Jeweliette Interview Name of your website?Jeweliette Your name? Lee-Ane Keegan Your Location (city, etc) Perth Please give us a short summary of your website? I design and make handcrafted tiara, hair accessories and jewellery with only the finest materials. I aim to be unique and am happy to create according to a customers wishes. Virtually all my designs are one-offs.~~ What inspired you to launch your own website? I am passionate about what I do. The beads and materials decide what they will be, I just help put it together. I believe that it's not always easy to find that something special that is made only for you. When did you launch your first website, and what was it? this is it so far, started on 21st March 2009 How did you decide on a name for your website? I wanted something romantic (lots of bridal items)and Romeo and Juliet sprang to mind. To be unique it needed a twist - and since it's all about the jewels it naturally became jewel -iette! What makes your website different from other, similar offerings? the designs are not the same as everyone elses and every piece is very different to the next one. As time goes on I intend to make more dramatic pieces but felt that to begin I needed some more traditional looking work What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?) I want to sell more so that I can work on creating fantasy artistic pieces. I hope to eventually pair up with someone who sells something else in a similar range ie other bridal area or a gallery/shop aimed at people who want something a bit different How does your investment of time and money balance against your success? having started making for my business only 6ths ago and just started really trying to sell a few week ago, naturally I have put more into it than I'm getting back so far If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site? I would get my own site! I want real life models in fairytale settings for the photography. It would be designed by a professional with artistic flair,feature music and video, and have visuals that appeal to more than just the 'fairytale' set of would be customers If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand? I have one/possibly two experienced workers ready to work for me should that need arise. I am happy to design and teach others. I may begin to have seasonal ranges that can be reproduced whilst still offering a specialised service if required. I am constantly aware of the need at the moment to appeal to a reasonabley wide range of tastes. If demand increased a lot I could spend more time on really special pieces and ask a greater price for them. What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with? so far my business plan has been right on target. I researched before I began and have no unexpected costs yet. As I go along I see the areas I have to educate myself in What has been your biggest challenge? marketing. I have started reading but feel I may need more formal lessons. I have never tried to sell myself before so it's a bit of a challenge - but I'm working on it What method has been most successful for promoting your website? word of mouth and facebook (not ads yet, just putting small samples of my work up for friends to see and some of them are telling others about it) How has running your website differed from your expectations? Being a shared site I have not much control over appearances, but it has been a good learning experience seeing how my own photography needs work, how to group things and so on. I am learning all the time. How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity? 6mths. Until I have the money and confidence to get my own site, and when I have researched exactly what I want from it and how I want it to work. I don't want an half-assed attempt that is amateurish and unconvincing. It has to sell my work as much as the work has to sell itself. No point having wonderful products and terrible presentation. What is your website address? Jeweliette | 
