How to Sell Bead Jewelry Tutorials

I don’t know about you, but when I hear about ‘selling’ anything, my mind immediately conjures up images of slimy salesmen trying to tell me why some product is the most important thing I must have in my life, when I know full well that it’s not! Well, successful selling doesn’t have to be about that kind of message. In fact it definitely should not be about pressure and exaggeration, but about clarity and helpfulness. This rule applies just as much to beading tutorials as any other product.

How to Sell Bead Jewelry Tutorials

If you are looking for information about where to sell your bead jewelry tutorials, there are other posts on here to cover that side of business. This blog post assumes that you already have a selling platform and you are looking at ways to increase your sales.

Tip one: optimise the photography

The most basic rules in how to sell bead jewelry, whether it’s a finished product or a tutorial, is to ensure you have good photos. I don’t just mean ‘good’ in terms of quality (good light, in focus etc), although this is important (find more about this here), but ‘good’ in terms of how the product is shown. If it is possible, you should be showing multiple photos, including how the jewelry looks when it is being worn, a clear photo of the entire piece on a plain background and then some detailed shots of critical elements, perhaps the clasp or its focal point.

Why is this so important when you are thinking about how to sell bead jewelry tutorials? Well, quite simply, the photos are the things that will make the potential buyer look more closely…or just move past. Imagine you are at a craft show or in a jewelry store: you will cast your eye over the display and then look more closely at anything that catches your eye. Online sales are no different: a buyer on your website, or in an Etsy store, will be scanning through a page of different images. They may click on one that catches their eye, just as you may have picked up the piece of jewelry that caught your eye in the store. If you had the jewelry in your hand, you would be able to examine it to see whether it was a design you would also like to make. Perhaps you would try it on to see how it looked. Online, the only way to do this is to show it in photos, so as you are thinking about how to sell your bead jewelry tutorials, think about which views to show that will help people decide if this is a piece of jewelry they are going to want to make themselves.

Tip Two: Make the words count

The photos may induce your customers to look more closely, but on their own they cannot tell the whole story. Whether you are selling on a third-party website (eg Etsy, Ebay etc) or setting up your own website, you will find yourself writing a product description to go with your beading tutorial.

How do you use this description to sell your bead jewelry tutorial? Well, yes this is your sales pitch, but no it should not be about telling your customer that the tutorial is the most fantastic thing they’ve ever seen, that the jewelry it makes is so show-stopping that they will be attracting all sorts of compliments when they wear it, and so on. Once again, put yourself in the customer’s shoes. If your photos showed the jewelry clearly then they will be able to see for themselves whether or not the jewelry is something that they want to wear. So, if it were you, what would you then want to know about the tutorial you were thinking of buying? You might want to know what materials the project used, so you would have some idea of whether you would be able to make it straightaway from beads in your own stash or whether you were also going to have to buy beads for the project. You might want to know what techniques it required. If you hate Right Angle Weave (many do!), then you would be very disappointed to find you had unwittingly bought a RAW project because the description didn’t tell you what stitch you were using and you had taken a guess and thought it might be lacing. You would probably also want to know what level the project was aimed at: if you’re looking for a challenge, you may not want to buy a beginner level project, however pretty the jewelry is. Conversely, if you are still improving your skills, investing in a tutorial that is well above your level is not going to make you very happy! You may also want to include information about shops that you would recommend customers use if they want to buy supplies, or give them an idea of how long the project will take to complete or what it might cost to make.

So, when you are thinking about how to sell bead jewelry tutorials, think about the information that you would find helpful when you are buying a tutorial. You may not want to include everything I’ve listed here, or you may think of other things that you would like to include. Whatever you decide, make sure your ‘sales pitch’ gives information that will help the customer make the right decision for them. It may not always result in a sale, but it should result in a ‘happy sale’, rather than a disgruntled customer who feels they have been ‘cheated’ into buying a tutorial that they will never use.

Tip Three: Make it Personal

Having suggested you list all the more technical information about your bead jewelry tutorial, you do not want to end up with a dry description. Go back to that craft fair: how many times have you picked up a piece of jewelry, thought about buying it, but not been quite sure, then ended up chatting with the stallholder. This conversation may well have made the decision as to whether you buy or not. Well, your product description is also that conversation with the customer. Alongside all the useful stuff, you will want to include something that tells the customer a little bit about you.

Again, when you are thinking about how to sell your bead jewelry tutorial, think about how much of your personal information is going to be relevant. The customer probably won’t want to know your entire life story, but they may enjoy a little anecdote about what inspired you to create this particular bead jewelry design. Maybe it was inspired by something that happened on a holiday, or maybe you take a lot of inspiration from the place where you live. Maybe it is a piece that just reflects your favourite techniques or colours, or maybe you were using it to try and learn something. Is it a tutorial that will help your customer to learn something new or improve their existing skills? Aside from a lovely piece of jewelry, what else is the customer going to get from your tutorial? As you write your description, let your passion for your piece shine through and this energy should come across to the person reading the product description.

Tip Four: Get Social

Having a great listing on Etsy or your website is a good start, but you also need to tell people that it’s there. So think about how to do this. If you are online, then using Pinterest boards, Twitter Feed or Facebook updates can all tell people that you have a product they might want to buy. Take a look around Facebook for groups that have been set up to market or sell beading tutorials, for example.

If you are thinking about how to market yourself offline, then think about what you take when you teach a class. I have photos of all my tutorials in a folder that I can show to students so they can see what is available. I also have a selection of jewelry displayed on photo frames that I can easily carry around with me. You may have arranged to teach a particular project at your class, but the students will also like to see other projects that you have made. If, like me, you have a huge selection, then choose the projects that are relevant to the class you are teaching. For example, a student who has enjoyed making one variety of French Beaded flower in class may enjoy trying another French Beading project at home. Just put some thought into your preparations before you teach.

If you want a few more ideas about how to sell bead jewelry patterns and tutorials, then take a look at what successful sellers do and see if you can get any ideas that will help you. You can find a lot of inspiration on Etsy or take a look at a few of the tutorial listings on my beadflowers website.