As many of you probably know, I will not be going back to
Felician College in the fall. It will be
jewelry full time for me for now, or at least for the next year or two, as I
build up the company. (I’ll probably
apply for another academic position at that point. I do love academia but I love this too.)
I’ve had to think long and hard about the direction I want
to go in, and I’ve decided it’s time to build my own website, which will run
alongside with Etsy – I have no plans on forsaking Etsy anytime soon, I had a very
productive meeting with part of their crew a couple of weeks ago and I’ll be
visiting their offices in the next month.
As I build my own site, however, I would love your feedback
and ideas. I have built my entire shop
around my customers, their ideas, interests, and feedback. I find this process very enriching and as I
grow, I want to continue keeping you all involved!
I am signing up with Squarespace to host my site, they have
fully built e-commerce platforms where you can create multiple collections for
sale, hook up your blog, do shipping, sales, credit card and PayPal processing,
analytics, mailing lists and more. It
looks very exciting.
I’m still in the very early stages of design, but of course
these are the most crucial because that’s where you do the basic organization
of the site. Below are my main
ideas. If you have any thoughts, please
convo me via Etsy, email me, or use the comment box below. I will send out a questionnaire at some point
but I’m not at that stage yet.
1. I’d like my site to concentrate on the high end items, so
gold jewelry only, and nicer gems.
Why? Because Etsy is better for
the low end stuff so there’s no reason to duplicate. The average Etsy customer doesn’t spend as
much (my average sale used to be about $80, now it is $300, but I have many
items that cost more and that don’t sell that well on Etsy). I also want to do more high end custom
work. This will be a slow process because
I’m not willing to take out a loan - rumor has it those have to be paid back! So as the sales increase, I will start
creating high end pieces one at a time.
2. Instead of using the standard Etsy categories (ring,
pendant, necklace, earring…), I want to sort by collection. But there will be a “search” button as well so
people can search within the shop for just rings for instance. I have to rename some of the collections, and
I need ideas for those. Right now the
collections I have are Hexagon (this will include the kite settings), Gotham
(already named), Petal (all the Victorian flower pieces), and Scroll (the
earrings with the scroll design and the matching eternity band, plus simple
pendants using the scroll settings). I
may start with the most complete collections (Hex and Petal). Then later I will add the rest, and
eventually another line or two. There
are some items that I don’t know where to put: the daisy ring, the pillow
pendant. And there are items that will
not make it to the site and stay on Etsy only – the rest will be cross listed
since I don’t have funds to make two of each.
3. Gems: after my initial jewelry lines are up, I will add a
gem section for outright purchase or custom work. For matched pairs, there will be options to
purchase the setting from my scroll and hex lines, or others as relevant (i.e.
I can add an option to make a dangly petal earring). For single stones, I will also offer setting
options as applicable. And I will add
some sort of custom form where people can make other requests for the stone
they buy. I will also offer the option
to source a loose stone but I may need a minimum price point because finding a
stone can take time. Also, as custom
work is extremely time consuming, I want to put more visual emphasis on using
my existing designs. That way they will
be the first choice a customer makes, and a custom piece from scratch will be
the second choice only. Offering custom
pricing using my existing settings will also allow a customer to calculate a
combined design (i.e. adding a dangly or using a pendant for an earring). Squarespace has a lot of listing variations,
and this will come in handy.
4. For the pull down menus, right now this is what I have:
About: Shop Mission,
Shop Owner (members), Resources
Shop: Pull down menu
by collection
Blog: links to my
blog
Where to buy: My local shop, Etsy (and of course the
website)
Custom: TBA
Gallery: Past orders and photos
This is what I have so far. I assume you won’t be seeing the
site until late Summer, but I can use the blog to keep you updated, and to send
you layout ideas (I’m hoping a friend of mine will help me with this but I’m
not sure yet). Right now I’m working on
the back end part. I don’t know diddly
about building a website, so this is going to be interesting!
So exciting! I'd love to provide feedback on the site as it develops. I love the idea of collections. Where would the channel-set earrings and pendants go? Those are some of my faves.
ReplyDeleteI think I have to make a separate collection for those. I realized they don't fit anything but I like having them. Maybe something called "simple" or some other word that implies a clean, low frills style that just features the gem.
ReplyDeleteMaybe "Flow," or "Minimalist"... I'll check in if anything else comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteThough I'm sure most of your current clients are women, please include a men's section too. : )
ReplyDeleteYour works are really chic and elegant! Anyway, it's nice that you've decided to go full-time in jewelry design and crafting. I think launching a website would really boost your venture. It wouldn't be without added effort, though, if you’re planning to maintain the site and your Etsy. You already have such amazing ideas for the site, which really sounds exciting. I hope you'll be able to launch it soon. I'm sure it'll be spectacular! All the best!
ReplyDeleteTina Greer @ Lane Local Marketing
That’s true. Creating an effective design for your website is a challenging task. There are a lot of things to consider, the appeal, accessibility, and how easily it is to navigate. Most importantly, your website design and content says a lot about your products and services. This will avoid confusion as to what you're business is offering.
ReplyDeleteDella Meyer @ Spark Local Marketing
You have a good plan for your website, Yvonn!. Being in the jewelry business can be quite challenging, especially if you’re focused on high-end items. You have to be keen, not only with the designs of your jewelry themselves, but with the whole package as well. In relation to your website, it’s best if you keep it simple and choose a color palette that defines luxury – like gold, silver, and black. They are usually the ones that create a sophisticated air in such products. Hope that helps. All the best!
ReplyDeleteChris Hatcher @ Red Stick SEO