If jewelry is your area of expertise then selling it online can be a great idea for setting up a small business and making some extra money. Whether you plan to drop ship, retain stock or even manufacture your own these tips might prove useful to you in your efforts. Study them as see if they can help you to develop your own successful online jewelry business.

Tip #1: Make the Initial Preparations

This is not specific to jewelry, but it is always a help to go into any new business venture with at least some kind of plan in mind as to where you want to be in, say, twelve months’ time and just how you plan to get there.  According to Forbes, who in turn cite figures produced by the Small Business Administration (SBA), some 20% of new start-ups fail in the first year, rising to 80% within five years. A bit of planning  can help you avoid such a fate.

Tip #2: Create a Website

If you were running a store in town you’d want the shop window to look as inviting as you possibly could. When you run an online business your website is your shop window. Show your customers that you mean business by building a truly awesome site that they will want to come back to time and again.

Tip #3: Assess the Competition

Find out what your competition is doing and seek out any gaps in the market. If everyone else is selling necklaces source the best gold hoop earrings and work on cornering the market for those. Identify your niche and make it your own. By all means sell necklaces too, but specialize in your most lucrative areas.

Tip #4: Decide on Your Business Model

Do you intend to make your own jewelry, or will you be ordering it in from other manufacturers and shipping it on? And, if the latter, do you plan to have supplies in stock or do you envisage your business being a drop shipping operation, receiving orders and passing them on to a supplier who will ship them directly? Big decisions.

Tip #5: Build up a Social Media Presence

Most of your customers will use social media. So too will most of your competitors. It costs nothing to create Linked In and Twitter accounts and a Facebook page, and you can quickly build up a loyal following of friends and followers who will receive regular information about your latest products. Use every means available to you to get your message out there, and try to dream up interesting content which your readers will want to share.

Tip #6: Stick to Your Business Strategy

When things go well and your business looks like it is going to be a big success the temptation is always there to cut corners. But if things are working well it means your original business plan was a good one, so why jeopardize things by changing it? Stick to the script and build progressively, on solid foundations, rather than taking unnecessary risks.