JEWELRY DESIGNER TRAVELING ON A BUDGET

Dear friends, I am writing this email from the Boston Gift Show. I wish I could have read suggestions on how to travel as a jewelry entrepreneur on a budget; especially when you are doing those so called wholesale shows.

We are ALL living though times in is economy and we certainly have to watch every penny we spend, right?. And especially if you are doing a show far away from home. In this case I had to consider not only the booth fee, electricity, gas & parking but I also had to include airfare, hotel & meals and transportation.

So I search my hotel on Priceline and I also made a few calls/emails to my friend who work at different hotels to see if I could get a friends & family discount but their rates were higher than the one I found. In this opportunity the Boston Gift Show had special hotel rates if you booked directly with them, so I found a fairly decent hotel 6 miles away from the Convention Center for about $80, pretty descent huh?!

Don’t forget that when you travel you need to arrange pick up/drop off from the airport, too. Thank GOD I have SO MANY friends & family spread all over so luckily there is always someone living wherever I go. Although in the beginning I was thinking I don’t have anybody in Boston and it ended up that one of my good friends from high school lives only 15 minutes from the airport. We probably haven’t seen each other since high school but once we saw us it was like the time never passed and we reconnected very easily.

She picked me up from the airport and took me back to the airport. That saved me like $40  each way. The Best Western Adams INN in Quincy Massachusetts where I stayed, offered complimentary breakfast and complimentary shuttle service to and from the Boston Convention Center. Right there I saved $35 cab ride for each they of the show, and it was a four day show. So you can imagine how much I would have spend in just cab rides.

Anyways, another advice if you are trying to eat at the convention center – NEVER DO IT – How can you save money and help in this economy charging $3.50 for a bottle of coke or $3.25 for a cup of tea or coffee!!!? I think that is outrageous. The 1st day of the show I had to pay but then I saw my neighbors who brought chips, nuts, crackers, cookies, sandwiches for launch so they did not have to buy lunch. So lesson learned next time I plan on coming ready, right?

I look forward to come back to The Boston Gift Show in 2013

Hasta la proxima!

Evelyn Brooks

Technorati Tags: Evelyn Brooks Designs,Boston Gift Show,Best Western,Urban Expositions,Boston Convention Center

 

 

 

 

LIVING AS A JEWELRY ENTREPRENEUR IS UNCERTAIN…

How great it is when you are at an art show and a couple people come into your booth, wondering a lot about your jewelry, asking you questions about how you make your pieces, why the red & black?, Are you local?….And then the best question of ALL. Do you do wholesale? DING DING…OF COURSE…

That is how a met business partners Edward Hart & Eric Nelson owners of Artfully Gifts & Chocolate  at the Alexandria Fine Arts & Wine Festival on October of 2011. We scheduled time to meet so we could talk about possibly placing an order to carry Evelyn Brooks Designs at their Alexandria location.

When I walked into the shop, I immediately fell in love with it and the variety of gifts they have to offer, BUT their hot coco’s with famous hollywood names is an ingenious idea. So if you are in Alexandria, stop by and see it for  yourself. If you feel in a mood of ice cream you can find it here, too

.

I went there the other day and saw a mom with two kids trying to get some gifts…and as a mom I admired what she did…she got a cup of ice cream for each of her kids, sat them on the tables and she peacefully got her gifts…I was thinking inside myself  WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

Getting into a new boutique or gallery is always a uncertain. We did not know if my jewelry designs were going to work or not, but Edward & Eric saw my work as a great fit for their gift shop. And indeed I brought my 1st pieces by the end of November, they quickly sold and have been selling non-stop ever since.

Later in January we talked about launching my Nazca Jewelry Collection at their Alexandria location just in time to celebrate Valentine’s, too.

This exclusive line of jewelry is an extension of my eco-chic collection and it is inspired by the Nazca lines, which represented a celestial Inca calendar used for rituals related to astronomy, the Spring 2012 Nazca Collection evokes mystery and mythology. Legend has it that the Nazca lines were built by an ancient Peruvian civilization called Nazca, located in the south of Peru.

The collection is hand-made with natural seeds of red, black, and hand-texturized sheets of silver. This new collection will feature necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for women. Prices range from $68 - $950.  

Now if you have the opportunity and travel to Peru take at least to days to visit Ica and go to the town of Nazca. Where you can take off on a little airplane and fly over The Famous Nazca Lines. Once you are there, you will understand more closely my jewelry collection inspired by the Nazca Lines.

Hasta la proxima
Evelyn

Technorati Tags: jewelry traveler,nazca lines,jewelry entrepreneur,evelyn brooks designs,artfully gifts and chocolates,sterling silver jewelry,red jewelry,ecofriendlyn jewelry,artistic jewelry,mompreneur,jewelry marketig,jewelry trends

GOOD ENERGY, GREAT CLIENTS AND A 2012 FULL OF HOPE…

Time flies since I posted on our blog…why because I only have two hands. There is only so much you can do just with just two hands. This year it will be different. We are more organized than ever. We will post once or twice a week.

I truly believe in good energy, some call it good vibrations, others wear a clear crystal, others wear a Huayruro for bringing positive energy (like me, I always carry my red huayruro), whatever it is just think positively at any given time and even if it is in the middle of a cathastrophe at least thinking positively will give you HOPE for better times.

Our holiday season was STRONG, not great because I think the economy situation is still a big concern for buyers. Whom were actually looking more for the lower ticket price items and  few for the high ticket items. But it is what it is…and we were happy with it.

MOST IMPORTANTLY we are still in business, FULL OF HOPE and taking bigger projects for 2012.

One of the best things that happen to me as an entrepreneur during the holidays was…I got a call at 10p on New Years Eve (the day our MOSCHIK coupon expired) and this lady did not want to miss the opportunity to complete her whole EVELYN BROOKS DESIGNS set with the $25 off). Anyways while I was taking her order, she mentioned: I had wore the necklace and the earrings I purchased from you to a dinner party I was going to in Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, and a very refine lady came up to me and told me: YOU ARE WEARING AND EVELYN BROOKS DESIGNS PIECE…of course to me it almost brought me in tears, I couldn’t believe it!;  that someone in Kentucky would recognize my work. Which means we are growing and we are making it all the way to Kentucky.  It may sound funny at 1st but working and being an entrepreneur is not easy. We are always trying to do something to grow our business and perhaps we never sit down to think WHERE ARE WE? in what stage? and that call made me SIT DOWN and THINK (just a for a few minutes)…that my work is truly paying off, is not just in DC, VA, MD like in the begining. It is going all over the US, just as I dream it.

We have made it into over 20 boutiques …and that is why this year our efforts will go even further….I am gonna use a phrase that I heard BUZZ LIGHTYEAR from Toy Story the movie says: TO INFINITY AND BEYOND…that is what my little one is now saying, so I can use that phrase, too.

I hope my enthusiasm brings you HOPE to any projects you are about to begin or are in the middle of…

My sincere wishes of a happy, healthy and succesful 2012! THANK YOU SO MUCH for your continuing support!

Sincerely,

Evelyn Brooks

WHY PROFESSIONAL FOLLOW UP IS SOOO IMPORTANT?

The wholesale shows have passed and the next ones aren’t happening until January/February, right? So what happens when you have clients that did not visit your booth at the recent wholesale shows or you simply have not heard from them.

You are probably wondering why? what happened? was my product good enough for their clientele?  and  did my product met their sales expectations? etc., etc.…One of the main things your have to find out is making sure they have received your information which means your new catalog, brochure, etc., etc.…

Don’t wait to find out that the post office did not deliver your wholesale catalog and that you lose an order because of that. That just happened to me. I was hoping to get an  order from a very important client BUT GUESS WHAT? my client never got my catalog and when I spoke with her she told me. I am really sorry because I already placed all my orders for the rest of this year. So please contact me back in January. OH WELL! maybe it wans;t my time BUT I was really upset. Although I learned a lesson. With your VIP’s make sure you mail your wholesale catalogs via certified mail.

Anyways…as the fall is coming and the weather is changing I can not just sit down and wait for calls to come in to get orders from my clients. So I am actively calling my clients to make sure they have received my wholesale catalog and if they want to place another order.

Following up is SO IMPORTANT! Don’t feel bad by calling and getting feedback on your product. Every time we learn something and don’t be afraid of hearing some constructive critic.

Surprisingly, few businesses actively follow up with their existing clients. This is a mistake. Your existing customers produce more sales at a lower cost to you. They already know and trust you.

If you follow up, it will help you to identify problems that customers had but didn’t complain about. This will allow you to resolve those problems and keep those customers. You are providing excellent customer service, and you will generate positive and ongoing word of mouth advertising about your company.

You can read  Word of Mouth Advertising for more on this subject.

Marketers tell us that it costs 5 - 8 times the amount of money to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer satisfied. Well, it’s true. Think of customer retention as pebbles rolling down a mountainside. Happy customers spread the word, and soon you can have an avalanche on your hands. Follow up is the key.  

Follow up works to build customer loyalty. It’s how you tell your customers that they are important. Research shows that 68% of customers that don’t return to a company say that the company never contacted them, was indifferent, or had a poor attitude. Sending your customers follow up letters is the solution.

And of course your competition is trying to win your customers. But you can beat them. A follow-up personal note is more powerful that a full page ad in the New York Times. If you invest in your customers, they will keep bringing – and sending – you business for life. No competitor will be able to win them away if you stay in contact and follow up with your customers.

For more information of Professional Follow Up

Counting the days for the Buyer’s Market of American Craft…

 

I must say you I have learned a lot since my 1st show during the BMAC Summer Show  of 2010. We worked hard and kept our fingers crossed that everything was going to be fine, and that we would get more wholesale orders so Evelyn Brooks Designs would be seen and purchased nationwide at the most prestigious museum shops, galleries and boutiques.

For those who don’t know what the Buyer’s Market of American Craft is, it is the premier show for American artists to showcase/sell their work. During the show which usually lasts 4 days, buyers from all over the United States and owners of the most prestigious museums, galleries of art and upscale boutiques meet and  place their wholesale orders.

The Buyer’s Market of American Craft (BMAC) has opened the door of many artists and has helped them bring their work to where you want your work to be at.

For example at my last show in Philadelphia, a lady came to me and said: Are you Evelyn Brooks? and I said: YES!? ohhhh it was Linda Marks the buyer from the National Museum of  Women’s in the Arts. We have spoke a lot on the phone but never had a chance to meet  in person and it is always good to see your client in person and built a personal relationship with them.

It is not easy for an artist to hit lots of galleries and museum shops during the 1st wholesale show (BE PATIENT) or perhaps you are the luckiest artist and your work hits the right clients and you make tons of sales on your 1st show…you never know…, I have heard it takes at least three shows to get more and more people interested in your work. Maybe I am wrong but my honest experience is that it hasn’t been bad but I still need to work hard especially because I have to explain that I work with natural seeds and mix them with silver and gold. Again I have learned a lot and that is what matter to me.

One of my biggest client now is Uno Alla Volta. Uno Alla Volta is an upscale boutique which sells through catalog and online. They represent artisans from all over the world. We will go nationwide beginning July 2011 with them. If I haven't’ been  last February at  the Philadelphia Show, I wouldn’t have met them and established a working relationship with them. I truly look forward to have them and new buyers that I can build a relationship with, for many years to come.

Getting ready for the show…YES it is exhausting! But I do this for living and I can’t wait to show my new collection to more buyers And it will also allow me and my work to be in more states in the United States. Thanks to the BMAC, Evelyn Brooks Designs can now be found in Philadelphia, North Carolina, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland.

Watch the  Preview of the 2011/2012 Jewelry collection on YouTube.

On Sunday July 10th, join me during the BMAC Collector’s day. It is the only day that the Buyer’s Market of American Craft will be open to public. BOOTH 2108

Don’t miss this opportunity! Stop by the Baltimore Convention Center.                     
Remember July 10th (1p-5p)                                                                        

a>

                   
For buyers it is open from Monday July 11th-13th (11a-6p) – BOOTH 2108

Send me all your positive energy and good wishes to have a wonderful show!

Sincerely

Nos vemos  

Technorati Tags: Buyer's Market of American Craft,BMAC,Uno Alla Volta,Baltimore Convention Center,Evelyn Brooks Designs,Moschik Jewelry Collection,Artists jewelry