Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Dear AntoniaJ26,

Unless you already have a list of happy customers who are all madly in love with what you're doing, offering, and providing, before you get too deeply enmeshed in a name, you might want to ask yourself a series of far more important questions, some of which are as follows:

Where will you sell your products? (Online, bricks and mortar store, affiliates?)
How will you fulfill orders and take payment?
How might you handle insurance for shipped orders?
Might you include shipping or offer if free?
Will you deliver personally?
Will you sell in a party setting? (Think Tupperware)
To whom will you sell? (Age, gender, income levels, etc.,.)
Against what competition? (Local, state, regional, national)
In which market? (Gifts, boutique, crafts?)
At what price points?
To achieve what goals?
In what time frame (to include order, production, and delivery)?
With what packaging?
On what budget to produce and market?
With what profit margin?
With what materials other than outlined above?
With what guarantees, liabilities, and assurances?
With what message, benefit, and value?
With what call to action?
With what reasons why?
With what ROI?
With what break even or profit horizon?

Without knowing more about you and your business plan, and if all you're interested in at the moment is a name (which, unless you can answer the questions above [and others like them], I think might be a mistake), why not just go with your name:

Antonia's Jewellery
Jewellery by Antonia

Or something like this.

This way, if, two years from now you wind up selling or making something different, at least your name is a known quantity in the minds of your buyers, which means your future marketing costs will be lower, overall, because you'll already have a good amount of market presence and market visibility.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Just a few questions:

1. Are you designing and crafting the jewelry?
2. What kind of jewelry: earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces?
3. Are you using 14k gold? Sterling silver? Both?
4. For women, or both women and men?

Dear AntoniaJ26,

If you'd be willing to address the questions I raised you might get a more mores useful answers to your initial question.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Dear AntoniaJ26,

Whoops. Fat fingers! Let's try this again:

If you'd be willing to address the questions I raised you might get more useful answers to your initial question.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Hi Antonia,

Thanks for answering my questions. :)
This sounds great, especially the bridal collection and custom orders.

I think you should use your full name and let that be the brand:
(David Yurman is the designer, and his name is also the brand)



Antonia (Use Last Name) Custom Jewelry

or

Antonia (Use Last Name) Handmade Jewelry

or

Antonia (Use Last Name) Jewelry



Tagline: Swarovski Crystal and Gemstone Designs

or don't use a tagline, and write an 'artist statement' on your website or wherever you plan to market your designs. You can adjust the statement each time you add to your jewelry collections.

Hope that helps, and lots of good luck!

P.S. Gary's questions are good ones to consider when
you're figuring out a marketing plan)


Sue

Dear Antonia,

Perfect!

First, I meant no disrespect by the use of the words "boutique" or "craft". There are LOTS of jewelry makers out there and not all of them are makers of one off, hand-crafted pieces.

The fact that you've put in this much thought on production, shipping, and fulfillment speaks volumes and puts you miles ahead of your competition.

Payment-wise, consider making it as easy as possible for people to pay you. This means your customers MUST be able to pay you on THIER terms, not just yours. As well as PayPal, consider other payment forms such as www.e-junkie.com, www.volusion.com, and www.2checkout.com

I hope this helps you. Good luck.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Dear Antonia,

I'm no expert on business, I just have an interest in helping people with their marketing as and when I can.

For tax and liability issues, check with your state www.nyc.gov

But yes, register with whatever local and or state bodies you come across.

And if you DON'T come across any—which i don't think will be the case—search fro them anyway. Protection and appropriate permits now might cause expense and hassle, but this minor step now will be better in the long run than getting into trouble with any state or local officials, who have, by the way, the power to shut you down, possibly for a long time.

Consult a business lawyer, a CPA, and a financial advisor in your area. If you don't know of any, contact your local or city government office, or your state small business administration

www.sba.gov/localresources/district/ny/ -

You can find forms and other information here:

https://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.9490f0709cc049e334b8a71046a...

You may also want to look into LLC status (Limited Liability Company). This isn't cheap, but if anyone sues you, you'll have far more protection under the law. The golden rule is CYA.

You might also want to look into product liability insurance.

Talk to your insurance agent about this, or consult a business lawyer. Your bank might be able to help you with this, but note that your bank will probably only offer THIER financial products, so shop around and ask other business owners that you know, respect, and admire what they do or recommend.

Also look at The New York State Small Business Development Center.

They provide business counseling and training to New Yorkers who want to start a business: www.nyssbdc.org/

I hope this helps or at the least, that it points you in the right direction. Remain on the right side of the law, the NY state offices, your local bodies, and the IRS, and you'll be fine.

Good luck to you and here's to healthy profit for your future.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA