Sharon Z Jewelry

04/29/2025

I have some thoughts on what to do in your jewelry business when gold is sky high and tariffs are taking a bite too. Hint - there are lots of things you can do!

Watch me on YouTube and then hit like and subscribe!

Gold prices keep breaking records and putting a kink into your profit margins in your jewelry business.Tariffs are coming for gemstones, diamonds, and tools....

07/06/2023

Exciting affiliate alert! One that is a total win-win and here to help you make your jewelry practice more sustainable.

Exciting FTC disclosure! If you make a purchase using the link and code I talk about in this post, I get a part of the sale, and you get 10% off a course on sustainable jewelry practices.

Early in my jewelry journey, hardly anyone I knew talked about responsible or sustainable practices. I'd ask questions and mostly had them brushed off.

Enter Christina T Miller Consulting - sustainable jewelry - a resourceful and knowledgeable person who supports all of us on our path to learning more about sustainable jewelry practices.

She consistently shows up to help us on our journey with programs, activism, and her amazing Living Room Sessions. This is why I am so excited that she has launched a course in Foundations for Sustainable Jewelry Practices - Get the course with the following link -https://www.christinatmiller.com/a/2147530767/ar4p9TzS

I took it recently and even as someone who absorbs so much about making a better jewelry industry, I still learned new-to-me info from her course. It is great no matter where you are in the process.

Her course can answer many of your questions about terminology, sourcing, and how to take action. You get informative videos, quizzes, and a forum with a community of engaged people there to learn more. Best of all, you get a live Office Hours webinar with Christina and her team at the end.

Normally, this course is $97, but by using my code - SHARON - you get 10% off!

By now, I hope you know how dedicated I am to creating a jewelry industry with better practices and a greater sense of fairness at its core.

Starting this course now means that you will be ready to shop at Tucson in February with your questions and clarity ready to go. Starting this course now means that you’ll have time to research new suppliers in time for the holidays.

Now is always the best time to start on this path.

I only offer affiliate codes for services and products that I stand behind, that will help you, and that I use myself.

07/01/2023

Due to its inherent financial value, gold continues to be relentlessly pursued - at a great cost to our planet and its people. That's why it's so important for jewelers and jewelry wearers to confront our position in the mining industry and push for a more responsible and transparent supply chain, instead of turning a blind eye ⛓

Big problems require big solutions - together we can make change 🤝🌎

Learn more about why supporting responsible mining is a proactive solution, and how you may be unexpectedly facilitating a hands-off approach:
jckonline.com/editorial-article/recycled-gold-eco-theater/

Fact source: sciencefocus.com/science/how-much-gold-is-there-in-the-world/

07/01/2023

When was the last time you found yourself scrolling through Etsy search results, seen a blurry photo of a product, and thought “Wow, what a great product”?

Yeah, probably never.

I get that you’re probably rushing to photograph your crafts, but uploading these types of photos will only lower your chances of making a sale.

Customers online are hunting around for the right product. This means they’re browsing and comparing product listings before they make a decision to buy.

However, if your photos are making it hard to see and appreciate the quality of your work, customers will likely scroll by and take their business elsewhere.

That’s why clear, crisp product photos are hands down more likely to sell your crafts online than blurry ones.

To reduce blurry photos, use a tripod.

This will make it easier to capture a clear photo that will get customers to pause, click on your product, and want to hit add to cart.

Running into other challenges when photographing your products? Drop them in the comments below.

06/22/2023

Conflicting Advice for Jewelry Designers

Alt text - scribbles in hot pink vs. an organized flow chart in hot pink

Explaining to a new jewelry designer how to design a piece of jewelry usually looks something like this:
Design every last detail! Leave nothing to chance! Be true to your vision! Be open to change! Be flexible! Be precise! Adapt! Measure to the millimeter how the piece will look in the end! Follow your heart! Don’t worry! Worry over every detail! Learn every skill first! Experiment! Be perfect! Be imperfect!

That’s...a lot of advice. And not all of it is good, or more to the point, not all advice is right for every designer. Learning which practices work for you is part of the art and experience of designing a piece of jewelry.

Consider this bit of advice:

"So that is the design process or the creative process. Start with a problem, forget the problem, the problem reveals itself or the solution reveals itself and then you re-evaluate it. This is what you are doing all the time." ~ Paul Rand

In design - are you a planner or a pantser?

This kind of back-and-forth and iteration is part and parcel of the design process. There is this idea in writing that you might be a planner or a pantser* that you either carefully plan every last detail or that you fly by the seat of your pants—or that you do both.

The same idea applies to designing jewelry. That you might plan a piece that is carefully laid out, with exacting measurements and the perfect stone arrangement or you allow spontaneity and serendipity to guide and inform you, making up some of the design as you go along.

Personally, I fall into both camps—a plantser. Sometimes I plan something out to the millimeter—I’m looking at you platinum and 18 karat gold! Other times, I let intuition and playfulness take over and experiment right in the metal—hellooooo silver!

This post is longer than what will fit here, but the blog, why the blog has the whole thing! https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-jewelry-guide/explain-yourself-how-to-design-jewelry

06/21/2023

I'm here to help you NOT spend $50 a month on a widget that doesn't work.

Alt text - Just say no to accessibility widgets and say yes to accessibility - lettering in hot pink & accessibility symbols flank the text.

Allow me to add my voice to the growing chorus of people talking about accessibility overlays and widgets and why you should avoid them.

But first, let's define what this is. Because there's a chance you have seen one out in the wild, but didn't know what an accessibility widget or overlay was.

An overlay or widget is a line of code planted in a website that produces a menu of accessibility options. The button for this menu looks like a small stick figure person with their arms raised. The menu will have options to adjust the font, operate a screen reader and reduce some distractions among other options.

They typically cost about $50 a month to implement and operate on your website.

It certainly SOUNDS good. It probably even makes you FEEL good about using a website that has this feature. You probably thought that they chose to make their site more accessible.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of truth in advertising when it comes to these widgets.

Issue #1 - They don’t work as advertised and they slow down your site. That makes it less accessible for everyone.

Issue #2 - These widgets actively interfere with a user’s existing tools and are redundant.

Issue #3 - Overlays don’t protect you from legal issues with The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance or accessibility standards in other countries, even though they imply that they do.

One of the core issues with these overlays is that the companies who make them haven't spent time listening to people with disabilities or disability rights orgs to find out what tools would actually be of service. If a tool like this isn't approved by the people who need it the most, then how good can it be?

I've got more details about why they don't work, plus resources that you can actually use to make your site a little more accessible over on the blog
because there is more than what will fit on the 'grams. https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-jewelry-guide/just-say-no-to-accessibility-widgets

06/20/2023

Use your Squarespace site to make a branded link page!

Linktree, Link in Bio and other services are ways to direct traffic to your website by hosting a page full of links. This is especially helpful when using social media sites like Instagram and Twitter where you have limited links allowed in your bio. But why use a third party at all if you can build a fully customized and branded page that - wait for it - actually links back to your own website?

Enter your Squarespace site (hint - you can do this on pretty much any website platform including Wix, Shopify or WordPress, but these instructions are specific to Squarespace 7.0). If your chosen fonts, colors and shapes of button are already in place, then making a link page takes 10 whole minutes!

Step 1: go to your unlinked list of pages and hit the plus sign

Step 2. Select ‘Blank Page’. You can select other pages too, but personally I prefer to just start with the blank page - it's easy enough.

Step 3: Hover over the blank text box until you see a little plus sign. Select that plus sign and a new menu will pop up. From this new menu, select “button”.

Step 4: Add as many buttons as you like! Keep repeating Step 3 until you have all the buttons that you want.

Step 5: Label each button for the action you want visitors to take - Shop for Jewelry, Shop for Engagement Rings, See our Custom Projects, Learn more about our process - go to town!

In Squarespace, I like to select from the drop-down list of internal links. If you would like your links to go to something external like your social media accounts or a recent press feature than you can do that by selecting Web Address instead of Pages when you add a URL link to your buttons.

Step 6: Design the rest of the page how you would like it to look. I recommend having a short description at the top of no more than three sentences. Describe you and your business just like you would on your social media sites. I also like having an image of myself on this page to give it a personal touch. I do think that it's a good idea to have a photo of yourself it's one of those extra steps that helps remind people of the human behind the work.

Step 7: Make sure that the whole page looks like you wanted to look by selecting ‘Done’ and looking at the live page.

Last Step: Make sure that the URL for this page is saved with the same name as the title of your page. This link is unlinked to anything live on your site, so folks will only see the page if you provide the link. Insert it wherever you want people to be able to find you easily.

You now have a link to use that is fully branded with your domain name. Remember that linking back to your website whenever possible is good web and SEO practice for your business.

And that’s it! No more third party app in between you and the traffic to your website.
If you prefer video instructions, you'll find them on my blog - https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-jewelry-guide/make-your-own-link-in-bio-page-using-your-squarespace-site

06/19/2023

What is “The Buyer’s Journey”?

This is eCommerce jargon about the process a shopper takes to find & purchase your jewelry.

Alt text - hot pink shopping bag with a heart on it

The journey looks like this:

Discovery - craft shows, PR, social media
Contemplation/consideration - Thinking about it all the time.
Decision - Forking over their money (or not).

Easy, right?

Thinking about how customers take the journey is how we make sales and create loyalty.

I like to frame the process as one that simply considers how welcomed your visitors feel when they enter your site.

So let me tell you about a time that I felt distinctly unwelcome.
Recently, I nearly threw my computer across the room doing something I’ve done 100s of times - booking a plane ticket.

The process has been changing, and this time it was terrible, deceptive, and hostile.

This time I was fully aware that the process is designed to confuse & trick me, and enrich the company but not designed to help any of us.

My short list of grievances is as follows:

Pre-selected choices for upgraded seats would cost me more, with no clear way to unselect the option.

A lack of clarity around what I would actually be paying.

A timer counting down designed to short-circuit my decision-making process.

This is very customer UN friendly.

It had me thinking about how small business owners can push back by making our own corners of the internet more welcoming, friendly, & useful.

I want the opposite of hostility towards our customers.

Aaaaaand here comes the pitch*!

This is exactly what we can do together with The eCommerce Edit.

We can make sure that your website works for all of your visitors.

We can go through your buyer’s journey to tweak & test it to make sure that it helps build trust with your visitors. My books are open!
Book a free discovery call to tell me how I can help you make your website more welcoming. https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-ecommerce-edit

*I like transparency at all stages of business. I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am pitching my services to you. If you don’t need them, no worries - feel free to ignore & take the useful information on its own.

06/16/2023

It's funny, the things you develop a reputation for.

Recently, two different people referred to me as the "Queen of Pricing". I accept this title though it does not come with a crown. I suppose, being a jeweler, that I could simply make my own.

Given that I am the Queen of Pricing, it would behoove me to plug my eCourse: Pricing Your Jewelry With Confidence. This is a course designed to make you the queen of pricing your own jewelry!

I should also work in more ways to use the word behoove.

Read more about this course on my website - https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/pricing-your-jewelry-with-confidence

Alt text - arrow going upwards over stacks of coins all in hot pink.

06/15/2023

If you have ever had a convo with me about jewerly, then you know that at some point I'm going to hit you with some facts about making the jewelry industry more responsible from all [PUN ALERT] facets.
Alt text - one of Sharon's handmade oxidized silver chains but tinted to be hot pink.

So I was thrilled to write up an introduction to so many amazing initiatives in the jewelry industry for Sustainably Chic.

If you didn't know about some of these options before, now you do! Better sources for gold that you can ask your jewelers about, better, more traceable sources of sapphires, and even a new source of diamonds that many of us just learned about recently.

The news about responsible sourcing in the industry can sometimes feel like doom and gloom - I am excited whenever we can come together to support these initiatives. If you're a shopper, ask your jeweler about sourcing the gems featured here, if you're a designer, have you thought about going through the process to get your Fairmined license?

Working together and supporting these sources and initiatives can help us create a better future for the jewlery industry.

Read about all of the incredible options for you over at Sustainably Chic - https://www.sustainably-chic.com/blog/what-is-responsible-jewelry

06/14/2023

How to get your website noticed...or not

Alt text - outline of a neck in hot pink wearing a beaded necklace in hot pink

In 2013, I got a website of my very own, for my jewelry. I had been selling on Etsy, and also through shows, but that year I finally had a real live website - where you could shop and everything.

I was so obsessed with getting everything right and perfect. Thinking that having the website would bring fame and fortune (and mostly fortune).

It felt so public to put myself out there, so visible. So exposed. So many eyes on me. It was me, but on the INTERNET. So many people were watching me!

I’m not sure whether it was a relief or an utter humiliation to find out that no one noticed when I launched. BECAUSE I HADN'T TOLD THEM TO NOTICE. Not to mention the fact that I hadn't paid attention to what customers needed from me once they got to my site.

I forgot to include images of my jewelry on a person, forgot dimensions and descriptions and just generally forgot to get out of my head and view my site through other people's eyes.

The "good" news. Nobody was watching my work as closely as I was. I used to think that if I put up a website that I would be so embarrassed if there was a typo or a missing photo or something “wrong” with it.

Sure, occasionally a friend would point out what I had missed. And sure, occasionally I’d have somebody asking for more photos. But by and large nobody was keeping an eye on it like I was.

And also, if there was something wrong or missing? No one was telling me because I hadn’t given them a way to contact me. *sigh* whoops.

this post is longer than what will fit on IG, hop on over to the blog to get more of my thoughts on why there's a freedom on not being seen right away, and why it's a good chance to edit yourself before you send everyone to see your site

https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-jewelry-guide/getting-your-jewelry-seen-online

06/13/2023

AU! Let's untangle some sticky marketing issues around gold. We can dive into the subject like Scrooge McDuck into a pile of gold coins.

Because nothing chaps my hide as much as people who straight up lie about what materials they use.

Alt text - fancy lettering spells out "gold?"

I don't offer a ton of hard and fast rules about jewelry buuuut...

Gold should not be cheap.

This is an unbreakable rule for me.

If your gold is "cheap" it either a) isn't solid gold or b) someone is getting exploited. Gold fill, plate or vermeil - these are budget-friendly ways to get the look of gold without the higher price. But - and this is a big one - it needs to be labeled honestly.

Because they aren’t the same thing as a piece of jewelry that is gold through and through. Any labeling, titles, and descriptions should make this clear up front.

I have a big beef with deceptive marketing. It confuses consumers and accustoms people to thinking of "gold" jewelry as cheap. This issue has increased in recent years with the flood of Etsy sellers who are purchasing cheap jewelry from bigger-name dropshippers.

As a jewelry consumer, you have a right to know what your jewelry is made from and how it was sourced - this is true whether you are buying an engagement ring and want to know where your gemstones came from or whether or not you are buying jewelry with nickel in it. In theory, you should be able to buy your jewelry and also understand what it is made of.

I offer a few tips on the blog about how you can tell when a seller is misleading you. https://www.sharonz-consulting.com/the-jewelry-guide/stop-lying-about-which-gold-you-use