HOW TO HIRE A TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS IN FASHION BUSINESS?

April 9, 2017 By admin
Hiring a team of professionals for your fashion business is always tough. In fact, this is a common problem for any business, be it fashion, jewelry making or management business. But when it comes to clothing manufacturing business, there are certain rules to follow to truly get the right people into your team. First and foremost, you only need people who are passionate about fashion and everything that has to do with manufacturing, selling and advertising clothes. Don’t just hire anyone who wants to make but doesn’t care about what’s they’re doing to get that salary. This is why I always encourage my clients to pay a closer attention during job interviews. In fact, I do encourage you to get creative during job interviews, as testing your candidate’s creativity is top priority when hiring a team of professionals.

What type of people to hire?

But the biggest difference between hiring professionals in the fashion business and any other industry is that you’d be better off hiring people from your brand’s target customer segment. Meaning: if your fashion brand focuses on underwear for women, make sure you hire a photographer who knows how photograph women in underwear and is passionate about underwear.

What about gender?

The rest of your team must be no less passionate about women’s underwear. In case you’re wondering (as many of my clients have when they started out), there’s no difference in hiring a female photographer or male photographer. Gender plays no role whatsoever in hiring a team of professionals for your fashion business, it rather plays a much bigger role what set of skills each member of your team possesses and how each and every of them is able to work in the team. However, if your fashion brand is focused solely on women’s clothing, then you’d be better off hiring a predominantly-female team of professionals.

CONVINCING ONLINE PEOPLE TO BUY YOUR CLOTHES

March 31, 2017 By admin

If you’re just starting out as a fashion designer, selling your clothes online can be tough for two reasons: people don’t know who your brand it and aren’t quite sure if your clothing is high-quality/fits them.   And you kinda, well, get them. There’s no way to tell if a particular clothing item you see online will fit you and you have idea if that M-sized T-shirt is just as M-sized as the rest of T-shirts out there.   While fitting will always remain among the prime concerns of the customers looking to buy clothes online, you can easily make it easier for your customers to buy the right fitting and size.   There’s one Vimeo video by ModCloth that shows just about the right strategy to make it easier for your customers to buy the correct size.   Selling a look   Driving up sales online can be easily done if you sell a look in addition to separate clothing items.   Look, when people are shopping on your E-commerce website, there’s a big chance that they are shopping not just for one item, but multiple items.   You can make their shopping experience much more convenient and enjoyable if you start selling a complete look. I’d recommend adding the “Complete the look” section on each product page.   There you would be putting the multiple of your items together by displaying a complete look. This way, you’re showing your customers that this particular item would look good in combination with this and that.   It can become a very effective strategy of convincing online people to buy your clothes. Also, consider featuring that “you might also be interested in” section below each of your product.   It helps your customers see that you do have many items to offer to satisfy all of their needs – whether they’re looking for casual style, chic or something more elegant and classy.   .  

HOW TO DRIVE UP ONLINE FASHION SALES INSTANTLY

March 29, 2017 By admin
As a fashion consultant, I know quite a few tricks to increase your online fashion sales in an instant.   However, whenever my clients ask me to outline key steps to boosting your sales, my response is: “Let’s improve the way you present your products to customers.”   When you’re walking around a physical fashion store of a prestigious fashion brand, you can clearly see that this brand has invested heavily on making its displays attractive.   In fact, each of these brands make each of their products MATTER. And so should you, even if you’re selling only online.   The key to selling fashion products on eCommerce websites is to learn how to communicate visually with your customers to not only engage them, but also make them want to try your products on.   Since in order to try on a product you see on an online website you have to buy it, you need to convince your potential customers that this particular product will look absolutely stunning on them.   Take your camera, and… The best way to do it is through detailed description of the product as well as multiple photos of the products from all angles, including its sewing and other little details.   You need to convince your customers about the product value. That’s why I encourage you to feature close-up shots of the following: fasteners (buttons, hooks, etc.), material of the fabric (make sure your camera is Full HD), stitching and seaming, logos and emblems and brand tag.   These details – they may seem insignificant – but if you pay attention to such seemingly insignificant and little details, your online fashion sales will pay off.   Description matters, too As for the description, you need to describe each and every of your items with an eye-catching not-very lengthy text, which will not only provide all the relevant information about the product but also convince your customers why they would benefit from having this particular item in their wardrobe

WHY PR MATTERS IN FASHION BUSINESS

March 25, 2017 By admin
The importance of Public Relations in the fashion business can be easily overlooked. I’ve had multiple clients who told me that they just didn’t see the sales they wanted to, while their PR strategy was just horrible and absent at all.  

That’s right. How can consumers see your products if you’re putting them out there? Fashion business is like art: and to be a successful artist you want people to see your paintings, right?

 

Think about it: if you hide your paintings in your closet, how can people possibly start admiring you and buying your paintings?

 

The same happens in the fashion business: it’s all about how you apply media exposure to your brand.

 

When I say PR, I mean not only your social media strategy and hiring a team of advertising experts, who usually – and sadly – just don’t help. Sounds familiar?

 

A good PR strategy goes far buoying that: giveaways, gifting, wardrobing, online contests, celebrity endorsements, personal appearances on TV or magazines… There’s so much you can do to actually MARKET your brand.

 

Here’s the truth: if you don’t start your fashion business as a huge brand (that’s never the case), you don’t really need to hire a PR firm. Instead, consider hiring a fashion consultant who can help you drive up your sales through a well-planned and comprehensive PR strategy.

 

It goes without saying that you need to have a strong social media campaign, as promoting your fashion brand through social media is one of the most efficient ways to gain potential customers instantly.

 

Also, don’t forget about updating your website, where you list all of your products, regularly. It can be a blog or a video blog – the point is to keep it updated preferably every day.

 

As for your social media accounts, keep your content engaging and interesting. Every post must feature one of your products. Don’t make it chaotic though – insert images of your products only where it’s necessary.

 

HOW TO START FASHION BUSINESS THE RIGHT WAY

March 22, 2017 By admin

Starting designers, this is a message to you. I know how challenging it can be to gain a foothold if you’re just starting out in the fashion business.

In fact, nearly 80% of my clients are designers who haven’t attended any designers school. They do have the idea in mind. They do have the goal in mind.

But they don’t necessarily have the right plan to figure out how the fashion business works. So I’m here to give you some guidance to get you on the right path.

Most of my clients often get confused early on. Fashion business is so vast and sophisticated that if you don’t have a well-outlined plan, then you can easily get off the track.

That’s why I’m encouraging aspiring designers to find out everything about how fashion business works before actually becoming a part of it. Think: googling or seeking advice from a fashion consultant like myself.

When starting designers get into this business, they think it’s only about sewing things and selling them. Not really.

The fashion business is a sophisticated mechanism that should work like a clock from the moment you start working on sketches up to the moment your customer has paid for that item and started wearing it.

Between these two points, there’s so much going on: finding material, setting prices, social media marketing, blogging, engaging customers….

It’s also no less important to know what you’re after in this business. If your goal is just selling clothing for fun, then there’s probably no need to hurry the whole process.

But if you want to emerge as a well-established brand, then you might want to do everything properly and pay attention to the tiniest details.

However, don’t expect to find success overnight, as it takes time to truly build your brand from scratch

 

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IDEAS FOR FASHION BUSINESS

March 19, 2017 By admin
The growing role of the Internet in the fashion business gives brands and designers a set of unique marketing opportunities. Social networking opportunities can become powerful tools in your marketing strategy. With the growing popularity of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr, there are many ways you can use social media for marketing:

Giveaway

The word ‘giveaway’ alone is one of the test-and-true marketing boosters. You can do a giveaway in the form of a Snapchat video featuring things you’re giving away; Instagram image featuring the item you’re giving away or simply a post on Twitter. The greatest way to get maximum marketing results from a social media giveaway is to make sure people are spreading the word about you through their social media channels (reposting, retweeting, posting your hashtags, following you, etc.) Come up with something that will get people to spread the word about you before actually giving away your giveaway item.

Instagram contest

Get your followers to participate in a photo contest on Instagram, where participants will need to upload their photos wearing YOUR BRAND’s items. Only photos featuring your clothes are eligible for this contest. Then count the votes for each participant and determine the winner. The winner (or top 2, top 3 winners) gets your merchandise. This strategy is great because in order to get something for free from you, people will have to buy your clothing first to be eligible for the contest. These are just two sample ways how you can effectively and quickly expand your customer base. But keeping your social media accounts active and constantly updating them with news about your brand or your clothes is a must to create an attractive brand image in the eyes of your potential followers and customers. Social media marketing should be an essential tool in your overall marketing strategy.

FASHION BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN 2017

March 13, 2017 By admin
Do you think you have what it takes to be in fashion business, but you are not quite sure what your place in it is exactly? Then this article is exactly for you! I’ve been asked numerous times by people who are passionate about fashion, “Hey, I love fashion. Can I make myself useful at least on any area of this business?” Here’s my answer: “Absolutely!” Below, I’ve listed one of the most prosperous and demanding fashion business opportunities in 2017.

Fashion designing

Although it may seem as if there is fierce competition going on in fashion business, fashion designing remains a very demanding position. In order you succeed, you’ll need: to be skilled in numerous things, including drawing, sawing difficult fabric, seeing concepts in three dimensions, having the understanding of color and texture… and many many other things. All in all, if you’re passionate about designing clothes and you’re doing it as a hobby, why not start making a living of it?

Fashion blogger

If you love analyzing latest fashion trends, you know a thing or two about fashion business, you want to share latest details about fashion brands – then blogging and social media might be your sweet place in fashion business.

Fashion Magazine

Having your own fashion magazine is tough, but it’s not impossible. While this can be a very profitable business, make sure you have at least a few ideas on how to make your magazine stand out from the rest of fashion magazines out there.

Fashion YouTube show

If starting your own fashion magazine doesn’t sound too cool for you, how about starting your own YouTube fashion show where you would share fashion tips and review the latest news in the fashion industry.

Fashion boutique/Retailing

If you’re more of the ‘I love to sell clothes, not make or review it’ type, then starting a fashion retailing outfit might be your thing. You can choose what area to specialize on, shoes, dresses, suits, makeup, perfumes – or all at once. Or maybe have your fashion retailing outfit targeting one specific target customer: men, women, children, etc.

HERE’S HOW YOU’RE (UNINTENTIONALLY) KILLING YOUR SALES

March 8, 2017 By admin
  My clients often ask me to explain why they aren’t seeing the sales they want. Well, I’ve studied enough sales strategies of numerous fashion brands to say this: you’re unintentionally killing your sales in business.

Your website drags you down

In the year of 2017, having a well-built and sophisticated website for your fashion brand (+ well-planned social media campaign) is e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g not only for your brand reputation but also sales. Hey, bad news is this – if you’ve created a simple website and occasionally post something on social media, no one will want to buy your stuff. Sad but true. It will take some time (and finances) to build a website that truly helps you SELL your products. You’ll have to hire a team of professionals who will regularly update your website’s content and keep it fresh and trendy. Social media linking, blogging, SEO, brand awareness, imagery, product descriptions – all of these things are vital factors to consider when working on your own website.

You’re having too many discounts too often

Although that might seem like the perfect strategy to attract customers and boost sales, it actually makes you look desperate for attention. Having sales and promos too often, or putting everything 50% off on a quarterly basis is no good strategy for sales. Make discounts special – something for your customers to look forward to.

You’re afraid to sell

It happens with many (practically all) designers – they are afraid to sell. I’m seeing this constantly: designers don’t think some of their pieces are worthy, and they underestimate their fashion business. To always stay on the right track, remind yourself these things when you’re feeling afraid to sell:
  • Your products are useful to the customer for this and that reason.
  • You started your fashion business for a reason.
  • If people are buying clothes from (*insert the name of your rivaling brand here*), why wouldn’t they buy my stuff?
These 3 things are very damaging to sales strategies of so many aspiring brands out there. Don’t make those mistakes!

HERE’S WHY POP UP SHOP COULD BOOST YOUR FASHION BUSINESS

March 5, 2017 By admin
  You’ve probably heard about the latest fashion branding trend called pop up shops. A pop up shop is a temporary venue that offers retail experiences. By producing a pop shop you get to boost your sales, educate yourself and your customers, test what’s working and what’s not as well as get a better understanding of who is your target customer. The pop up strategy involves ‘popping up’ one day at any location, then disappearing anywhere from one day to several weeks later. When asked by my clients about whether the pop up shop trend is some hyped up temporary trend, I tell them that there are actually quite a few reasons why producing a pop up store could boost your fashion business.

What’s the point of pop up shop?

When considering if you do or don’t need to product a pop up shop, think about these points:
  • Your online sales may be soaring and your e-Commerce strategy is doing wonders to your brand, but combining your online efforts with offline initiatives boosts your brand’s reputation in the eyes of customers. That’s a fact.
  • Pop ups are used for the purpose of marketing. Producing a pop up store helps you build awareness as well as get in touch with your target customer.
  • When your customers know you’re producing a pop up shop, they tend to spread the word about you.
  • A pop up shop gives you the unique opportunity to get to know in what direction your target customer’s tastes and fashion preferences are changing.

Pop up shop: The benefits

But there also 4 specific benefits of producing a pop up store:
  1. Boost your sales and build brand awareness;
  2. Test what’s working out and what’s not;
  3. Get to know your customer;
  4. Get people talking about your brand.
While setting a pop up shop is not a vital part of branding, it could make a significant difference.
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