Hiring an image consultant in London.

Image Consultancy is a growing industry. People are starting to take their appearance very seriously indeed especially within the working environment, and the need for professional advice has never been greater.

So why should you consider hiring an image consultant?

• Maybe you are struggling to find the right clothes to wear for the right occasion?
• Maybe you never seem to have the right matching accessories?
• Maybe you are just sick and tired of wearing the same old clothes?
• Maybe someone has made a negative comment about your appearance within the workplace?
• Maybe your wardrobe is just completely out-dated and you want to start over again?

There are loads more reasons than this, but the above reasons are the most common. An image consultant can help you with any of the above bullet points and they can also help you with other aspects of appearance, such as improving your make-up appliance techniques and working on your body language.

What will an image consultant cost?

Prices tend to vary from between £200 to £400 per consultation session. These sessions usually include the following services;

Image, colour and style consultation. – The starting point for all image consultation, this service will help you explore all aspects of your current image and discuss your overall goals.  

This consultation session will include:

• A discussion about your style personality and how you currently like to dress and what your ultimate image goals are.
• Analysis of your body and face shape.
• Analysis of your natural colour.
• Analysis of your current wardrobe.

Once the above consultation has taken place, an image consultant can advise you on the following;

• How best to create the look you want, and the look that suits you best.
• Advise on the best garments to flatter your body shape
• Advise on the best Make-up colours and brands that compliment your natural colouring and your natural face shape.
• Provide a wardrobe makeover service – Out with the old and in with the new, plus get the best from the clothes that are worth keeping.

Once a consultation session is finished, you will usually be provided with a colour swatch and documentation that reviews your requirements, together with your image consultant’s recommendation for future reference. This information can be invaluable for future shopping trips.

Resources.

Finding an Image Consultant in London is quite an easy task now, just Google the keyword to find some of the best results. A personal choice for me would be Threads Styling, who are possibly the best image consultant in the capital (in my opinion)

Micar launches its new Bespoke Software website.

Micar Software is changing. for over 20 years we have specialised in software for the apparel industry but times are changing and we have to change with them.

The advances in software technology mean that the once unaffordable luxury of owning a bespoke application is now a practice option for people that need something more flexible than a traditional “off the shelf”  retail solution.  Micar aim to take advantage of this by offering its clients with a wider range of software solutions, these include the following bespoke software solutions;

• CMS
• CRM
• EPOS
• Database development
• Helpdesk software
• SharePoint Development
• Services Industry Software
• Clothing Industry Software
• Intranet
• Ecommerce websites
• Brochure websites

Over 20 years experience in Software Development.

Micar has been in the software development business since 1990 and during this time we have gathered a vast amount of knowledge, not just technical, but industry specific. Our software packages will help you improve all aspects of your business, from communication to organisation. In fact many people don’t realise just how much a well written, business specific software application until they have seen it in action.

Visit our new Bespoke Software website today and take part in our online poll.

Train to do your own SEO, it worked for us!!

Thank god for finding a decent SEO company, that’s all I can say. We are currently in the process of optimising our Micar.com website so people can actually find us for a change!! At first I thought I would have a bit of a go myself as all this SEO looks quite easy, but after a few weeks I gave up because it really wasn’t making any sort of difference to be honest.

If you searched on Google for terms that related to our business then you would find all of our known competitors websites but not our own, this was a concern but to be honest its our own fault because we never prioritised the site as a major part of our marketing, this was a big oversight from us.

So we decided to do something about this, as stated above I did try a little myself but soon realised that I wasn’t up to it, so I contacted a few companies and enquired about SEO services, and this is where our troubles started.

We found a company that appeared to have a good track record, they had references and they offered a free trial which all sounded good, so I gave them a crack of the whip. Within 2 weeks we were appearing on the first page of Google for our main term which was “apparel software company”, because this is exactly what we are. It soon became apparent just how important good standing on the internet was, as our enquiries tripled within 10 days, all was sweet in the Micar garden.

After a month we decided to sign up for the service due to the outstanding results that were achieved, and this is where our problems started. 

Within 2 weeks of signing up, we stated to disappear from Google, when I called the SEO company I was told that this is commonplace and that a “bounce” is quite common, I was not convinced but I had to take their word for it, I was advised to sit tight and wait for a recovery.

So we sat tight, and tight, and tighter still for over 2 months and nothing was happening. I put my displeasure in writing with the hope that it might trigger a response, but I was wrong, the silence from their end was deafening…..

In the end I managed to break contract (with a struggle) but the experience left me very wary of search engine companies, and to be honest most of them that called were told to P**s off very quickly. But the problems was that we knew we had to do something about our current position on Google as when we were high up the page position, we were getting lots of business.  So what was the answer?? The answer was to learn how to do it ourselves properly and that is what we did.

How did we find someone to trust? That was hard, but in the end  we did by searching for someone local that could come to our office and show us just how good they were and how they could help us.  It has taken us months to learn the art of SEO and I have to say I had no idea as to the amount of work that goes in, it really is crazy but the results make it a worthwhile and rewarding experience. I have to  point out that we have been trained to do the work in an “Ethical” way, which avoids rising to the top quickly and but dropping like a stone just weeks later.

So there you have it, from our experience learning SEO was very cost effective, so dont be afraid to do so.

Resources;

SEO Consultant London based company that trained us up. This has saved us thousands and has started to make us money.

Franklin and Marshall taking the high street by storm.

The new Franklin and Marshall range is taking the high street by storm in 2009. Everywhere you look on the high street, Franklin and Marshall Clothes are being worn not just by the younger generation, but also by the 30+ crowd aswell.

But just why has the Franklin and Marshall brand taken off? Micar computers asked various random people on the high street and we got the following response.

“to be honest they don’t look a lot different form a lot of other brands, it’s just what everyone is wearing at the moment”. Said Emma Lee, an 18 year old student from Romford, Essex.

 “it’s comfortable, it looks nice and one thing I really like about it is how well it washes. All of my Franklin and Marshall clothes stay the same size so they are worth the extra money”. Said John Tomkins, sales assistant in Enfield, Middlesex.

In short, 775 of the people we asked all said that they felt the brand was overpriced, but were prepared to pay the extra for the Franklin and Marshall label.

A new summer range has been released and sales are expected to continue to rise, although a huge amount of people we spoke to all said finding Franklin and Marshall on the high street wasn’t easy, and most purchase their clothes over the internet.

Article produced by Micar Computers | Apparel Software for the fashion industry.

Anya Hindmarch receives honorary MBE

Anya Hindmarch received an MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace yesterday. Anya was quoted to be “thrilled and honoured” after being included on the honours list.

Anya attended the ceremony with wearing Marni with a beautiful necklace with one of her very own Python cluthes in hand.

Anya revelaed that the queen enquired her the business and how it was running after a recent series of burglaries.

“We celebrated with a fantastic lunch in a private room upstairs at Il Vaporetto restaurant - which my dear friends Joseph & Isabel Ettedgui have just opened in Elizabeth Street – surrounded by family and friends,” Hindmarch said. “Lunch finished at 8.30pm! It was a really wonderful, memorable day.”

Article submitted by Micar Computers | Apparel Software Company | info@micar.com

Second Topshop store to open in New York.

The owner of Top Shop has confirmed plans to open a second top Shop store in New York after the success of their first Manhatten store launched earlier this year.

A strong 2 months of trading has convinced Sir Phillip Green that another store should be opened in the US.

Sir Phillip told the Sunday Express; “The store is doing very well, New Yorkers like it. The sales mix is not wildly different to our stores in the UK.”

Sir Phillip confirmed that he is close to finalising a location for the store and that work will Begin in the coming months. An opening date has yet to be scheduled. In the long term Topshop intend to open 15 stores across America.

The first Topshop store launched in the US is located on the Broadway in Soho. Kate Moss officially launched the store along with Sir Phillip Green himself.

Article produced by Micar Computers Ltd. Providing Apparel Software to the Clothing Industry.