First – go through the jewelry that you already have. (Chances are that it is in a box in one tangled mess.) Lay each piece out on a soft cloth and inspect them. If they have silver or gold coatings over a base metal (i.e. not over a precious metal like 925 sterling silver) they will not keep their luster for very long. These are fine for a few special occasions but then they need to leave your jewelry box. Good only for youngsters to play dress-ups with. What you keep may need cleaning according to its metal or gem content.

Earrings – Are your most important jewelry item. They give that extra compliment to your complexion that no other piece of jewelry can give. The right earrings can make the difference between dreary and sensational. Your earrings need to work for you and earn their keep. You do not want people to look at you and say ‘beautiful earrings’. The earrings are to compliment you. We want someone to look at you and say ‘you look fantastic’ then they notice your complimentary jewelry, not the other way around. Now put your jewelry into groups. This will depend on your life style and employment type. Roughly it will be casual, work and evening wear. I find the best way to store jewelry for easy access and to prevent them from scratching each other is in small clear plastic zip lock bags. When buying jewelry keep these groups in mind and buy specifically for your needs. If you have done the above mirror test and have been honest with yourself you should now have a very good idea about what factors give your face that ‘extra’ sparkle. This will now make it easy to buy your earrings and other fine and fashion jewelry online where the price/quality ratio should be much better than you can buy elsewhere. I keep buying jewelry for myself and family. It is great for gifts. Jewelry is the feel good gift for any occasion.

There are literally thousands of niches in the jewelry marketplace that can provide a comfortable source of income if you choose to specialize in serving a particular need.

You will have a lot more business if you become known as the jeweler who specializes in a particular type of jewelry (for example, plus-size jewelry, men’s jewelry, Victorian styles, wedding jewelry, etc.) than if you try to make all jewelry for all people.

By creating jewelry for a specific market, you can usually command higher prices because you’re perceived as an expert in that niche. And a higher percentage of your customers will become buyers, since they come to you already looking for the specific jewelry you sell, compared to general jewelry browsers.

Catering to a targeted market will also earn you more word-of-mouth referral business from your customers – “The bridal jeweler who made my daughter’s tiara has some beautiful wedding jewelry sets too! Let me give you her phone number.”

You’ll also be able to pick up a good volume of new customers from non-competing businesses that serve the same market you do.

For example, if you specialize in larger sizes of women’s jewelry, you could cooperate with a plus-size women’s clothing boutique to promote each other’s products. This can be as easy as including a business card or introductory coupon from the clothing boutique along with your packaging, while they do the same for you.

Your website is also likely to net more sales if you serve a targeted market. One reason is that you’ll have less competition for your products’ niche-specific keywords than you would if you tried to serve a wider jewelry market that has more suppliers. And the shoppers who arrive at your niche jewelry website are more likely to buy than general jewelry browsers because they arrived there by searching for exactly what you offer.

Here are a few more examples of jewelry niches that have a definite market:

- religious jewelry incorporating symbols or elements of a particular faith

- school spirit jewelry with school colors and/or school mascot charms

- horse jewelry

- butterfly jewelry

- metaphysical or crystal jewelry

- awareness jewelry (breast cancer awareness, AIDS awareness, etc.)

- mothers’/grandmothers’ bracelets with children’s names on them

- allergy-free jewelry

- birthstone jewelry

- body jewelry

- wedding jewelry and bridal tiaras

- Renaissance fair jewelry.

So go ahead – pick a jewelry niche to specialize in, and enjoy the rewards of becoming known as the guru of that niche!