How to Cut Costs in the Jewelry Business

How to Cut Costs in the Jewelry Business<br /><br />Yesterday, I published the Lepidolite Slideshow on AC. Several commenters liked the neck that displayed my jeweled creations. My old college buddy, Vivian, left a comment that started the strand. Nice neck, she said. I appreciate the fine comments and now reveal that that is indeed my very own neck showing my very own handcrafted jewelry. Ta daa! Finished jewelry display<br /><br />Now I will tell you that my neck serves very well as a jewelry display. Because my head came along with this convenient attachment, I can use my own neck instead of buying those expensive black velvet ones. Jewelry supply houses will sell you anything from soup to nuts to supply you with every possible jewelry business need, including necklace displays. The trouble with them? It costs an arm and a leg for a neck!So I put my own neck to work, especially for a proper fit for the necklace design. Womens necks were created for necklaces besides being functional for holding up our heads. Furthermore, I design my jewelry for real necks, not cardboard simulations. Have you noticed how necklaces come alive when worn on a real womans neck? Mine is available 24/7 and works with me without complaints or pay. It is a natural resource available for use in completing my designs. A necklace is not finished until I try it on at the end.<br /><br />Next up is the photo shoot. The finished product must be documented. How do I photograph my own neck, wearing my own jewelry, with my own camera? Another clever business cost saving happens here: I use an in house photographer, my husband!Now, understand, my husband would rather be calculating the orbits of electrons than photographing my jewelry. The photo session must be approached with a plan for his approval. The session must be scheduled days in advance so that he can mentally prepare for the mundane manual work. But he takes great photos for how much he hates the job. And his only remuneration from me is a smile at dinner.<br /><br />Tools on hand<br /><br />But back to the neck. It comes in handy while fabricating a necklace design. As you may know, necklaces come in lengths. Sixteen inches is choker length for a lady. Eighteen inches is standard. Twenty four inches is long and by the time you get to thirty six, youre talking about opera length. When making a necklace, I only have to put it on to know its length. No measuring required. I do it, but I hate to measure. My neck serves as a measuring device. How about that for built in tools?<br /><br />Other low cost measures<br /><br />Okay, okay, I admit having a ruler. I use it to measure the things that need precise measurements, like the lengths of silver wire for making jewelry. Okay, okay, I admit having stolen the ruler from high school. While it didnt cost me anything, remember, I have to use it without the numbers. They wore off the ruler long ago.<br /><br />So, those are some ways to cut costs in the creative enterprise that jewelry making is. And now Im starting my diet so that my neck doesnt grow larger right along with my growing jewelry business.<br /><br />I design jewelry free from the constraints of textbook techniques and write non fiction free from the rigors of technical expression. Chemist by training, creative by spirit, conservative in values, crazy a. However, it requires some advance preparation.