Recently, I was interviewing someone who owns a local jewelry store.
He has a physical location downtown and has been in business for 20 years.
He’s a craftsman. He does all the bench work for his customers. Meaning, he doesn’t ship off jewelry to some other place to get worked on. There’s not much you could throw at him that he can’t solve.
As he was describing his process it became clear to me not only did he know his stuff, but he was passionate. He also loves to talk. He’s interesting and has a great personality.
Now what does this have to do with YouTube?
I recommended that he start a YouTube channel.
The first thing he said was that his magnifying glasses (which are extremely powerful to see extreme detail while working) don’t have a built-in camera. Meaning, he couldn’t show the jewelry he was working on in “real time.” Something completely irrelevant at this point.
This is often the thing that stops people in their tracks from starting a business or in this case, creating a YouTube channel: the conditions aren’t perfect.
The Conditions Are Never Perfect
The conditions will never be perfect and that’s what I told him.
It’s not important that he has the latest technology. His prospective customers don’t need to see everything real time while he’s working. He can grab his smartphone and start talking. He could have an employee hold the phone and zoom into the piece for a moment if he really wanted to. Otherwise, as he’s talking, he could show zoomed in pictures of before, during and after.
He has so many pieces that come through his store, that he could create multiple videos a day if he wanted.
Value
Most importantly, this information would be valuable to people. There’s no need to keep it all to himself and only the customers who walk in the door.
For example, he could show a ring that came in that wasn’t properly maintained and what the customer could have done to prevent the issue they are now facing. What does that maintenance look like? How often, how do you do it? Can you do it yourself?
He can now talk about how he fixed it and the costs associated with the fix vs. proper maintenance.
He could then show the techniques he uses to maintain pieces that come in.
What value does this offer people on YouTube?
He could become the jewelry expert and people could rely on him.
People on YouTube could search “how to maintain your jewelry/ring” and find his videos. They find the information valuable, can maintain their ring themselves, go to their local jeweler, or even mail their jeweler to him to fix.
Expert = Authority
The important thing above is that he’s the expert. He has authority and people will trust him.
I should also mention that this person also has an Etsy shop online where he sells custom rings.
He could expand that offering to maintain rings, improve rings, re-purpose them, etc.
Now, instead of having to depend on the local economy, he can serve the entire world. His YouTube channel would be a strong marketing arm for his business.
Regarding his videos, it’s important that they aren’t some “we’re the best jeweler in the world” or a slideshow of images with a logo. People will skip those videos. Do you watch those?
Value, Value, Value
These videos need to provide value.
People need to take value from your videos to solve their pain.
You Must Give to Get
This also won’t be overnight. It’s going to take a year or two for him to really gain steam. But once he does, there won’t be any stopping him. He’ll be the jewelry expert online and when people need work done to their jewelry or need new jewelry, he’ll be the one they call, no matter where they’re located.
How can you apply this to your business?
Are you an expert in your field?
What’s unique about your business, personality, etc. and how can you start offering the value you have to the world?
Have a smartphone? Get started!
Psst! Need help?
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