything you need to know that you're making a good decision. Take this time to assess how responsive. And attentive, they are, if they're taking three days to respond to you it might not be the best fit as their service will probably, reflect this in the future. Now is also the time where you would want to negotiate, minimum order quantities, and price per unit so request, a sample first, and then wear it for two months to test the quality. If it passes the test then you can go ahead and place your full order, hot tip right here indonesia. Is known for having really good quality, jewelry manufacturers. At affordable, prices so try filtering the location, when you're doing your search. Finding a wholesaler. Outside of alibaba, use google to find wholesalers. Type in keywords like jewelry wholesale united states to start doing your research. This process will require a lot of digging, and prepare for it to be time consuming, however this step is crucial. Because if you don't do your research now, you can lose a lot of time and money having chosen the wrong manufacturer. Be responsible, by being informed about the ethics of your supply chain, one of the most important things for finley is that their products are made ethically, and sustainably. So our manufacturers. Carry prestigious, and coveted certificates, like the sa-8000. And we ensure livable wages and best environmental, practices. Ask your suppliers, what certifications. They have before working with them. Finding a jeweler, you can find an independent jeweler through instagram google or upwork. The advantage, of going with an independent jeweler is that the communication, is tighter, you're supporting, local independent, talent, and you can customize your pieces. However when you start to scale up it makes more financial, sense to go with manufacturer. Artisans, can be pretty pricey so you'll have to position yourself as a luxury brand to be able to maintain a sustainable, profit margin, in summary, the top things to look for when choosing a jeweler or a manufacturer. Are ethics and sustainability. Lead times, shipping costs, minimum order quantities, cost per unit, and quality, and design of the jewelry, as well as ease of communication. Keep in mind that a lot of businesses will go through a couple of manufacturers, before finding the right one so if you're dissatisfied, with lead times or the communication. There's really nothing wrong with pivoting. Designing custom jewelry. Depending on your manufacturer's, capabilities, and the type of relationship, that you have with them you might be able to design some custom pieces, so i'm definitely not a jewelry designer but even i was able to communicate my design ideas and bring them to life for finley. I went into adobe illustrator, and i did outline drawings to scale of the designs that i wanted to launch, on the spec sheets i was very very clear about the measurements, and the materials. And i also showed the pieces at four different angles for clarity. I wanted to be able to provide, enough information, so that the manufacturer, wouldn't have to come back with any questions.
That's The main goal, this was a totally mickey mouse makeshift solution but the designs turned out super well, so what i'm trying to say is as long as you can clearly communicate your ideas you can design custom pieces, and if you're not well versed in illustrator, sketch your designs, out and use reference photos. Set up your online presence. Sign up for a domain name and a professional, email using godaddy, you can get started for as little as three dollars a month for the first year, also be sure to clean your social media handles, if your handle's already taken you can reach out and ask if they'll sell it to you, however, the perfect social media handle and url, is not going to make or break your business, so don't get too caught up on this now it's time to make your website. Start by choosing a theme, go to, themes.shopify.com. And search by industry. There's literally a section just for jewelry so you can find one that matches your brand look and feel, add your products, include product shots on a white background, and shots of a model wearing your jewelry. As long as the photos are well lit and visually pleasing you don't really need to drop a ton of money on a photo shoot, if your jewelry comes in different variations, like silver, gold and rose gold, you'll want to make sure that you have pictures for all the variations. Having clear photos that showcase, the product at different angles will help you make the sale. In-depth, product descriptions, also encourage shoppers to make a purchase. Your website navigation, should include a new, shop about, collections, and contact, section. You'll also want to make sure that you have clear shipping and return policy, page linked in the footer, if you're launching with a ton of different styles include a search box with an auto complete function, that avoids frustration, and your customers leaving your site, your homepage should communicate, a clear, value proposition. So finley for example uses a section, that speaks to its ethics, and its sustainability. Your homepage should also feature collections. New items, and best sellers. Have buttons strategically, placed for people to browse and add to their cart. Accept payments easily with shopify. With shopify, payments you're automatically, set up to accept all major payment methods, as soon as you create your store. Your card rate is based on your shopify, plan, and you can change plans, whenever you want. Organizing, your financials. One of the first things you want to do is register your business with the government. The advantages, of this include limiting your personal liability, and setting yourself up to potentially, pay less tax. Just google register, business, and the appropriate, website will appear to register within your country, next you want to open up a separate bank account for your business, this will organize you and separate your personal finances, from your business finances. When you're starting out make sure that you're choosing an account with the lowest, fees. Keep track of your business expenses, by using a separate credit card this will make your life, and your account's life a lot easier during tax time. Speaking of which working with an accountant, that specializes, in small businesses, will help save you time, and money in the long run, and investing in an online software like quickbooks will make your life a lot easier when it comes to bookkeeping. Packaging, and shipping. When choosing your packaging, consider how the consumer, will open the box, and what that experience, will be like, this is especially, important with mid to high-end jewelry. The perception of its value can be taken down 10 notches with an inexpensive, looking packaging. With finley we only have one type of packaging. We have one box with a foam insert that has slits to accommodate, both earrings necklaces, and bracelets. The more simplified, and less steps your packaging has the easier it will be to fulfill a large amount of orders, you could cut down on costs by choosing boxes that can accommodate, several items, so for example we put earrings and necklaces, in one box, and the presentation, looks beautiful.
Multi-functional. Packaging, also reduces your environmental, footprint. Here are a few places to get customized, jewelry packaging. Noblepak.com. Eco enclosed, alibaba. Zacka canada, etsy, and amazon. The mailer which is the outer packaging can be bought at uline for example, and it actually has some nice options. Grounded, packaging, is an eco-friendly, alternative, and it's slightly more expensive. But i do recommend choosing a mailer that can accommodate, up to three boxes, so that you don't have to send separate, packages, if a customer makes a bigger order. However, if your mailer is oversized. Then you're gonna have to consistently, pay for a larger mailer, on smaller orders. So strike a balance here a focus on reducing packaging waste is especially rampant in the fashion industry. So keep in mind that customers, will appreciate, a less is more experience, that still feels chic and polished. Avoid styrofoam, peanuts and include biodegradable. And recyclable, packaging. Monitor your packaging supply, if you get an influx of orders with not enough boxes, you'll have to wait until your boxes get customized, and shipped over to you which can upset customers. Now let's talk shipping, you can charge the customer for full shipping, you can split the amount of shipping by lowering your product prices. Or you can offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount. Setting up shipping in your shopify, store is super easy. Just click the settings button in the bottom left-hand corner of your dashboard. Click shipping. And start by setting up your packages, area. Put the weight and the dimensions, of your shipment, without the weight of the products. Because the weight of the products are calculated, on the product, level, then you choose your carrier, options, you also have the option to set a default, package, that's used to calculate, the shipping rates, let's go up into shipping profiles, to manage rates, your products will already be there, and will be updated as new ones get added. Set the details of where you're shipping from to get accurate rates. And then you can set types of services, available, and customize, the costs. Here's a lesser-known, trick i would recommend checking out e-shipper, e-shipper, is a shipping brokerage, that is free for you to use and for your customer to use, they get inexpensive, shipping rates in bulk and then they do mark it up slightly to turn a profit, but it's still significantly, less than the rates that are available to the public. Build your team, if you're just starting your business you'll likely be a solopreneur. Or have a partner. But as you grow you're going to want to be thoughtful, and be careful, about who you let into your energy field as a business. Steve jobs said that the number one rule of building your team is to choose people that are self-managing. They understand, the problem and they go figure out how to solve it, look for this quality when choosing your first few hires and your freelancers. As you start to grow your core group will include a manufacturer. Or a jeweler. An accountant, a graphic designer or web designer. A content creator like a photographer, and a videographer. A marketer, a salesperson. And a lawyer, the perfect mix of character types that have been proven to make a business explode, are as follows. So in your c-suite you're going to want to have one leader, one culture tapping expert, an industry nerd a creative, and an analyst. Market your business, once you're all set up and running most of your energy should be dedicated, to marketing your business, in your first few years of operating. So, let me walk you through what my day today was like when working with findlay, the main thought that i kept in the back of my mind is how can i make finley money. With that i focused on marketing tactics that i saw were working for us, this included, influencer partnerships, email marketing and ads. And i would recommend you do the same only really focus on one two three tactics, instead of spreading yourself, thin, we grew our email list mainly by running contests, we partnered with like-minded, brands such as encircled, and codily. And we were able to tap into each other's email lists. From there we would continue to nurture those new relationships, through email which got us new customers, consistently. If you're curious on how you can build your email list make sure to check out this video right here for step-by-step, instructions.
We Also reached out to local influencers, and offered them products in exchange for a post to their feed, we saw 3x return on investment, so that was a tactic that we continue, to utilize, when choosing which influencers, to work with check out a tool called dovetail. It's an extremely, robust, platform to help you find influencers, based on specific keywords. Locations. Niches, and audiences. You can even send influencers, messages straight from dovetail. Which will save you a ton of time i have no personal, affiliation, with dovetail but i just wanted to share this tool because you can find the exact type of influencer, that you're looking for. Really quickly instead of scouring through instagram. That relationship. Can be as simple as just reaching out, introducing, yourself, sending the product. And monitoring. What kind of return on marketing investment, each influencer, has, that you're working with now let's talk about ads. Finley has been fortunate, enough to work with an ad agency, to run facebook ads and we see a significant, increase in sales. The ad agency that we worked with is called acquire, agency and they are phenomenal. However, if you're just starting out work with a freelancer, who has a proven track record of high return on marketing investment. Freelancers, will be more cost effective, taking less commission and charging lower hourly, rates. If budget doesn't permit you to hire a specialist, though we do have an entire video dedicated, on how you can get started with facebook ads. Now for the juicy part, here's a little think outside the box marketing tactic that you could apply to your business. So as finley launched their company they launched a genius, marketing campaign that gained them fifteen, thousand, orders. Here's how it worked, for the price of shipping which costed around eighteen dollars. Fintly send you a choice of ring, earring or choker for free, and you could also purchase all these three pieces, for forty dollars. Most people opted in for the 40, option which made this campaign, a success. It was a great way to introduce, a new brand to the market. And it got press coverage from publications, like glamour magazine. Launching a shocking campaign, that accommodates, an eye-catching, headline, is a great way to get written up and to expand your reach. Pricing your products. Once you have a good idea of how much money you're spending in marketing. How much each individual, product costs. How much money you're spending on hiring out talent. And the cost of operating your business, you'll have a better idea of how much you should price your products, to still remain profitable. We're going to include a spreadsheet, in the description box below, to help you calculate, this holistically. Here's a word of advice. So in my experience, i've noticed that pricing jewelry, higher than you would normally think, actually pays off in the end, it's funny how the mind works people actually want to pay more for jewelry because they feel like they're getting something of value. So you might start to raise eyebrows when you're only charging twenty dollars for a gold plated necklace, even if that does still leave room for healthy profit margins, your efforts to run your business become more scalable, with higher pricing, because you'll be hustling equally as hard, to make the same amount of sales.
And When you price your products higher you'll be gaining more capital to grow your business, so if you've made it till the end of this video that's gotta mean that you're super invested in starting your own brand, and at shopify, we love to empower dedicated, entrepreneurs. This should give you a solid foundation to get your jewelry business, started. If you're planning on starting a business or you already have one rolling, let me know in the comments down below what your business name is and you can also feel free to drop a link to your website so that we can all check it out, lemon shopify, is a channel dedicated, to small business owners with big plans. So make sure that you're hitting that subscribe button thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you in the next one.
2020-12-09 03:57
