The Internet

I KNOW I'm not the only one who's noticed this. The internet is a GIANT TIME SUCKER!!! I sit down to look at one thing and two hours later, I look up at the clock and realize how much of my time has disappeared! Where on earth does the time go?

I have spent the last few days trying to get my jewelry onto a new website to sell it. First off, NOBODY does their sites the same way, so just figuring out the way this new site works takes some time. Then there's all the tedious work that goes into each aspect of it. I have to come up with a title. How do you title jewelry, especially when it's all abstract? Then there's the description. It's very hard to describe your own work without sounding like you think the world of yourself. Then there are tags, which help buyers find what they're looking for. The more the better. Another problem with jewelry. It's made of three things, usually: the kind of metal, the kind of stone, and what form the metal comes in. So you have to be inventive. You throw in color, type of stone, the kind of setting. Okay. Now for the metal. Sterling silver, gold-filled, or 14K. Wire or sheet. All of this is too much work. It takes just selling jewelry to a lot more work than I bargained for. I like shows, where people pick up the piece, maybe ask a few questions, and either buy it or don't. Then I can see their reaction to my pieces.

I think the internet is a great tool, don't get me wrong. I feel like I can do more one-of-a-kind pieces, and that they might actually sell, if they're seen on the internet. At craft shows, people are always asking me if I have "this" design in a different stone. So, obviously, people don't have a problem with having items that aren't one of a kind when they're standing there in front of me. I think the internet does open the door for more unique items. Plus, I'm really hoping that it ends up being just what I need to really start rolling on my jewelry business. But I really hope it doesn't take all of the personalization out of the buying process. I hope that when people see my work on the internet that they remember that I'm a real, live person. I guess that's the artist in me. I want to be unique!

Originally posted on September 16, 2009