How To Start A Jewelry Making Business

Updated: January 18th, 2023

How To Start A Jewelry Making Business

You've stumbled upon the idea to build a jewelry making business and now you're ready to take the next steps.

There's a lot to think about when building a business, so we put together a guide on how to get started, launch, grow and run your jewelry making business.

We also provide you with real-life case studies and examples of founders running successful jewelry making business (and how much💰 they're making today).

avg revenue (monthly)
$363K
starting costs
$10.9K
gross margin
43%
time to build
210 days
growth channels
Word of mouth
business model
E-Commerce
best tools
Instagram, Shopify, Etsy
time investment
Side project
pros & cons
42 Pros & Cons
tips
21 Tips

💡 Introduction To Starting A Jewelry Making Business

Is the jewelry making business for you?

As long as you're okay with getting your hands a little dirty, the jewelry making business can be a highly profitable venture for you.

Let's look at the pros and cons of starting your own jewelry making business:

Pros:

  • Flexibility One of the biggest advantages of starting a jewelry making business is that you can either offer part-time or full-time services. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. Or, if you prefer to manage the books and instead delegate work to someone else, you can build and manage your own team to do so.
  • Ability to start your business from home: It's not necessary to have an office space to get your business started! You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!
  • Little overhead + startup costs required: To get started, you only need a few essential items! We will go over this in more detail in the startup section below
  • Rewarding work: If you're someone that truly enjoys this line of work, starting a jewelry making business can be really fun and rewarding.

Cons:

  • The physical work is not easy: No matter how hard you try, this part cannot be downplayed. If you plan to do everything on your own, it's important to ensure that you are in physical and healthy shape to be doing this as supplies can be heavy and movements are not easy on your body.
  • Crowded space: There is a lot of competition when it comes to jewelry making business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and demand in your area.
  • Motivation: If you plan to have a team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Creating a successful jewelry making business means that you will have the ability to sell, provide stellar customer service, communicate with vendors and motivate your team (even if it's down the road)!

Players

Big Players

Small Players (the opportunity)

Types of Jewelry Businesses

There are two main types of jewelry lines you can start:

1.) Fine Jewelry

  • Luxury customer base (ie. weddings, celebrations, special occasions)
  • More expensive + harder to find materials
  • Sold at a much higher price point

2.) Fashion Jewelry:

  • Focuses more on current trends
  • Less expensive materials
  • Sold at a much lower price-point

Here are some examples of each:

Fine Jewelry

We are an award-winning, disruptive e-tailer of custom-designed, ethical engagement rings, wedding rings, and fine jewellery, that capture your story.

Our online platform, processes, and brand democratises bespoke jewellery, allowing us to offer this service at scale. Taylor & Hart's vision is to reconnect customers with the original purpose of jewellery - a personalised product that tells a unique story.

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Fashion Jewelry

We’re best known for our bright red LOVE bracelets.

Each LOVE bracelet is carefully crafted using traditional techniques and materials that reference their unique cultures of origin, but still have a worldwide appeal. Since launching as a stand-alone brand two years ago, we’ve generated over $1.2 million in revenue.

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How To Name Your Jewelry Making Business

It's important to find a catchy name for your jewelry making business so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your jewelry making business

  • Avoid hard to spell names: you want something easy to remember and easy to spell for your customers
  • Conduct a search to see if others in the space have the same name
  • Try not to pick a name that limits growth opportunities for your business (ie. if you decide to expand into other product lines)
  • As soon as you have an idea (or ideas) of a few names that you love, register the domain name(s) as soon as possible!

Why is naming your jewelry making business so important?

The name of your business will forever play a role in:

  • Your customers first impression
  • Your businesses identity
  • The power behind the type of customer your brand attracts
  • If you're memorable or not

It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your jewelry making business.

You can search domain availability here:

Find a domain starting at $0.88

powered by Namecheap

Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.

It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.

As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.

Here's some inspiration for naming your jewelry making business:

  • Jazzy Jewels check availability
  • Jazzed Up Jewelry check availability
  • Elegant Essence check availability
  • Piles Of Pearls check availability
  • Jewel Tone Gems check availability
  • Dazzle Dreams check availability
  • Diamond Duty check availability
  • Endless Diamonds check availability
  • Forever Gems check availability
  • Emerald Seas check availability
  • Beaded Beauty check availability
  • Jewels Of Joy check availability
  • Joyful Jeweler check availability
  • Stylish Stringing check availability
  • Bead Beauty check availability
  • All About Beads check availability
  • Made With Jade check availability
  • Crystal Ball Beads check availability
  • Generous Jeweler check availability
  • Enamel Essence check availability
  • Beadazzled Beauty check availability
  • Beaded Beginnings check availability
  • Making Masterpieces check availability
  • Jaded Jewelry check availability
  • Diy Designs check availability
  • Beads And Beyond check availability
  • Silver+Gold Jewelers check availability
  • Something New Jewels check availability
  • Girl’S Best Friend Jewelers check availability
  • Golden Rings Jewelry Store check availability
  • Simply Me Jewelers check availability
  • Color Me Iced Jewelry Store check availability
  • Frozen Jewelers check availability
  • Pieces Of Me check availability
  • Timeless Jewelry Store check availability
  • Endless Beauty check availability
  • Pretty In Jewels check availability
  • Glitter+Gold Jeweler check availability
  • Sweet Silver Jewelers check availability
  • Promise Jewelry Store check availability
  • Home Sweet Jewels check availability
  • Sunshine Jewelry Store check availability
  • Be Jeweled Jewelers check availability
  • Trinkets Galore Jewelry Store check availability
  • Bead+Stone Jewelers check availability
  • Precious Pieces check availability
  • Ice Stone Jewelry Store check availability
  • Gem’S Stones check availability
  • Junk Jewels check availability
  • Sparkler’S Stones check availability
  • Buried Gems Jewelry Store check availability
  • Moon Made Jewelry Store check availability
  • Glamorous Jewelers check availability
  • Jewelry Magic check availability
  • Glamour+Grace Jewelers check availability
  • Jazzin’ Jewelry check availability
  • Jewelry Jones check availability
  • Jewelry Palace check availability
  • Diamond Palace check availability
  • Jewelry Heaven check availability
  • Jewelry Haven check availability
  • Delicate Diamonds check availability
  • Dainty Diamonds check availability
  • Drastic Diamonds check availability
  • Dramatic Diamonds check availability
  • Glittering Jewels check availability
  • Dramatic Jewels check availability
  • Deluxe Jewels check availability
  • Jewels Deluxe check availability
  • Delicate Jewels check availability
  • Diamonds Galore check availability
  • Diamond Delight check availability
  • Diamond Dreams check availability
  • Dazzling Diamonds check availability
  • Dazzled by Diamonds check availability
  • Dazzling Jewels check availability
  • Dazzled Jewels check availability
  • Jewel Thief check availability
  • Jewelz check availability
  • The Diamond Experts check availability
  • Diamond Extreme check availability
  • Diamonds Extreme check availability
  • Shine On check availability
  • Bling On check availability
  • Bling Beach check availability
  • Blingy Beach check availability
  • Bedazzled Beach check availability

Read our full guide on naming your jewelry making business ➜

Learn more about starting a jewelry making business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a jewelry making business?
-> Pros and cons of a jewelry making business

Need inspiration?

-> Other jewelry making business success stories
-> Examples of established jewelry making business
-> Marketing ideas for a jewelry making business
-> Jewelry making business slogans
-> Jewelry making business names
-> Jewelry making business Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Profitability of a jewelry making business
-> Jewelry making business tips
-> Jewelry making business manufacturers

🎬 How To Start A Jewelry Making Business

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Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your jewelry making business.

Why?

Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.

For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.

You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:

  • Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
  • Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
  • Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
  • Market Opportunities: Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
  • Marketing: Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
  • Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
  • Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
  • Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
  • Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.

Learn more about how to write a business plan here

When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.

The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.

These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.

  • LLC: All income and expenses from the business are reported on the LLC personal income tax return.
  • S corp: Owners pay themselves salaries + receive dividends from profits.
  • C Corp: C Corps are separately taxable entities that file a corporate tax return (Form 1120). No income tax is paid at the corporate level and any tax due is paid at the owners individual expense.

Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.

Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses ➜

Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.

Revenue Expectations

We've interviewed several different founders in the jewelry making business and asked them how much $ they're making today.

QALO

  • $24M/year in revenue
  • Sells silicone rings
  • 2 founders
  • 45 employees

Pearls of Joy

  • $2.4M/year in revenue
  • Sells pearl jewelry.
  • Solo founder
  • 4 employees

Taylor & Hart

  • $4.62M/year in revenue
  • Sells engagement rings
  • 2 founders
  • 27 employees

Gold Pan Pete Design

  • $30K/year in revenue
  • Sells handcrafted jewelry.
  • Solo founder
  • 0 employees

Bang-Up Betty

  • $84K/year in revenue
  • Sells jewelry and apparel.
  • Solo founder
  • 1 employee

Inspiranza Designs

  • $4.8M/year in revenue
  • Sells sterling silver jewelry
  • 2 founders
  • 8 employees

Equipment and Supplies

Depending on the type of jewelry business you plan to start, the equipment and production process will vary greatly.

For example, fashion jewelry often requires wires, beads, chains, glue, and wire cutters which you can easily purchase in bulk. It's not necessary to get certified or have any special training.

Whereas with fine jewelry, the equipment + production process can be much more complex - you may need to consider purchasing a 3D printer and other higher priced gems in order to create your ideal product and reach your target customer.

Here are a few resources that will provide the necessary tools, equipment and supplies for your custom jewelry making business:

Manufacturing Process

Keep in mind that if you plan to go the manufacturer route instead of creating the jewelry yourself, you may not need to invest in equipment/supplies upfront - however, there will be other costs and research associated with this.

The manufacturer route is typically more common for fashion jewelry when large quantities of the product are needed.

One of the most important pieces to finding the right manufacturer is having an initial idea of what your design will look like.

Most jewelry makers suggest simply drawing out the design on paper in order to find someone that can truly bring your product to life.

Pragya Batra, founder of Quirksmith explains their design and manufacturing process:

The first step to creating a piece of jewelry is sketching the idea on a piece of paper.

Based on these broad outlines, Divya sketches a few rough ideas over the next few days. Once a collection of 10-15 rough ideas is ready, we go through them together, discussing every idea in a little bit more detail (on wearability, production constraints, uniqueness, etc.). During this process, we select the ones that move to production.

At the production stage, every design sketch is converted into the first sample by a master craftsman. Divya engages in every stage of this sample creation process to ensure the first sample is good to go.

Once the first samples are ready, each design is tested out. It is worn for a few weeks to test for comfort, breakage, or any other issues. Once the sample clears its quality test, the specific design is then produced in small batches, to launch on our website

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How Much Does It Cost To Start A Jewelry Making Business

If you are planning to start a jewelry making business, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.

We’ve outlined two common scenarios for “pre-opening” costs of starting a jewelry making business and outline the costs you should expect for each:

  • The estimated minimum starting cost = $12
  • The estimated maximum starting cost = $21,740
Startup Expenses: Average expenses incurred when starting a jewelry making business. Min Startup Costs: You plan to execute on your own. You’re able to work from home with minimal costs. Max Startup Costs: You have started with 1+ other team members.
Office Space Expenses
Rent: This refers to the office space you use for your business and give money to the landlord. To minimize costs, you may want to consider starting your business from home or renting an office in a coworking space. $0 $5,750
Utility Costs For Office Space: Utility costs are the expense for all the services you use in your office, including electricity, gas, fuels, telephone, water, sewerage, etc. $0 $1,150
WiFi & Internet: Whether you work from home or in an office space, WiFi is essential. Although the cost is minimal in most cases, it should be appropriately budgeted for each month! $0 $100
Total Office Space Expenses $0 (min) $7,000 (max)
Equipment & Supply Expenses
Cleaning Supplies: Cleaning supplies are essential products we used daily at home and in almost all places worldwide. These items are used to effectively and safely remove dirt and germs to control allergens and prevent the spreading of contagious diseases, helping us stay healthy. $63 $200
First-aid Equipment: First-aid kits can be bought as a set if not gathered one by one. These are vital in all places of work, homes, and even in cars, especially when you plan to travel or go camping. So, to protect your workers, clients, and kinsfolks, you must always keep a well-stocked first-aid kit handy. $3 $500
Total Equipment & Supply Expenses $66 (min) $700 (max)
Inventory Expenses
Inventory Storage: If you decide to have a physical space for your jewelry making business, whether it be used for inventory or as a showroom, you may have monthly rent payment or a large down payment associated with renting/buying the space. $0 $5,000
Package Design: Packaging refers to wrapping and protecting products during distribution, shipping, and sales.Your package design is your customer's first impression of your brand, so it's important you spend some time and energy to get this right from the start.Many businesses design their own packages using design software and tools. There is always the option to outsource this to a design expert, but that route tends to be much more expensive. $50 $3,000
Shrinkage: Shrinkage refers to the loss of inventory at any point between the purchase from your supplier and the purchase by your customer. Although you will try to avoid this at all costs, this does happen sometimes (especially in the learning stages of your business), and it's important to plan ahead financially in case this happens. Fortune states that retail shrinkage costs U.S. retailers approximately 1.4 percent of their total sales. $0 $1,000
Distribution costs: Depending on what distribution plan you choose, expenses such as renting vans, hiring delivery drivers and gas costs can add up. If you are looking to save money upfront, you may want to consider conducting distribution on your own. $0 $750
Total Inventory Expenses $50 (min) $9,750 (max)
Software Expenses
Design Programs & Software: These programs might include the Adobe family of design tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. This is typically a monthly subscription ranging from $10-$50/mo. $0 $50
Email marketing tool: If you plan to grow your email list and email marketing efforts, you may want to consider investing in an email marketing platform (ie. Klaviyo, MailChimp). We put together a detailed guide on all of the email marketing tools out there + the pricing models for each one here. $0 $100
Accounting & Invoicing Software: It's important to have an accounting system and process in place to manage financials, reporting, planning and tax preparation. Here are the 30 best accounting tools for small businesses. $0 $50
CRM Software: CRM (customer relationship management) software system is used to track and analyze your company’s interactions with clients and prospects. Although this is not a necessary tool to have for your business, implementing this, in the beginning, may set your business up for success and save you valuable time. $12 $300
Project Management Software: You may want to consider using a project management and collaboration tool to organize your day-to-day. This can also be very beneficial if you have a larger team and want to keep track of everyones tasks and productivity. For a full list of project management tools, check out this full list here. $0 $25
Social Media Management Tools: If you plan to do social media marketing for your jewelry making business, you should consider investing in a social media automation or publishing tool. This will save you time and allow you to track performance and engagement for your posts. Here is a list of 28 best social media tools for your small business. $0 $50
Total Software Expenses $12 (min) $575 (max)
Advertising & Marketing Costs
Business Cards: A jewelry making business involves quite a bit of customer interaction, whether that is attending tradeshows, sales calls or simply having face to face interaction with prospective clients. Business cards are a great way to stay front of mind with your clients. $0 $50
Local fairs and festivals: Attending local fairs and festivals is a great form of marketing for your jewelry making business. The cost for these vary depending on location, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $25-$500 or a percentage of gross sales (around 7%) $0 $500
Direct Campaigns, Printing and Mailing: Although it may sound old-school, traditional marketing methods can be a cost-effective way to drive awareness for your brand. This includes flyers, postcards, sales letters, coupons, special offers, catalogs and brochures. $0 $300
Affiliate Marketing Commission & Fees: If you want to increase revenue for your jewelry making business, affiliate marketing is a great way to promote your product to a new audience. When determining affiliate commission rates you will offer, you will want to take into account the price and margin for your product to ensure affiliate marketing is worth it for your business. According to Monitor Backlinks, the average affiliate commission rate should be somewhere between 5% to 30%. To learn more about how to set commission rates, check out this article.. $0 $250
Influencer Marketing: Partnering with like-minded influencers is one of the most effective ways to grow your social media presence. Many small businesses simply gift a free item in exchange for an influencer post, or pay the influencer directly. $0 $750
Press: If your business and story is unique enough, press and media attention may come to you, but odds are, you may need to do your own outreach and budget for this. We put together a guide here that discusses different press opportunities (both free and paid). $0 $500
Google Ads: With Google Ads you have the ability to control how much you spend by simply setting a monthly budget cap. Additionally, with these ads you only pay for results, such as clicks to your website or phone calls! It's okay to start with a small budget at first and make changes accordingly if you see valuable returns. $0 $300
Facebook & Instagram Ads: With Facebook and Instagram ads, you set your budget and pay for the actions you want (whether that be impressions, conversions, etc).You can learn more about pricing based on your impressions here. $0 $350
Total Advertising & Marketing Costs $0 (min) $3,000 (max)
Website Costs
Domain Name: Your domain name is the URL and name of your website - this is how internet users find you and your website.Domain names are extremely important and should match your company name and brand. This makes it easier for customers to remember you and return to your website. $12 $200
Business Email Hosting Service: An email hosting runs a dedicated email server. Once you have your domain name, you can set up email accounts for each user on your team. The most common email hosts are G Suite and Microsoft 365 Suite. The number of email accounts you set up will determine the monthly cost breakdown. $1 $15
Total Website Costs $13 (min) $215 (max)
Specific Industry Expenses
Handyman Tools: To start your jewelry making business, you will need to have the essential tools to bring to each job. Here's a list of tools to get you started - you may find that you already have these in your tool-kit or garage! $0 $500
Total Specific Industry Expenses $0 (min) $500 (max)
Total Starting Costs $12 (min) $21,740 (max)

Starting Cost Examples

Let's look at two examples of jewelry businesses and how much $ it cost them to get started.

Alex Moore, founder of Gold Pan Pete Design started his business with one set of tools and has grown it to over $2,500/month:

I don’t have a flagship product per se but I make rustic-styled, outdoor and nature-themed handcrafted jewelry for men and women and other gifts for men.

When I first started the business, I started with a basic set of jeweler’s tools which cost approx. $100.

Over time, I’ve continued to grow my collection of more specific and advanced tools. Currently, I have approx $3000 worth of tools that I regularly use.

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This couple started their business with $10K and are now making $400K/month in revenue:

Start-up costs amounted to approx $10,000, financed with our savings.

All profits were completely re-invested back into the business to help it grow.

All the legal side was easy with the UK sole trader & self-employed status. The legal entity Merci Maman Ltd was created in 2010 when Beatrice had her first employees.

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Raising Money

Since the startup costs to start jewelry making business range between $12 - $21,740, there are ways you can raise money to cover these costs.

Here are a few ways you can secure additional funding:

🚀 How To Launch Your Jewelry Making Business

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Marketplaces

There are various different marketplaces that you can effectively sell and promote your jewelry making business, whether that's local or online!

Here are some of the most common ones:

  • Your own website! Shopify is known to be the best for e-commerce stores
  • Local places! Gift shops, farmers markets, festivals, grocery stores etc
  • Etsy - E-commerce website for craft supplies
  • Craft is Art Marketplace to buy and sell handmade crafts & fine art
  • Aftcra Online marketplace where you can buy and sell handmade products
  • Storenvy Marketplace for authentic brands
  • Amazon

Etsy Tips From Founders

Etsy is one of the most common marketplaces for this business type, however, there are some tips and tricks from other founders you'll want to consider prior to listing:

Financially speaking, Etsy is a really great way to start a business because it’s essentially free until you start selling. It cost nothing to launch besides my 20 cent listing fees.

Etsy has been encouraging free shipping with a lot of pushback from sellers, but I built everything into our prices about a month ago and introduced free shipping shopwide, which seems to have improved conversion rates and search visibility already.

I honestly attribute the bulk of my success to photography. I was a photographer first so obviously very lucky to have no issues launching with great images and it’s something I consistently produce.

With Etsy especially, there are a ton of mediocre amateur photos so it was an easy way to set myself apart from the start, and I don’t think Etsy themselves would feature my products and market them so often otherwise. We’re also able to compete fairly well on price because 80% of customers are American, and our dollar is much weaker.

One big mistake I’m seeing from other people selling handcrafted items is regarding Etsy. I’m seeing people do one of two things:

  1. Under-utilize the platform
  2. They are solely using the platform

What I mean by this is that I’m seeing a whole lot of handcrafters that only use Etsy because it’s easy. But referring people to an Etsy page as your webpage isn’t as professional as a dot com webpage, plus, Etsy’s fees are much higher than Shopify. Also, when Etsy makes changes to its marketing structure, I’ve seen people who have no other website get absolutely screwed and their shops go under.

The other camp is those that refuse to use Etsy at all. Etsy is a marketplace, with a built-in audience that is often searching for exactly the product you make! Both camps are making the mistake of not diversifying their markets. Use Etsy, it’s an amazing sales tool, but don’t rely on it solely

Identify Target Customer

A very critical piece in building jewelry making business is to identify your ideal target customer.

  • Develop a niche and create a consistent brand that reflects your target customer.
  • The colors, logo, content, and overall website should resonate with your target customer and should draw them in by helping them solve their specific "need".

Stacey Bowers, founder of Bang-Up Betty discusses the importance of focusing on one target audience rather than trying to please everyone:

The first things I ever stamped were copper bracelets that I called “Four Letter Word Bracelets.” They said things like “STFU,” “OMFG,” and “MILF.” (That last one seemed to be particularly upsetting to some people who I quickly learned were probably not my target audience.)

I may have offended some people right off the bat, but so many other people wanted the bracelets. It taught me that you don’t have to please everyone, and that staying true to yourself and your designs can be way more important than trying to make everyone happy.

Whatever your product is, it’s just not going to be for everyone. So I really lean into the people that it IS for. It’s a lot easier when you sell something you just love and love to make.

Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

  1. Pick a domain name that's easy to remember and easy to type
  2. Choose a Web Hosting Plan (ie. Shopify, Squarespace)
  3. Make sure you choose the right theme and design
  4. Implement the proper page structure (ie. about page, contact page, pricing etc)

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.

Web Design

Once you have chosen the domain, web hosting, and platform, it's time to get started with the design phase.

Themes are a great way to produce the fundamental style and identity of your website - this includes everything from your font design to your blog post styles.

One of the best ways to get started is to simply explore the various themes (free or paid depending on what you're looking for) and test them on your site.

If web-design really isn't in the cards for you, you may want to consider outsourcing a web designer to help bring your vision and brand to life.

Website Advice From Founders

In 2016, I decided to quit my corporate career and focus on Quirksmith.

And so I started to build a website on Shopify. We took help from our friends to shoot and model for the first version of the website. Thank God for talented friends! :). Within a few months, we launched our website quirksmith.com in November 2016.

Since then Quirksmith has been a self-sustaining business that offers us a lot of room to be creative.

Don’t try to create a perfect website with all features on day one. As website visitors start growing, new features can be added.

Make Sure You Get The Package Design Right

The way you package your jewelry making business is often the first impression your customer has - so it's important to get it right.

You may want to ask yourself these questions:

If my product is on a shelf next to hundreds of other similar products:

  • Will my jewelry making business stand out?
  • Will the branding/packaging create a connection with my customer, and hence, lead them to buy?

There are hundreds of tools you can use to help with packaging and design:

  • Canva - Allows non-designers to create beautiful Instagram/Pinterest posts, flyers, business cards, etc.
  • Stickermule - High quality custom stickers you can include on or in your packaging.
  • Noissue - Custom tissue paper and compostable mailers
  • Rollo Label Printer - A great tool to print all shipping labels at home

KC Holliday with QALO ($24M/year) tells us the story of the unique packaging he sent to LeBron James:

Make your packaging unique

Athletes receive tons of products and packages. Make yours unique. An example of an on-brand influencer package we sent was when we sent a package to LeBron James when he moved to LA.

Being based in LA, our team got together and created a recommendation of great family spots only locals would know about in LA, and gave him gift cards, maps, customized rings etc.

LeBron doesn’t need gift cards or a map, but we valued his wife and kids as much as we did him. We focus on family. That is our brand.

Stacey with Bang-Up Betty explains how she gets her customers excited through packaging:

I think the biggest thing that gets people back to my designs after they’ve purchased something is the story they get and the feeling they get when they get a new piece.

I infused a lot of my personality into the website, from the product descriptions to the social media posts. There is humor in the packaging.

There is a handwritten “thank you” on each bright pink mailer. I want you to do a happy dance at your mailbox.

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🌱 How To Grow Your Jewelry Making Business

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Grow Your Email List

The more engaged list of emails, the more engaged customers, which ultimately leads to more sales.

One of the best ways to start growing your list is by providing your customer with something free (or discounted) in return.

This could also be anything from:

  • Ebook
  • Fascinating case study
  • Video series
  • Free week of the product
  • Discount on the product

Learn more about how to grow your email list and improve email marketing ➜ here.

Social Media Advertising

Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to jewelry making business.

There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.

Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:

  • Facebook Advertising - more than 2 billion monthly users. Facebook is the best for lead generation + capturing email addresses for e-commerce businesses.
  • Instagram Advertising - approximately 500 million monthly users and has a higher audience engagement rate than any other platform. Instagram ads are best for linking to a product page or landing page and reaches the 18-29 age group most effectively.
  • Twitter Advertising- Small businesses typically use twitter ads to drive brand awareness, but the platform is meant more for organic engagement (and is not as heavily used for paid advertising)
  • Pinterest Advertising - 175 million monthly users and most effectively reaches the female audience. Pinterest is great for promoting products without "promoted". The promoted pins have a way of blending right in.
  • LinkedIn Advertising - 227 million monthly users and is geared towards the B2B market and generates the highest quality leads. Great platform for recruiters, high-end products and services that will help businesses

It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:

Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:

  • Do I want to simply drive brand awareness?
  • Do I want to drive users to my website to gather information?
  • Do I want to increase sales and get my customer to take action?

From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!

Learn more about social media advertising ➜ here.

KC Holliday from QALO ($2M/month) explains their success with Facebook and the RIGHT Instagram Influencers:

Facebook Ads

In terms of digital marketing, we were launched by Facebook. In 2014, we realized Facebook was an incredible opportunity to pursue the communities that we had resonated with.

There is no golden ticket in terms of what advertising channels will be best for your business so you may need to try a few.

Understand which ads work and do your best to learn why. It may be a lifestyle image on Instagram, or a product photo on a white background on Facebook.

Define your brand message, tone, demographic, and create content that will resonate.

The same rules apply for content and ambassadors. If you’re going to create video content, understand the distribution channel and how much you can spend. That video is worthless if no one watches it. For us, testimonial videos and short product-focused brand videos have been valuable in our distribution channels. Different content should be produced with the end usage in mind.

Look for niche influencers

Small-time influencers with a committed following can be very powerful. It doesn’t always need to be a superstar.

Improve your SEO

SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site, and ultimately, converting leads into customers.

One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."

Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your jewelry making business.

Publish Great Content

Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.

There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.

So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"

  • Length - This will vary depending on the page, however, generally having a sufficient amount of content helps search engines recognize that your site is a good source for a specific topic
  • Engagement - The longer people stay on your website to read your content, the higher Google will rank your website. It's important to have informative and "thick" content that keeps people reading
  • Avoid Duplicating Content - Google will recognize this and may consider your content to have low value
  • Ensure pages load quickly - This will also help with engagement and time spent on your website
  • Shareability - Create content that people want to share, and is easy for them to share, especially to their social media accounts (ie. "click to tweet" is a great example of this).

Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.

If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.

Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.

Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:

  • Trello
  • Airtable
  • If you prefer to keep it simple, your average spreadsheet is just as useful!

Backlinks

Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.

Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.

Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.

For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.

Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:

  • Create infographics with relevant data that people want to share
  • Promote your content on different sites/look into "guest blogging"
  • Contact influencers/journalists/bloggers and ask them to mention you!
  • Write testimonials for other sites in exchange for a backlink
  • Leverage existing business relationships

Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO ➜ here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below

Kevin Canning, founder of Pearls Of Joy ($200K/month) explains why SEO is easier than people think

SEO

This is much easier than people think. The real secret here is to write about topics that are of interest to someone in the process of researching a purchase.

Just think about what questions your customer needs to answer before making the purchase. Then write an article that provides the answer. Write real expert articles and you will be rewarded with traffic.

With all these channels we try to not only attract new customers but empower them to make an educated buying decision.

🏃🏼‍♀️ How To Run Your Jewelry Making Business

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Diversify Your Product Line

Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.

It's important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that's okay. You can always consider it down the road.

Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product

  • Meeting the needs of your customers
  • Establish yourself as a top provider in your industry and stay ahead of the game with competition
  • Resistance to downturns/trends fading
  • Create new revenue streams

Outsourcing

If you can afford to hire someone to help support your jewelry making business, outsourcing is a great way to save you time and energy.

Most importantly, outsourcing can help you focus on the core growth of your business, versus spending your time on day to day tasks that other people can do just as well!

If you do plan to outsource your work, it's important to be hyper-familiar with the actual work involved.

Why is it important to be hyper-familiar with the work?

  • So you can understand how long it takes
  • So you understand the full process, edge cases, things that can go wrong.
  • So you can explain it in detail to your employee.
  • So you can make sure it actually works (for example - how do you know cold email works for your business if you’re not on the ground floor trying it out?)
  • Understanding the tasks at a deep level will save you a lot of time and money.

Kevin Canning, founder of Pearls of Joy gives us insight into outsourcing and how he's now able to focus on the core of his business:

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Tools to get started:

As a jewelry making business, there are some tools and platforms you may want to consider when getting started:

Resources

Books

Websites/Videos

Case Studies

meet the author
Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.