working on my business update

The new logo!!  What do you think?

To continue building Stella Jewelry I felt a new logo was in order, luckily my business partner Tricia was on board too.  My friend Taryn created the logo above and I am in love.  The clean likes and fun font are just what I wanted!  

I love the chic yet modern look and feel it represents my grown brand really well.

Along with making the logo she also made us a blog button for advertising.

Check out emyselfandi.com to see it in action.

Today we also had a trunk show at Plantagenet Rose, Roanoke, which went really well. Thank you to all those that came out.  I loved being able to show off the new logo.

Trunk Show

As I continue to work on Stella Jewelry I need to get my name out there a little bit more so people can become familiar with my product.  As I have talked about before, I am working on our etsy store but I also want to do more in Roanoke.

I am debating if I should try out setting up some home shows, I have had a few friends offer to have one, which is really sweet of them.  I know this will be great exposure but I am nervous about a few things. 

What if people don't like my jewelry?  I am quite confident with the collection at my Mum's store but that aims a older demographic than my friends.  What if no one comes? Also, I don't want people to feel pressure to buy anything! These are all probably things I shouldn't worry about but I am hesitant because of this.

In the meantime we are having a trunk show at Plantagenet Rose on April 10, as part of their Spring Open House.  If you are in town come enjoy refreshments, jazz music and a little shopping.

working on my business!

Did anyone get the title of the blog? "working on my fitness business"? Ok lame? I just couldn't get the fergie song out of my head when I started writing this blog lol.

I have spent most of this week thinking, talking, working on my business.  It was almost two years ago when we decided to really do something with jewelry, back then I wasn't passionate and didn't have confidence.  Things are different now, I'm motivated to create the life I want.  So my business partner and I are planning to do a soft launch on April 1st, with new advertising, a full etsy shop, new logo and lots new jewelry. This seems really soon but I'm impatient and want to dig right into my business.

This post could get long, I will try not to write too much :)

The Logo:

So this is our current logo which I LOVE, however the colors and the shape haven't been the easiest to work with on price tags etc. Plus I can be a little OCD and need everything to be symmetrical.  Thankfully my friend Taryn, who designed this logo, was willing to help me with a new logo to re-launch the right way.  We talked about new colors and using clean lines and fonts.  I am really looking forward to seeing her designs.

Displays:

We hadn't updated the displays at Plantagenet Rose pretty much since January which is somewhat unprofessional.  People are shopping for Spring and they don't want to see the same display or merchandise they saw during the holidays.  My plan from now on is to keep the displays relevant and update them every month.

How lovely are the handcrafted wooden earring holders?

My Mum purchased them from a company in Colorado.

Also, I love the cream bases we used for our display.  My Parents so kindly made them for us and they are perfect, clean color, clean lines, perfect for the new style we are going for.

Website:

This weekend my friend, Jenna, took pictures of our spring stock for the website!  Luckily there is some really interesting places in downtown Roanoke.  I wanted to go with something that related to Roanoke and a little rustic.  We decided the area by the railroad was perfect.  I can't wait to see the outcome and how they look on an all new website!

Selling:

In the past we have had giveaways on facebook and through other sites and they have always increased traffic to our website. Unfortunately we have not put any effort into online selling.  These giveaways are fun and get our name out there but don't show people where they can buy/see our merchandise.  So finally I found the time/effort to take some pictures of our current stock and get them loaded on to Etsy.

I am proud to say we now have 16 items on Etsy.  It may not seem like a lot but it takes me about 15 mins to add one item.  That has to get faster the more I do it, at least I hope anyway! 

Well this ended up being a long post, hopefully some of you enjoyed reading about my current business adventures!  If you didn't I apologize for boring you for 15 mins :)

Shamless Plug

I think you should all hop over to my Mum's new design blog for her store, Plantagenet Rose in Roanoke, VA.  She is just getting started and is already providing an array of great home decor information and advice. 

So take a look and become a follower!! She might do some fun giveaways, right Mum?

Designing Details

P.S: how fab does the new spring display look at the store?