Thrive By Design: Business, Marketing And Lifestyle Strategies For Your Jewelry Brand To Flourish And Thrive

What are you waiting for? I asked my good friend Aggie Burnett, co-founder of Nomaterra fragrances, what she was waiting for to get to the next step in her business. Since her early 20’s, she’s nourished relationships with beauty brands through good ol’ fashioned networking: asking questions, following up, and taking notes. In her 300 sq ft NYC apartment, she spent time mixing and matching oils until she created what felt most aligned. Fast forward to having her products sold in every, single Sephora nationwide! Talk about GOALS!! Even after 5-6 years of experience in the beauty biz, Aggie knew she needed to drive things to the next level. That’s where those guerrilla marketing tactics came in handy. And they’ll come in handy for you too!  

I might sound like a broken record but… Do you know what your BIGGEST sales tool is? So many people are still getting it wrong! Your website is your number one sales tool. It doesn't matter if you're selling e-commerce, if you're just selling to wholesale stores or if you want to do in person events. If you have a janky website it’ll be much harder getting press coverage or getting buyers to actually believe in your brand! And if you’re someone who LOVES wholesale as much as our co-founder Robin Kramer, you’ll want her help on how to simplify your website so people actually buy. There’s so many easy resources to build your best website: Shopify (my favorite), WordPress, Squarespace and the list continues. But you’d be surprised how many mistakes jewelry designers make when trying to sell wholesale on their sites… Let’s make sure you’re not making the same ones. Listen to episode #194 How To Set Up Your Website For More Wholesale Orders with Robin Kramer Enjoy!

Do you have 1000 True Fans? Trust me, it’s A-OK if you don’t. But are you ready to have 1000 people eager, willing and ready to support your business this year? I learned this philosophy from Kevin Kelly and wholeheartedly believe that it’s the best sales strategy to attract those repeat buyers. If you can get X number of people buying from you every single year… Then you can get a rough estimate of how much revenue you'll make a year! Simple enough, right? Let me explain…                                             Sometimes we feel a bit technologically challenged. Or we don't understand the innovation that is happening in marketing now.  So we stick to our old ways and that’s exactly what hurts business in the long run. At one point, I couldn’t keep up with the times. I was being more reactive and less proactive about my sales strategies and how I handled customers on a grand scale. I was losing weight, hair falling out, you name it, I experienced it. I was sad and frustrated all of the time! And

Traffic + Conversion = my 2 favorite words right now. Seriously! Can you name a better feeling than having your voice reach millions of fans? I know that there are people in the jewelry biz struggling to get their content consumed by the people actually BUYING their products. Which is why it’s becoming sooo important to diversify our revenue streams. Especially for those of you who are selling to stores and at live events. You have to have inventory for the shows, you have to show up, set the booth up, stand outside in sideways rain or blazing hot weather or something in between and go, go, go. All your weekends are given to the shows. At a certain point, it's exciting because that's how you're building your business… But eventually it gets… Exhausting. That’s exactly why it’s so important to be able to diversify your strategy so that you're leveraging the tools that you have and you're training your customers to actually buy from you online. Building a biz is a full time job. I’m con

Yes, you can sell your jewelry online! Or have you been doubting yourself? We all feel great doing what we know…but why is it so hard to pivot out of our routines? The real big struggle is when you get too caught up working “in” your business that you can't decipher the right activities you should be doing to build your online business. Sometimes people make it soooo complicated… I’ve been guilty of this too. Take my friend, designer Chelsea Farmer, for example. She is someone who has done an incredible job at creating an amazing user experience for her customers. But she’s said to me once, “I'm afraid to send out an email because we're going to get so many orders I don't know what to do.” Not all problems are bad problems. It's really easy as business owners to fall back into what we know instead of welcoming the unknown. What IF your email list blows up with sales? Or what IF you don’t get more than a couple of sales a week? It’s time we rethink your approach to running a business a

Meet Anna Shilina — she’ll help you make more money! At the end of the day we're all responsible for our own businesses, right? And if you're not showing up for your business then you could be making excuses about why things aren't happening. That’s when we have to take a look at ourselves, my friends! Anna Shilina is an abundance coach that is ready to help you make more money. She helps people remove money blocks and gets them to the space where they're really thinking strategically about what they're doing. “We work on mindset, we work on the way you approach things, we work on really focusing on productivity and being in that space of your highest self so that you can get the most out of your efforts, the most out of your business, the most out of your growth.” And she’s determined that we can all reach our biggest goals in 90 days (or less)! The best time to start your goals was two months ago…  But the second best time to start your goals is today — as in right now! U.S governme

Big goals + Big responsibilities = Burnout? It doesn't have to! Are you tired? Like really tired? If you tell yourself “I’m busy but I’ve got this” then keep reading. I sat down with Nina Cooper, founder of Nina Designs, on our show after reflecting on the last time I felt completely and utterly burned out. I took a sabbatical last year for 6 weeks and went to Europe just for the mental break that I needed to rejigger and recharge. And if I’d taken better care of myself, I might not have needed to do that. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great 6 weeks… But how why I arrived at taking it was NOT healthy. Let me ask… are YOU remembering to reset and recharge? You can still continue growing your jewelry biz. But what if Nina and I showed you how you can do both? We’re all capable of managing our time, energy, and stress.  In our latest podcast, Nina and I share loads of tips to recenter yourself among all of your creative chaos. And we both agreed one of the greatest challenges of chasing a goal out of your co

Is your studio healthy or hazardous? Here’s how to create the jewelry you love while keeping your health in check. Yep, I get it! You LOVE making jewelry. But did you know this creative career could potentially be one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet? Your subjecting yourself to chemicals on a daily basis…how do you know if your studio is safe!?! I know I didn’t. I remember having a Shingles scare because of a rash that broke out while moving chemicals around my studio here in NYC several years ago. One of our SOS coaches, Sarah McAleer, overcame a bought with Sepsis that was brought on by poor ventilation in her studio. How much are we risking as jewelry makers? Today, we’re talking about best practices to have an eco-friendly jewelry studio and take control of your health and safety. I invited Christine Dhein on the show to talk about how to protect ourselves from the inherent hazards that come along with being a jeweler and working on the bench. You don’t have to give up the creative career you lov

Have you heard the saying: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems? It’s the idea that your problems don’t go away when you have more money (or your business grows). In business terms: Mo’ Money, Different Problems. When my first company was growing, I used to throw money at problems. Uhh…bad idea. All that did was make me broke because the money I was spending was NOT an investment in the growth of the company. Trying to scale a business during an economic downturn with -$2.02 in the bank was interesting…but it was a gift. You know what happened? I was forced to be creative. Creative with cash flow. Creative with strategy. Creative with my time. Using my creativity to problem solve, got me exposure on shows like American Idol, got me out of a pickle with QVC, and helped me land some of my biggest accounts, like the Sundance Catalog. When you’re cash flow and resources are tight, you gotta be scrappy. And that’s where creativity comes in. Your creativity is NOT just something you use to make beautiful jewelry. Your creativity

Who are some of your favorite icons in the world? Maybe it’s Beyonce, or Marie Forleo, or Oprah, or a world leader. They’re people that we look up to and admire, and may even want to be like in some capacity. They are A Players. What if I told you that you could be an A Player in business too? You might not believe me. When I was first creating my businesses I probably wouldn’t have believed me either. But it’s true. Every single one of us has the capability to become an A Player in business and get exactly what we want. That’s what today’s episode is all about. I’m taking all of the lessons about how to be one of the best that I’ve learned from the 3 (yes THREE) businesses that I’ve started, and sharing them all with you. Do you want to play in the big leagues, and grow a business that makes a difference in your world? Then you need to be an A Player.

Think about all of the important lessons you’ve been taught in your life. Whether it was from a parent, or a college class, or an elderly person you met in line at the grocery store. Why are those the lessons that stick with you all of your life? Don’t think too hard on it, because I’m going to give you the answer. I can pretty much guarantee you that the reason they’ve stuck with you for a lifetime is because they were delivered using the art of storytelling. Because 65% to 75% of information shared through stories is retained by the people listening to the storytelling as opposed to only 5% of information that is retained through a scripted presentation or the delivery of facts. And it works the same way in business that it does in life…but I like to call it STORYSELLING when I’m talking selling my jewelry. Stories create connections. Sales can get a bad rap for being all about pushing and trying to manipulate a potential buyer. But the truth is if you're a good storyteller you have the opportunity to

Do you ever feel stressed about money in your business?

What’s your word of the year? My word of the year for 2019 is ELEVATE! Last year, my word of the year was SIMPLIFY here’s why… Have you ever felt that making money is hard because there are so many things you have to do to make your business work? …no shame in honesty here because I’m

Happy New Year #ThriveTribe… Last week, I wrote about 5 words to live by (and tools to set the precedent for your New Year) because, well, it’s the New Year! Time for some massive change! Which leads me to a kinda personal question…because it’s time to Sage that S#!zz and clear space for an awesome year ahead. Ready? Have you ever felt completely paralyzed about achieving your business or life goals? Or creating what you REALLY want in life? So logically you make excuses about why now is NOT the time. Or I’m not ready for XYZ. Or better yet, I don’t deserve to have what I want. Or my fave, Artists don’t make money. Even though you need to make changes, you hold your face in your hands and cry out loud saying “Why Me!” (Hey, this is a judgment-free zone here – I get stuck in the same BS all the time.) Without going deep into the reasons why this happens to all of us, the root of the problem starts with the “F” word. FEAR! Fear is the thing that derails you when you self-sabotage, fall short of your goals, don’

Every year around this time, I reflect back on how I did… This year was no different… Always – ALWAYS – my reflection starts with my WINS! Girl, you crushed it! Then I have to check myself re: the goals that I didn’t achieve. AND GET BRUTALLY HONEST WITH MYSELF… Was I playing it too safe? Was I pulling all the stops? Did I really want “it” that bad? Was it aligned with my vision? Or were my beliefs about myself holding me from reaching my highest potential? My practice helped me clear the energy of what I want to create in the coming year and the same is true for you too. When I started planning my 2019, I created a little practice for myself that included 5 words to live by… And I recorded a podcast about it to help YOU manifest your biggest hairy goals next year with these 5 words. 2019 is right around the corner and it’s time for you to make a decision for yourself… Will this be the #bestyearever? If it’s a HECK YES! Dive into today’s episode with into those 5 words now…

Content is King (yes, even for a jewelry brand). And when your content is marketed the right way, you can easily connect with those perfect customers…you know the ones who keep coming back for more? The ones who buy everything you make! The ones who tell the world about how much they LOVE your jewelry! Yeah, those ones! Have you heard of the 1000 True Fans philosophy? It states that you don’t need millions (of dollars, customers, products), you just need 1000 true fans who buy everything you make. When you get 1000 true fans, you’ll never be a starving jewelry artist…you’ll have an awesome business that supports you forever! One piece of the “1000 true fans philosophy” is that you need to create a relationship with your fans…that starts with them loving your jewelry and your story…you keep ‘em hooked by curating content (social, email, blog, downloads, etc) that adds value to your brand experience. Today on the show, I’m sharing How to Align Your Content With Your 2019 Sales Plan so you’ve got double duty wor

A recent NY Times Article announced that Conde Nast is selling off 3 of its publications due to a shrinking pool of advertisers and changes in the way content is consumed… …which in recent times isn’t so much on the printed page. So what’s a jewelry brand to do to get exposure for their designs? It’s true, the landscape of the jewelry industry and PR is changing – rapidly. One of the big changes is the shift from Print to Digital and experiential consumption. And those who discover how to navigate the new landscape will rise and prosper… PR IS NOT DEAD…IT’S JUST DIFFERENT. Branded experiences create brand evangelists who leverage the digital landscape to create exposure for you. Today on the show, I have my friend Janine “JJ” Just with me to talk about all things brand collaborations and PR experiences to get awesome exposure for your brand. Listen to episode #179 of Thrive by Design to get your all-access pass to How to Create Branded Collaborations and PR Experiences with Janine Just.

I’m often asked: what does it really take for an emerging jewelry brand | designer | maker to successfully sell jewelry online? It requires 4 things: • Strategy • Resourcefulness • Creativity • A Can Do Attitude Here’s why: There’s a lot of strategy “conversion nuance” involved in getting customers to actually buy from your jewelry website or online channels. Because of that, you’ve gotta be creative in your approach to selling online, take action to implement your ideas, and resourceful, especially when, things don’t go your way!. Typically, designers try something once and think: ‘that doesn’t work for me!” Instead, they should be thinking: “how can I tweak my strategy to make this work for me?” So, when I hear people out there saying, “I sell jewelry online” – I’m ready to show them how it’s done… and proof that with the right strategy and actions, you can sell WAY more than your dinky holiday shows…. (I’m not dissing shows…they’re good too!

Following trends with your new collection is a great way to get inspired for Spring 2019. No matter what kind of jewelry you create, you can show these trends in your designs. It’s always fun to see how other designers are applying trends to their work! I’m excited because Delia Folk is back on the show! She is the daughter in the mother-daughter duo of The Style That Binds Us. We’re excited because she went to fashion week in New York, Paris, London, and Milan – so she’s got a hot scoop on the trends to look out for in 2019. Listen in on her take now!

Think you can’t keep a secret? The blogger behind A Thousand Facets has hidden her identity for almost 9 years on her blog! It’s so cool because she’s a big time blogger, but no one knows the woman behind the words. Or maybe I should say, the woman behind the website – because her posts are mostly visual. She’s still been able to build a following by showcasing the visual stories of other jewelry brands. So let’s get to know A Thousand Facets.