This article is about the details of online store setup that comes before you actually go-to-market with your product. This is essential so that you don’t make mistakes that cost you time or worse, discourage you from continuing. Selling online is an art and a science and this article is meant to bring both together so that your store delivers results in the way you want it to.

First, the science of an online store – the features & functionality. Jewelry is a very personal purchase so it is very important that your online store have the features that display each piece of jewelry in a very fine way. There are no shortcuts on the visuals; you will have to include very beautiful photographs of your jewelry. If you can afford video, it is also another medium but only if it is of the highest quality. Beyond the visual with several angles and possibly with someone wearing it, your store should also be able to display similar or complimentary pieces, a description of each item and the option to add to a wish list while perusing your catalog. Finally, the shopping cart solution you pick must be search engine friendly that allows you to associate keywords and phrases to each piece of jewelry.

Now to the art of the site – the look and feel. It is important to create an attractive site that puts your visitors in the mood to shop with you; almost irresistible. I’m sure you have searched on the web in the past and made navigation choices based on how a website felt or worked, right? Well, you need to take this into account when creating your own, remembering that purchasing is an emotional experience and especially so when it comes to jewelry. Use soft colors, lots of white space, and patterns and lines that match your style of jewelry. Since this is really the most important part of your online store, you should consult a graphic designer for direction and possibly design of the elements with a webmaster pulling them all together. When selling online, the quality of your store’s look and feel tells your customers if you are a warehouse store or a designer label boutique.

Also, make sure your logo represents your jewelry style. Even if you have had a logo for a long time, examine it for a match for what you want to convey online in your store. Don’t just use it because it won’t cost you anything to use what you already have. Getting a logo redesign does not cost that much.

Now that you have a sense of what is required in regard to the tools and art of the site, let’s talk about the dialogue. Yes, you will need to “talk” to your customers through your words on the pages. Use every opportunity to convey your message – are you offering low cost warehouse pricing or are you displaying a limited collection of fine designer pieces? Wordsmith carefully each paragraph, each description, and your store’s name/byline. All of this matters when selling on the Internet because you do not get a second chance to correct your communication; visitors simply leave.

Constructing a store online with forethought and professional advice is more important than just opening it up and pushing it out there to get sales. In the long run, your careful planning, choice of good tools, and execution on plan is what will give you an online jewelry store that delivers sales, reinforces your brand, and delivers value over the long term to you and your customer.

Hey -

Its Brandon again.

You know, there’s hardly anything in greater demand than easy, understandable, complete information about really important stuff! Don’t you agree?

OK, so what wire jewelry information is “Really Important?” Answer: Anything somebody wants to know right now. That’s especially true when they’re wire jewelry makers. When you’re surfing the web what are you thinking? Are you thinking “Gee, I hope I’ll find some massive website with every conceivable detail about wire jewelry and I’ll be so royally confused, that I still won’t be able to find the answer?”

Of course not. Here’s what you’re thinking: “I just hope I can find a site that’ll give me the lowdown about wire jewelry making, real fast, so I can get on with the important part of making my project!”

When you find the website, magazine article, DVD or guide that gives you exactly that, you stop looking. You print it out, bookmark it, read it. And you feel satisfied that you’ve finally found what you’re looking for.

We, here  at Wire-Sculpture.com have been doing some deep contemplation about ourselves as a company. We’ve given much thought to what we were when we started this company and where we’ve come in the past several years.

When you’ve got your pliers in your hands, and you’re about to create your bail and you suddenly have a question about your project, we want you to know where you can turn to find the answer. We want to be that one place that is bookmarked and you automatically turn to.

So, what does that mean to you?

Wire-Sculpture.com is taking a step back and really evaluating our thinking, our presentation and our overall business scope -  We are giving you MORE of what YOU want!

That’s exactly right. If you are thinking  “hey, I really wish that they had this” or “if they had this it would make my life so much easier” or “I just wish that I could find ALL my wire jewelry supplies at one location for an affordable price” then, you’ll be glad to know that during the next few months we’ll be working our tail ends off making these things happen for you. We’ll be eating, sleeping and breathing the concept of giving you MORE of what YOU want!

Let me give you a few examples:

1- In an effort to get back to the “real roots” of Wire-Sculpture.com we realized that we’ve turned into more than just a “wire jewelry” company. We’ve actually branched out into many areas of jewelry making in general. Well, we want to be the #1 place to go for wire jewelry information and products, so that YOU as a Wire Jewelry Artist can get everything that you need without spending hours on end trying to find it! So in the near future we’ll be liquidating ALL of our products that are not related to wire sculpture. We’ll liquidate these items at ridiculously low prices so that we can quickly “clean up” our inventory and get back to the basics!

2- Let’s face it, some of our products are extremely hard to find! You can go try and find a cabochon and all of the sudden you feel like Alice in Wonderland trying to find your way back home. And let’s not even talk about how hard it is to find the right size snap set or other findings on our site! We’re going to SIMPLIFY the way that our categories and products are laid out. You’ll be amazed at the ease of use when we redo a few of our hard-to-use categories!

3- In this economy we’re all worried about the cost of materials to create our jewelry. Are you really able to get supplies at prices that will produce a profit when it comes time to sell the jewelry to your clients? That’s a darn good question. The answer is YES! And Wire-Sculpture.com is going to help facilitate this. In the near future you’ll be able to see a dramatic price decrease in all of our jewelry wire and other jewelry supplies! That’s right, sterling silver, argentium silver and gold filled all at dramatically lower prices!

4- We’ll be adding several new Designer Series Categories! These one-of-a-kind products will give you that special  touch for many of your jewelry making projects. If you’re looking for a unique cabochon or other stone to compliment your designer piece of jewelry you’ll find plenty of options in these categories.

5- Okay, now let’s get down to the meat and potatoes of this whole email. Up until now we’ve been “A SOURCE” for your wire-sculpting needs. We want to become “THE SOURCE” for ALL of your wire jewelry needs! How are we going to do that? Simple… by offering more qualified and useful instructions and patterns for wire jewelry projects! Yep, we’ll be adding additional instructional materials such as Books, DVDs, Webinars and One-on-One Instructions over the next few months.  And if you’re worried that it’s all going to come from me, a lowly wire worker, don’t fret! We’ll be bringing in many WIRE JEWELRY EXPERTS to assist us! These are experts that have their own Television Shows, their own Books, their own DVDS and KNOW wire jewelry inside and out!

I know that I’ve gone on and on for the last few minutes about all of these exciting changes as we strive to give you MORE of what YOU want! We’ll be sending out more information over the next few months on each of the key items I spoke about in this email. So be sure to stay tuned – you definitely won’t want to miss out on some of these exciting changes that will be taking place quickly!

As always, thanks for your time! We value you as a friend and a fellow wire jeweler. If there is anything, absolutely anything, that we can do to assist you please let me know. You can contact me directly at brandonh@wire-sculpture.com.

We’d love to hear your feedback regarding some of these changes – Click Here to tell us what you think!

Thanks!

Brandon Hutchins
Wire-Sculpture.com