New Aspirations in 2015

Today's Silver Price: $18.33/t.oz.

I've recently relocated to sunny Florida. I've said goodbye to the cold grey skies of Long Island, NY. I am currently settling in to Palm Harbor, which is in the Tampa Bay area. While I am enjoying the blue sky and the warm sun, it's also time to focus on developing my business and creating higher quality jewelry.

I've just signed up for a jewelry metalworking class with Dunedin Fine Art Center (www.dfac.org) and I'm so excited! It starts February 24th and there will be a 3 hour class every Tuesday night for 6 weeks. So now, instead of buying components and putting them together, I will be able to fabricate my own components! The class teaches soldering, stone setting, piercing, forging and hammering. One of the biggest things I am looking forward to learning are the finishing techniques like filing and polishing. Also I need to find out how to keep copper from tarnishing. I've made some copper cuff bracelets in the past but they get dull very quickly.

I'm aiming to create more artisan quality jewelry this year. I want to move away from the silver-plated pieces I have been making, and get back to sterling silver jewelry. 

New skills and a greater focus on social media marketing (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) will hopefully lead to a prosperous year! 

Below are some of my recent designs:

Ciao for now, and Happy New Year! 

Holiday Shopping

Today's Silver Price: $19.55/t.oz.

My Cyber Monday sale seemed to generate a ton of traffic in my Etsy shop. I didn't actually get any sales that day though. What's interesting is that I had an order placed right before the sale started, two orders placed the day after, and another order today. So in summary, my 20% OFF sale increased shop views, but did not get me any orders on Cyber Monday!

I've been trying to stay on top of my social media marketing lately. I read recently that Facebook is one of the best ways to promote an Etsy site, and that you should include a photo in every post. 

In an effort to create interesting posts with interesting photos, I've been playing with some photo collage apps on my iPhone. The picture below was my first attempt. I used an app called *Collage*. I wanted to show the creative process of making wire hearts for a necklace, and wanted to include all the steps in one photo. I posted this pic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Then I found a better app called 'Instapicframe'. It has more options. This was the updated pic:

I used 'Instapicframe' again this morning. I wanted to show several images of my yoga jewelry in one picture:

So far I am enjoying making these collages! Hopefully they will help to increase traffic in my Etsy shop! 

Forbes Gives A Shout Out To Crafters

Today's Silver Price: $31.35/t.oz.

Over the weekend I came across an article on Forbes.com which suggested that entrepreneurs look to the craft industry for guidance and direction. The article entitled "What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn from the Crafting Industry" discusses the surge in small business development amongst crafters and artisans and how these entrepreneurs have found success.

One of the major tools that an artist or crafter has is their creativity and ability to think outside of the box. Creative and inventive marketing strategies help to promote a new or expanding business. While creative people may not have great business sense, imagination and problem solving skills can go a long way in developing a business. One area where crafters are recognized in having an edge is social media marketing. Many crafters put a lot of time into Twitter posts, Facebook updates, Etsy pages, blogging and other social media outlets in order to grow their business. This is often how crafters and artisans establish a customer following.

The article cites a couple of craft-focused organizations that are aimed at assisting crafters and artisans grow their business and steering them towards success. One of the things I have learned in my internet surfing is that there is a tremendous community of creative minds out there that are eager to help one another. I am finding more and more blogs, forums and conferences that specifically discuss the business of crafting or art and how to be successful selling your creations.

It is very satisfying and validating to see that Forbes has recognized the craft industry as a source of knowledge and experience in the small business field. The article encourages anyone thinking about starting their own business to take a look at crafters for inspiration. Crafters and artisans are motivated by their imaginations and dreams and have envisioned lives lived on their own terms. Creativity and innovation are essential to any entrepreneur in any field so anyone pursuing self-employment should think about connecting with their inner-artist!