Building the business

It's still early days for Rebejoo, but things are progressing. Sales are slowly but steadily coming in, I've got a maybe-commission on the horizon and new ideas keep popping into my head and out through my hammer. So, that's all looking good, but making shiny objects isn't all there is to it...

Brass, copper & EPNS 'Tricolor' pendant - a recent creation.

First of all, I need to make sure that people other than friends and family know about Rebejoo - hence this blog and the facebook page (which is intended as the main selling portal until I decide to set up a website and/or go down the Etsy route). Paypal is now set up, the first mail order has been paid for and sent, and later today I'm going to design and print some business cards and other stationery. The facebook listings have been split into '£10 and under', '£10-25' and '£25 and over' - plus those that have been sold to loving new homes!

The next consideration is craft fairs - shall I do them, and if so how much should I be willing to pay for a pitch, how often (they are often on Saturdays when I'm busy elsewhere) and where? My current feeling is to focus on getting pendants into galleries like the Art House and Southampton City Gallery first, and then worry about fairs - however, if I want Christmas sales I need to sort this out soon as December fairs are booking. I normally don't acknowledge the existence of Christmas/Yule before Dec 1st, so this will be a bit of a departure... Still, I have my first display board built and laden with goodies - next I need to add a 'Rebejoo' header to it (made of recycled steel, naturally), plus a business card holder. Oh, and shall I focus solely on pendants or start working on other types of jewellery? Probably the latter, but maybe not just yet... 'tis very exciting!

Display board laden with pretties.