In Home Jewelry Parties

A recently sold piece from my Artfire studio.

I've done blogs about jewelry parties in the past. I've done some research, conducted interviews with other artists and even attempted to get friends and family to host a jewelry party for me.  However, today I would like to blog about the one type of jewelry party that has brought me at least some measurable amount of success.... the "in home" jewelry party.

Let's face it, in these tough economical times it is very difficult to find people willing to host any kind of party in their homes let alone get guests to come to those parties with the intention of purchasing what ever items are being shown.  I myself have not found anyone willing to host a showing of my jewelry in their home yet.  It is tough.  But I didn't and won't allow that to discourage me.  No.  I found another route to take.  I figured if I couldn't find someone else to host me, why not host myself? 
So, I began doing "in home" jewelry parties or jewelry showings.  If I put out snacks for the guests, I would call it a "jewelry party" and if there was no snacks and I offered tours of my studio space, then it became a "jewelry showing". It's a simple, minor detail but for me it was necessary to establish. 

A pair of earrings currently for sale in a local boutique.

I use Facebook to send out the initial invites and then I start inviting my friends, family and work colleagues in person.  I encourage them to bring guests of their own.  In the weeks/days prior to the event I make sure to post pictures on my Facebook of new items and items available for sale.  It grabs the buyer's attention and gets them interested.  If they see one piece that interests them, they are more likely to attend.  They want to see the item in person sometimes before making the purchase decision.
I use my dinningroom in my house for my showings, though you could use any room you feel is appropriate.  My dinningroom is large, has lots of chairs and my dinningroom table is large enough to display nearly all my current pieces. I also set up a smaller card table in a corner with bead and supply catelogues for those who want to have something custom made.  I also put out some of my beads and supplies on the card table as examples.  It helps your guests know you take custom orders and can even inspire them to ask for a specially created piece.
I also have my tools handy.  I have quite a few repair customers who bring me things they have purchased, whether from me or another artist, that need some repairs done.  I often do these right on the spot unless they require more time or complicated methods (usually they don't).
I also have things on display throughout my local area in art galleries and boutiques.  An in home jewelry party is a good way for you to get the word out to people in your area that your pieces are available online, in person and throughout your comunity.  The more places your work is available,the easier it will be for people to recommend your work or even recognize your work.

In conclusion,  don't be afraid to host your own party or showing to get your work out in the public eye. It tends to be simpler and chances are you'll have better turn out and sales results if you go out on a limb.  Plus, you never know when one of your guests may decide to host you in their home after seeing your things in yours.

Traveling jewelry "showings"

So, a friend of mine suggested I bring my jewelry up to her work place because it would be easier than her trying to get them to come to my jewelry showings at my place. 
A few weeks ago I did.  And it worked REALLY well.  I let them know a week or so in advance through my friend what day I would be there.  They let me set things up and I made several sales!  Then, they suggested my friend call over to one of their branches on the north side of town and see if they would like to see my things as well.  They told me to come on over.
I made about $150 in sales between the two places.  It was a good experience.  I'm wondering how to branch this out to more places but wouldn't even know how to go about it.

Add to that, I had a lady ask me to bring some piece to her shoe boutique to show.  So, I also have some pieces in a boutique here in town.  Nothing has sold yet but at least my pieces are being seen more now.

Jewelry Showings results

OK.... here's a run down of how the jewerly showings went.

I had one person come on Tuesday.  She's a VERY good friend of mine.  She was originally planning to brgin a work colleague who she says was very excited about seeing my work.  But apparently, this person either forgot or something came up because she left before my friend had a chance to grab her and drag her to my place.  That being said, my friend did buy up $75 worth of jewelry and wore it to work the rest of the week as advertising.  It was a good thing.
This same friend came back on Friday, this time with her mother-in-law in tow.  She again was going to bring a work colleague as well but this time their daughter got sick so home she went.  This time out between the two of them they bought $70 worth of jewelry.  I think the MIL is going to be a repeat customer. 
So, after two showings and poor, though delightful attendance I made $145.  Not bad.
The next plan is to take my jewelry to my friend's work place and set it up in the break room.  I'm planning to do this next week on Wednesday (that would be May 26th) which would be my first official day of summer break.  Between now and then, I am planning to create some new pieces in styles that my friend has tipped me off are of interest to her work colleagues.  We'll see how it goes from there.
Planning two more jewelry showing in June as well, though spacing them farther apart will be in order.

Jewelry Showings

I have planned and tried to hold a couple of jewelry parties in my home now and it seems they don't always pan out so well.  After those experiences, I formulated a different plan.
I am trying this new plan out this week.  I am hosting not one but two jewelry "showings" in my home.  I figured if I took the "party" out of it that a) it wouldn't seem to everyone like they HAD to come and socialize with people they didn't know b) it would become a little more of a casual "drop by when you can" type thing c) I wouldn't have to worry about making finger foods that wouldn't get eaten or punch that wouldn't be drunk and d) it would seem less sad if no one showed up. 
So, what is a jewelry "showing" you may ask?  Here's kind of what I have come up with.
A jewelry showing is an event where an artist sets up a display of their artwork and invites people to come and see it.  If they happen to purchase a piece, then its a good deal.  If they choose not to, at least that's one more person who has viewed your work and can pass on by word of mouth to others what they saw and if they liked it.  I also am planning to do a tour of my studio and have my supplies on hand for viewing, should someone want something custom made.  I also like the come and go aspect of it.  It gives people a chance to eat dinner, run errands etc. without feeling the pressure of having to be at my place at a certain time or for a certain length of time.  I like that better for my schedule as well. 
The reason I chose to do two showings is to broaden the scheduling net a bit.  Someone who can't come on Tuesday may have a Friday night open.  Those who are busy on Fridays or traveling out of town, might be better suited to drop by on a Tuesday evening after work. 
This time around, I scheduled them both in the same week.  Next month I may try spreading them out over the month a little more.  It's an experiment in promotion.
I am also hoping to promote the idea of others hosting me and my jewelry in their own home for a "jewelry party" or even just a showing... kind of like a Tupperware party.  I think having people come in and see my jewelry may spark the idea of how many people they know who would also like my work.

At any rate, I'll report back my findings with this method after each showing.  After a few months, i should have a pretty clear picture about whether this idea works well for promoting my jewelry or not.  Stay tuned for future reports.

Jewelry party research

I have been wanting to start hosting handmade jewelry parties in my local area for a while now. I picked up the idea reading about the idea in the Artfire forums. It hadn't even occurred to me to try it. And then I started to ask myself questions about the idea.

In my quest for answers, I took it to the forums. I began asking as many artisans as I could about hosting or being hosted for handmade jewelry parties. I wanted to get an much information about it as I could.Some of the things that were plaguing me the most were how high the attendance for these kinds of parties was and also what the host/ess got in return for hosting.

The answers I got varied quite a bit. The incentives for the host/ess of the party ranged anywhere from 30% of the party sales in free jewelry to 15% of the party sales in cash. Most of the artisans I spoke to offered a percentage of the sales in credit towards their product. I was planning to offer a dollar amount in credit on jewelry in my studio as an incentive.

I also inquired about door prizes. This was interesting. Some artisans said yes, absolutely offer 2-3 door prizes for those attending. Some artisans were very much against offering door prizes but instead offered sale rpices or coupons at the door. I was planning to have 3 door prizes available and do it raffle style. For each additional person a guest brought, I would give them one more ticket for the raffle.

The guest list is usually comprised of friends, family, and co-workers of the host/ess. However, i found that alot of artisans also send out invites to those customers on their email lists in the area. This greatly ups the attendance of the party. That average of invites per party was about 50 and the actual attendance was about 20. I have a much smaller base to invite... closer to 30 people. However, if each of them brought one friend... that could up the attendance significantly.

The one piece of info that was most encouraging to me was the average amount of sales made at each of these parties. Every artisan I asked about this said they made anywhere from $400-1500 in sales! WOW! I can only HOPE my first jewelry party sales are that high. Even at the local craft shows I do I only make about $200.

I plan to host the first jewelry party at my own home to get the ball rolling. Other artisans say they offer a in home party at least once a year and can get additional bookings from that show. I also feel this would be the most welcoming way to introduce my friends and work colleagues to my work as well as the idea of hosting my jewelry in their home for their friends, family, and colleagues. I was going to try and do this party next week already but no one seems to be able to attend and I discovered I had a conflict as well. I am hoping to reschedule for the week of Spring Break and/or the week following.

So, there you have it. All the information I collected about jewelry parties. Its not a lot but it gives you an idea and it definitely encouraged me to try giving a handmade jewelry party in my are.

I would like to take this moment to thank all the artisans who contributed information to my jewelry party research:

TimelyImpressions http://www.artfire.com/users/TimelyImpressions

catinalife http://www.artfire.com/users/catinalife

BAKidagain http://www.artfire.com/users/BAKidagain

girlseattle http://www.artfire.com/users/girlseattle

Tali's Creations http://www.artfire.com/users/talicreations

If I have left anyone out, please let me know and I'd be happy to add you. It was hard to keep track of all the answers I got since they were so spread out across the forums and various emails.