Jewelry Business
Success Story

Starting a craft business is a fun and rewarding experience. It is also requires hard work and can be quite competitive. One way that crafters find success a little easier is creating a “niche” within the field. This reduces the competition, and increases the chance to succeed.

I choose Sue Kottwitz as a perfect example of this smart craft business model. Sue has three different websites where she creates different types of jewelry, such as earrings, necklaces and pendants. The website that stood out to me as a brilliant “niche” is www.ForLoveofaDog.com. For this site, she focuses specifically on art jewelry for animal lovers, including dogs, cats, and horses. Rather than competing against every general jewelry maker, so has carved out her own specialty.

Sue graciously agreed to talk with us and share her success story. Let’s meet the owner and creator of www.ForLoveofaDog.com, www.BittersweetRidgeJewelry.com, and www.WorldPeaceJewelry.com.

For Love of a Dog is my line of handmade dog, cat, and horse jewelry. It’s an off-shoot of Bittersweet Ridge Jewelry which I began in 1991.

2) Creating your own niche within the jewelry industry is very smart business move. How did you come up with the idea?

It seemed sort of a natural evolution. I felt that my animal pieces should be separate from my other jewelry because they appealed to a special niche. When I began my own web sites, I began with For Love of a Dog.

3) Your love of animals and passion for animal welfare really comes through to readers. Where did you think your passion came from?
I am a life long animal lover. I was one of those kids who wanted to rescue every stray, bottle fed abandoned bunnies, birds, and even squirrels.

4) I love to see businesses that are socially conscious, and give back to causes important to them. You run a fundraising program to raise money for animal rescue, shelters, and advocacy groups. Do you find there are business benefits as well to being a fundraiser?

Animals, especially dogs, are a passion for me and it was important to me that For Love of a Dog do more than make money for myself. Since I began creating animal themed jewelry, I set aside a portion of the profit to donate to animal charities. Now my partner / affiliate program is a way for others to participate as well. It definitely is another way to promote my work, as well as help me meet my personal goal to give back to the animal welfare community.

5) Comparing your niche website ForLoveofaDog.com to your other sites BittersweetRidgeJewelry.com and WorldPeaceJewelry.com, which has been easier to succeed in?

That is a very difficult question to answer. In part because Bittersweet Ridge Jewelry has been around so long (since 1991) and I now have long-time retail and wholesale customers, while For Love of a Dog and World Peace Jewelry are relatively new.

6) Most crafters try to sell their handicrafts in a variety of ways before finding what works best for them. What ways have you tried to sell your products, and what were the most or least effective?

I began professional crafting as a textile artist. At the time I was an administrator in the mental health field and sewed for relaxation. I began playing with my own original patterns for primitive dolls. Friends were crazy for them and encouraged me to sell them. A few years later, after a move to the country, I tried a few craft shows and thus, Bittersweet Ridge was born as a business. Eventually I was doing juried arts and crafts shows about 12 weekends per year, plus developing wholesale accounts. Though encouraged to go big with my dolls, it became evident to me that going big meant that I could not do all the creating myself. I couldn’t bear to trust the quality to others (employees), plus had always said that I would quit when it was no longer joyful to create my dolls.

About this time I became personally interested in natural healing via flower remedies and gemstones. That led to creating jewelry for myself and in 1991, I began marketing my jewelry. At first I did a few select juried shows. Then, in 1998, I began selling successfully on eBay. In addition, I sold my jewelry in my own antiques shop and did a bit of consignment. From about 2004 to 2007 I took a break while we moved from Virginia to Missouri and built a home. In 2007 I began my own web site ForLoveofaDog.com

The evolution of the web - there are not words to describe how this has affected my business. No longer do I trek to shows, yet my creations are enjoyed by people all over the United States and, indeed, the world. When I really stop to think about that, I’m simply amazed.

7) You also wholesale your own products. How difficult is wholesaling to get into, and what words of wisdom could you share about the process?

Initially, my wholesale accounts evolved naturally from people who saw and purchased my work, then inquired about re-selling it. I’ve never done any cold calling / marketing of my jewelry.

Currently two of my web sites offer the ability to apply for a wholesale account. That has added a few accounts, but I find many folks do not read the fine print and individuals often begin the process thinking they can receive wholesale prices for a one item purchase.

Making wholesale available does add a bit of a complication in the pricing process. In my case, in addition to the actual materials and time to create each item, I factor in shipping (I currently offer free standard shipping on all my sites), credit card fees, packaging (gift boxes, tissue, ribbon and shipping envelopes/boxes) and then evaluate the price in terms of it being available for wholesale purchase.

This gets particularly tricky for me when I contemplate adding items to ForLoveofaDog.com, since I’ve begun to add gift items for re-sale (ie: leash hooks and dog ornaments)

8) What advice would you give to someone starting a jewelry business?

Never take a break! Seriously, when I essentially closed my business for nearly three years I lost a vast amount of ground. Returning to it was not quite, but almost, like starting over.

Be prepared to work hard at things other than simply creating your product. A few years ago I read a great article in The Craft Report that talked about taking your business online. In it the author stated that one should plan to spend 90% of one’s time the first year doing every thing but create, and that percent would gradually decrease each year. I didn’t believe it. However, I’ve found that to be true.

9) What do you think is the secret to your success?

Passion. Passion for animals - hence For Love of a Dog. Passion for peace, natural healing, and our planet - hence World Peace Jewelry. Passion for feeling good about one’s self - and don’t we all feel good when we’re wearing a beautiful piece of handmade jewelry - hence Bittersweet Ridge Jewelry. Passion for creating, in my case, jewelry.

Hard work. Web seo is very time consuming and, though I find the necessary computer work often tedious, challenging, and a real time eater, it is essential. I read all I can about succeeding online and experiment with those ideas. There’s so much to stay on top of other than just my own web site: print advertising, Google adwords and base, my Talking Dogs blog (www.forloveofadog.blogspot.com), Twitter (www.twitter.com/forloveofadog), Squidoo, link exchange, web rings, various forums and groups, and the list goes on!

Customer service. My web site software automatically sends a confirmation email to purchasers. However, I also send a personalized confirmation email, as well as a message when their purchase actually ships. I usually ship within 24 hours of receiving payment, but often within just a couple of hours. I package those purchases as if I was giving a gift - gift boxes with my logo, tied with ribbon, wrapped in coordinating tissue, along with a personalized invoice and thank you note. My customers frequently let me know that they appreciate my fast shipping and personal service. In addition, I offer returning customers a discount on future purchases.

10) Sue, thanks again for sharing your time with us. For the last question, please tell us about the most satisfying part of your business. Is it the actual creation of your products, benefits of working from home, the recognition you receive, or is it something else?

Another difficult question to answer! I suppose creating would have to be number one. However, since I’ve lived (and still do) in rural American, the luxury of working at home is such a blessing. Then there are the lovely messages from customers over the years, some of whom have become good friends.

I think in the final analysis, the most satisfying part of my business is the joy I feel at creating something with my own hands that brings joy to someone else. Sue shared lots of great ideas today that will hopefully help lots of aspiring jewelry business owners.

Be sure to check out Sue’s terrific sites www.ForLoveofaDog.com, www.BittersweetRidgeJewelry.com, and www.WorldPeaceJewelry.com to see her wonderful products and great business ideas.

Start Your Own Jewelry Business

There are two informational guides to help you start your own business:

Lori Ely's guide How to Run a Home Based Jewelry Party Business for Fun and Profit - A Step-by-Step Action Plan for Building your Dream Business

This ebook is a fantastic resource for jewelry makers looking to start (or grow) a jewelry home party business. Lorri Ely has obviously put a lot of work and research into it, and it is absolutely full to bursting with practical information and suggestions. It covers everything you need to know, from the planning stage, through legalities, doing the parties, and right up to growing and sustaining a profitable business.

It's written in a friendly, easy to read style, but the information contained in it is very professional and will benefit anyone who wants to sell their jewelry this way. I love my copy and know that I'll be using it over and over again.

For those not interested in selling with home parties, but wanting to start a jewelry business, Jewelry Selling Secrets by Kameron Kay shows You the insider secrets to making jewelry & crafts and selling them to boutiques, shops, artist fairs, bead shops, and more. Perfect part time job and income for stay at home moms, college students, or anyone wanting to make extra income

Where would you like to go next?

...See more inspiring craft business success stories?

...See our jewelry home parties tips?

...Check out our craft book reviews for the best resources for your craft business?

Jewelry Business Success Story Page