After a successful TV career, Talitha Cummins followed her lifelong passion for jewellery, launching The Cut Jewellery in her 40s. She shares the lessons she learned about business, social media, and storytelling, proving it’s never too late to start something new.
Changing careers and backing yourself to launch your new business is always going to be daunting. There are ups, downs and many along the way, but for me, the past two years have been incredibly rewarding.
I have always dreamed of creating my own business, but in my 20s, my TV career took off, and that is where I stayed for the next two decades. While taking a break on maternity leave, I started asking myself what I would do if I had the chance to try anything, and that is when my mind landed on diamonds.
In many ways, jewellery has always been in my orbit. My first job while studying journalism was with a jeweller, where I learned the ropes, and my uncle has been in the industry for more than 50 years. So, with family guidance and a genuine passion, I decided to create a brand built around something truly magical. After all, buying and receiving a diamond is usually a good day in someone else’s world, so I am literally selling joy.
Here are a few things that I learned.
Social Media Is A Powerful Education Tool
When I discovered lab-grown diamonds, I knew they would be the cornerstone of my business. The media were starting to talk about them, but they were still a fairly new idea. I felt that they were an incredible prospect for the market.
The thing is, though, not many people understood lab-grown diamonds when I started my business two years ago, so I had a big job of educating people on what they were, their chemical makeup, and the benefits. After all, with this offering, a buyer could get a ring that would be $100k if it were mined, for around and the product is chemically the same.
I turned to Instagram as a starting point, and I found that I could reach a large number of customers, especially in Asia and the US, simply through organic posting. Most of my posts are short videos that answer and educate on the questions I receive all the time. I also pop in some celebrity-inspired rings, new designs, and of course, the incredible proposal pics of our “The Cut Jewellery” couples.
I can get a lot of reach without boosting my posts; however, if I see that a particular piece of content is performing really well, I will often use that as an Ad and put some money behind it.
Journalism Skills That Helped Build My Brand
Having a background in journalism really helped when it came to sharing my message and educating on the category. A few things that every business owner should keep in mind are:
Your brand story: While it’s not always relevant for every brand to have a story, customers do like to know who is behind the brand and what inspired it. Storytelling skills and putting yourself out there is a great way to attract attention and build affection for your business, as people are interested in people
Content marketing: Content marketing is where you give tips and advice based on certain topics related to your brand. Think of the questions your customers are Googling and create helpful, clickable content around those. For example, for me, “How much does a lab-grown diamond cost? ” or “What is the difference between a lab-grown and mined diamond?” would be relevant to my audience. With content marketing, think of the headline your audience is most likely to click on if they were to see it. Also, think of what people will type into google if looking for a product like yours
Get to the point: With the rise in social media use, many people have shorter attention spans, so it helps to be short, sharp and succinct when you are sharing information
Build relationships with relevant influencers or spokespersons: I am lucky that I know a lot of TV journalists, as I always offer for them to wear my jewellery on red carpets and on air, so it starts to be seen everywhere. Depending on what your product is, you could reach out to relevant influencers and offer them your product in return for posting for you
The Tips I Would Share With My Pre-Founder Self
There are so many, but the top one is that you can plan all you like when it comes to your business, but your customer will essentially tell you what they want, so be open to pivoting and making tweaks as needed.
Most industries will also change and evolve, so keep an eye on the trends and be open to making adjustments as needed.
I also recommend having Xero or a bookkeeper lined up in advance, as it is a lot easier to get your bookkeeping right the first time rather than fixing it later.
It is also a good idea to write down your processes. Once you find a system that works for certain aspects of your business, write it down and keep refining it. It will make life a lot easier if you need to hand the running of your business over to someone else for a few weeks if you want to go on holiday, or down the track if you ever want to sell.
Being in business is an ever-evolving experience, but I have found it to be a very rewarding one. Be open to the process, keep an eye on what is new and trending in the world of tech that can help you share your message, be open to learning now and stay on top of the evolutions in your industry. Enjoy
