Five Steps That Jewelers Can Do To Gain Market Share By Exploiting Ethical Jewelry Issues

~ By Marc Choyt, Publisher

If you are a jeweler or manufacturer interested in moving toward ethical sourcing, consider these five steps:

1. Research the true social and environmental impact of every piece of your product.

2. Taking responsibility for what you have, outlining your step by step plan to eliminate suppliers that do not provide traceable product from mine to market.

3. Outline your plan and publicize your commitment in press releases.
Be radically transparent and morally outraged about the jewelry supply chain to your local newspaper. Make it a big deal. Your local press loves to cover business that is doing the right thing.

4. Have a massive sale of items that cannot be traced, calling it a “No Dirty Gold” sale.
You can simply say the truth: you do not know the contents of your gold items so you are selling them. This will differentiate you company from competition and create a halo effect for your entire store. It will also provide cash flow to establish new relationships with new suppliers who have ethical practices.

5. Take ecologically responsible actions now, especially low hanging fruit (outlined in some of the articles) and strive to make small incremental improvements as quickly as you can. Publicize it.

Read the articles that give more specific information in my e-book, ‘The Ethical Jewelry Handbook: a Resource Guide for Jewelers Wishing to Adopt Exceptional Standards’. Also, consider pressuring trade groups that are dragging their feet on dirty gold issues.

Also, see the PDF of an ad I ran as an insert in my local newspaper for Black Friday that differentiates my company from my competition.

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