• Business

    Review – Vicenza Oro 2022

    Here is everything you need to know about one of the biggest Jewellery Exhibitions in Italy, Vicenza Oro.

    Held every year for trade only, you can find everything from designers, manufacturers, seminars on trends, luxury jewelry, unbranded jewelry, and more.

    My sister and I own the online jewelry store Bella Luck Charms. We specialize in Italian Cornicello jewelry and lucky charms. We decided to go and see if we could source some more suppliers and just get a feel for trends, meet people in our industry and look for new business opportunities.

    We spent a full two days there from the 9th-10th September 2022.

    Here is what we learned and experienced. Enjoy!

    Traveling to Vicenza

    Vicenza is in the North of Italy, between Verona and Venice. It is a small city in the region of Veneto and has its own airport which you can get a connecting flight to.

    We decided to fly to Rome from Australia and make our way up to Vicenza by train, which was the cheaper option for us. You can fly to Vicenza which might be easier for you depending on where you are traveling from.

    After a little sightseeing in Rome, we packed our luggage and headed to Rome Termini.

    We weren’t prepared for train travel in Italy and had no idea where you are supposed to store your large suitcases until someone said you can put them in between the seats!

    The regional trains in Italy have power plugs for your phones and of course a bistro on board – we are in Italy after all!

    The train from Rome to Vicenza

    It took about 5 hours to get to Vicenza. We stayed just out of the city in Longarre (about 30 mins) which we had no idea was going to be an issue. Many taxi drivers won’t go too far out of the city and you will have to ring and book your taxi in advance.

    Tips for staying in Vicenza

    • Book your accommodation in advance as close to the convention center as possible.
    • If you end up staying outside the city of Vicenza and don’t have a car be prepared to find it difficult to get around.
    • If traveling by train try to travel as light as possible. Large suitcases are a pain at train stations and in the heat.

    Preparing for Vicenza Oro

    Register your attendance, create your entry pass ticket/badge and download the App on your phone. Link your entry pass ticket to your app on your phone so you can easily enter with a barcode. You can print a physical pass beforehand or at the exhibition. Lanyards and printing stations are provided but I think scanning your phone is much easier.

    Leading up to your visit to Vicenza Oro you should start exploring the app for exhibitors, events, speakers, and seminars you would like to visit.

    Familiarize yourself with the map. There are many sections or ‘halls’ such as fashion jewelry, manufacturers, branded jewelry, unbranded jewelry, high-end jewels and so much more.

    There is a lot of security inside and outside the expo. We carried our passports just in case we needed ID for our badges or if there were any problems. After all, we didn’t want to travel all this way for nothing!

    Important: Vicenza Oro is huge and I mean massive so the more prepared you are the better.

    Tips for preparing:

    • Get clear on your goals and what you want to achieve at the expo.
    • Bring business cards and include your WhatsApp number. Most Italian businesses prefer to chat on WhatsApp rather than email.
    • Organize your transportation to get to the expo. Vicenza is very busy during this time and it can be difficult to get a taxi.
    • Wear comfortable shoes and carry water.
    • Bars and restaurants get very busy so if you see an opportunity to grab something to eat quickly – do it!
    • Bring cash. If you plan on buying products at the expo. Many exhibitors will only deal in cash. Some do have Eftpos machines but we found many only dealt in cash.
    • Know your limit for customs. How many goods can you bring in without being charged tax?
    • Book appointments with exhibitors in advance if you would like to discuss their products. Some will be happy to talk to you on the spot. Others you will need to book an appointment.

    Attending Vicenza Oro

    A Jewelry Exhibitor

    Yay! You made it! Welcome to one of the biggest Jewellery Fairs in Italy.

    Before you get all overwhelmed with the sheer enormity of the Expo. Know that everyone is here to showcase their products and services for you.

    We found most exhibitors were friendly, warm, and wanted to do business with us. Italians like face-to-face business and all could speak English.

    Do take detailed notes and collect business cards. You are not allowed to take pictures inside but we did take pictures of stall names and numbers for our own records.

    The bars, restaurants, and coffee were plentiful but did get rather busy towards the end of the day. In typical Italian fashion, there were Panini and an array of mixed salads available.

    We recommend planning on staying for the full three days. It took us a day to find our feet and make any progress.

    Sorting and shopping for Jewels

    Warning: We don’t recommend bulk-buying items. We had an incident where we were presented with an ‘inflated’ invoice and pressured to pay. Easy to do when you are dealing with hundreds of small items and our inexperience. This leads to my next point.

    Don’t get caught up in all the hype especially if you’re not experienced. Stick to your budget. Most suppliers have websites or WhatsApp number. Make contact and develop relationships. Do not go on a mega-shopping spree. 

    Overall we had a great experience at Vicenza Oro and we would come back!

    After an exhausting day, it’s best to head to the center of Vicenza to enjoy a much-deserved Aperitivo!

  • Business, eCommerce

    15 Things Nobody Tells You About E-Commerce

    1. Your hands will get ugly and dry packing orders. The Cardboard will suck any natural oil you have left in your once youthful-looking hands.
    2. Margins can be slim. Fees and expenses will eat into your product’s profits.
    3. It’s easy to reach 20K a month but not so easy to scale and reach 100K a month.
    4. Boxes and packaging are NOT easy to source on Alibaba.
    5. You need multiple streams of income and complementary products in your business.
    6. Americans love to complain and do chargebacks.
    7. Australians never do chargebacks and are generally nice and understanding.
    8. Working for yourself is stressful. The reality is not like the dream.
    9. You have to block a lot of copycats and nasty people on Instagram.
    10. Friends, family, and your work colleagues don’t want to hear about your business and most don’t wish you success.
    11. Superfans will admire you and you know you should be grateful for what you have created but sometimes you’re just not as excited about your business as they are.
    12. You are constantly learning. Whether it’s Googling accounting terms and books recommended by other e-Commerce gurus or watching what your customers do and trying to decipher it. You are in learning mode all the time.
    13. You’re always on the hunt. More followers. More sales. More. More. More.
    14. Shipping delays are 80% of your emails.
    15. Being online doesn’t necessarily mean less expenses. Your marketing expenses including your agency fees are basically rent.

  • Uncategorized

    14 Things I’ve learned building an Instagram Following from zero to 10K

    I started an Italian jewelry business in 2020! Our community and Instagram following have grown from zero to nearly 11,000 followers in 6 months. And, just like every jewelry, fashion, or accessories business, you soon realize you’re at the mercy of The Gram. But this shouldn’t discourage you. You can build a following and you don’t need to post 5 pictures a day or do Instagram ads!

    Here’s what I’ve found works and all the little things I’ve learned along the way. I hope it helps someone who is struggling to build their following.

    1. We post one once a day in the morning and that’s it. In the beginning, you will read and watch videos that say you need to post 5 times a day. We never have and our Instagram is still growing. It’s also not realistic for a small business and it’s OK! Post high-quality content and your community will look forward to it.
    2. Be different. It seems obvious but if you look at your niche, you’ll notice everyone is doing the same thing. Differentiate yourself and don’t be afraid to be a little quirky.
    3. Quotes work! People love quotes and they save them which is Instagram gold. Make them specific for your product, niche or brand. Use existing quotes and make them your own with a funny and comical twist. Quotes, where people have to drop a ❤️ or have to affirm, are good too and create engagement!
    4. ROI for Stories is terrible. Hiring an influencer to post a story stack (3–4 images or a video on their story) doesn’t get you much traction. People tend to tap away and don’t visit or ‘swipe up’. ROI hasn’t been great so don’t ‘upgrade’ and get a story with an influencer if they offer it.
    5. Sending free products doesn’t work. I prefer to send my own picture of our product and pay to promote on their feed rather than send free products. This way I have full control over the image. Just because they call themselves ‘content creators’ doesn’t mean they will create good content for your product.
    6. Celebrities won’t necessarily put you on the map. Just because they have a huge following doesn’t mean they will send you followers or sales. We’ve had celebrities with a 600K following and got nada, literally nothing! Other socialites/influencers with a small following, sales galore!
    7. The feed rules. Posts in the feed sell products! Focus on the feed and watch your sales go up.
    8. So many people with 1–2K followers want to be influencers, have media kits, and want free products! That’s all I’m going to say about that one.
    9. Make sure your products are in a specific niche as it’s easier to find your target market on the gram. When you know your customer, you can find where they hang out.
    10. Hire other people’s Instagram accounts to promote your products. I pay to promote and do giveaways on other people’s accounts. It has been the single most biggest game-changer to get followers.
    11. Giveaways work but scammers will pop up and target your customers. Again, the biggest gamechanger to get followers but the scammers will discover your competition and create fake accounts and start contacting your customers that they’ve won, ask for shipping money for their prize, and voila they’ve been scammed. It’s best not to use any competition hashtags as they will find you. Create a competition on your own website and share it.
    12. It’s never enough so just keep going. First, the goal is to get to10K and then you get the amazing ‘upload a web link’ option for your stories. Then you realize the ‘upload a web link’ is not that great and now your goal is to get to 15K followers. You’re always chasing the next thousand followers and it never feels like it’s enough. In other words, just post, upload, and carry on.
    13. Mix up your hashtags and don’t always say follow ‘my brand’. Instagram doesn’t like this so make sure your captions are unique every time and you use a wide range of hashtags in the comments of course.
    14. Your feed doesn’t have to look pretty and all matchy matchy all the time and that’s OK! Sure enough, those posts will be pushed down and nobody will remember. So just post that pic even if it doesn’t quite ‘fit in’.