Jane Clarke is an Albuquerque resident and business person who combines her love of jewelry with business acumen.  She does a bustling business on the web, as well as owning The Antique Connection Mall.  I interview her about how she got started on the web, what the keys to success have been, and how it integrates with her brick-and-mortar business.

Full disclosure, I work at Southwest Cyberport, which is mentioned in this interview.

Josh:
How did you get into the antiques and jewelry business?  Have you had a website for your business since the beginning, or did that come later?  How did you decide where to host it?

Jane:
Back in the 1980′s I would never have thought I would be selling on the
web… not in a million years. As a realtor and builder for 25 years with a
fun but somewhat useless degree in Fine Arts from UNM, my life-long
interest in antiques and jewelry merged with the purchase of the
Albuquerque Antique Connection Mall in 1996. Within months, thanks to the
encouragement and help of 2 of my sons, I also launched my first web site,
6 little pages using Microsoft Publisher and hosted by Southwest Cyberport.

I heard by word of mouth that SWCP, too, was a local start-up with an
excellent reputation and I knew I would need local help if this new web
thing would ever work. And boy was that a good decision… I could never
have done it without them!

Morning Glory jewelry has since moved up from Publisher to FrontPage to OS
Commerce. As the business grew, I worked with Mark, Jamii and the wonderful
guys at SWCP to move forward with the web business until now it has over
2000 items and a sales beyond my wildest dreams. A  big part of what has
made it possible is the willingness of everyone at SWCP to give me good
advice and support and I can never thank them all enough.

Josh:
How has your selling through the web evolved over time?

Jane:
Back in 1996 most web sites were primitive, loading VERY slowly on a 28.8
dial-up and featuring lo-res pictures and none of the bells and whistles we
have today… search engines and shopping carts for instance. It was very
fortunate that I could grow the site as the internet itself grew, adding
both a gallery and a huge reference portion to the sales side. There was a
definite feeling in the early days on the net that each of us needed to
give something back and show a sense of community responsibility with
others on line. That, and my love for what I do, made me start Jewel Chat vintage
jewelry reference, and Morning Glory Collects Gallery. A surprising side
benefit of these is that I have had the opportunity to work with national
magazines and vintage jewelry book authors, contributing pictures, history
and information to promote the jewelry I sell.

Josh
Do you still have a physical store?  If so, how does it integrate
with selling via the web?

Jane:
The web site dovetails perfectly with our local antique mall where about 70
dealers rent and share space. The community feel of the mall and the wider
community worldwide on the net work well together and each business feeds
the other. I would not give up either the bricks-n-mortar mall or the web
site, as this is a case where 1 + 1 definitely equals more than 2! …

Josh:
What have been the keys to e-commerce success?

It is hard to answer what has made it successful. Hard work for sure… a
successful web site is a takes a HUGE number of hours to run well…. just
huge. Love for what you do makes it palatable, and I do enjoy not only
jewelry but also dinking on the computer and learning new programs.

Another factor is running it as a real business. It is perfectly fine to do
a web site as a hobby, but if the plan is to make real money,  then all
business principles apply…. good records and bookkeeping, a serious
business plan, education about what you do and a dedication to hard work.

Josh:
Could you talk a little bit about how people have found your site over
the years?  Starting from the beginning.  For instance, there was no
Google when you started.

Jane:
Most of my inventory comes from long-time personal connections. I have been
in this business for years and met many wonderful people who share my
passion, so I do get some amazing things. I also have pickers who buy
jewelry for me and I normally buy everything they find. When we have worked
together over many years, we have a good rapport about what sells.

I also pay fair prices which gets a lot of referral business. When people
know you will appreciate great vintage jewelry, are knowledgeable about it,
and willing to pay them fairly then it becomes a fun as well as profitable
relationship. I don’t do garage sales or the flea market, though others do
and make some great finds there.

In the early days of the net most of us with “baby” web sites focused on
clear pictures and a web site that worked… the basics… and web sites
were really simple. Over time people began to chat about search engines and
what they meant, but what mattered to the search engines and ranking was a
bit of a mystery. We all knew that good links mattered, and that certain
things like key word spamming would not benefit us, but there were not the
convoluted rules and issues for ranking like there are now. For me today,
Google is still the biggie though I am watching to see if Bing will begin
to matter too.

Interest groups helped a lot… there are many groups on line for most
areas of interest and some are really worthwhile. They enabled us to share
ideas, research, warnings and ideas.

Josh:
Can you take us through the whole flow of an object through your site?

Jane:
The flow of merchandise through my web site can be time consuming and a bit
tedious except that I enjoy doing it all. Once a piece is in my hands, it
is entered into a huge Excel inventory file, numbered, measured, inspected,
described and repaired if necessary. It then is photographed and loaded
into a temp file ready for the web site. I shoot an average of 200-400 jpgs
a week, front and back of most pieces as well as details and marks.  I do a
lot of research and have over 100 vintage jewelry catalogues as well as
many books on jewelry, both old and new. Research is one of the best parts
of my job!

Because I have a shop here in town as well, items also get prices tag and
go to the shop for sale. Keeping track of where over 3000 pieces are at any
given time is a challenge to say the least! Each piece has it’s own inventory number, and each is logged out when it sells so that we know the
date, buyer, and price for which it sold. I have a wonderful part time
associate, Sam, who runs charge cards and ships, and he too tracks packages
and shipping costs. Because we are very careful about accuracy in our
descriptions we do not get many returns, but we do absolutely guarantee
every piece we sell.

Josh:
How do you keep in touch with customers?  Do you collect email addresses so you can send them email in the future?

Jane:
Customers can choose how they want to be contacted. They can buy once and
not be bothered with email from me ever again. Or they can sign up for our
newsletters. They can also sign up for our weekly “New Additions”
announcements. With the thousands of things we sell each year, we have
everything from one-time customers to people who buy several times a month.
Some of our best business is other dealers who are looking for unusual and
well-priced things for their shops or web sites.

Josh:
Where are you taking your business in the future?

Jane:
I am now on the verge of changes… the web site is almost to large too
continue to do it all by myself, and the step of hiring staff is a big one
so I am not there yet either. But what a wonderful opportunity that all of
this has provided! How else would I ever have met customers from all over
the world, gotten national attention for my business, and been able to make
my living from doing what I genuinely enjoy. To say it is incredibly
rewarding is the understatement of the century.

Big thank you to Jane Clarke for taking the time to share her experience.  Check out Morning Glory Antiques & Jewelry, and The Antique Connection Mall.

See you in the checkout line

Josh

This post is not about local business.  It’s about children with Cancer, right here in our community.  September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  Children get cancer.  They suffer horribly.  Their families struggle through Hell.  Sometimes they make it, sometimes they die having spent most of their life in the hospital.  It’s not acceptable.

Because pediatric cancer is admittedly rare, searching for a cure is not good business.   The all mighty Market doesn’t have answers for this problem.  It’s up to you and its up to me to fund this research, and also to help care for the afflicted.  Children’s Cancer Fund of New Mexico does that, right here.  You can both volunteer and donate via their website, http://www.ccfnm.org. Give local.

Saw this event announcement on the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance website.  Sounds interesting.  I know that lots of folks who have lost thier jobs, or at least the illisuion of job security, are considering starting their own businesses.  This could be a resource.

Doing a Start-up on the Cheap: the Fifty250 Method (aka Cheap Bastard Start-up)

http://www.stc.unm.edu/news/events.php?eid=89

Gray and raining.  I’m not complaining, nice change for Albuquerque.  I am daydreaming about being at home, curled up in bed with a cup of a tea and a good book.  And why not a good book written by one of Albuquerque’s own.  I have just the book,  MLN Hanover’s Unclean Spirits.  It’s one of those trendy  contemporary urban fantasy novels, a trend I embrace.   “Good trash,” my wife would say.  Perfect for playing a little hooky and getting some escapism.   Some description, taken from the Bookworks website (where you can also order it).

Jayne Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn’t quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayne travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it’s all hers — and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.

A little guilty fun for a rainy day.

I’m sure you have your favorite read by a New Mexico author.  Or your favorite story about meeting a New Mexico author at a book signing, or running into them at a coffee shop.   I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

See you in the checkout line,

Josh

In these times of economic uncertainty, we are all doing some hard thinking about the ways we make and spend our money.  This blog is about purchasing goods and services from local, independent businesses, also known as shop local.  The message I bring you is that shopping local is selfish, greedy and fun.  Many shop local cheerleaders make it sound like a civic duty.  Screw that.  Do it for yourself.  Here are some reasons.

Customer Service

Customer service in our time sucks.  Especially if you are calling the support number for a huge, faceless, multi-national corporation.  Guess what?  Service at your independent business next door is better.  If not, they won’t be around long.

Accountability

If you do get crappy service or a defective product from your neighborhood business, you can hold them accountable.  You can go to their place of business and stand in front of their counter or desk and make them look you in the eye.  You can steer other people away from them by spreading the negative word.  It’s satisfying, and its effective.  Accountability is one of the reasons local shops give good service.

Choice

We all like low prices, and we also like choice.  Low cost and choice are often at odds.  Large corporations keep cost down by producing and selling lots of the same thing.  Economy of scale, its called.  Your neighborhood business doesn’t achieve economy of scale, so they attract customers by offering choices that are not the same old thing.

Personal interaction

We like interacting with other people and establishing relationships.  I’m a regular at Jeri’s Cafe.  I started going there because it was one of the few places I could walk to for lunch.  I drive to work now, but I keep going to Jeri’s because I get good food AND I’ve developed a personal attachment.

Your job

Independent, local businesses can be great places to work.  At Southwest Cyberport every employee is an important part of the company’s success, not a cog in the machine.  The owners of the company care about their employees, partly because they are good people, partly because they see their employees daily, and partly because they need their employees for their business to thrive.  We, in turn, take care of our customers, partly out of self-respect, and partly because we need them.  If you want to work at a place like that, you have to do business with places like that.  No customers, no jobs.

Conclusion

That’s my list of the top reasons it benefits YOU to shop local.  Each one will be explored in graphic detail in future blog posts.  Do you have more?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Other topics coming up in future posts:  on line local shopping, defining “local business,” what about small and independent but not local …

See you in the checkout line

Josh