The Road To

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THE ROAD TO…?

(If you missed the announcement, Metal + Smith will be terminating our Program and Guide offering on December 19th, 2023.)

If you want to make your passion for jewelry design into a successful business, you may have to compromise with yourself, your artistic drives, and sensibilities. Over and over again we see jewelry artist after jewelry artist fail at business for many predictable reasons but the most common one is a reluctance to learn how to conduct oneself as a business.

Business acumen doesn’t come to a maker intuitively. It is a learned skill, and in order to stay in business every jewelry designer must put their work on a sound cost/revenue footing, develop market driven strategies as opposed to product driven ones, price their pieces for sale, implement various selling strategies, and at times compromise artistic and design choices in the interest of the business.

So how do you do that? Well the first step is recognizing you only know what you know (which is probably not a lot) and that in order to grow you might need some objective insight. You are likely not the best sounding board for something so personal to you, like your designs. Designers are very good at talking themselves into ANYTHING creative, and out of ANYTHING constructive. As a result the industry is swelling with stagnant independent designers moving in place, damaging their perceived value along the way.

THE ROAD TO ? is our November Program, and it is a hands on program between Designer and Consultant. Over (1) or (2) one-hour phone calls you will discuss the current state of your business, attainable and relevant business goals for where you are, your closing ratio, the health of your current marketing techniques, how much “dead money” you are creating and holding on to.

This is a WONDERFUL opportunity to have a check-up on your current efforts, because as we’ve already discussed, Designers are not the most objective surveyors of their businesses, and many are flat out not even operating like one. Let 2024 be the year you start, your future depends on it.

This program is open to ALL designers regardless of price point, location, or category, who are struggling with growth, unsure if their strategy is a viable one, and just feel like a dose of wisdom from the outside looking in is very much needed.

12 SPOTS ARE OPEN, consults start the first week of December. Register BELOW.

Name

First Name

Last Name

Brand Name

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Number of Calls

(1) One Hour Call ($399)

(2) One Hour Calls ($499)

Credit Card Number

Name on Card

Billing Address

Address 1

Address 2

City

State/Province

Zip/Postal Code

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CVV Code

Expiration Month and Year

Type Name to Accept Payment Terms & Conditions

Schedule I: Terms of Consultation I. Status of Metal and Smith / 9th Group LLC: 9th Group (hereinafter referred to as Consultant) makes no guarantee of the outcome of any of its CLIENTS business efforts during or post contract term. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed or construed to create a relationship of employment, or of principal and agent, partnership, co- or joint employer or joint venture, CONSULTANT shall not permit any of its officers, directors, agents, employees, representatives, supervisors, successors, assigns, employees, or subcontractors to represent or hold out itself or themselves as agents, supervisors, servants, employees, or representatives of CLIENT or as authorized to make any commitment to incur any obligation on behalf of CLIENT. III. Amendment to the rules: CONSULTANT reserves the right to adopt, orally or in writing, or change, any rule or regulation, if CONSULTANT deems such action necessary for the good of the relationship. Said action shall have the same force and authority as though fully incorporated into the agreement herein. IV. Your Performance. You acknowledge that your report will depend largely on factors that you control, such as: the quality and pricing of your collection; the quality of your website; the speed of your reply to inquiries; how you use the consultants advice, and other internal factors. CONSULTANT makes no guarantee or prescription of outcomes as a result of counsel for this program. V. Disputes: CONSULTANT and CLIENT agree that any dispute arising out of this agreement shall be governed by the internal laws of the State of Maryland, and in any suit arising therefrom the CLIENT hereby agrees to submit itself to the jurisdiction of such courts of the State of Maryland and that venue for any such suit shall lie in Howard County. Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality Consultants working with 9th Group do so with anonymity. They will not divulge details of their current store affiliations and will be shielded from any direct contact efforts. Client and Consultant mutually agree to hold all Confidential Information in confidence and will not disclose, use, copy, publish, summarize, or share any Confidential Information, except (a) as a necessary to carry out our assigned responsibilities as a Consultant. “Confidential Information” shall mean all information related to any aspect of the Consultant and Clients business which is either information not known by actual or potential competitors or is proprietary information of Consultant and Client, whether of a technical nature or otherwise. Confidential Information includes inventions, disclosures, processes, systems, methods, formulae, devices, patents, patent applications, trademarks, intellectual properties, instruments, materials, products, patterns, compilations, programs, techniques, sequences, designs, research or development activities and plans, specifications, computer programs, source codes, costs of production, prices or other financial data, volume of sales, promotional methods, marketing plans, lists of names or classes of customers or personnel, lists of suppliers, business plans, business opportunities or financial statements. Disparagement: During the Term and thereafter, CLIENT agrees to take no action which is intended, or would reasonably be expected, to harm CONSULTANT their reputation, the opinions of other CLIENTS, or which would reasonably be expected to lead to unwanted or unfavorable publicity to CONSULTANT. I fully understand this is a binding agreement to receive counsel during the term of my selected program THE ROAD TO...? I further understand that my choice to receive this counsel is subject to the terms, conditions, rules and regulations set forth herein in the above Terms. I also understand that my advice could be collected by one or more voices, and that their affiliations will be kept private to protect their "day jobs". In the event I decide to cancel or withdraw I also understand all of my payments made to that point are non-refundable. I understand that any individual result from using this counsel is not guaranteed. My electronic signature below and payment details confirms my understanding of the above and authorizes 9th Group to proceed with payment in the amount of this package.

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Application.

Metal & Smith