The Barb Wire celebrates its tenth episode with a visit from Ben Smithee, CEO at The Smithee Group (thesmitheegroup.com), a digital consultancy whose mission is "helping big brands think small and small brands think bigger".

 

Talking with host Barbara Palumbo, Ben shares why he decided to originally focus his consultancy on the jewelry business (8:10), and Barbara refers to him as one of the industry's few true "influencers" online (11:10). He talks about his unique upbringing in Dallas as the adopted Asian son of white parents (17:00).

 

Ben's passionate about social media, calling it "the great equalizer" for small businesses (29:30). And he later shares one of his pet peeves -- retailers who can't stop complaining about the things their customers do (32:50).

 

He also cites a specific behavior that he believes, if a retailer performs it daily for the next 365 days, will guarantee them a six-figure increase in their sales (36:20). Later, Ben shares the specific sales pitch he uses with jewelers to convince them to invest in building their social media following (40:30).

Kim Gordon is living the dream — it's the dream of owning her own store, the aptly named Dream Jewelers in Oshkosh, WI.

Gordon has spent most of her career in jewelry sales, having spent more than a decade as an assistant manager at a Kay Jewelers and, after that, another decade as sales manager at Jim Kryshak Jewelers in Wausau, WI.

Then, in 2014, she finally made the leap into jewelry-store ownership, using her life savings to purchase a Wisconsin business called Thimke Jewelers, which she later rebranded as Dream Jewelers.

Gordon shares the story of her journey, and tells you how she's launched her business in a challenging competitive environment and on an ultra-tight budget. "I had $20,000 in the bank," she says. "And $20,000 seems like a lot of money ... until you open a jewelry store."

Hear the rest of Kim's story on the latest edition of JimmyCast.

This month in Over the Counter, Kyle Bullock has his mind on conservation.

In the latest episode of his podcast, the owner of Bullock's Jewelry in Roswell, NM, tells a series of interconnected stories related to efforts big and small to make the jewelry industry more friendly to consumers, communities and the planet.

These efforts range from the ultra high-profile work of the Diamond Producers Association to promote more responsible diamond mining to the almost entirely overlooked efforts of one of Kyle's own employees, Sherri, who hoards used scraps of paper so they can be re-used in the office.

Kyle asks her why she does this.

"To help the environment," she says. "And to save money."

"But paper is cheap!" says Kyle.

"Not to the trees," Sherri answers.

Can't argue that. 

The very important message? Every little bit helps. And no matter what your role in the industry, everybody can do something. Why not start today?

Marketing colored gemstone is on the agenda when Hayley Henning visits The Barb Wire with host Barbara Palumbo.

Henning is currently vice-president of Greenland Ruby, where she has been working the last two years after spending most of her career as one of the key faces behind the rise of Tanzanite since the mid-1990s. (In fact, Barbara says that before she knew Hayley personally, she thought of her as “the Tanzanite lady”.)

The South African native shares some of her personal journey (2:55) from her homeland to a career in the U.S., working for a company called Afgem that eventually became the well-known Tanzanite One. Hayley calls the company’s efforts to market Tanzanite "the start of colored gemstone marketing as we know it today". (6:55)

Now Hayley is involved in a similar effort to increase public and industry acceptance of Greenland ruby (12:10). Her company, Greenland Ruby, is the first business with government permission to mine, market and sell ruby material found in Greenland. Says Henning: "There is no real instruction manual on how to introduce a new gemstone to the gem and jewelry industry. But we're figuring it out."

She is passionate about the story behind Greenland rubies. Says the executive: “It's not as though we went to some fancy marketing agency to say, "Alright, help us make up a story. We are telling the story of a gemstone that has been buried under ice and snow for nearly 3 billion years." (25:20)

Later you’ll hear some of the work Hayley is doing with retailers to promote rubies from Greenland, as well as best practices for retailers looking to introduce new gemstone varieties.

Want to learn more about marketing colored gemstones to your customers? Don't miss Hayley Henning on The Barb Wire.

If making mistakes is the best way to learn, then the latest episode of JimmyCast promises to be a tremendous learning experience.

In the episode, Jimmy DeGroot and co-host Doug Meadows each share five dumb things they've seen jewelers do in their jewelry stores.

"This includes us," notes Jimmy.

"Actually, my list is mostly mine," says Doug.

Tales shared include a pyrotechnic prank gone wrong (3:40), a store owner who brought in a new sales trainer to work with his team, only to completely sabotage the effort before it even began (11:30), plus an expensive lesson from a jewelry con artist (20:00).

Says Jimmy, "This is a good episode for learning what not to do in your jewelry store."

In the latest episode of Over the Counter, host Kyle Bullock tells the story of one of the most memorable custom-design sales of Sandra Locken of Sarini Fine Jewellery in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada.

In the heartbreaking tale, the jeweler creates a rush job for a woman dying of terminal cancer, who is holding onto life by creating jewelry memories for her family in her final days.

Kyle concludes: "Remember that what we do In the jewelry business goes far beyond little hunks of metal. We are invited to share in the expression of people's hearts and souls in a very real, very emotional, and very honest way."Enjoy the story. (Have those tissues ready.)

In this month’s episode of JimmyCast, hosts Jimmy DeGroot and Doug Meadows chat with the manager of the winning store in the “Small Cool” division of INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Stores”, EAT Gallery of Maysville, KY.

Katherine Cotterill, manager at EAT Gallery, has an eclectic past, including more than three years spent in New Zealand and Samoa (2:30). She talks about how she was hired to run the store in 2016 by Simon and Laurie Watt, owners of colored gemstone dealers Mayer & Watt, who had opened EAT Gallery in the early 2000s as a side project (5:30).

The discussion continues to cover EAT’s attention-getting (and occasionally confusing to visitors) neon “EAT” sign (9:15), which had previously identified a diner that was a town fixture for 50 years. “We are definitely not a restaurant,” says Cotterill. “But we do say that we’ll feed your soul.” 

As for the big question of how many visitors per week come in, thinking it’s a restaurant? “At least a couple a week,” says Cotterill.

Hear more of the conversation — including tips on how to make a tiny business stand out with marketing and product selection — in this month’s JimmyCast.

In this month's Over the Counter, we bring you several short stories aimed at reminding you of what is most important in life. 

It is so easy to go day by day, nose to the grindstone, that we lose sight of what matters.

In fact, we may start to believe that work is what is most valuable — that our identity comes from work, or wealth, or from accomplishments.

And the truth is, it doesn’t.

Watch collectors, vintage jewelry, adventures in treasure hunting, and a showplace new store are on the agenda when jeweler Craig Husar steps into the Barb Wire this month. Husar is the owner and self-titled "Chief Romance Officer" at Craig Husar Fine Diamonds & Jewelry Designs in Brookfield, WI.

Husar's spectacular new store, which is located opposite a major new lifestyle center, opened in January. Says the owner about the difficult store-creation process: “I was relentless. I’ve never been so focused and passionate about making something happen in my life. And it was that passion, that drive, that led me here. It was almost like, knowing somehow, that this was my destiny, to be here and nothing was going to stop me.”

Open the box. That’s the central theme of the latest edition of JimmyCast.

By “opening the box”, Jimmy and Doug mean jewelers’ tendency to grasp for things — a training course, a new technology, or a hot line of jewelry — but then not do what they have to do in order to ensure that the new purchase positively impacts their business.

Says Jimmy: “A lot of time people regard training as a pill, and as they write the check, they think “This is gonna fix me, this is gonna fix me.” But then those jewelers get the training package back to their store, and they never open the box.Learn why jewelers keep making this common mistake, and how you can be sure to "open the box" in the future.