My, my, my how time flies... here we are, already in Fall and sliding into the holidays! The weather is slowly changing (at least here in San Diego) "where it never rains!" Most folks seem to be a little jet-lagged and in a fog from the last year of dealing with the COVID pandemic. While others are cheerfully situating themselves in a cozy holiday mood and having excited conversations about which shows and movies they will binge watch during their time off from work. Not surprised by that. Especially, with all the great shows and movies streaming right now....
For our first ever cover, we have the amazing jewelry designer and owner of Jewelry By BDK, Darlene Knight. She brings a creative beauty and style to the world of handmade jewelry with her signature Boho Wearable Art and iconic big hair, wide ranging talents, unique perspectives and dynamic personality. Darlene embraces life with an innovative passion in all she does.
In this issue, you will find lots of goodies...
May the rest of this year and the upcoming years present nothing but LOVE + PROSPERITY + CLARITY + ABUNDANCE in your life and those that you love.
Darlene xoxoxoYou've got your outfit all picked out and you're feeling good and looking good. But there's one absolute must: how to accessorize.
Yeah, you have your go-to jewelry + bag and shoes that serve you well for all the occasions - and we give you some fashion praise for that. But have you thought about a more serious relationship with your accessories to accentuate your personal style?
Conquering how to accessorize an outfit is a skill that takes time and an artistic eye to develop. But once you get the hang of it, you'll be accessorizing your outfits like a celebrity stylist.
From your earrings to your bracelets down to your shoes, every accessory is an opportunity to present a bold representation of who you are. They allow you to play with silhouette, shape, color, and texture, while often serving an actual functional purpose... that might otherwise be lost.
Master your accessorizing by visiting www.JewelryByBDK.com for some amazing pieces.
Did you know that more than 29 million people purchased jewelry online daily in 2020 and 2021? So it is not hard to see that buying and selling unique handmade quality jewelry online is big business and can be extremely lucrative!
With stats like these, it’s safe to say that competition is alive and strong. No reason to worry though! Just keep producing high quality pieces and you'll begin to build brand loyalty in the market.
With jewelry being a billion-dollar online marketplace, why wouldn’t you want a nice thick piece of the pie?
Because jewelry is a consumer product, it does not discriminate! It literally likes everyone! Jewelry appeals to both men and women no matter their age (or culture)! With this wideopen market, chances are, you’ll never run out of new and or loyal customers.
Check out what’s being bought online:
Artisans are selling rings necklaces bracelets anklets or belly rings just to name a few
There are many online marketplaces situated for selling high quality handmade jewelry online:
Amazon Handmade – Amazon is a monster in the ecommerce space so you’ll benefit from the trust and extreme amount of organic traffic they get every month. There are times when they will waive the monthly fee.
Aftcra – Designers who specialize in making handmade products can list their items for free on the website. You’re only charged 7% of the sale price once you’ve sold a product. Listings expire after 6 months.
ArtFire – There are three different plans on this website. The most affordable one starts at $4.95 monthly, plus a listing fee of $0.23 per item.
Big Cartel – If you want to set up an online store and don’t mind paying a monthly fee, this may be the website for you. Plans start at FREE to $19.99 per month but there are no additional listing fees.
Etsy – This is probably one of the best known websites. They charge a fee per listing + a percentage from each sale. There are no monthly plan fees to worry about.
Bonanza - allows you to import your items from platforms like Amazon and Shopify without charging you any listing fees or monthly store fees. However, they do have a percentage table.
GLC Mall - an online shopping mall that features crafty people like you from all over the globe. Plans start at $4.50 to $12.00 per month and 7% processing fees.
Walmart Marketplace - for details click here.
Sears Marketplace - for details click here.
Zulily Marketplace - If you are a small vendor, Zulily is perfect for you. Beyond providing a stable platform for product listing, they provide planners who work closely with vendors and advise them on the most effective strategies to ensure consistent sales on the Zulily e-commerce platform. Seller fees on Zulily is between 30% - 36% per sale.
Layering bracelets is truly an art, requiring a bit of trial and error before you achieve the perfect mix of colors, sizes and metal finishes.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2021
FOR SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
When styling your arm bling, it’s okay to mix your metals, colors, styles, and textures. Mixing up a different combination will produce an arm full of glorious beauty. So have FUN mixing and matching. Turquoise is perfect for that extra POP for any outfit. Prefer warm colors? Pair rose gold, yellow gold, and copper tones together for a metallic stack that’ll look great in photos and in person!
One reason stacking bracelets is so popular may be because these days our hands draw attention more than before due to the use of devices such as smartphones. This trend isn’t going away any time soon so mastering this style, if you haven’t already, is bound to become your reality, too.
There are NO RULES when dressing up your wrists! While we communicated our two cents regarding layering bracelets, the way you bling out your wrists is 100% up to you! You can go big and bold, petite and dainty, or a mix of everything in your jewelry box.
Hand
Men Bracelets 2x$25 Nov. 26 - Nov. 29
When wearing bracelets, should you go bold and chunky like this beautiful bracelet, or sleek and delicate like beautiful string bracelets. Before we get into matters of taste and style, think about which type of bracelet will blend well against the backdrop of your arm, wrist, and hand. When we say the bracelet should match your wrist size, we're not just talking about whether it fits around your wrist.
The width of the band, the size of the beads and embellishments of the bracelet all matter too. You want to choose a bracelet that complements your appearance, which is why it's important to consider your bone structure. That way, you'll know whether to look for a piece that's wide or narrow, simple or extravagant, and solid or delicate. Then you can use your bracelets to accentuate or camouflage your wrist.
So, you want to build a recognizable brand and you think that social media is the way to get there?
Well good news: you’re on the right track! Social media is indeed a highly powerful tool for building a massive audience and connecting with that audience in a way that many brands and companies never will.
But before you can start posting media and content, you first need a plan What, you thought you could just dive in without any strategy?
Your social marketing plan is essentially the strategy and the series of steps that you plan to follow in order to take your website or business from a small name or tiny blog; into massive, self-sustaining, professional organization
It sounds impossible for many people but the fact of the matter is that this has worked for countless brands before yours.
Take a look at any of the biggest names in your industry, and you can almost guarantee that they started out where you are right now and that they used social media – possibly alongside email marketing and other tools – in order to grow and to become something bigger
While many people will fail to emulate that success story, that’s because they followed the wrong trajectory – or because they had no strategy to begin with
Concentrate on creating a blueprint based on other highly successful sites. But be sure to tailor your strategy to suit your brand, your mission statement and your audience.
The plan is the single most important part of your entire campaign So, get started and do it!
The first thing to do is to identify what the goal of your social media plan is You’d be surprised how many brands will jump into their social marketing without even considering this incredibly fundamental concept!
A lot of creators and businesses will look at you blankly if you ask them what their plan is, or answer that it’s ‘to be more successful’.
This isn’t helpful because it doesn’t provide us with a destination, meaning we can’t come up with a road map
So instead, ask yourself what success means for your business
Maybe you’re just trying to make lots of sales quickly?
Maybe you want to establish yourself as an authority within a small sphere of influence?
Or maybe you want to reach a massive audience and be considered a thought leader within a specific niche
Whatever the case, this is going to subtly alter the way you go about things Likewise, you should also look at your budget, you should look at your timeframe and you should look at the number of hours you can commit to this plan.
If you can build a whole social media department inhouse as part of your business then great.
But if in reality you’re only likely to be posting one or two status updates a day maximum, then be honest about this fact and build that into your plan
It’s better to have a moderate plan and to stick to it than it is to have a highly ambitious plan but then give up on day one!
