I want to say “thank you” to so many of my customers, actual and potential, for their interest, patronage, purchases, kind comments and support!  I am “meeting” so many nice people through my website!  The feedback about my jewelry has been UNBELIEVABLY positive!  I am so shocked and thankful!

Some people have written to me about the difficulties of breaking into this business!  Gosh…it IS hard!  Honestly, with ALL the work, time, effort, emotion & MONEY that goes into my business, my sales have NOT been as great as I would have hoped…I’m selling but it is very slow.

I’m thankful for all that I have sold!  One wonderful woman bought over $100 of jewelry during a sale that started over a bracelet.  I am currently working on a custom order for another great gal.  I have LOTS of pieces that I’ve not photographed yet and placed on Ambient Venice, Etsy, Fine Art America, Jewelry Artists Org or Ebay.

The biggest piece of news is that I WAS ACCEPTED INTO AN ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW that is being held on September 6th, 2008 in Grand Rapids Michigan!  I am so excited but very nervous, as this will be my first show!  I am feverishly making pieces, ordering products, organizing items, thinking about tables, displays, props, etc.  I opened up a credit card account with Merchant Banks, so I can accept credit card payments on the day of the show  :0)  I have to purchase a 10 x 10 tent, some tables, display models, etc.  There’s a lot to do but I think it will be good experience & exposure for me!  My items are MUCH PRETTIER in person than they are in photos!  I think that I can do very well.

Sam & Sun Kim, son & mother respectively, are successful business people and the owners/operators of Sun’s Crystals in Royal Oak Michigan.  Sun has befriended me since I began patronizing their supply stores.  They have given me many tips about increasing my success as a new business owner.  They have been great.

Anyhow, Sun tells me that to be successful at a Craft Show, I need to have items priced at different tiers or levels.  So, that’s what I’m working on.  I have most items at the $60-$85 range.  I’m developing more at the $30-$50 range.  And I intend to have lots of earrings and some bracelets at the $12-$25 range.

So, we’ll see and I will keep everyone posted!  Oh…BTW…today marks the 5 year anniversary of my marriage to John!

Thanks for reading this!  Wish me well, as I wish you!  Don’t give up ’cause dreams CAN come true!  It takes hard work, it’s up & down but it DOES happen…s-l-o-w-l-y!

The man who purchased the bracelet seems to be quite nice.  He’s in San Diego California and found me through Fine Art America, of all places.  I was shocked!  He said that he’d been “trolling hundreds of websites to find the perfect bracelet for a dear friend of his who turns 60 in a few weeks.”  He said “he was having trouble finding what he wanted but he knew he hand found the perfect gift when he saw my piece.”  He bought the Turquoise “Forget Me Not” bracelet, which doesn’t surprise me!  Everyone who sees that piece LOVES it!

I actually managed to purchase a few more lampwork beads similar to the ones in the “Forget Me Not” from the guy in Mississippi who worked the first set of beads.  I bought them in turquoise and amethyst.  I LOVE PURPLE…it’s my favorite color.  Anyhow…

So, it’s not yet sunk in but I hope my customer in California loves the bracelet as much as I do.  He asked for a re-sizing, which I did for free.  I added some black diamond Swarovski crystals to the piece and it came out really nice.  I haven’t yet wrapped my head around the fact that I handcrafted a piece of jewelry, a very small and inconsequential item, that this man will lovingly gift to his dear friend for her 60th year on the planet.

I guess dreams really do come true!

I was feeling continually discouraged and frustrated over the past week about my business.  All of a sudden, it seems like I’m starting to get some attention and great feedback.

I’m meeting some wonderful people on Creative Souls, an interactive on-line community for creative persons.  It’s great, it really is…wonderful, wonderful people!

I’ve got items posted on Etsy, eBay, The Fairy Society and Fine Art America.  It seems as though everyone who sees my work enjoys it and likes it…a lot.  That means so much to me.  Slowly, I’m getting some interest and offers for my work, so to speak.  It’s so much to think about, I cannot possibly imagine sorting it all out.

But, I’m going to remain focused and put my immediate effort and resources into perfecting my website and marketing it properly.  I don’t want to get distracted with applying to craft shows or art fairs, diversifying too much, etc at this point in time.

Well, gonna run…today has been a great day for a number of reasons…a very special one, actually which is completely unrelated to my art work.  More about that tomorrow!

After giving it much thought , I decided NOT to pursue the Heritage Festival, the Plymouth Arts Festival or ANY arts & crafts festivals this year.  It’s just too much, too soon.  I’m close to many of the deadlines for entries already (if not past).  I just don’t feel quite prepared.  Mostly, I don’t have the budget to buy props, tents, folding tables, lights, pedestals, busts, cash boxes, mobile credit card services, stationary, packaging materials, etc. AND make the entrance fees & deadlines for fairs.  Not yet.  Not this year anyhow.

I had the sales rep from Target ‘Em contact me yesterday and send me a quote for services.  This SEO and Marketing firm called Target ‘Em wants nearly $5000 to maximize my site, develop links on appropriate jewelry sites, fix my website pages, etc, etc.  WHAT?????  I nearly fell from my chair when the rep quoted the price.  No, no, no….waaay to much $$$$.  This guy tells me that “he sees me making over $2000-$3000 per month in projected sales in the very near future.”  I’m like “What???”

Let’s see…let’s do the math on this one.  If I were to make $3000 monthly with this business, I would have to sell the equivalent of 35-38 bracelets or necklaces @ approximately $85 per piece EACH month!  That’s the equivalent of 7-8 bracelets or necklaces (or their equivalent) weekly.  Then, I would have to replenish my inventory by making at least 1 bracelet per day.  That means about $40-$60 per every 2-3 days, if not more, on beads, wire, silver, clasps, crystals and other findings.

So, let’s say that’s $100 out each week on supplies, $750 in each week on sales.  There’s travel costs, website costs, web hosting costs, consultation fees, group costs, marketing costs, stationary costs, gas costs.  Okay, I think we all get it.

And $3000 per month?  C’mon…I don’t see that happening!

Needless to say, I’m going to decline on the marketing plan/strategy :0(

So, I feel stuck at this point.  I have crafted nearly 40 pieces of beautiful jewelry (about 22 are earrings) but I feel crappy.  It’s like the gal at the garage sale said on Saturday, “It’s gotta be tough sitting on nearly $2000 in inventory with no sales in sight!”

Yeah…right…it is!

So, I need to pray, contemplate and give things some thought.  I’m not sure how best to proceed at this point.  My big dilemma is whether or not I should pursue work for the fall ’08 or at the latest, January ’09.

Tina at Merchant Moms, my Web host company, is going to do SEO and marketing stuff when she’s better.  The poor gal is so kind but she’s having surgery in two weeks, so she’s not up to full steam and she won’t be for a few weeks thereafter.  I’m reading and absorbing all I can about marketing, sales, promotions, networking, maximizing websites, etc to help promote my business from that angle.  I know that all of this…SEO, web marketing, link backs, etc. will only do so much!

John and I have decided that we will troll the fairs in our area that I wish to apply to next year, so we can gain ideas about booth displays, pricing, competion, etc, etc.

So…I don’t have the budget to make lots of new jewelry (minus earrings).  The day is gloomy, rainy and cold, so I can’t get good photos of my new products.  I don’t have findings and items to complete my uncompleted projects.  I don’t have the budget or the drive to shop for promotional or packaging items. 

I’ve been catching up on emails and such.  Not sure what I’ll do today.

Big Rex is curled up on the wicker rocker in our bedroom, fast, fast asleep.  Rudy and Tigger are curled up on their love seat and futon, respectively, in their suite (our rear laundry room), snoozing and snoring…

Hmmmmmmm…

I’ve been up late (’til 4:00 am at least) the past few nights reading this book that the folks at the Stony Creek Bead Gallery suggested as a must read.  The book is called “Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry,” by Viki Lareau.  The author of the book details her journey as a young retail marketing student who decided to try her hand at upstarting a beading business.  The book is great because the author gives TONS of practical advice about what to do and not do when one is thinking about moving from “beading hobbyist” to “jewelry making business entrepreneur.”

After reading a portion of the book, I was feeling better and actually feeling normal yesterday.  Not so today.

Ms. Viki talks about “ups and downs, highs and lows, etc.”  It seems as though mixed emotions go along with starting this business.  Great.  As if I wasn’t already moody enough before all of this-lol!

I spent hours yesterday entering some of my products onto the Etsy Website.  Of course,  no one at all is making bids on my items on eBay, which doesn’t surprise me.  I know that a lot of people who troll eBay are looking for big bargains.  Many eBayers are not about to put out lots of money on hand-crafted jewelry (or much of anything for that matter).  I am really no different.  I travel to eBay in the hopes of finding really good deals.

 Well, I will just continue to take it “one day at a time.”  I feel like I want to try diversification and attempt the Heritage Festival in Ypsilanti.  John feels like it might be “too much work in too little time.”  Maybe he’s right.

Maybe I just need to forge ahead and be more patient.

I know that we ALL have days like this but I hate feeling so ungrateful.

I am putting so much time and effort into this business because I really want it to succeed.  I know that things will take time, I do know that.  I am feeling a bit of pressure to get everything off the ground and that is taking some of the joy out of making my jewelry.

I really cannot complain!  I have always wanted to try my hand at developing, owning and operating my own business.  And now, the Internet has made that more possible for so many people.  I never thought that I would be doing so at 50 years old!  Gosh, I feel so old some days. 

Rexie is only 5 yrs old but he ACTS older…he has his priorities all worked out:

Anyhow, starting a new business takes a LOT of hard work, long hours, determination and dedication.  Not many people around me are business owners, so they don’t really understand what goes into developing and operating a business.  I try not to be bothersome but I talk about Ambient Venice Jewelry ALL THE TIME to anyone who will listen.

I’ll just talk to my Tigger…he’s a GOOD listener:

It’s incredible to think about how far the world has come in just a couple of decades.  I remember how badly I wanted to try my hand at owning my own business when I was married to my first husband from 1987 through 1994.  Tom and I looked into a couple of options…a greenhouse, a florist shop…a card store…an ice cream shop…but none of those options seemed to be a good fit for me.  Additionally, both he & I were very caught up back then in the “business” of being YUPPIES~~young, upwardly mobile, urban professionals.  Both Tom and I were skeptical about buying a “turn key business” without having any business sense or knowing if it would be something that I wanted to do for quite sometime.  Of course, here I am…so obviously my desire and determination to own a business outlasted my marriage to Tom.

Nonetheless, Internet or not, having a successful and satisfying business is still all about developing, marketing and managing products and such.  It still takes a tremendous amount of knowledge, patience, understanding, energy, endurance and money!

There is so much information to learn, sort and gather!  The hardest parts have been understanding how to navigate and program my website (which lends itself to the marketing piece) and TAKING DECENT PHOTOS of my jewelry for my website (which also lends itself to marketing).  Sounds silly but it’s the truth.  The website piece has been very challenging and quite frustrating at times.

Even Rudy is feeling my frustrations:

I think I have made a decision today, though.  I believe with all my heart that I can make this work because I think my jewelry is high quality and very special.  The next step has to be retaining or hiring someone to market my website, maximize my exposure to search engines and stuff, get me out there and GET ME NOTICED!!!! 

I went to a yard sale today that John spotted while he was running some errands.  The lady who was running the sale happened to be a bead jewelry maker.  John suggested that I go and visit with her, so I could get an idea about what she thought about my work.

Well, long story short…this gal, Barbara and her friend LOVED my stuff.  Barbara couldn’t believe how lovely it all was…how it glistened and sparkled in the sunshine!  Barbara’s input gave me a bit of a much needed boost.  But her friend, Carolyn said, “I guess it doesn’t feel so great when your sitting on a box full of jewelry and there’s no one to sell it to.”  BINGO, I thought!

I started to look into making application to The Heritage Festival today, which is a three day, 100,000 attended Arts & Crafts show in Ypsilanti Michigan in August.  But I started to feel as if I was spreading myself too thin once again.  I truly feel as though I want my initial business goal, at least for the first year of owning the business, to be having an e-commerce business that is up and running with a few monthly sales (say, $300-$500 monthly, that would be nice) on the World Wide Web!

I’ll get there, I know that I will.  I just have to give some thought about the best ways to pursue a marketing person without going broke.

It just has to get better than this…I think it will!

My beautiful home…a blessing that I MUST remain grateful for:

Life is changing so fast!  I have been a registered nurse for over 30 years…count ‘em…30 years!  Due to the recent onset of health problems that render me useless to continue nursing, I have decided to guide my life in another direction…jewelry making!

God is good!  I believe that my thoughts come to me during quieter times…mostly in my dreams and while I sleep.  I have always been an artistic and creative soul, so I pray to find a way that I can continue to support myself and give back to others.

Hmmm…let’s see.  Well, I love beautiful things, I really do!  And I love excess and embellishment.  I love Italy and Venice.  Those Venetians…what scoundrels!  And history, especially European and Italian history…how I love it all!

Then there is art, travel, good food and loving people.  My husband, my beloved sister and my niece, Gianna…

I know…I can try my hand at designing exquisite beaded jewelry with historical items that hail from Italy, Venice, Africa, the Far East…all over the place!  Why, this combines my love of Italy, Italians, conversation, history, excessive ostentation, the lagoon, art, creativity, working with my hands, completing projects, utilizing computers and surfing the Internet all in one!

There is so much to do and learn!  Venetian beads, African trade beads, crystals, findings and Merchant Moms.  There’s web hosting, tax IDs, Crafts Shows, marketing, SEO and meta tags.  There are widgets, blogs, price sets, photos.  OMG…light boxes, AV versus TV, Kelvin lamps…Fire Mountain Gems, jewelry groups, wrapped loops, stringing, wiring, self-promotion and much, much more!

God is so good to me!  I think I will make it.  My sister tells me that “this is the happiest she has heard me sound in months…no wait, years.”  I’m excited yet fearful at the same time.

Please join me on this new journey, this new direction in my life!

Anything to get noticed and to start selling my jewelry!

I have MySpace (dedicated to the Pink Floyd and the Ramones), Facebook (dedicated to the Pink Floyd and the Ramones), eBay, Etsy…oh, so much more!

Welcome to Ventian Vibes…it’s all about the bead!

Ciao!