Small online merchants, including those in the fashion industry such as jewelry designers, often battle for visibility in the massive marketplace that is today’s Internet. With thousands of new websites going up every day, it can be a real struggle for small-website owners to connect with their would-be customers.
This is the story of how one jewelry designer uses blogging to connect with her fans – and with lots of celebrities, too!
Having a WordPress blog in addition to your website is a great way to drive traffic to your site. Because blogs are dynamic rather than static like websites, the search engines love them - especially when they contain lots of content with plenty of inbound/outbound links. Blogs allow online merchants to establish relationships with their customers and interact with them in ways that are difficult or impossible with a static website.
Twisted Silver (www.twisted-silver.com), a funky custom jewelry retailer based in northern California, is one online merchant that’s made it big with blogging. This boutique jewelry firm leads the market in the hot new trend of convertible jewelry, in which recycled belts become necklaces, necklaces become bracelets, and so on.
Cashing in on this popular trend - and having a great time doing so - is Twisted Silver founder and jewelry designer Debra Mitchell. After finishing her degree in fashion and beginning a career as a fashion coordinator, Debra, now a wife and mother of three, took some time off from fashion to raise her family. But once her children were in school full time, she started creating again, and, according to Debra, “This time it led me from silverware wind chimes to jewelry. Who knew?!”
And so Twisted Silver was born. Hints of Debra’s vintage silverware motifs still abound in her collections.
Debra says her jewelry is all about creating ultra-modern designs with an unexpected twist. “Ideas and inspiration come from the most unexpected places," she says, "from mailrooms to hardware stores to memories of my grandmother’s jewelry box.” Her wares reflect this diversity.
Although Twisted Silver is known for its abundance of chain - copper, gold, brass, silver, steel, and aluminum - it is the offbeat use of vintage and salvaged gems and unusual elements that really make it stand out. “You’ll find vintage inspiration and retro-contemporary elements throughout the collections,” Debra says.
This is part of the reason her designs have become so popular. Twisted Silver jewelry is often included in the gift baskets given to celebrities at the Grammy awards and other star-studded affairs. A number of celebrities, including Maria Shriver, Nicolette Sheridan, Shantelle, and Ming Na (below), are pictured on the Twisted Silver website wearing Debra’s designs.
Debra’s business has really taken off since she hired blogmeister Twisted Tina, with help from Web 2.0 expert Jerry Hart (www.jerryhart.com), to set up and run the Twisted Silver blog (www.twisted-blog.com). This stunning yet functional blog has the same look and feel as the Twisted Silver website, and is linked to it. And, to keep Twisted Silver fans coming back for more, Tina has dreamed up lots of promotions including contests, giveaways, info about celebrity spottings, articles about the hot boutiques all over the country that carry Twisted Silver jewelry, and much, much more.
Check out Twisted Silver today!