What do you mean by community?

I hope you’ve had a chance to have a look around the site a little.

When I tell people that I’m trying to put together a community in the trade, I often get a blank look back. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to go into a little more detail about that. Ultimately it will become a section in a book, but for now it will remain a humble paragraph in an email.
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Creativity In Action

I just wanted to touch base with you to get those creative juices going.

As a ‘creative’ whether it be jeweller, or designers you will often find yourself getting stuck in the creative process. Or you might even feel that you are struggling to get yourself to a creative space in order to even begin the creative process.

My suggestion involves 2 main processes.

The first is to give yourself permission to be creative. This is a big step for many especially at the business end as doing things that don’t necessarily ‘generate income’ are not given the time of day in many businesses.

The next thing you need to do is block out time and space to really get stuck in to the process. Make it as if you’re in a meeting. Shut off all forms of communication; phones and email, and give yourself an appropriate amount of time to achieve something worthwhile.

Then go for it.

As long as it is balanced around your work life, and you are felling a positive outcome, there is no reason to feel any remorse.

Action: Give it a go and see what happens. Now share your experience here.

Promoting Colour In Creative Ways

Diamonds are forever, or at least that’s what the major diamond companies continually try to hammer into the consumer’s mind.  In the face of this kind of constant promotion, how can you successfully promote the beauty, value, and desirability of coloured gemstones?
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Driving Demand For Gemstones All Year Round

It is a common characteristic of the gemstone and jewellery business that some times of year are far busier than others.  Christmas and Valentine’s Day are two of the biggest holidays, along with Mother’s Day.  These holidays offer plenty of opportunities to attract customers and increase sales, but that’s not enough to keep your small to medium size business afloat for the entire year.  Read more

Colour Combinations Grab Customer Attention

Grabbing the attention of customers and potential customers is a big part of your overall success.  After all, if you can’t get them to notice your gemstones and your jewellery pieces you are not going to get them to actually make a purchase.  Coloured gemstones can be a huge benefit in grabbing customer attention Read more

Building Customer Relationships One Gemstone At A Time

There are lots of ways to attract customers and make sales, if you have an unlimited advertising budget and are willing to spend it freely.  Chances are, however, that you don’t have this kind of tremendously large budget so it’s critical for you to take a smarter, more efficient approach to attracting customers Read more

Protect Your Margins With Colour

Making money in the fine jewellery business can be tough, especially in these days of online and large scale retail competitors.  For a small to medium sized business it might seem impossible to compete and make any money.  With coloured gemstones, however, you have a great opportunity to protect your profit margins and be successful. Read more