and welcome to the first issue of "Growing Your Business" at The Jewelry Making Website!

In this issue:

The art of selling

and....

Preparing for the Christmas craft show season

First let's talk about getting to know the mindset of your customer. How do you do that? You do that by first establishing your own "mindset."

Selling is primarily about 1 thing and 1 thing only...

RELATIONSHIP

Every step of the way it is about relationship. The relationship you have with your designs, the relationship your customer has with your booth display, with your work and ultimately with you.

They can change selling techniques and tricks over the years, but the one thing you cannot bypass is the human level of engagement. That is the platform you build from.

Having a solid foundation of old fashioned customer service and heart felt interaction is your investment in the success of your business... and that won't cost you a penny.

How would you feel if you signed up for my newsletters and my first email to you was a plug for something I was selling? You might want to cancel your subscription or at the very least you would have a niggle in the pit of your stomach that may put you off.

I am in it for the long haul and I know that building relationships is what it is all about. I am keenly interested the visitors to my site as I am interested in the customers who buy my jewelry. I want to know what they are about and how they feel... their likes and their concerns.

You cannot go wrong leading with your heart as long as you have a healthy balance between your heart and your mind for business.

Whether you already have your shows booked or you are about to exhibit at your first show it is important to plan ahead in order to maximize your show profits.

How do you build a relationship with your customers at shows? First you start with the planning of the atmosphere. Your booth should invite customers into a great shopping experience that is one of ease and joy.

Plan a booth display that sets the right ambiance for your product. Make your booth warm and welcoming, with plenty of good lighting. If you are not sure how your display will look, set up your display tables at home and lay out all your display items filled with jewelry. This will tell you if you have created the right display proportions and whether you have any gaps to fill.

Stand back and get a feel for how your display flows. Trying your booth out at home before you exhibit at the show will save you from panic and heartache. You can fine tune your booth display until you feel it has the image you want to capture.

Once you are completely satisfied with the look and feel of your booth you can start to think about how you can create a good experience by connecting with your customers.

Here are five quick tips on how to warm up your visitors and create an engaging atmosphere:

1) Take an interest in your customers by asking no pressure questions such as: "are you enjoying the show" or "did you just arrive." These are easy questions and work well especially if the show is large. This opens conversation and friendly connection.

2) Don't hold back on positive responses. If you like the earrings someone is wearing or the top they have on tell them so. If you are sincere people will get that. Keep it natural and authentic. We have all been to stores where the salesperson says "that looks good on you" and you know that it is just a line. The difference is if you really do care it shows. When you have dollar signs in your eyes that shows too.

3) Talk about your work and don't forget your passion. Genuine excitement and a love for what you do is contagious. People respond energetically and that creates great dialogue.

4) Be informative. If your hooks are nickle free let your customers know. If your stones have specific meaning let them know that too.

5) Be helpful. Make sure to offer your customers to take the earrings of the rack and hold them up as well as try on necklaces etc. Help them to feel at home and let them know you are there to help them.

Selling comes naturally when you engage with your customer as though they where a good friend. While sales pitches do work people are generally overloaded and bombarded with advertising and in your face promotions.

Ultimately you are at the show to make money and that is a good thing. You do not need to sacrifice your profits because you are sociable. Having a good connection with your customers works hand in hand with selling. In this case the sales pitches evolve organically because you are authentic with your customers.

Remember when you are chatting it up with a customer to be aware of other customers in your booth. They will understand when you politely say "excuse me for a moment" in order to acknowledge the new customer with a friendly greeting such as: feel free to try anything on or please let me know if I can be of help.

Once you have established in your mind how you will approach your customers, that becomes your mindset and then you can start to get to know who your customers are. Build your relationships with a heart connection right from the beginning and your business is sure to grow : )

For great ideas on what kind of products to design for the Christmas craft shows please visit my new page. There you will find tips for how to estimate how much product you will need and 7 tips on what kind of products to plan for your shows in order to maximize sales.

Thank you for reading and get growing! : )

xo Patricia

P.S. my apologies if you receive this email and all the paragraphs are bunched together... I am still ironing out the kinks :|

The Jewelry Making Website