There are many reasons why people buy jewelry. Some of it goes to your hard work in producing a quality piece.
Sometimes it goes to style or kitsch. I've found my beerings always make people smile:
Sometimes it goes to a theme that suggests a gift that the buyer needs to purchase. This necklace has a tea theme.
Perhaps the giftee is a big fan of tea, so there you go, the deal is made, they'll LOVE this necklace!
Some of us sell at shows and find that our customers come back to find us year after year, because they love what we do. If we're smart, we've built an online presence to go with that, because those same people may wish to come back to us through the year and buy more gifts and things they'd like to have.
I'd suggest, however, that you need more customers than that. There are tons of social media methods you can employ to find them. One, however, that's so oft overlooked! is crafting a nifty blog and then, participating in blog hops.
Participating in hops is a great way to get your name out there and build your brand, meet new people, network and FIND NEW CUSTOMERS who want to get to know you.
A blog hop has a theme. All those who sign up for the hop will be making jewelry in that theme. One of the most popular blog hops of all is Lori Anderson's Bead Soup! It's so popular that a book has even been written about it!
You can purchase a copy here:
What happens at a blog hop?
There is a date for the hop, just like any event. Be sure to post your entry EARLY IN THE DAY, as early as possible. Lots of people follow hops (potential new customers!) and they may like to do it with their morning coffee. So don't be late and miss the opportunity to introduce yourself to them.
Begin your post with a photo to capture and keep their attention!
Stick to the subject and share at least three photos, more if possible. One of you in your workshop is always a great idea!
BE CERTAIN that you do not forget to post the list of participants and their blog links provided to you by the hop organizer. You'll do that at the very end of the post.
If you forget to do that, the hop stops with you as no one knows where to go next unless they go back to the person before you. This is annoying, and sometimes people have a short attention span and just move on to something else.
You wouldn't want that to happen!
For the Build A Line Challenge at the B'sue Boutiques Creative Group, we will have three hops, all Fridays:
Jan 23
Feb 20
Final reveal March 20
Mark your calendars, whether you are participating or not! You're gonna want to follow this challenge closely.
There is more to be said and I think my creative pal, Tammy Adams of Paisley Lizard said it extremely well in *her* recent blog post.....
So why don't you hop on over and read that one?
Five Things to Expect from a Blog Hop
By then, you'll be an expert!
Excellent summary of the logistics of a hop. And great reasons to participate. Thanks for the link to my post. I can hardly wait for your challenge to start so I can read what everyone has planned and see what they create.
Posted by: Tammy Adams | December 30, 2014 at 08:10 PM
great read & thanks!
Posted by: Nike Bottalico | December 31, 2014 at 09:50 AM
I am completely in love with this post! I am an antique collector, loving both the vintage jewelry and items.
Posted by: French Antiques | January 02, 2015 at 03:46 AM
I recently re-launched my own jewelry blog and have been looking for valuable resources like your blog! Love your suggestions and will stop by often to see what I can learn from you!
Posted by: Karin@echoesofela.com | January 31, 2015 at 11:02 AM