Many of you might be heading to a jewelry show in Chicago and even more will be heading soon to Las Vegas. There you will find some educational offerings. Some will make attending these offerings part of their journey and for those that do, perhaps there is an important question you need to ask yourself: What...
Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds, correct? They’re not cubic zirconia. They’re not glass. They’re not moissanite. They are real diamonds with all the same physical and chemical properties. According to a story reported about a year ago on the CBS local LA affiliate, “A synthetic diamond is going to have the same physical, chemical and optical properties as...
If you are one (of the many) upscale, fine jewelry retailers who did not see their sales go through the roof this holiday season, or if you are one (of the many) upscale, fine jewelry retailers who saw a reduction in their average sale, or if you are one (of the many) upscale, fine jewelry retailers...
You work hard to build a business. So if you have strong feelings about a political view, should you stand behind your convictions? On this Election Day – November 3, 2015 – it seems like a great subject to write about because we have exactly 365 days until the big one, and the candidates are certainly...
You have to admit, there are many times life imitates art. Take the movie, Network (1976). Written by Paddy Chayefski, the film was considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress. If you haven't seen it (I'm assuming there are some younger people out there reading this), you really must. It is as...
There are certain things I know clear as day: I'm not going to win the HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes. We'll never know what the hell Tom Brady was thinking to get implicated in Deflategate. Your bridal customer is not afraid to buy online. To be clear, only 1 out of 10 bridal customers are currently buying online*. But, the primary...
I love a good story - which is good, since I write for a living. The business world is an endless source of stories. A few of those are even appropriate for audiences of all ages. The best business stories connect with customers, and the very best ones connect with them enough to bring them through your...
Repeat after me: The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain. Repeat after me: My customers want to see pricing. It’s hard to say, correct? It’s even harder to do. I've written (and spoken) about this many times — too many to mention. Why? Because it's all about being transparent. And it's the fundamental reason why people shop you...
It’s a new year. A fresh slate. There couldn’t be a better time to take a hard look at who you are as a company and who you want to be. And in marketing, who you want to be generally has something to do with who you want to see walking into your store. In other...
What if you invested a percentage of your budget to ongoing research? After all, as a retailer, being successful has everything to do with what your customer wants, not you. It has everything to do with really getting into the head of your target prospects and delivering an experience fitting their needs. What if we learned...