1) You will need a pair of round nose pliers, flat nose and cutters. Two headpins, two earwires and two beads of your choice.
2/3) Thread the bead onto the headpin
4) Bend the pin at the base next to the top of the bead over to a 90 degree angle with your finger.
5) Cut the pin with the cutters leaving 1cm/half an inch
6) Using the round nose pliers, grip the pin at it’s tip, half way up the plier’s shaft
7) Hold the pin steady by pressing its head with your finger at the bottom of the bead. Now roll the pin towards you.
8/9) It May be necessary to reposition the pliers to carry on rolling the loop all the way around
10) Open the loop by twisting it sideways (as shown in the picture) do not pull it away from itself or it will lose that wonderful shape you have created
11) Now add the earwire to the loop and close it again
12) Voila! the perfect pair of earrings!

I have compiled a list of ideas and themes that seem to be re-occurring and possible ways to incorporate them into our jewellery…

Feminine/ Floral / Floaty - Rose quartz, hazy chalcedony, silks, ribbons, pinks and greens, ‘stems’ of twisted wire.

Greek Goddess - drapes of material make elegant summer dresses in pale colours next to a tan. Light brown and dark suede, copper, dark blue and burnt orange colours.

Themes from the Orient - Rich colours, dark red Murano beads, garnet, dark amethyst, gold, long elegant earrings and striking hair decorations wired onto grips. Try experimenting with shapes by bending wire into patterns, intricately wrapping the pattern with thinner wire to make a feature. A dragon would fit in with the theme, perhaps with a fire agate pendant hanging from it.

Back to nature - Organically themed jewellery - leaf and flower charms, Peridot and Smoky Quartz.

Messy on purpose - Loosely wrapped briolettes, oxidised silver to give that tarnished look and strips of loose chain all look very modern and contrasts particularly well next to faceted gemstones in stunning colours.

Magical/ Mystical - Incorporate beautiful images of lands far away by using tiny pictures of other worlds. Put them behind glass to make a pendant and pick out the key colours in the picture for the beads to compliment it. This seller on Etsy will make a custom pendant for you for a bargain $10 or this seller uses microscope glass slides wired together to frame her pictures - amazing! Find royalty free images to use here.

When Rachel made a very interesting comment on my post about whether formal education or self teaching is important I became most intrigued and wanted to find out more! She has kindly answered my questions so if you’re interested in jewellery making as a business or metalsmithing read on for priceless information and advice. Rachel is a very talented metal worker and designer. See her website to find out more.



1) What did you learn on the evening course you took? What did you enjoy most about it?

I started out with basic metal working skills. You need to know how to work with the metal and what its limitations are. It can be quite intimidating at first but you soon learn that, for example, holding the blow torch in one place for more than a few seconds will usually melt whatever you are doing!
Basic annealing, soldering and saw control are usually the first things you learn, then you go onto the more adventurous stuff like stone setting and multiple solder joints.
When I first started I loved the freedom it gave my designs! I had been restricted to working with beads and wire for so long that this opportunity took my ideas to another level. I think my ambition and creative drive concerned my tutor at the time as I was asking her to help me make pieces that were way beyond my level of skill.. but I always thought that if you don’t try you will never learn!



2) Did you intend to make a business from your jewellery or did it happen naturally?

Jewellery making was always a hobby. When I was young I sold pieces at the odd school fair and to family and friends for next to nothing, but my main ambition was to become an animator and work in America! Jewellery was just something I did for fun.
When I left uni after studying in film & animation I realised that my skills where not quite up to the standards most employers where looking for. My main interest is hands on stop motion or 2D animation and by the time I left uni most companies were using computers and as much as I love new technology, I just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm I needed to make it.

I made the decision to take up evening classes in jewellery with the intention of eventually selling my work, but at the time I never really understood where it would take me or how long it would take to get there.



3) What made you decide to take the film and animation degree at university over jewellery design?

Like I mentioned before jewellery making was just something I did for fun. I thought that doing it full time would spoil the enjoyment. Making such important decisions at the age of 17-18 is hard enough, but predicting the future is impossible! I have no regrets about my degree choice. I met some of my closest friends at uni and had a fantastic time.. I also learned a few things here and there!





4) What did you do income wise when you were training in silversmithing?

I used to be a project manager/PA for a commercial furniture manufacturers. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too bad at the job and enjoyed certain aspects of it, however it was very stressful and just not for me. Had I stuck it out I could have worked my way up, but when my class tutor, offered me a job working full time with him I jumped at the chance!





5) Your work is obviously very advanced, how long did it take you to get to the stage where you felt you could start selling it in art galleries and boutiques?

Being able to sell your own work to the general public is very much a confidence thing. People have been telling me for years that I should be selling my work, however it was not until I had been training for about 3-4 years that I decided I was ready.

Being given the opportunity to work for a jeweller full time for a year also helped me along greatly. I was already selling my pieces when I started working for him, however my craftsmanship and attention to detail improved so much that now I can confidently say that my work is at my highest standard yet.

Getting to this stage does not mean it is time to stop learning though! There are always new and exciting things to experiment with!! I have so many ideas and techniques I want to play with!! It’s never ending!!!





6) Businesslink sounds like a fantastic resource, what was the best sort of advice they offered you?

I only needed to speak to Business Link once, but they put me on to my local business advice service run by the council.

This service has been invaluable to me. It is a free service offered to new businesses or people thinking of starting a business. Not only was I assigned a business advisor but I was also given the opportunity to take part in several free courses run by the council. These courses included marketing, business planning and tax advice. I have also been fortunate enough to obtain funding from them! My business advisor has helped me on so many issues, I honestly don’t think I would be where I am now without his help.

For anyone starting a new business in the UK I would recommend a call to Business Link because even if your local council doesn’t run a scheme like mine they can always put you onto people who can help.





7) How do you get your creative juices flowing, where do you draw inspiration from?

Ooh now that depends on the piece I’m making and who I’m making it for!

I love working on commissioned pieces because I draw inspiration from the people involved. I like to use subtle symbols and icons that are meaningful to the recipricant, but not obvious to anyone else. I think this makes the piece mean much more.

I also like to fill my head with fairy tales and pretty pictures! I try to take in as much of the world around me as my brain can handle.. I love the countryside and nature so this features heavily on my work, but at the same time I am a dreamer and I love surrealism and fantasy.





8) For somebody reading this wanting to be a jewellery designer and in a job they don’t like, what would you suggest?

Well I can only advise on what I know, so I would say evening classes are definitely the way to go. A full time degree would restrict your earning and a few months down the line you may discover its not as much fun as you thought! With evening classes you keep your money and you get to test the water. Also evening classes are usually much more open to what you can learn so you build skills and techniques at your own pace.

If however, you are a college graduate looking for a future career in jewellery design then I would certainly recommend looking for a good university degree. At the age of 18-21 you can afford to loose a few years on a subject you may or may not build on and the life experience gained at uni beats any other!

Whatever your situation though, I would say that the most important thing is to give yourself time to learn from your mistakes. It is also a good idea to have someone to guide you when you get over ambitious! Getting your work to a standard worth selling takes commitment, time, practice and a hell of a lot of patience!

If anyone would like to get in touch with questions and jewellery related problems please feel free! I’ll do my best to answer all that I can!!

I have just set up my own blog page at http://rachelhelendesigns.blogspot.com , I am also on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/rachelhelendesigns and of course my web site is http://www.rachelhelendesigns.com .

My thoughts on modern jewellery display:

Bad Ideas:

-Crushed Velvet
-Mug Trees
-Wine Glasses/ Vases
-Cork Pin Boards
-No Light/Poor Light
-A distracting array of irrelevant items
-No price tags
-No mirror
-Unsightly structural aids like duct tape or staples
-Everything laid flat

Good Ideas:

-Glass shelves/ sheets
-Dichroic lighting/bright natural light
-Pale woods
-Light materials in plain, subtle colours
-A colour scheme with a theme (eg. pale blue and white with sea shells and pebbles for a sea theme)
-Clear/frosted acrylic necks, blocks and ear trees in the same colour and style for a professional finish
-Different heights
-A single, quality, clean mirror
-Uniform price tags, hand written neatly
-An A4 piece of writing (displayed in an acrylic stand of picture frame) telling browsers about materials used and your collections aims, inspirations etc…
-No overcrowding and only one type of each kind of item out
-Covering the table to the floor so the customer can’t see underneath

Beautiful jewellery isn’t essential, it isn’t a dull necessity. It is only to be admired. It can change a plain black outfit into a chic masterpiece, draw attention to something or subtlety add a certain something effortlessly.

Making jewellery suddenly makes these pleasures accessible and plausible. Making up a pair of earrings for you friend’s wedding is flattering and fulfilling. Your skills are appreciated and admired. You have an artistic outlet and the joy of planning the piece is as great as seeing it worn.

Visiting a good bead shop is like finding a real life treasure box on the sea bed. Thousands of glimmering treasures to be played with.

Click here to jump to the rest article




Jewellery making books are a pleasure in themselves, glossy pages to leaf through, inspiration at every turn. Browsing online for the perfect materials is exciting, especially when you find them.
Mastering tricky techniques is both uplifting and satisfying.

Getting your jewellery into a shop or selling it from your own stall is simply euphoric.

If you haven’t tried making jewellery yet, you’ll want to give it a try

Here are some points on the issues of customer relations and your policies:

Returns
If the item in question is obviously faulty and has not been badly treated, replace it or offer a refund. If it has been longer than two months since purchase or has been damaged through obvious neglect - charge a fee for repair. You are well within your right to decline giving a refund or exchange. The law will be on your side. Give receipts with your name and contact details on to keep track if such issues occur (also a good idea for your accounts)

Greetings
It’s a good idea to greet your customer and say something like “let me know if you need a hand with anything.” This addresses both types of customer. The one who demands acknowledgment and the one who hates ‘being jumped on.’
It breaks the ice; allowing the browser to relax and look at your jewellery at their own pace. Go back to what you were doing, don’t watch them, this will make them uncomfortable. You’ll know the ones that like a chat and you can indulge them in as much conversation as they like about you’re jewellery. This becomes easy even if you’re not a chatty person because after all you’re an expert on it, it’s a talking point

The Incentive
Use discount vouchers for regulars, include a card thanking them. On this you can include information about your website and any offers/discounts you may be offering on your items. Cultivating regular customers is a good idea. Regular customers are the making of any successful business.

Mistakes
Let’s face it we all make mistakes and when it happens; keep your customers happy by offering them vouchers for your jewellery or a free gift. They will appreciate it and they will remember you

Extras
Gift wrapping, dried roses, ribbon, fancy tissue paper and gift bags. All things your customer will love. (It reminds me of that scene in Love Actually with Rowan Atkinson!) It saves them time if they’re buying as a gift and it looks very professional. Take a photo of a ‘packaged’ item or display it on your stall/shop. This way customers can see what they’ll be getting.
It’s up to you whether you charge for this. Either way always wrap in tissue and provide a bag.

Haggling and awkward customers
There’s always one (or two or three..) but remain calm and stick to your policies. You don’t have to deal with somebody if they’re making you uncomfortable. Just let them know your prices aren’t negotiable and you unfortunately can’t undo the entire necklace to remove that one seed bead in the middle they don’t like thank you all the same.

Children

Sticky hands, unsteady balance and incurable curiosity. These attributes are the enemy of a perfectly set up stall. See if you can keep them entertained whilst their parent looks around and you’re onto a winner. Put all your odd beads and bits into a box let them rummage around. You might find they have so much fun the adult will take longer than usual to browse - result!

As a jewellery designer buying your materials wholesale may enable you to lower your prices to retailers or simply gain more profit from your current prices!

Firstly you need to think about your current collection and if it will lend itself to being repeated. If it can’t be (which let’s face it; as a somebody who enjoys making unique, handmade pieces why not vary it?) think about what you do use lot’s of. Here are some examples:

- Headpins
- Cream Freshwater Pearls
- Lobster Claws
- Charms
- Crimp beads
- Silk Ribbon
- Knot Covers

Ordering from abroad (usually Eastern direction) is where you will find wholesale suppliers. Bali for silver findings, China for pearls and India for glass/gemstone beads.
If, for example you need about 500 head pins I would recommend approaching your usual supplier and asking them if they would consider offering you a discount for larger quantities ordered. As I used to sell silver I always welcomed offers for buyers wishing to buy large quantities.
If you need 500+ headpins look for a wholesaler. Do some web research and locate those companies online that sell wholesale. My advice would be:

- Google the seller. If you see bad reviews from past customers AVOID like the plague.
If it does go tees up don’t forget you can often get the amount charged back to your credit card if you have not heard anything from the seller and see no delivery.

- Don’t order wholesale if you are in a desperate rush. It can take up to 4 weeks. Usually five working days is the average but don’t count on it!

- Consider custom charges. Usually around 70 pounds for a 500 pound order. When I look at the prices in American dollars I tell myself thats what the actual price will be in the UK! So if headpins are 6 cents I will say to myself “so that will work out about 6 pence after charges when it reaches me.” Do a spread sheet using excel to work out all your costs and you will see this works out about right!

- Wholesalers will ask for proof that you run a business. Some will be more strict asking for evidence of your business (such as a scanned bill) others will be satisfied with your name and description of what you do. They don’t want to put you off too much do they!


Is it worth it?

Yes if you use a lot of one material. Headpins usually work out about 10-12 pence retail here in the UK. If you got your headpins for half price imagine the difference. Just asking your supplier for a quantity discount could be worth it for one project you have in mind (a wedding for example)
No if you’re always changing materials and charge mostly for the time it takes you.

Tip: As eBay is such an accesible place, use it to approach sellers and ask if they offer a wholesale option. It’s also a safer option with the feedback to help you make your decision.

Web Programmer/Designer Mark Hughes kindly agreed to answer my questions about setting up your website from scratch.
The information here is priceless. There are secrets that the web companies won’t tell you.
Mark covers areas such as SEO, web design, stock photography, creating a banner and your first steps to starting a website from scratch.
There’s a lot to take in here so use the titles below to jump to the questions that interest you

I am a jewellery designer with a limited budget. I have great photographs of my work already in hand. I want to sell my goods online - should I pay someone to make a web site, and if so how much should I spend? What are my first steps?

How do I design a great banner or logo without expensive graphics packages?

What should a modern website look like?

What are the easy ways to make my site stand out from all the others?

What’s your top tips on search engine optimization and what is it?

How long should I spend marketing my site per day to start generating sales & where are the best places to do so?

Is using MySpace / Blogging a good alternative?






I am a jewellery designer with a limited budget. I have great photographs of my work already in hand. I want to sell my goods online - should I pay someone to make a web site, and if so how much should I spend? What are my first steps?

This depends if you have any skills or knowledge at making web sites, the time and funds you have available, and if you’re prepared to undertake this job. There are systems and software out there enabling you to create a web site very easily without any technical knowledge whatsoever – but you’ll pay for this ‘turn-key’ functionality. On the other hand, you can design and create something very personal to your style – but you’ll have to have the technical expertise. Assuming limited technical knowledge, the options are:

• Pay for a ‘turn-key’ solution – generally, these will include the domain name, hosting, sometimes even some promotion, a shopping cart and all that entails, your e-mail addresses, etc. You will often have to pay for anything ‘outside of the box’ that doesn’t fit within their package, and this could include paying for technical support – so shop around. You won’t have to deal with the dirty business of domain registration, hosting, editing files, etc – but you will be paying for that privilege


• Register the domain yourself, find hosting yourself, and find a decent package that is geared up for what you need. This will typically involve an open-source (free) package such as the popular OsCommerce shopping cart system. It is relatively easy to get going – but does require some basic knowledge of the Internet and web sites, and can be slightly daunting to a complete beginner. You will have to sort out hosting and a domain name – although you can often purchase these together. It will be cheaper than a ‘turn-key’ solution, but you’ll pay for it in time. If you’ve got Internet experience then this is a superb choice – just give yourself plenty of time, shop around for good deals, and read the small print – for instance, if you purchase a domain/hosting package and decide to leave at any point, are you tied in? What will they charge, etc? A domain usually costs around £3 / year for a .co.uk and £6 / year for a .com – hosting usually around £30 - £60 a year, sometimes with relatively cheap extras such as shopping cart. If you’re putting an open-source package on to your site, make sure your host supports it: most OS packages are written using PHP and MySQL, so make sure these are both supported!


• Pay someone to do the entire site for you. This will cost the most, but require you to do the least. The best part of this is that you can get some good solid advice from professionals, and they can guide you through any problems you may encounter. Prices vary enormously – from a small one-man business/hobbyist/designer offering web sites to a large international company. They have advantages and disadvantages; a small business will most likely give you a better deal, will go the extra mile to help, and be more personal; the bigger company may be more reliable, have a good reputation, and perhaps offer some powerful software as part of the package. Again, shop around – but you’re looking for a very small to medium sized company for this. It doesn’t cost thousands of pounds to create a web site – in fact it can be done from as little as £150 – but allocate a budget higher than the quoted cost in case something goes wrong. Typically £300 - £1000 for a small company is the norm

How do I design a great banner or logo without expensive graphics packages?

Well, there are free programs you can use – the most well known and fully-featured being G.I.M.P (http://www.gimp.org/) but this can often be tricky to learn how to use, and unless you’re prepared to put in the time I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this. If you’re willing to do the actual graphics creation side yourself then you needn’t spend a single penny – there’s plenty of graphics programs released as either freeware or open-source (totally free) or shareware (limited features and/or time limit) that can do all you will need. http://www.google.com is your friend here – search for freeware graphics programs, but be careful to download off reputable sites – a good way to help protect yourself is to find a program that looks appropriate and do a search for it before downloading. For example, if you find a program called “Coolest Graphics Editor” search in Google for it. If you see lots of reviews stating “Avoid this! Virus!” or the common “Adware” / “Spyware” – avoid it! If the reviews are good then at least you’ve done your best to avoid any nasties – but make sure your Anti-Virus is good if you go downloading programs. (http://free.grisoft.com for a free Anti-Virus if you don’t have an up-to-date one!).

Also have a look at http://www.sxc.hu – this is a site containing plenty of royalty-free images (always check the licenses if you use them commercially, usually they’re very usable however) and often of extremely high-quality. Simply visit and do a search for what you’re looking for – it’s full of stock photography covering all different topics.

If you want someone else to design your logo, a good source of designers willing to work for reasonable (read as often extremely cheap) prices are ‘out-sourcing’ sites – for instance, you can post your logo/banner project to http://www.getafreelancer.com/ and get designers to bid on the work. If you are happy with any of the proposals you can accept the bid, pay, and have the work completed. These kind of sites often have rating systems much akin to eBay, where previous work is what dictates if a designer is reliable / high quality / etc.


What should a modern website look like?

Obviously this depends on you – and can be influenced by the styles of the work you produce, company colours/theme (if you have one), etc. However, there are common features in all productive web sites – they are clear, concise, easy to navigate, intuitive. Often “little is more” – just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Today’s modern sites are geared towards finding information quickly and easily – design should be unobtrusive. Many people argue that artistic sites should be just that – but examples such as Purlsoho and Passionate Absolute show that a site can be both individual and clean.

Always a good suggestion is to post your design (before it’s live!) on to web design forums – some of these can be (at best!) brutal, but honest. If you are looking for a professional looking site be prepared to have your work trashed if it’s over the top – if you want more of a personal, home-made look then perhaps you can accept some criticism in this area.


What are the easy ways to make my site stand out from all the others?

This depends, and can be hard if you’re merely trying to sell a particular product. There are already a million sites about every type of product-selling site – be it art work, jewellery, etc. If you’ve got quality content, that will instantly make your site one notch above the average – and this can be a great way to draw traffic in. If you’ve just got a product to sell then try the following:

• Make sure the web site is clean, easy to navigate and stylish, and the user is immediately aware of what you are about and what you produce


• Good photography on your product is an absolute must – just do a search for some competitors sites and you’ll notice that some of them use photography that’s very low quality – in this era a good quality digital camera is not at all expensive (£100 - £150 buys you a very nice camera! Buy Online, do your research!) and spending some time to look up the best ways to take photography will pay off very quickly. Look at what you’re displaying, does it truly sell your product? If not, do it again


• Don’t oversell the product – a tasteful gallery of your products is more likely to have your visitors browsing than a clinical online shop – but they can both sell your goods

Ultimately your product is what you are displaying and that is what needs to stand out – so research your competitors to find out if you particular product is unique in its area or not. If not, perhaps you need to think about something that sets you apart from the others – there’s good articles online about how small variations in your designs can become a very personal and distinctive selling feature.


What’s your top tips on search engine optimization and what is it?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the ‘Black Art’ of getting your site listed prominently in the major search engines (Read as “Google”). Appearing in the search engines for your company name – such as a search for “Kate’s jewellery making blog” is all well and good, but it won’t drive new customers / visitors your way. Appearing for “jewellery making”, on the other hand, is a superb feat – and you can expect a steady and probably quite substantial flow of traffic for such keywords.

SEO is largely dependant on (amongst many other factors):

• How many incoming links you have to your site (Links for well-known sites, and sites that are in the same field as you, are the best to get)


• The use of keywords on your web pages – if you don’t mention “Jewellery making” on your site, how is Google to know that you are in the Jewellery field?!


• The quality and quantity of content – lots of valuable, non-repetitive content is priceless. Google knows this better than you would probably think a Robot could know


• A working web site without missing pages and links, and also a site that doesn’t employ shady tactics such as hiding keywords from visitors and only displaying them to the Google robot (A.K.A. cloaking)

My top tips would be:

• Keep your site updated with relevant information


• Post articles on your site if you can – valuable content, most likely containing useful keywords, will drive traffic your way


• Get lots of inbound links, but don’t pay for them – at all. Paying for links will more than likely only buy you links from sites that specialize in sending you links – called Link Farms. Google doesn’t like these, and can penalize a site for doing it. Incoming links from sites in the same field as yours are the best

How long should I spend marketing my site per day to start generating sales & where are the best places to do so?

As long as possible! You cannot spend too long marketing – although consider carefully how you use your time. Also, be wary of web sites and schemes that claim to guarantee sales /visits / links – they are almost always flawed, and usually counter-productive – with many even being scams.

The first thing to remember is that it takes a good deal of time for your site to become listed in the major search engines – especially Google. It will take a minimum of a couple of weeks just to be listed, and many months at best until you are listed for any relevant keywords. So do not despair and give up – your efforts will pay off.

Obtaining incoming links is the single most effective way to achieve greater traffic, rankings in the engines and sales. Find places where your target customers / visitors frequent – forums discussing your topics are a superb place. But be careful not to try and spread your new site too liberally – many people will see this as spam and you could be deleted / banned from sites for this. The key here is to join communities and provide useful input – people will respond to this and your contribution will become valuable. If you have a genuine passion for your subject make sure this is clear – people will be interested in what you have to say and more likely to want to investigate your site.

Find web sites that allow you to link – even if they require a reciprocal link (That is, for you to also link back to them). Contrary to some belief – it does not harm your PageRank (Google’s indicator to how popular your web site is) to link to other people. Find sites that are appropriate and ask them to link to you for a link back. Create a links page to store these links, and try and organize them if possible. This will keep things looking smart and people will be more inclined to get a link to and from your site.

More Incoming links = Higher PageRank = Increased Rankings = Increased Traffic

You will also get traffic from the links themselves, but it is the long-term plan (Google) that we are mostly interested in. These tactics are free – and you should always look to get in as many links as possible without paying anything. There are places you can pay for a link – for example, if you are in crafts, “Craft Fair” allows one free link and subsequent links at £13 / year. We run a few craft-related sites and so have had to pay for a couple of links – but have found this extremely valuable. Why this site? Because it’s prominent (Search for “uk crafts” and it’s second – “bead supplies” it’s fourth, etc.) and that makes it very busy. If someone is trying to sell you a link on their site / advertising, research the site. If you’re an artist, then you want their site to be prominent in this area – think about variations on keywords. Check out http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ for suggestions. If the site is high in the search engines for words relating to your profession that’s a great start. But if there’s millions of sites listed on their web page and they’re badly organized, how likely is it that you will be found / clicked? When I refer to “Search Engines” I mean Google only – Yahoo, Ask, AOL, etc are all good engines, but the real traffic will always be at Google. Ask yourself all these questions and you’ll avoid paying for something that won’t get your money’s worth back.

Is using MySpace / Blogging a good alternative?
MySpace - absolutely not. Not because it’s not a good service - and in fact, if you have good content, it can be extremely good - but it’s also frowned upon by many. A recent report suggests that MySpace users tend to be older than the ‘kids’ that people thought were the main users of it - but that still doesn’t affect the fact that it’s not regarded as a professional system as much as perhaps it deserves. However, as a social networking site it is very powerful.

Blogs are extremely useful - if used correctly. Again, with social-networking techniques (that is - joining community sites where exchanging links to each others blogs is the idea, and talking with others interested in the same topics) you can expect a steady - albeit not always great - flow of traffic. And it also is great for content syndication of feeding - where people’s browsers will inform them of new content. But, when you try to sell things on a Blog, people can be less interested as they would be if it were a content-only Blog. A good compromise is using a Blog for articles / tutorials / discussion / etc on your intended topic, and also referencing another location where you can buy your goods or services, but not pushed in to peoples faces. Too many blogs also suffer from too much advertising - don’t think too heavily about monetising your Blog before you’ve got it very popular.

eBay - a dream for the buyer and a nightmare for the seller.
The buyer can seek a bargain, compare prices, submit best offers and is overwhelmed with choice. The seller has masses of competition, high fees from ebay and therefore low profit margins.

It isn’t all bad for the jewellery seller though. eBay is extremely accessible, you can learn jewellery making and start selling it online all in one day. eBay is a fantastic marketing tool and you can use it’s popularity to your advantage and channel customers to your own site. The feedback system is also a great feature, your excellent service will be celebrated amongst users.

There’s a few steps you can take and factors to consider in order to sell your jewellery successfully on eBay.

Timings. When you list your item, make sure it’s finishing time will be appropriate to your audience. 7 to 11 pm is a peak browsing time, preferably on a week day. Mondays are always busy. Of course experiment with this, you will find what works best for you.

Price. You will need to price your jewellery reasonably here. Buyers are out for a bargain on the bay of e. Do not overprice. Sell some of your more reasonable pieces and then gain regular customers who buy through your website. Earrings always do well. When you sell them you could send the buyer an email thanking them for their purchase and then say “come check out the matching bracelet / similar pieces at my website, www….”
Don’t be afraid to start bidding low. In most cases you will get a reasonable price for your item, I’ve rarely made a loss this way. Making a profit is a bonus - directing new customers to your website - priceless.

Photography The most important thing ever. Tasteful, crisp photography is the key to being successful on eBay. A textured darker background (slate is awesome) taken in bright daylight never fails to look good. See this seller who does it so well. Use the macro mode on your digital camera for a professional look. I can personally recommend the Canon Ixus series to achieve this at a reasonable price.

Themes and layout. Have a look at this seller. Her theme is so inviting, it’s the online equivalent of stepping into a nice boutique. You really feel like browsing in her eBay shop. Make it simple, make it clear, make it modern and make the navigation easily accessible. You can buy themes for eBay shops at very reasonable prices (about 5 to 10 pounds.)

Keywords and listing. Cram all the words you can in that title, so you show up in all the searches possible. Try to use whole words. Somehow symbols and abbreviations just don’t look classy, they won’t do you any favours, you want the browser to understand what the listing is for. Always include the best features e.g - Unique, hand made sterling silver and moonstone bracelet. A descriptive word (like unique) is nice but not essential.
Always use the picture gallery feature in your listing. This is the only way to stand out and attract people to your jewellery. The description itself should be practical but start with an inspirational line, because your piece of jewellery is unique and an object of desire. We want your potential customer to know this. Say it concisely with a few descriptive words. I love to use the thesaurus for this if I’m stuck.

The jewellery itself. The two sellers I mentioned above both sell the most gorgeous, wearable jewellery. It is unique, they know how to make things look nice. The materials they have both used are top quality. This all comes through in their listings and if you see their feedback you can see that several others agree. Don’t let eBay distract you from what you’re trying to achieve with your jewellery. eBay won’t make you rich but it is a very useful tool so why not give it a try!

-The bold prints that are in, need a similarly bold, simple and structural piece of jewellery to set the print off. Floral prints are big, perhaps think about including flowers in your pieces.

-To go with the 80’s inspired fashion; mix black with hot colours, giving a powerful, punky edge to your piece of jewellery. Black Onyx here we come!

-African Prints. Wooden, ethnic, chunky pieces with an organic feel. I’m thinking, turquoise, tan leather and suede and copper chains.

-Tying in with the organic theme the catwalk also saw lots of natural themed jewellery with shells, raffia, chunks of natural looking stone, sea smoothed glass, wood and even rope!
Flowers, animals (especially dragon flies) and fruit can all be seen in jewellery at the moment.

-Bringing me to the nautical themes that are still around. Use red, navy and white to achieve the look.

-Miuccia Prada used plenty of bold colours this season. We will see plenty of vivid ultramarine and electric blue. So perhaps use blue Chalcedony, Aquamarine, Iolite and Moonstone to compliment these colours.

-Metallics/ Futuristic are big trends this spring and for those women not so sure about making a bold statement by wearing it head to toe, jewellery is the answer! Chainmaille/ unique wirework is a key look here to incorporate the catwalk into everyday wear. Silver is still as popular as ever.

-However gold is very popular indeed at the moment especially the warmer tones. Amber and Carnelian would do well for these warmer tones.

-The catwalk has also seen lots of chalky, earthy colours. Tying in with a more feminine theme. The vintage look is also in, so pearls are ideal to address both these styles. They are both vintage looking and come in a beautiful variety of soft hues, perfect to tie in with those softer feminine colours.

-Volume and classic style are big this season also. Think luxurious textures like satin and chiffon. I’m thinking of black and gold beads tied with black silk or deep red with creams.

-A look Christian Dior used which I love; using one colour and only varying the tones, this never fails to look good in jewellery and it’s also very wearable. Dior also used huge chunks of glimmering stones, a fantastic bold and theatrical look.

-Charm bracelets and necklaces are very big again this year, the customised look is always popular.

Sites of interest:
Sea Glass Jewellery
Treasure Box
Pilgrim
Swarovski
Georgina Ettridge
Dior Jewellery
Eni Oken