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As discussed earlier, image is a very important component of your business. It will be a deciding factor in how successful your business is. Before you ever bring your business online, you have to create a unique and appropriate image that portrays your business in a positive and appealing light. It has to make you stand out from the rest, target your customer base and be able to bring customers back for more.
Some things to consider when creating your image are:
* What type of business are you developing? Your image has to match what you are selling and who is selling it. Take for instance Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The guys who run it are known for their hippy looks and great sense of humor. It only follows that their product is marketed with a fun, down-to-earth and carefree image. Let's say you decided on the thrift shop idea. If you are a fashionable, funky type of person who is selling fashionable, funky clothes, well, your image, which will be displayed on your web site, in your products and everywhere in between, should also be fashionable and funky. The web site, for example, could have bright colors, funky fonts and cutting edge copy. Remember that your image should be appealing to you since you're the person who it is portraying.
* What type of customer are you targeting? Just as you want your image to appeal to yourself, you obviously also want it to appeal to your potential customers. In your marketing plan, you did your research and decided what type of person you would target as your customer base. Using that information, decide what kind of image those customers would like to see. What would make your business intriguing to them? What would make you stand out from the other similar businesses they already use? They need to feel like you understand who they are and what they need. If your image fits the kind of people they are, they will feel more comfortable doing business with you. |
