Just curious ... I get wonderful comments and praise and beautiful thank yous from the people who have bought, wear and love my jewelry. Back when I did my FireStarter session with Danielle in 2008, she said I absolutely MUST put those on my website. I have resisted and continue to resist. These comments and feedback just seem too personal, so maybe that's a problem ... maybe I view my business on a much more personal level than others. I take the praise into my heart and it feeds my soul. I'm afraid it would diminish the beauty of them if they were plastered on my website as just another commodity.
So what do you think?
Do you have a place on your website or blog for "what they're saying"?
Inquiring minds and all that........
l i g a - kvk
Ah, I think I understand where you are with this. It can seem like you are somehow vandalizing the sentiment and the personal connection with people by putting these sorts of comments out there in the public domain. E-commerce is in many ways a mystery to me, even though it is one of the ways that I sell my work. Much of what makes you take a 'risk' on someone has to do with some sort of 'testimonial' when you can not actually interact with the artist. So it's become something of a standard that you need to put the testimonial up there. I think you can do this with class and integrity. You don't necessarily need to shout out, I am wondrful, I am great, see everyone else thinks so too. Nope, Bob Barker style does nothing for me. Mz Kathy, I think you are a very class act and you can do this with integrity. I also think you probably need to do this and that Danielle has good advice. Maybe you should approach it with the gratitude that you feel toward people connecting with your work. You could even think of this as honouring the connection people have made with you and your work.
ReplyDeletei think that i do not resonate with danielle's advice *at all*. nope, not a bit...
ReplyDeletesmooch, smooch
I'm with Lynne on this one.
ReplyDeleteWhile most of the realationships I form with people who wear my pieces are friendly, they are on the surface. However there are some that become quite personal and intimate, often most unexpectedly, through illness, grief or disasters. I guess that for me, jewellery is a very intimate thing and I am in a privileged position when I become the conduit that builds the connection between the piece and its wearer.
I don't really feel that I can talk about or publicise these relationships in a specific way.
If, however, I got a glowing letter from a gallery owner or art critic, then I wouldn't hesitate to use it!
That's my two cents worth! Whatever you decide will be the right thing for you, and that's what's important. Arohanui.
I've been pondering this subject too.
ReplyDeleteI think it can be helpful for new customers to hear how others respond to our jewelry, our art. And I think people like to know about the stories and the energy behind the jewelry.
It's not my style to "brag" which is how some testimonials feel... nor do I want to share the very personal "thank yous".
I am collecting photos of my clients wearing my jewelry (with their comments, which I may use) and plan to create a gallery of sorts
( possibly a short video). I think this could be helpful, to see the styles, how people wear, layer, etc., as a way to share the experience of my jewelry.
This is a comment Zoe Nelson sent via FB ...
ReplyDelete"Hey Kathy - for some reason I can't comment on blogger blogs that require the Captcha Code. It puts me in a Google log-in loop.
Anyway, about publishing customer comments: You could do like I did and come to a compromise. I took all my comments and chose key words from each one and made up my own sentences. That way I can feel comfortable stating "My customers say..." without revealing the intimacy of the original correspondence. Not a direct quote, but good enough for me. I have them in the shop announcement of my Etsy store."
Thanks for all the wonderful and really thoughtful feedback everyone!
ReplyDeleteI've intentionally not saved any of the correspondence, praise or potential "testimonial" type messages, so if I do decide to do some version of this, it will be from here on out. I'm definitely mulling it all over.
l i g a - kvk
hey, i was going to reply to your comment over at my place via e-mail, but your blogger acct. isn't set up to receive e-mails. lately i've been doing all of my e-mailing at the g-mail site, and it shows the return address on the right side of the page. anyhoo, your return address shows as 'noreply-comment@blogger.com'. just in case this is helpful to you...
ReplyDeletemy hands look exactly like my mother's!
love, love
this is something i have been pondering for a while too...like most here it just doesn't seem right...but very interesting to read that others feel the same
ReplyDeletehi...interesting discussion...all i can say is I'm sometimes put off blogs that seem a bit 'pushy' on the sales front and drawn to blogs that seem more understated in terms of business. Having said that, the main reason I buy something is if I like it and i reckon your jewellery speaks for itself in that respect :o)
ReplyDeletenmp - for me, the jury's still out on the whole issue. When I get further along on my website redesign, I'll figure something out. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeletel i g a - kvk