Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Thriving Sales in a Frugal Economy

 

Part two of the Self Promotion Series

With the economic crisis in full swing it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make sales and we all must take decisive action to ensure that each of our businesses will survive.

The most important element to thriving sales is exposure.

With customers becoming increasingly more frugal and thoughtful with their spending we must all strive to increase our client base and increase the number of customers who see our jewelry product. The following are some ideas I have developed to maximize the exposure of your items.

 

Consignment

Never underestimate the value of consignment arrangements in selling your jewelry. Many shops, retail stores, craft booths, and mall outlets are more than happy to take a small percentage of your sales and drawing power of more diverse inventory in exchange for reserving a place for your jewelry and conducting the sales therein. You may take a small hit on the sale, but you can factor out the cost of the booth, the inventory space, or rent and the labor in staffing the sales location.

Some consignment locations require a payment for rental space and I caution you to investigate all factors of traffic, demographic, and costs in this case. The best arrangement is a percentage of sales which can range anywhere between 5-50% depending on the cost of the item, transport and stocking arrangements, labor costs and promotions. Whatever you have agreed upon, even if you are close friends be sure to get the percentages in writing and to keep careful two sets of records of inventory, prices, and sales; one for each of you.

You can only be one place at a time, but the more locations your jewelry is sold and viewed the greater your exposure and sales will be.

 

Faires, Events, and Markets

Sca      Sca     Sca    Sca

Think about your jewelry and what your target demographic is. Research and think about your target marget's habits and hobbies and where best they can find you.

If you specialize in renaissance period chainmaille pieces than your research might indicate that your target market inhabit medieval organizations and fantasy faires. An Internet search would result in hundreds of shows throughout country, as well as several organizations such as the Society for Creative Anachronism and Renaissance Faire Society. Wherein thousands of merchants and venders sell their wares and can be contacted for consignment or cooperation. This is merely an example of a niche market research.

Perhaps you specialize in work with abalone, shell, and natural ecofarmed coral fingers. There are numerous beach shoppes looking for consignment pieces or events such as the annual Divers Alert Network conference and Koi clubs where you can set politely send a email asking to set up shop.

Perhaps you have quite the collection of holiday pieces that you have prepared. There are many specialized holiday faires in each area that you can arrange to participate in. In my local area of Pierce County, Washington, we have an annual Victorian Christmas celebration that is being help at our world reknown Puyallup Fairgrounds with hundreds of merchants of and 10s of thousands of customers.

Here is a resource for finding a market near you.

When setting up a booth be sure to follow the proper channels and file all taxes and paperwork preparations.

 

Visit Part 1 of the Self Promotion Series

Check back next work for more exposure tips and holiday talk.

 

No comments: