|
I wear silver most of the time (in a game of Werewolf, I was once "killed" by being pushed into a pond and "drowning when her jewellery weighed her down") So, I default to making silver tone jewellery. Then a repeat customer said: "The only thing I could wish for is a gold version, as most of my jewellery is yellow gold, but I don't even know if that's possible!"
Is it actually possible?...The parts I needed were available from my usual supplier, at the same price as the silver parts. Thanks good old Bead Shop Nottingham! Pins, protectors, metal skulls and golden balls (snigger) all good. So there was no issue about the same design in gold being harder to source, or being at a different price point. First hurdle overcome! Is there a market for it?...I sell mainly on Etsy, so had a forage among relevant keywords and found a goodly number of gold toned metal pins alongside the silver ones. I also looked online at fashion trend and yup, lots of dapper gents wearing both metal colours on their lapels. Not precise by any means, but it showed that enough other people were both selling and wearing gold, so it was probably viable as a style choice. Going for it!I had at least one customer telling me they'd buy more if it was in their preferred colour, I knew that it was possible to do, and I knew that other designers were offering the option. So gold toned skull pins have now hit the shelves! Designer maker businesses tend to be told "do what you love" and "make what you'd want to buy". As a basis, that's worthy, but greater customer and market awareness is the next step up from those simple tenants. I was only making "what I would buy myself" in a very narrow way, and ignoring the one simple addition/switch which would open my market up a lot. Breaking from my silver rut has been good for me. As well as encouraging me to do proper research and get out of my comfort zone, it's made me look at some of my other work and wonder what else I could easily change to appeal to more buyers. Plus, I get the warm and fuzzies of knowing I can email a customer and thank her for a simple question leading to a bit of business development! Is there anything you could do with looking at with fresh eyes, or a fave designer maker you wish would make one wee change? Explore the options, or send that email - who knows where it may lead!
1 Comment
Rachel
11/7/2016 12:29:19 pm
Oooh, I think I may be a bit blinkered as well, as I make earrings with almost all silver wires - or antiqued silver - becaiuse it's what I wear. I just didn't think that even if it's only a handful of people who want gold, I'm missing selling to that handful!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Join the Newsletter Gang!A welcome discount, plus news and special offers. You're almost in the Gang now!Check your emails (perhaps in dastardly spam or junk) to confirm your email address, and then be sure to make use of your welcome discount! Categories
All
Archives
November 2023
|