This week on Buzz Your Business we’re featuring Zvi Dubin of JewelBasket, an online jeweler based out of New Jersey.

JewelBasket.com is a fast growing specialty jewelry & gift retailer, featuring contemporary styling and competitive prices. We offer specialty jewelry, engraving services, on-site jewelers and a broad selection of gift items, from antique to modern designs.

We began laying the groundwork for JewelBasket back in early 2003. Initially, I spoke with an acquaintance at a bar-mitzvah about starting an internet jewelry business. I had been a programmer for 15 years at several Wall Street financial firms, and I leveraged my experience to start the website. My partner and I both knew a person who had previously started an internet business, therefore it didn’t seem so unattainable. I did all the programming myself to save money, and each partner only contributed $5,000 to get started (sounds like bootstrapping to me!). To date, this was the only investment we needed to make.

My acquaintance was a jewelry manufacturer and had an office for his manufacturing business and we added a toll free number for JewelBasket. I immersed myself in learning about search engine optimization, became a DMOZ editor and bartered my programming skills with other store owners. In return for my programming, I received many SEO lessons and on basic e-commerce tactics. Over time I discovered niche markets, built vendor relationships and discovered value add services. Our business grew dramatically and we hired a real staff and began working with development and marketing firms. Later I added affiliate programs, discovered PPC strategies and began performing multi-variant tests, and much more. My partner managed and still manages order fulfillment and customer service.

I love your message about how to escape from the corporate world. It describes my feeling in detail. You will never be free, unless you work for yourself.

For more information, or to contact JewelBasket, here’s their information:

JewelBasket.com

19-03 Maple Ave

Unit 1

Fair Lawn NJ, 07410

866-815-3935 (toll free)

Email: cusomerservice@jewelbasket.com

If you know of a great business to feature on Buzz Your Business (your own or someone else’s), leave a comment on the blog and I’ll email you more information.