Custom jewelry and packaging designed for the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center

If you wholesale to retailers, I think we’re finished with the “one size fits all” business model. Today, everyone wants to be able to offer that unique thing. The one that is just right for them and gives their customers something that no one else has.

So here’s the lesson we learned. When we started our first brand, “Schmutzerland”, there was a nice groundswell of interest. We offer jewelry that has images under magnifying cabochons in vintage style settings. We use an array of images that is thought provoking, sometimes humorous, classic, vintage nature, geography and personalities. However, we started seeing, that as time moved on, people’s attitudes changed. So we had to change. We now have five customizable brands, which allow us to easily move with the market and offer solutions to marketing issues that our clients have.

Can you do that? No matter what we do, our core concepts do not change; we just tweak it a little. Are you able to look at what you offer each of your customers or potential customers and see what tweaks will give them a unique advantage? In the personal accessories space that we play in, the biggest issue we hear; is the competition down the street has the same things they have. So how do we help? We customize.

We have found, each store, museum or organization we sell to, has a certain clientele. So we can tailor a collection that meets each retailer’s individual needs.

Hot Dog earrings created for the Coney Island Exhibit at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford, CT

We don’t do anything different. We just change the images. By doing this, we actually help our customers create their own line, which in turn can become their own branded line, if they choose to go in that direction. This can be done for businesses that are in close proximity to one another and they don’t have to feel like they are invading each other’s space.

So look at your process. Where can you give your customers that unique advantage? Is it in customizing the graphics on your packaging? Maybe you can offer special color combinations or easily tweak some design elements that make it easy to distinguish available products from one venue to the next. Remember, you’re not changing the core of what you do; you’re just tweaking things a little. It’s that flexibility that helps keep the interest in what you do.

(Our five brands are; Points of Interest Jewelry, Schmutzerland, Fauxhemian, smashCaps and Charm Farm. We have created custom work for The U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, The Pennsylvania Ballet, Hudson News, Temple University along with many other retailers and institutions)