Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet

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Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet

by Arzelia Nichols
(Council Bluffs, IA USA)

This is one of them

I made these bracelets for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I developed lung cancer in Jan 2010 and it spread to my brain 8 months later. The ladies at the hospital most of them had breast cancer so these were made for them. I make a variety of different things that can been viewed in my Etsy shop.

Take a look, I would love your opinion and constructive criticism.

Thank You
Arzelia Nichols
HopeStones on etsy

Comments for
Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet

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Breast cancer awareness bracelets
by: Rena

Arzelia, I'm so sorry to hear about your illness. You are in my prayers. I hope you are healing.

You asked for feedback on your Etsy shop:

First, I really like the "Hope Stones" name, and you have an interesting range of jewelry. Great job with having seasonal items, too (Mother's Day, Memorial Day, etc.)!

You have a nice selection of men's jewelry too.

I really love the originality of many of your pieces, like the "Oh the Memories of my Grandmother" cameo necklace and earring set, "School Daze" bracelet, and "Bronze Rings" set.

Also, your photos are good. And I think it's neat that you created a line of breast cancer pieces for the friends you've made there.

Here are a few suggestions for your shop -

For shipping, I would charge for shipping only the first item your customers order, and then free shipping for all other items they purchase in that order. Since all of the items they order will be shipped in the same package, there shouldn't be a need to add shipping to each item. Otherwise, with $5.20 shipping on every item, people are less likely to order multiple items at once. Unfortunately, big shipping fees can reduce sales.

For your product descriptions, I really wanted to know more about each of your jewelry items I viewed. For example, I wondered what those butterflies are made from - metal? plastic? And with your Friendship and Love bracelets, I wanted to know what the components are - is the cord leather, rubber, waxed cotton? And are the metal components sterling silver, basemetal, or something else? Also you can use your descriptions to tell the story of the piece, or to "romance" it and help customers develop an emotional attachment to it. I would really concentrate on this part of your listings.

Although I did see measurements on a lot of your pieces, especially the necklaces, that info was missing on other items. For example, the sizes of those gorgeous butterflies in your earrings were on some of the butterfly listings but not all of them. And people will want to know the the length of your bracelets, and how much extra space the adjustable chain gives them.

Overall I think the items in your shop are good. I would mainly beef up your descriptions to educate customers about your pieces, and help them to connect with item they're viewing.

Arzelia, God bless you in your fight against cancer. Hugs to you, and please keep us posted!

Hope Stones
by: Arzelia

First I'd like to say "Thank you" for your input and you are absolutely right.

The shipping at Etsy will not allow me to leave them choices. I do ask them to contact me if they would like a less expensive form of shipping, a insulated envelope. I wish they could make that choice themselves it would be more customer friendly. This is one of the reasons I offer Free Shipping coupons now and then. I wasnt aware that Etsy wasnt decreasing the shipping for more than one item so I will investigate that today.

And my descriptions are in need of a major overhaul. To be completly honest by time I get to that part of entering information I am getting very lazy about it. I have had an idea, made the design, enjoyed making it, taken 20-30 photos each just to get 5 good ones and entered all of the information on Etsy and when it comes to materials and description honestly I just want to get it over with and be done. Not a good excuse but the truth is the only excuse I have.

I need to do some research on materials so I can make the descriptions look and sound professional. Im just now getting better with my tagging. Last week Etsy changed the format on entering information and it doesnt take quite as long now. I would much rather be making jewelry than reading and entering descriptions. I know I have to work n that and thank you for bringing this to my attention. Coming from you I now know that people notice this and it is hurting my business.

Again Thank you for your expert advise. Thank you for the well wishes. If you dont mind I would like to stay a member of this site and participate here. I dont subscribe to many jewelry sites due to spam but your emails are always very informational. I will be moving soon to my own domain @hopestonesjewelry.com.

Sincerly,
Arzelia

Writing jewelry descriptions painlessly
by: Rena

Yes, of course, you will always be a member of the family here, Arzelia! :) We look forward to seeing more of your work and hearing how you progress with your listings.

As for writing descriptions - for many jewelry artists that's the most challenging part of selling their work. It's actually easier to write descriptions for someone else's jewelry than for your own!

One of the best ways to learn how to write effective jewelry descriptions is to read really good ones.

You'll find some description examples worth studying if you browse through the jewelry on these sites below. (You'll have to click on individual jewelry items to read the descriptions).

Coldwater Creek Jewelry

WooHoot Handmade

Peggy Li Jewelry

Simply Jems

Also, if you haven't yet seen this page on my Home Jewelry Business Success Tips site, it's loaded with tips and ideas for writing effective jewelry descriptions: Writing Product Descriptions.

I hope this helps! You've got great jewelry, Arzelia - now you just need great words to match it!

Hello!
by: Vinassa from Woohoot Handmade

Thanks so much for the mention! Made me smile knowing someone noticed my efforts. :)

Great site! Very informative and helpful!

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