Tailor Your
Jewelry Gift and Shopping Service
to Your Local Market

copyright by Rena Klingenberg

To some extent, your jewelry gift and shopping service is shaped by the area where you live and the needs of your local market. Naturally, the more closely you meet the needs of your local market, the more successful your business will be.

Usually, the smaller (less metropolitan) your town is, the more your customers' needs are likely to lean toward a gift service. That means many of your customers may tend to be:

• businesses needing gifts for employees, clients, or colleagues
• people who appreciate your jewelry and love to give it as gifts
• gentlemen shopping for their significant others and family members
• elderly or disabled people who can't get out to shop easily
• people who need last-minute gifts and don't have time to go to a store.

In rural areas with no local shops, your jewelry gift and shopping service can really blossom. After all, why would your neighbors drive half an hour into town to go shopping, when your jewelry is right there, all ready to give?

Tip: Particularly in rural areas, you may find that becoming a home-based “one-stop local gift shop” by providing some additional, non-jewelry gift items makes your gift service even more profitable.

Larger (more metropolitan) markets – especially in areas where there are a lot of executives, or where people tend to dress up more – will have not only gift-shopping needs, but also custom-accessorizing needs, etc.


That means your business may involve more:

• customized trunk shows hosted by clothing boutiques, fashion consultants, resorts, and spas
• your own open-studio events held at your studio or in a rented hall
• private jewelry showings for upscale clients shopping for themselves.

Regardless of where you live, stay open-minded, and think creatively about any situations or connections that may offer you an ideal opportunity to provide a personalized jewelry shopping service to your local market.

Your local market may also give you the opportunity to specialize in a specific niche or two.

For example, if you're located in or near a town that's a retirement community, you may do an extremely brisk business in jewelry bearing the names, birthstones, or photos of grandchildren – plus jewelry gifts for grandchildren. You may also have a sizable demand for jewelry that's easy for arthritic hands to put on and take off – long necklaces with no clasps, stretchy bracelets, etc.

Or if you're in a college town, one of your niches may be specializing in filling the demand for college-color and college-mascot jewelry, including jewelry for mascot dolls and stuffed animals.

Specializing in niches like these sets you up for word-of-mouth advertising, as more people find out about your unique, on-target offerings and tell others about them.

Soon you find that you have a booming business on your hands – all comprised of retail shoppers buying directly from you – without art shows, shops, galleries, sales reps, eBay, or any other third party taking a chunk of your income.

One of the most important ways to be successful in your local market:

Think creatively about adjusting your products and services to come up with a good fit between the prices your market will bear, and what people in your area need or want that you can provide with your jewelry gift and shopping service.

Discover the most profitable jewelry shopping service markets, how to operate a successful handcrafted jewelry gift service, and where to find customers who buy jewelry from you over and over again - in Rena Klingenberg's new ebook "Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service"

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Gift and Shopping Service