Lately I found myself feeling down about my jewellery business. I wasn't blogging, or uploading pics to flickr or my social shopping sites. My web sites had fallen out of date. In fact, I haven't even been creating much new work. It might sound moody, but like many artists, if I'm not at peace I can't create.
Anyhow I've been stuck in an artistic rut. The problem is that I wanted to develop and display new jewellery designs and styles, but nothing I'm envisioning and desirous of creating will mesh well with my current Etsy storefront (which has become somewhat unthemed, messy and confusing since my personal taste in jewelry is all over the map).
A few days ago I read a great article on Etsy "Shop Makeover Series: Pimp Your Shop for 2008" about growing your online business. One main point on marketing strategy that somehow I had overlooked was that it's very hard to market your shop if it doesn't appeal to a particular target market/niche. Now I'm supposed to be a marketing expert, but this obvious foundational pillar of my overall strategy somehow got laid by the wayside....
Okay, so I've opened a second Etsy storefront targeted at girls, teens or simply the young at heart. Soon SassyDLite will be filled with fun, fresh and flirty jewelry for the sassy woman. The beauty of segmenting my products thus, is that now I now have a venue for incorporating all of the basic beads, rustic stones and contemporary findings that I started collecting a decade ago into more simplistic and casual designs at lower price points. I had amassed a large stash of copper, brass, gunmetal etc. even gold plate and silver plate findings that are not consistent with the Gahooletree theme. SassyDLite, my newest venue, grants us access to the huge teen, twentysomething and thirtysomething grassroots crowd of value conscious shoppers. But the true bonus for me in all this is personal - I'm creating again!!!!
I'm now able to clean up (aka Pimp My Shop) my flagship storefront, Gahooletree, that offers luxe, evening and bridal pieces made of mostly precious and semiprecious gemstones on gold or sterling silver. As inappropriate items expire in this store, I can discount them and move them to SassyDLite, the new venue.
I decided to begin work on developing a third venue in order to move in yet another new themed direction. More on this to follow. So if you're feeling out of sorts about your jewelry business, maybe you haven't lost your artistic touch or motivation. You just might be in need of a new way to express your creativity.
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