Quick Tip Tuesday: Enlist Friends as Testers

When I first started making jewelry to sell, one of my biggest concerns was the construction of the pieces I had made and whether they would really hold together. Early on I had several embarrassing instances of earrings suddenly coming undone and falling apart while people were wearing them - this shook my confidence yet was a good lesson that I needed to hone my skills.

As a result of these early experiences, I realized that I needed to conduct some real world tests of my designs. I started to give free samples of my jewelry to friends and I told them to please wear the pieces and not to be gentle with them. They came through and boy did I get the feedback! It was not always easy to hear that my jump rings had come undone or my stitching unraveled, but I would rather have had a friend tell me this then a customer. With each piece of feedback, I would alter my design and then have them test it again. Soon I learned what worked and what did not. Now I feel confident that my construction is good and that I am selling a high quality piece of jewelry. As a side note, with all my friends wearing my designs, they started to tell other people about my jewelry and I actually made some orders this way!

- Julie