Rose of Sharon Jewelry

When Christmas decor appears in stores BEFORE Halloween – Shopping Fatigue hits. So why start promoting our handmade jewelry in Oct? Because we only make ONE of each!

The handmade jewelry produced by the 9 of us, aka Rose of Sharon Jewelry, are all one-of-a-kind creations. From a simple crystal anklet to an elegant Bali silver and lampwork necklace – each original design is unique.

 

Our work is only sold via our online store, Etsy and ArtFire and getting the word out means that I’m always telling the story of what we have for sale. I’m tweeting, blogging, sharing updates and sending our newsletters.

As with most retailers, the Christmas season accounts for the largest percentage of our annual sales.

Faithful customers - Sorry for overwhelming you with our marketing but we have to hit all the bases to ensure a successful Christmas season.

Asking a Favor

If you’re reading this blog post, you are either a handmade jewelry lover (and hopefully a customer), family member or friend.  I’d like to ask a favor – could you please share the message of our great handmade jewelry with your network of friends, family and business acquaintances?

We’re really appreciate the support and would be grateful for the buzz. You can share this post (see the icons below) or cut and paste the web addresses to our different stores. Perhaps you can heart our Etsy store, forward a special design you love (hint, hint – hubby) or just promote our jewelry to support the handmade community.

A big thanks to you all!

Our artisan line is at http://www.roseofsharonjewelry.com

Adornable Anklets is at http://www.adornableanklets.etsy.com

A.F.F. Jewelry is at http://www.roseofsharonjewelry.etsy.com

New Life Jewelry Art is at http://www.roseofsharonjewelry.artfire.com

 

If you have any questions or would like to share web links, let me know by sending an email to sharon@roseofsharonjewelry.com

 

A great business motto is “If if you don’t ask, you’ll never get what you need.

 

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Last week I posted a Tantrum on changes re: Facebook custom landing pages. Here’s an update on FB’s apology and reversal of their rules.

To recap: Facebook via a forum post shared that custom landing pages would only be available on fan pages with 10,000+ fans and/or where the company was purchasing FB advertising. This meant that literally thousands of small businesses would not be able to set a custom call-to-action Welcome page tab as the default “home” page for their fan page.  Read my prior post on this change.

Ending small business access to the custom landing page happened without any prior notice. Pages simply weren’t being shown as the “home” page any longer. No notice just a forum post!

While this change may seem insignificant, in the FB world where everyone is scrambling for potential customers, the custom Welcome page levels the playing field a bit between businesses such as Rose of Sharon Jewelry and Kay Jewelry.

The news came just as I was authorizing Jenni at Suga Pink Designs to create a Welcome page for the Rose of Sharon Jewelry Fan page.

The next evening Matt Trainer (FB Development) left this message in the same forum.

Hello,

As of last night, we’ve removed the recently-added authentication requirement for setting custom landing tabs on Pages. The requirement was instituted as part of a Pages quality initiative, and we apologize for the inconvenience this caused to our developer and business community. We are re-investigating the situation, and will not make any further changes without first giving our community standard notice and lead-time.

Thanks for all your feedback,
Matt Trainer

While this doesn’t mean the rule won’t be implemented in the future, it does mean that the business and social marketing people who felt this was unfair were heard.

So I’m back to getting a new Welcome page for the Rose of Sharon Jewelry Fan page . I’ll announce it as soon as it goes live.

If you are interested in your own custom Welcome page for your FB fan page, I’d recommend Jenni at Suga Pink Designs

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Social networking is hot for businesses – at least that’s what we’ve been told. So I’ve devoted my waking hours to promoting Rose of Sharon Jewelry via Facebook, Twitter and this lonely blog for months.  We’ve been blessed with Rose of Sharon fans and personal Sharon Fullen friends and store traffic is growing rapidly. I’m loving connecting with everyone and sharing a love of handmade arts and crafts BUT

where are the sales?

I’m not a newbie marketer but social networking as a marketing tool is still pretty new. There are tons of “experts” telling us what to do and how sites like Twitter and Facebook can level the playing field for small businesses like Rose of Sharon Jewelry.

What I’d like to know is how well Social Networking is working for your business? How much time to do spend every day in keeping up with tweets and wall posts?

I’m spending so much time talking to everyone online that my studio time is really an afterthought. And that’s not why I launched Rose of Sharon Jewelry.

I’d love to hear from everyone about their real-world experiences and thoughts about their marketing via the Internet.

 

Thanks,

The “creative title” you give yourself tells a story. Words set an image and affect how potential customers approach you. When introducing yourself, how do you describe yourself and your  creative work? Do you say you’re a busy Mom trying to earn some extra money, a Artisan with original work, a single gal with expensive hobbies or a devoted Grandma who does some crafting to keep busy?

How you present yourself tells people how you value what you do. Earning money from your talents is an honorable career. Don’t undermine your image by diluting your work story with “poor me” talk – I’m just trying to make some extra money, I need to pay for my hobbies, etc. By definition, if you are selling your creative work – then you are a professional. And you do not have to have formal training!

For example, people often mistakenly believe Artists are more talented or produce more “important” work than Crafters. In spite of multi-millionaire Martha Stewart working diligently to advance the image of Crafters, many of us still have to “upgrade” our titles.

Professionals have “titles” that have perceived value (notice the word perceived does not mean actual). Unfortunately, that’s the way the world works and if you want to earn money from your art/craft/creative work, you need to be sure you are representing yourself as a valuable, creative talent.

For many years during my early writing career, I never told people I was a writer. I was just a Mom, a wife and freelancer. A wise Life Coach made me introduce myself every morning to my bathroom mirror. I’m a professional writer who specializes in….

She also made me carry my business cards everywhere and to assertively introduce myself to as many people as I could for 2 weeks. That was a hard task for me! It made my knees shake every time. BUT, at the end of the 2 weeks – I knew I was a professional writer and published author.

So when I launched Rose of Sharon Jewelry, I proudly announced to everyone that I am a professional Jewelry Artist. I’m not a Grandma stringing necklaces, a wife making money on the side or a woman hoping to pay for her bead addiction – I’m an ARTIST!

So this week, rework your story, update your Twitter, blog, Facebook or MySpace profile to reflect your position within the creative world. Announce proudly, who you are (not who you are in relationship to others). Put it on your business cards and get out there and tell everyone!

 

Good Luck!

 

P.S. Never be embarrassed that you want to be paid for your work! What you do has value beyond money but money is a good start. LOL

As a long-time marketing consultant, I’m always amazed when I arrive at a Facebook Fan page, a blog, a twitter channel or online store and don’t immediately know who you are and why I want to be here.

I and the Rose of Sharon Jewelry Facebook Fan Page have been busy participating in an Etsy forum-based Facebook link love campaign with tons of creative artisans and crafters “sharing the love” and building network connections. Since the posted invite or networking listing is usually just a URL, I am often a surprised visitor.

Good marketing dictates that a visitor should immediately (you’ve only got their attention for less than 10 seconds) know “Who you are” and “Why the visitor should stay.”

Take a close look at your Facebook personal page and fan page along with your blog, Etsy store and twitter account. Would a stranger know immediately what you are creating/selling?

Don’t forget to include the http:// in your web addresses to make them clickable in many sites, forums, message boards, etc.

Be specific!!! I repeat BE SPECIFIC. Saying you “craft everything” means absolutely nothing. Select a primary focus of your business and concentrate on that. Online marketing is niche marketing. Set yourself apart – create an image – let the world know you make the best ___________________.

So to all my new Facebook Fans who are promoting their own businesses – Make certain no one has to wonder about who, what, where and why when someone comes visiting.

Still confused? Leave a comment here and I’ll continue the marketing lesson or answer specific questions.

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The quirky timeline/networking site Plurk has captured my eye this week. Looks like a lot of fun to gather and communicate. Need someone to join me in the fun. Won't you come out to play at Rose of Sharon Jewelry's Plurk account.

Rose of Sharon Jewelry has its own Facebook Fan Page. If you're a Facebook member, this is a quick and easy way to keep in touch. Fans will receive special discounts and early notice of our upcoming promotions.

Also don't forget to join our birthday club - free earrings on your birthday along with our monthly newsletter. Sign up on the right.

Am setting up the blog to work automatically with Twitter. Posts will be sent to the Twitter account automatically and Tweets we create will be posted in a single weekly post on Sundays at 5 pm PST. If you'd like to follow us on Twitter, click the link under Under Find Me Here Too.

Dawn is our personal Tweeter and loves to hear from our customers and blog readers.