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My Best Jewelry Marketing Tool

by Ann Nolen.
(Santa Rosa, California USA)

When I do a show, I usually find one or two other vendors near me that like to share business ideas. It is a fun way to pass the time when customers thin out. My neighbor at a show last year, who illustrated children’s books, shared that her best marketing tool was postcards with her bio on the reverse. I decided to give it a try.

I used VistaPrint to make up my usual postcard with a photo of my jewelry on one side. I was glad to see I could have anything black and white on the reverse for no extra charge. I used a black & white photo of myself in the upper left hand corner, and then wrote a bio that answered all the common questions my customers ask me in my booth.

Through trial and error, I have found it works best to have the jewelry photo side in “horizontal” position, and the bio side in “vertical” position. When I put the cards in a rack, I can stack the postcards in the back in the vertical position, and the ones in the front horizontal. That makes it easy to display both sides of the card in a small space on the table.

Many times when I am busy, I notice that customers pick up the cards and read the entire bio on the spot. When I am free they are eager to talk to me as though they already know me a little. I am amazed that often people pick up the card, read it, and then read it to their friends right in the booth. It starts a friendly discussion that is easy for me to step into and answer their questions.

When I make a sale, I make sure to include the card in the bag with their purchase. My customers have reported that when the purchase is a gift, they love including the bio for the person receiving the gift so they know about me. This has sometimes resulted in additional sales from the person receiving the gift.

At one show a man lingered in my booth and asked a few questions about the coins I use in my jewelry. By the way, men are fascinated with coins and often hang out in my booth. He took a postcard with him and told me he was going to show it to his wife. Well, it turned out his wife was a promoter of a show I was interested in and I got an invitation out of it.

Last but not least, I carry a few of these postcards in my purse. I always wear one of my pendants, and when someone compliments me on them or asks about my jewelry I give them one of the postcards. I used to give a business card, but sometimes people would turn them down. People are always curious to know more about artists, and I have found they are always eager to take one of my postcards.

Ann Nolen
AnimalCoin.com

Comments:

postcard property use
by: Patricia C Vener

Brilliant! I like the idea of positioning shift, too, because it engages the reader by requiring activity.

Helpful Idea
by: Kim I.

Thank you, Ann for sharing your marketing idea and your story. I like your insight about people accepting a postcard with your bio instead of a business card. It is more informational and less solicitous. You have a unique style of jewelry and I hope you do well.

Thanks Ann!
by: Julie

I’m just getting familiar with Twitter, and my husband told me I could click on your most recent Tweets – yours was the 1st one I’d ever clicked on! When I saw your amazingly beautiful handpainted coin, I just HAD to read your bio – which in an of itself made me want to purchase something! LOL
Anyway, thanks for the great ideas, and sharing a bit about yourself and your life!
Julie

Yes!
by: Anonymous

This is a great idea, and a way to help your customers get to know that there is an artist behind the work!
Thank you for sharing this!

Postcard Vendor….
by: Marie Scholl

I’ve been using gotprint.com for a few years for our business www.inspiredendurance.com for both postcards and business cards and its saved us a lot of money. Great idea, love it!
Fabulous Use of Marketing materials
by: Maria Jenny

This is such a terrific idea. I use Vistaprint all the time and have found their postcards to be very affordable and versatile. Sometimes they have a promotion for 100 free postcards. I recently used them when promoting my business to shop owners. Now I see how the idea I had could be modified to make it more informational to my prospective clients.

Thanks for the feedback!
by: Ann Nolen

Thanks to all of you for reading and adding to this idea I borrowed and made work for me. I love how we all learn from each other and share ideas… One of my favorite things being a jewelry seller.

Ann @ AnimalCoin.com

Great Idea!
by: Amy

Love it – thanks for sharing! Your jewelry is unique & beautiful & I hope to have my own piece of it one day!

Hi neighbor
by: Shelly

So great to see someone from Santa Rosa sharing such great advice. I’m in Sebastopol! I will keep an eye out for you at the local fairs this year, your work is beautiful.

Fantastic idea
by: Janmary, N Ireland

I have had postcards created in the past with images of my jewelry on one side and blank on the reverse apart from my website address, logo and contact info.

I used these for writing thank you notes to include with orders and also as gift certificates.

However I love the idea of creating some as bio cards. Thanks for inspiring me 🙂

postcards
by: Pallavi Gandhi

what a great idea! i’ll try it too.thanx so much for sharing!

Great Idea But…..
by: Michele Cordaro

I’m usually a pretty confident person but when it comes to thinking about a bio, self-doubt creeps in. I’m just starting out in the jewelry business. I’m amassing enough peices to do my first show in April and open an Etsy shop. I have a business degree and have worked in various industries but none have been in the artisitic arena; basically, I’m self-taught. I get compliments on my jewelry when I wear it but I don’t know what to say in my bio. Any advice?

3 Resources for Artists
by: Patricia C Vener

Two of these are specifically jewelry: 1) Rena’s blog, Newsletters, pages and books; 2) David Weiman’s Insights newsletter, blog, books and vids; 3) Alyson B Stanfield’s book (“I’d Rather Be In the Studio”) as well as her blog and newsletters. IIRBiTS has a subtitle but I don’t remember it. LOL.

Right now I am trying to find a marketing intern but my emails to the Internship supervisors have gone unresponded to.

What to put in bio
by: Ann Nolen

When I wrote my bio, I also found it hard to “toot my own horn.” So I decided to pay attention to what questions people asked me and were interested in knowing. That included how I got started, how did I come up with what I did, etc. I threw in just a little personal info at the end, once again to help my customer get to know me.

If you are stumped, ask your friends what they might tell someone about you and your jewelry. I found this to be very helpful since they were not as bashful about the subject as I was. They also focused on topics I didn’t even think of. By the way, I found my friends loved being asked to help.

PS. See my new blog using guidlines from Rena’s new book at AnimalCoin.blogspot.com.

Very Cool!
by: Noreen

I think it’s so cool that you read Rena’s book and immediately started a blog using some of her ideas! I hope you have a lot of fun with it!

Noreen
http://www.make-homemade-gifts.com/
http://www.craftlinky.com/

Thanks Ann Nolen!
by: Michele Cordaro

Ann,

I took a look at your bio and coupled with your great advice it’s encouraged me to get started on mine by asking my friends how they would describe my creations. You’ve been a lot of help, thanks!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MicheleCordaroDesign
http://michelecordarodesign.com/

Quality Product, Great Idea, but…
by: Lily Blanc Designs

Love the quality of your postcard bio. Its so professional. I only have one query, do you use currency/coins, and is there a problem with using ‘money’ in your products? I have been told that in Australia, to ‘deface/damage’ currency is illegal. Dont know about other countries.
Sue
Lily Blanc Designs

Post card
by: Dita

Thanks for sharing your ideas about post card marketing. Your bio is very interesting and your jewelry too. What a neat idea and they are so beautiful. I love your etsy shop. Take care.

Dita
http://www.alankarshilpa.etsy.com
http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com.

thanks!
by: Ann Nolen

Thanks again for your praise on my best marketing tool and my jewelry… It wasn’t what I expected, but it sure feels good to receive some love from fellow artists.
As far as using coins in my jewelry, I belong to a coin club and the US Treasury agents tell our clubs that defacing currency is only illegal if it is done to fraud someone. So I am ok to paint away 🙂
Ann at AnimalCoin.com