Setting 2022 Goals for Your Jewelry Business

0:00
Hi, I’m your host Laryssa Wirstiuk. Through this podcast I aim to empower and inspire jewelry entrepreneurs and professionals so they can thrive while adding more beauty to the world. I’m passionate about digital marketing for jewelry brands, and I’m excited to share my passion with you. As we all know, jewelry is joy, so I’ll gladly seize any opportunity to talk about it.

0:25
This is episode 155. And oh my goodness, it’s the last episode of 2021. I’m going to be taking I think a week off, but I’ll be back in 2022. So look forward to that. But today, I’m going to share some specific guidance about how you can set goals for your jewelry brand in 2022. As you probably know, if you don’t set clear goals for your business, then you won’t be able to see the way ahead, both for the short term and for the long term. Some of the most common mistakes that I see when it comes to goal setting for jewelry businesses is vague and ill defined goals like I want to sell more jewelry, or I want to get my jewelry into more retail stores or I want more social media followers or I want more email subscribers. None of the examples that I just shared is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, or time based. You’re basically setting yourself up for failure. If you’re setting goals like these, and you’re just doing yourself and your business a serious disservice, you’ll constantly be wondering how come I’m not making any progress. I want you to set yourself up for success in the new year. So I’m going to be sharing some of my top tips not only for goal setting, but also goal executing in this episode. I’m also in the process of figuring out my own business goals for the new year. So I’m right there with you. Let’s do it together.

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But before we get to the solid gold of this episode, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that this podcast has both an audio and video component. So you can either listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on YouTube by searching Joy Joya. And also if you’re watching on YouTube right now you will notice that I am super dressed up I got a sequined dress on I got a vintage rhinestone necklace and some really crazy rhinestone clip on earrings. I am dressed up to go to the Women’s Jewelry Association WJA holiday party tonight and I figured hey, it’s the last episode of the year I’m gonna get decked out. I’m going to do my podcast all dressed up. So if you want to see what I look like, definitely check out YouTube and subscribe.

2:52
I love creating content as my act of service to you my awesome listeners and you can support the podcast for free by taking the time not only to subscribe, but also to leave a rating and review on iTunes which helps other jewelry dreamers find it too. So let’s just get some recent news related to jewelry or marketing. Each week I share my thoughts about three relevant articles and you can get those links by visiting joyjoya.com/signup. Once you’re on the VIP list, you’ll receive our weekly digest filled with new episode announcements.

3:28
First, an article from New York Times that I actually thought was kind of funny because they were acting like this is a totally new mind-blowing thing when really, it’s been a thing for a while but I liked the article anyway, so I really want to share a little summary about it. Several brands and designers are making a shift towards connecting with and reaching their customers by sending email newsletters because it feels a lot more personal than social media. Then websites, blog posts and of course those platforms like Instagram and Facebook news flash newsworthy. Everyone’s sending email newsletters, New York Times got the scoop. Newsletters straight to the inbox are being called quote, the media of the moment. Newsletters are of course a great way to build a community of people who truly want to connect with your brand and feel like they’re actually part of the family. Large jewelry houses like cardio and Bulgari, as well as smaller independent operations are jumping on this newsletter mailing trend by sharing content, like information on their collection drops, styling tips, news about the brand and invitations to events. In this particular article. They highlighted the online jewelry brand Atelier Romy I don’t know how to say it but ROI that this brand has found newsletters to be extremely valuable. The brand recognizes there subscribers as quote real clients, ones who have purchased pieces and are loyal to the brand, as opposed to a multitude of social media followers who aren’t necessarily supporting in any real or tangible way. Social media is really meant for short attention spans quick reads and click throughs. Whereas these newsletters present opportunities for brands to tell a deeper story, and present information in a longer manner. loyal customers of course, they are really seeking deeper knowledge and information on the brands they love, and things that they might not be able to find on Instagram, more in depth stuff, but of course, too many newsletters can also be overwhelming and completely turn people away. So in the process of really ironing out your email marketing strategy, you need to find the right balance.

5:58
Next, I love this time of year for the announcement of the color of the upcoming year by Pantone and JCK recently did a summary article about the color pantones Color of the Year for 2022 which is called Very Peri. So if you don’t know I’m sure you do know someone in the jewelry industry who deals with color pantones Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries from fashion and home furnishings, to product packaging and graphic design. Over the years we’ve seen colors like living coral, which was 2019 Color of the Year, classic blue, which was 2020 and ultimate gray, which was this year, quote, the Pantone color Institute has named very Perry, which is Pantone 17 Dash 3938. Its color of the year for 2022. And quote, this is the first time Pantone has whipped up a new hue for its color of the year. So this is actually not a color that existed before they created it. And just for this occasion, the decision to create this new color reflects their global innovation and transformation that’s taking place. In a statement, the color based authority called Very Peri, “a dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet red undertone, which blends the faithfulness and constancy of blue with the energy and excitement of red.” Sounds like purple to me, I did not even dress intentionally to match this, I’m not sure that my dress color is considered Very Peri, but I’m in a very purple vibe right now for those who are not watching on YouTube. This new color will be very influential in both fashion and jewelry, and could be the new “it” color. People are wanting to see and find jewelry and in colored stones. And of course, it would be possible to find stones like sapphires, or tanzanites that are very close to that Very Peri shade.

8:16
And finally, what is going on with Instagram? I really feel like every day there is some kind of new change. And one of the latest announcements really caught my attention. I’m sure that was their intention to get people to stop and say, “Whoa, what’s going on?” So I saw two articles, one from Later, Later is that the scheduling platform for social media and then Social Media Today about the biggest Instagram trends to get ready for in 2022. There were a lot I’m gonna I’m trying to kind of focus here on the ones that are most relevant to jewelry brands, and the one that really caught my attention. You may have heard this suggested and chronological content feeds. So apparently chronological content feeds will be making a comeback to Instagram. Don’t get too excited. If you’ve been on Instagram for a pretty long period of time since the beginning. You know that the content in your newsfeed was originally delivered in a time based chronological format so you saw posts as they went up, that was kind of the idea behind Instagram Insta, the concept was that you were in real time seeing content being posted as it happened. As we all know the algorithms happened and now content is delivered to you on your newsfeed based on a lot of different criteria. So Instagram in an ongoing effort to constantly be competing with Tik Tok, which is now officially more popular than Instagram. Among Us base Gen Z users are trying to move to chronological feed because that is what tick tock uses in a format that clearly works and has been one of the most requested features in the Instagram app, especially recently, for businesses that have gotten really frustrated by how content is chosen to be displayed. So Instagram is working on a version of the chronological feed that will launch next year. But the reason why I said don’t get too excited, because it’s not just gonna like, boop, go back to how it was in, I don’t know, 2013 2014 whenever that was super popular. Basically, this chronological feed option will likely operate the exact way that the Facebook feed sorting option works right now. So you’ll be able to see a toggle, where you can sort your main feed, but it’s highly unlikely that the chronological feed will be a set option. So users will have to consistently resort their feeds based on preference every time they open the app, I don’t think it’s going to end up being as exciting as it sounds, I think it might even make the app a little bit more overwhelming even but I have not seen the feature in action. So TBD on that one.

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Other Instagram trends to get ready for in 2022 merged video formats. So Instagram has been testing a vertical Instagram Stories feed as a way to move towards a more unified video approach. If you use the platform, you know, all of these different quote unquote, surfaces, stories, reels, regular video posts, they’re trying to kind of like, combine all of these things into one. So it’s not so scattered and confusing, which I think is a good thing. And then three brand personalities. So I think this has already been a trend since last year and even before, but less of a focus on aesthetic posting. So creating like a look and more of a focus on creativity, informal newness and personality. The idea really is to build a stronger sense of community and to encourage engagement through authentic posts that show personality. And then number four more community engagement features. So this article from later predicts that engagement driving stickers, such as the really popular question sticker will enter the real chats, you’re going to expect to see a more engaging and interactive comment section with the ability to even reply on a real with a video or voice note, which was another feature I recently heard in development. So a lot more interactivity that empowers businesses to be doing what they should be doing anyway, engaging with their followers and customers and fans.

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As I mentioned, you can get the links to the articles I share in the segment of the podcast, by visiting joyjoya.com/signup, and you can become a Joy Joya VIP and get the weekly newsletter with all the links.

13:23
Okay, let’s talk about success in 2022. Something I wish for all of you. But we’re not going to get there unless we are diligent in not only our goal setting, but also in our goal execution. So I have five tips that I want to share with you today. Okay, tip number one. I’ve talked about this on the podcast before. If you have a copy of my book, Jewelry Marketing Joy there’s this section about it in there. But I think it’s important to say it again and emphasize it because it’s something that’s so obvious, but it’s so easy to forget or ignore. Even not intentionally, but here we go. Familiar. So familiarize yourself with the acronym SMART S M A RT, and I kind of snuck in the words that the acronym stands for earlier in the intro. I don’t know if anyone noticed. But basically SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based five things that every goal needs to be able to meet these criteria for it to be a goal that is worth setting and pursuing.

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So specific that’s kind of obvious. You need to make sure that it has enough details enough like meat that if you explained it to someone else who wasn’t familiar with your business, they would be able to envision exactly what you have in mind. They could picture it in their mind’s eye what you hope to accomplish, it needs to be measurable. So in order to know that you will you have achieved your goal, you need to set some kind of like measurable outcome, you need to be able to say like, this is where I am now, this is where I want to be, did I reach that whether that’s a number or something else that can actually be measured, it needs to be attainable, obviously, okay, you would be surprised some people, they set goals. And in a way, they kind of self sabotage themselves or set themselves up for failure, because they know, no matter what, even in the best case scenario, this goal is not attainable. It’s just like, kind of ridiculous. Like, you’d have to get launched into space to be able to achieve this goal. So the goal needs to actually be attainable in some universe. The goal needs to be relevant, obviously. So it needs to be related to where your business is right now, what your super long term goals are for your business, what is even like possible to happen in your business. And finally, it needs to be time based. So a goal only works if there’s like a defined end. So maybe it’s by the end of q1 2022, or by the end of the year, or by the end of the next six months, whatever it is, it needs to have an end date, otherwise, you won’t be able to measure it, you won’t be able to check in with yourself. Even if by your end date, you haven’t reached your goal, you can at least assess your your progress, kind of decide how to pivot and then move forward from there. So really make sure that your goal has all of these elements if not figure out how to attach these elements to your goal or adjust the goal until it is a smart one.

17:03
Number two, have a BHAG had to remember how to say a BHAG. BHAG stands for big, hairy, audacious goal. You’re probably wondering, wait, that just contradicts what you said in number one, doesn’t my goal have to be attainable? Yes. So a big hairy audacious goal is still one that you could potentially attain if like every scenario, every detail, every outcome was perfect. So it’s still in the realm of possibility. But it’s a goal that makes you nervous to say out loud, it scares you a little bit because it is so much bigger than maybe you think you’re capable of. Or maybe you’re gonna really have to step outside of your comfort zone to do the things that you’ll have to do to achieve this goal. It’s basically just dreaming as big as you can in a way that is still possible to attain obtain in some realm of possibility a BHAG a big, hairy, audacious goal. Like you might even be nervous to share this goal with someone because you’re afraid they might judge you and think Who is she to think that she could achieve that? I feel that way. Sometimes, I’m a little nervous to tell people things that I want. Because what if it doesn’t happen? Or what if it seems a little crazy, but but that’s the cool thing about it. It’s almost like you’re challenging your own comfort level and boundaries and, and really daring yourself to dream big, which is kind of cool. So I first learned about this concept from a business coach, but it’s actually originally from, from a book called “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. If you want a probably a much more articulate explanation of what a BHAG is, I highly recommend you to check out this book. Having a BHAG, not only does it kind of challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone, but it makes goal setting kind of exciting and fun. Goal setting can be kind of like a boring, tedious thing. If you’re not, you know, doing things like BHAGS and encouraging yourself to have fun with it. It can also be scary, of course, but it means that you’re opening yourself up to growth and really pushing your boundaries. And the coolest thing about it is that even if you don’t actually achieve your BHAG, and there’s a possibility you won’t, wherever you fall short of it will likely be further along than if you hadn’t dream big. If you had just set the goal that felt comfortable to you. This will still put you in a place further than that, which is awesome, I love it.

20:03
Number three, you want to keep the focus of your goals manageable and realistic. I know most people who are listening to this podcast are super creative, you guys are dreamers, you probably have the tendency to have tons of ideas and visions, and always thinking about the next creative thing and really deriving your energy from that. But here’s the danger of that having too many goals can actually be a self sabotaging mechanism that keeps you from staying focused, and diligent. So you may actually be setting yourself up for failure by like filling your brain up with too many things that you want to do. So you need to one embrace it. It’s amazing. But let’s like reel it in a little bit and try to get more focused.

20:58
So this is a technique that I heard about from another marketing podcast that I love this old marketing. But the technique they talked about is from Warren Buffett, it’s called the 25/5 technique. So what you do is you sit down with your creative self, you brainstorm 25 goals that you want to accomplish next year. Again, you can go all over the place, get really big with them. Maybe they don’t all start out as smart goals, maybe you do start out with more vague ideas, and that’s fine. But let’s like, narrow them down and kind of create that specific, measurable, attainable, relevant time based goal eventually. So this process might take you a few days or a few weeks, that’s totally fine. It’s definitely a process. So you brainstorm those 25 goals you want to accomplish next year, and then you force yourself to narrow them down to five, then you get super clear on your priorities, you get super clear on what matters to you and what you really want to focus on. And then everything else just has to go away for a little bit. And you’re going to focus on these five goals. And then once you’re super focused, and you’re all set up for 2022, you know, your five goals. The trick is that, put them like on a piece of paper in front of you so that you see them all the time, every single day, you know what your goal is, your five goals are and every single day, all you have to do is one task to move you toward that goal. So create like a to do list at the beginning of the day and have your five tasks for your five goals. And just keep moving forward in that direction. Obviously, these five goals might have different timelines, maybe one you’re hoping to achieve in the first quarter, maybe one you’re hoping to achieve. By the end of the year, maybe one is like a slightly longer term or shorter term goal. So you’ll kind of have to like adjust your pace and make this work for you knowing the timeline that you want to have for this goal. But it will really one help you stay focused to it will make it so much more manageable. Because literally all you have to do everyday is just one little thing to keep moving forward forward toward that focused goal.

23:30
Number four, know your benchmarks. So maybe this is obvious. But I think knowing your benchmarks is especially helpful when you’re setting those business and marketing goals. You can’t possibly know where you want to go. And if it’s even possible to go there. If you don’t know where you are right now. And you’re probably sitting there listening to this saying, of course, I know where I am in my business like I live it every day all day long. But when was the last time you looked at the data, the numbers, your sales data, your website traffic, your social media followers? And given that those numbers are always changing, what care have you taken to document those? Maybe it’s time to create a spreadsheet or if you hate spreadsheets, open a Word doc, open a notebook, just in whatever way makes sense to you. Document where you are right now for the data points that matter to you. So if your goal is to increase sales by however amount, what is your sales right now write that down, and then come up with a number to which you want to get to. So knowing where you stand is one of the best ways to ensure that you stay specific. Of course you need a sense of what’s going on in the present, what has been going on in the past in order to move toward the future.

25:00
Number Five. This is my favorite one. What is the point of achieving your goals if you can’t have at least a moment of celebration or a reward? And I’m totally guilty of this, I just sometimes don’t allow myself that moment of celebration and like, Okay, I did it great. Next, like, what do I have to do next? Where am I going next. And it’s, it’s really hard to motivate yourself to stick to moving toward your goals if you don’t know that there is going to be something at the end for you, besides the wonderful satisfaction of achieving your goals. So it’s kind of nice beforehand, when you set the goal to also assign a reward to it. So say, you want to increase your sales, 3X in 2022, by whatever date. And when you achieve that, you’re gonna buy yourself and your team an ice cream cake from this like small business vendor that you all love in your neighborhood. Amazing. Not only does that get you excited about achieving the goal, but it gets the team really excited. Or even if you have one person who will be celebrating with you, maybe it’s a friend or a family member, whoever, like get someone else excited about your goal too so that you guys can sit there and dream together and like imagine how awesome it’s going to be not only when you achieve your goal, which is amazing in itself, but also that you will get to celebrate with that delicious ice cream cake and taste it and how delicious it will be on your tongue. I love that. So make sure you take time to also celebrate your wins. And hey, even if you don’t achieve that BHAG, that big, hairy, audacious goal and you went further than you are today. I think that’s still worthy of celebration. And I think that you should take the time to really savor those moments because if you don’t allow them for yourself again, it’s all going to feel like a grind and you’re not going to want to do any of it.

27:17
What did you think? You can always email me laryssa@joyjoya.com. If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend who’d appreciate it. And don’t forget to subscribe as well as leave a review on iTunes to purchase a signed copy of my book Jewelry Marketing Joy. Visit joyjoya.com/book for more information.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai