The NEW face of MerCurios

I've been neglecting the blog lately and I'm sorry.  We've had lots going on over here at MerCurios HQ and unfortunately - being a one woman show - the blog had to take a back seat.

Now that things have settled down and we are back on track, I thought I'd share the NEW face of MerCurios - our new Logo! 

While I love, love, love our original MerCurios logo - it has been with us since 2003 - I felt it was about time we had a facelift -- something to bring MerCurios into the current moment and reflect the mood of the brand...

Modern, Ethereal, Chaotic (of course!), Organic, Industrial & Raw

Our good friend Jenn over at SocialPop Marketing redesigned it for us. What do you think? It was really hard for me to decide on the colors & I almost went with black and gold. 

In the end I chose to go with blue and green. I found the colors very soothing, and appealing to the eye. As as with everything MerCurios there is some symbolism involved...

The blue represents the ocean, the ebb and flow of the tides as such is life, and the green represents prosperity, of course.

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. What color combo would you have voted for?

What's NOW! - Big, Bold & Chunky

As you may or may not know, I ventured out the Henri Bendel Open See in March...again.  You can read about the first adventure here.  

This time we showed our big, chunky bracelets and chokers dripping with crystals, druszy's, agates, geodes, etc...; crystal encrusted knuckle dusters and (the original) #1 selling "personalized" double banner ring.  We were sure to leave the skulls at home as they are "too edgy" for the Bendel Girl - I know this from the previous Open See visit.  {If you're not sure who the Bendel Girl is then just watch Isla Fischer in Confessions of a Shopoholic; 2009 -- just kidding, but I do love that move so}

The buyer immediately picked up the personalized rings, looking at them curiously, as I knew she would.  She moved on to the bracelets and chokers, looked up at me and said "Great pieces, but your chains are too big for us".  With that it was time to move to the left & let the next indie designer hoping for a Trunk Show through.

Niki Minaj in XXL Magazine

Once again MerCurios was passed over by Henri Bendel, and once again MerCurios proved that we are ahead of the trend.  How? Why with the big, chunky chains of course.  All the celebrities from Lady Gaga to Beyonce to you name it - they are all seen wearing huge chains around their necks - at the beach or on the town.  Big, Bold Chunky chains are IN, HOT, HIP & NOW!

Beyonce taken at LAX

Guess what?  We will be going back to the Open See for a third time.  What can I say, being rejected by Bendel's is good for business.

Networking 101 - Planting Seeds

Do you carry business cards with you?

Do you wear your own product?

Are you comfortable and confident when speaking about your product?

Well you should be, and here's why:

I cannot tell you how many customers we have had the pleasure of doing business with - not because they ask about my jewelry - but because I mention theirs!  That's right! I mention theirs.  Below is a real conversation that took place while on line in my local Starbucks.  It can happen to anyone, anywhere.

Me: "Ooo, I love your necklace.  Is that Rock Love?"  Them: "Yes, how did you know?"  Me: "I'm a big fan.  I would recognize Allisons' work anywhere." Them: "Me too, I love my necklace"  Me: [pulling out my business card case] forgive me for being presumptuous.  I'm a local jewelry designer, whose style is organic and raw - lots of free hand wire wrapping, big rocks and crystals, etc.  Here is my card in case you would like to see more of our work. Them: [looking at the pictures on the back of the card] "Wow, beautiful stuff.  I'll definitely check out the site" Me: "Thank you"  

...That was the end of it.  I went on to place my drink order and they theirs; we went our separate ways.   The very next day I received an order for three custom pieces.    

It doesn't always work out like that.  Sometimes it takes weeks before I hear from them.  Sometimes I never hear from them at all, and that's okay.  I think about it like this - one more business card is one more seed planted.   

We would love to hear your thoughts... 

Are you comfortable being the initiator?

How would you react in a similar situation?  

Do you or have you gotten business from the most unlikely of places?

Any tips for fellow readers on what has worked or not worked for you?

xo,

MJ

The MerCurios Mark

It was a long time coming and it's finally here - the MerCurios Brand Stamp!

The Future:

Each and every MerCurios piece that leaves our studio from this point forward will have the mark.  For two reasons...

1. MerCurios is and always has been a brand, so it is only customary that the product reflect that.   Having each piece marked with the logo will tie everything together and create a cohesive brand statement.

2. The second reason is much less glamorous - having the mark on our pieces will set us apart from the marketplace and act as reassurance to our customers that what they have in their possession is indeed an Original Handcrafted MerCurios Creation.  There will be no mistake - you either have the original or you don't.

The Past:

To all my loyal friends and customers, if you would like your original MerCurios creation branded with the MerCurios mark simply send your piece back to me. Contact me to get started.

Banana Republic biting MerCurios?

It appears MerCurios has quite the admirer, and I must admit I am a bit flattered.  On the left is a ring that just popped up at Banana Republic.  On the right is the original MerCurios design from March 2010.  We have been selling our ring for about a year now, and it has been featured in countless well-read Fashion Blogs - not to mention CLEO MAGAZINE...twice! (read all about it here and here.)

Of course the ring isn't going to be an EXACT duplicate; you are not going to get wire wrapping like that in a factory in China!

It's official! MerCurios doesn't follow the trends - WE SET THEM! ...I always knew I was ahead of the curve. ;)

Mistakes = Vulnerablilty = Human

We all make mistakes. However, we don't like to admit them. We don't like to admit our mistakes because doing so makes us vulnerable. And showing any kind of weakness in today's society is a no-no.

I'll admit that I'm human. I'll admit that I make mistakes. I'll admit that not everything works out the way I planned, even when I had the best intentions in mind. October was proof of that.

Now where do I start? I know! At the beginning...

• Early in the month of October a friend contacted me for a custom copper quartz skull ring. The ring was perfect in every way and she was oh so happy. Come to find out an hour after she had the ring that it had to be cut off her hand - turns out she was allergic to copper. Who knew! I went on to remake the ring using silver and the result has been great - no reaction! All I can say honestly is that I'm so happy that this happened to a friend - someone who knew me in *real life* and knew my character, the quality of my work and my level of integrity.

• Three weeks later I received an email from a customer who did not get the custom ring I made for them. Oh, they received a ring all right, but it was not theirs. In fact, their ring went 1,000 miles away to the person who's ring they had. I was, and still am MORTIFIED! You don't me from Adam, but this has NEVER happened before. You may be thinking...hey one package out of five years of shipping, that's a great track record. Me, I'm from the old school where one mistake is just one too many!

Why am I sharing all this with you? A permanent record on the world wide web forever and ever...well, for two reasons:

1. I really need to just let it all out; it's a cleansing process. 
2. To show you that you are not alone

Feel free to share your *mistakes* or better yet, how you over came them...

xo,
MJ

Metallica and MerCurios - what they have in common

My husband recently told me that what's happening to me reminds him of Metallica.  For the longest time Metallica was told they were "too heavy".  They refused to conform & stayed true to their music and eventually the music industry & the public caught up with them.  The same could be said for MerCurios...

The beginning of this year I met with Henri Bendel and was told I was "too edgy".  Then I met with a long time friend of my husband who is an "Accessories Branding Expert"; she used to buy for Hot Topic back in the day, etc...  Now she is the person well-known Accessory Designers call in when they need their business and Collections turned around.  Anyway, she expressed I had talent & vision, but...was "too edgy". 

I was bummed, but persevered. I didn't really know where I was headed or how I would get there.  What I DID know was that I had to stay true to myself otherwise I was not paying homage to the creativity that lives inside me.  It has a life of its own.  Changing how it is inherently born would be untrue.   Making it any less "edgy" would be fasle...so I persevered.

Then, a little while after that - and MUCH to my surprise -  The Three Village Patch got in touch with me.  They discovered me on Twitter of all places and wanted to write a business profile on MerCurios.  I said YES of course.  Then it all seemed to snowball from there...  Sales took off; our jewelry was featured in the "Etsy Finds" blog not once, but twice!  We were on the Etsy front page a few times.  Well-known Fashion Blogs started including our jewelry in their "shop it now" sections - half the time I discovered these little features via Google Analytics.  And the creme de la creme - the Australian Fashion Magazine "Cleo" included our jewelry in TWO issues - September and October - and continue to request more samples.  We have been approached by other fashion publications and boutiques and tattoo shops too!  And it just keeps getting better...

Too Edgy, they said... Stay True to You! says I  ...and the world will eventually catch up.

Month in Review - August 2010

It's no surprise that I've been neglecting my blog lately, although I've tried to get back on track.  Things have been down right nutty here at the MerCurios HQ.  What with all the contests, features and mentions, I've had little time to me or my family.  So I'm going to try and sum it all up here...

Leopard Milkshake LOVES MerCurios! And they showed their their love with three different features this month:

• Ribbon of Life, featuring our Copper Double Banner Ring
• Gleaming, featuring our Silver Double Banner Ring
• Double Up, featuring our Tattoo Banner Ring and Men's Cuff Ring

We teamed up with Inked Up Mommies and Fashion Clique for two awesome & exclusive giveaways. 

  

MerCurios was interviewed for Yahoo Associated Content.  You can read that article here.

Lets see... Alexandra Keller included our Carpe Diem Banner Ring in her post: What I want - stamped metal.  Rame Ottone, the curator behind the blog Bling of the Day also featured our Carpe Diem Banner Ring in this lovely post.  Aleka of the blog Sunshine Sarah was so smitten with our custom rings that she featured us in this beautiful post.

Hmm, oh yeah - our 'quirky' Two-Finger Crystal Ring was included in the "15 reasons we heart Etsy" feature in the September Issue of Cleo Magazine, page 72  - and - on their website in the Fashion Editors Top 5 here.   Now how amazing is that?! ...and did I mention...they found us!

And we made the Etsy Front Page with the Caged Quartz Ring that was featured in a stunning treasury by Taylorseclectic

Wow!  I truthfully had no idea how busy August was until I pulled it all together to recap here.  Let's keep the momentum going!

I Waited Three Years For This

I'm at the playground with Gabriel today, pick up the android and get on Facebook.  Right there, staring me in the face is a friends post on my wall saying, "Yay!  Look who was in my inbox this morning", and it was a picture of our Carpe Diem ring.  "Woa!  Are you serious?", I replied.  And sure enough, after checking my own email, there it was staring me right in the face - the MerCurios Carpe Diem Ring in the Etsy Finds Tangled Web Blog Post!  I almost fainted!

Now - MerCurios has been getting a lot of attention lately - the ThreeVillage Patch business feature, the LeopardMilkshake shout out, Fashion Clique with "Rings that Rock", Cleo Magazine requesting samples for September... All of which is AMAZING, of course!  My gratitude to the Universe, and EVERYONE  is unending. 

However, this is most definitely the creme del la creme of them all.  For those that don't know - Etsy's web runs very deep.  The Etsy Finds Blog is up for ALL members to see - permanently - and an email gets sent out to those who choose to subscribe to it - like 200,000,000 people; seriously.  So of course I am stoked!

Like I said, I waited three years for this and I plan to relish each and every second of it.  So please try and bear with me. If my head swells a little too much feel free to pop my balloon... (I always have a back up on hand, lol)

This fabulousness took place on Wednesday, July 21.  Below are the stats as of Thursday morning.   I'm pleased to say the numbers are continuing to climb.  I'm convinced the fallout of this event is limitless.

• Carpe Diem Ring  = 1461 item views / 218 hearts (bookmarks)
• MerCurios = 1515 NEW visitors / 6073 page views / 68 hearts (bookmarks)
• Remaining Items = 4612 views / 67 hearts (bookmarks)
• Sold five items -- three Custom 2 finger rings & 2 other items -- not to mention the numerous inquiry's that I'm confident will lead to sales

Now for the best part - In celebration of this event MerCurios will be giving away a Custom 2 Finger Ring just like the one featured.   Yes! You read correctly.  This contest will be a Twitter Exclusive and is open to all of our followers.  Be sure to follow @mercuriosjewels & stay tuned on Twitter HERE for the details.

xoxo

It's a wrap

Today's projects consisted of four custom rings - I got three done; not too bad! - phone calls, phone calls, phone calls, and more press kits.  Now I don't know about you, but I loathe phone calls!  Seriously!  Ask anyone that knows me 1. If I ever answer my phone? and 2. If I ever return phone calls? I think you can guess the answer...if you guessed NO, then you'd be right.  My husband actually put someone else - someone that answers their phone - as his "emergency contact" at work.  I hope you can find the humor in this, because I sure can.

Anyway, I digress.  All three custom rings were from the "Define Yourself" Collection, and all were Two Finger Tattoo-style Banner Rings.  I am loving how popular these rings have become!  Did I mention they are available in Brass and Stainless Steel too?!

The copper rings are now lined with felt too & POP Colors are available for those who want to stand out.  I did this for two reasons... 1. to prevent the skin oxidation that happens to some when wearing natural copper 2. I prefer not to clear coat my copper pieces due to the intrinsic healing properties ...& because I like the rustic look of raw copper.

This is what I call a "3 Finger Bench Ring" in that it slides on to three fingers and sits there like a bench of course.  Believe it or not, it's really comfortable & keyboard-friendly! This, however, is the prototype & it's spoken for.  As a matter of fact it's being shipped out to Miss Kat Von D 1st thing in the morning -- I created it with her in mind after all.

Want your very own "Define Yourself" or 3 Finger Bench Ring?  Not to worry, contact me here for a quote. 

A moment to reflect

Things have been happening so fast lately that I haven't had the time to digest all of it, let alone sit back and revel in it. It's as though I'm caught up in a tornado.  Freddy - that's my better half - say my press is better than my sales & at-a-glance he is right.  The press has been phenomenal - from Stylists and Major Fashion Magazines requesting samples to News Articles and everything in between.

The sales though have not been half bad either!  The major winner is the multi-finger "Define Yourself" Tattoo-style Banner Ring.  Did I mention it's a custom piece so each one is unique to the person wearing it.  It's UNISEX too!

Besides, "sometimes you have to run before you can walk" - a quote from the infamous Tony Stark.  I think that's the case here...first comes the interest, then comes the $; right?

That said, here's the latest MerCurios hype; ENJOY!!

• LEOPARD MILKSHAKE
• Three Village Patch
• Fashion Clique
• New and Worthy
• Denim Debutante

Henri Bendel "Open See" Recap

It's official, I'm "Too Edgy" for Henri Bendel.  As you may, or may not know, on Friday, March 26, I dragged my behind out of bed at 4 am to get to the Henri Bendel "Open See".  I arrived on the line at 7:30 in the morning and there were at least 100 people on line in front of me already.  True to their word, at 9 AM the line started moving and we were shuffled in to the building in groups of 20.   ...escorted downstairs to wait on another line to sign in by category of business, from there we went to a waiting room, where Henri Bendel graciously provided coffee and tea.

It is not an exaggeration when I tell you, of the hundreds of people that showed up for the open see, at least 95% were jewelry vendors.  At around 12:30, I got my five minutes to pitch my product to one of the accessory buyers.  She flipped through my catalog, looked at 5 of the 7 trays I brought, looked up at me and said "you're too edgy for us".

"Too edgy", hmmm...I can not tell you that I did not see that coming, because I did.  My items are somewhat sophisticated, yet definitely edgy.  In a word "chaotically couture".  However, I got out of it what I wanted; the experience and the exposure.  The preparation for this meeting also forced me to create the wholesale catalog that I was putting off for ages.  With the new product and catalog finished MerCurios is ready for the next chapter, with wonderful things on the horizon.

Week in Review

What a crazy and amazing week this has been.  Honestly, my head is still spinning from all that has gone on.  First, mid-week, I see that Awakened Aesthetic has written a review for a two finger ring I had sent her.  Mind you, I knew the review was coming as I had asked for an "honest" review in exchange for a custom 2 finger ring.  However, I had no idea the review would be so wonderful.

You can read the full review; Acquired Aesthetics: MerCurios here.  While you're there, check out the entire blog. Jenn will open your eyes to a new aesthetic. If you’re looking to join the ranks of the eco-friendly, trying to shop more consciously, or otherwise love fashion and ethics in equal measure, you’ll find more inspiration – and temptation – than you can stand on Awakened Aesthetic.

The very next day I was at our local library with Gabriel.  As always, while he is in his mom-free preschool story time class, I bolt to the adult section to see what's new & exciting in the world of fashion and jewelry.  As I'm browsing the shelves, I see the title "1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse".  I immediately pull it off the shelf and begin flipping through it to see if I know any of the artists that made it into the book.  You see, I submitted some of my own work back in January '09, however, when I never heard anything I assumed my work was passed over.  Boy was I wrong!  Much to my surprise, not one, but TWO pieces of MerCurios jewelry were included amidst the ranks of those amazing artists.  WOW!  A few days later, and I'm still wrapping my head around the entire experience.

 

Both of these amazing events couldn't have come at a better time as I'm pitching to Bendels on Friday & the press can only help!  Speaking of my presentation, I ordered new jewelry trays, black velvet liners and a carry bag on Tuesday and received everything on Thursday.  I've already begun laying out the collection to see where I need to fill gaps.  New business cards from MOO, complete with pictures are on their way!  I'm looking forward to their arrival on Monday.

There is still a lot to do and the ball is rolling in the right direction, so I'm stoked to say the least.

The opportunity of a lifetime & the stress to match

Today is March 11 and I'm stressing out.  I'm stressing because I am pitching my product to an exclusive, trendy 5th Avenue boutique in two weeks.  I'm stressing out because other than the 2 bracelets that I created today, I haven't developed any product for the meeting -- I need at least 2 to 3 dozen pieces to feel like I have a fighting chance.

I'm stressing out because I have what's called "starving artist syndrome" in other words, I need to be inspired to create.  And it would appear as though my muse has run off to inspire another.  This absence is temporary, I know.  Still stressful nonetheless.

The stress coupled with the "what if's" is weighing heavy.  Will they like my schizophrenic one-of-a-kind style?  Will they think it's a good fit for their boutique?  Will they appreciate its uniqueness?  Or will they want it mass-produced? Come to think of it, in addition to the actual product, I need line sheets and a bio too!  Some nice displays wouldn't hurt either!

One would think 20 + years in the fast paced NYC fashion industry, working for the likes of Emmanuel Ungaro and Liz Claiborne doing fashion shows, in-store events, and  managing a 10 million dollar business in a sales capacity at the height of my career would have prepared me for this.  In some ways it did.   But it is different when it's your baby & your business.  ...I never felt guilty traveling or working late when another was providing my income.  Now, I get intense pangs of guilt when I tell my son I'll play with him later, because "mommy is working on an important project".  I'm a great mom & I know it.  I spend a great deal of time with my son and family, yet I still feel guilty for taking that much-needed time to help myself.  Any doctor, family counselor, self-help guru, or other mom will tell you that you need to take care of yourself first and foremost, otherwise you're no good to anyone else.  I know this to be true, so what's with the "mom guilt"?

Anyway, I do my best work under pressure, I always have; so I am positive that I will pull through.  Without inflicting too much damage to the family on the home-front too.

For what it's worth guys, I'm a really private person by nature.  It took some courage to share these to share these thoughts and emotions with you.