What is Image Consulting?
Image consulting is a professional field whose objective is to evaluate, improve, and enhance a client’s personal and professional appearance, conduct, and communication. This process focuses on assessing the impact of an individual’s appearance on their professional image. An image consultant is a person with an eye for fashion, which makes people look and feel more confident and positive about themselves.
Where Do You Get Certified as an Image Consultant?
There are no educational limits to becoming an image consultant. Prior experience may be necessary for some jobs, but there are entry-level opportunities for beginners. There are training programs on specific areas such as public speaking, etiquette, makeup, and clothing.
An image consultant requires a certificate from a certified image consultant training. There are a few AICI (Association of Image Consultants International) Certified Image Masters in the world, with two of them training from the London Image Institute. It has an experienced faculty, and training is available in Atlanta, Singapore, and London. Their internationally recognized platform has produced hundreds of professional image consultants.
How to Market Your Image Consultancy on the Internet
Starting an image consulting business does not necessarily require a lot of investment. Finding clients in this profession is the most daunting task, as it is in most businesses. The internet is changing every day, bringing in new tools and techniques that can easily overwhelm and frustrate you. However, if used appropriately, the internet can get your image consulting business up and running even with a limited budget by following the guidelines below:
Be Active on Social Media
Social media provides platforms where you can gain an audience for free. LinkedIn is among the highest-ranking platforms for marketers. Facebook groups come in close while other platforms and Google come lower in rank.
You can efficiently use social media for advertising your business, interacting with potential customers as well, as getting clients. Gaining followers on social media platforms should be one of your main targets.
Invest in Search Engine Optimization
The high-ranking businesses in search engines easily acquire more customers than those found on page 2, and so on. People have a habit of opening the search results on the first page, and this should motivate you to have highly optimized content. You can do this by hiring a writer with proficient SEO and keyword optimization skills. SEO is more efficient when you have an active social media platform with many followers and subscribers.
Start a Blog
Many businesses use blogs to get their name out there and gain followers. It also helps connect with customers more directly. The key point to remember in blogging is that it needs frequent updates.
Utilize Directories
Some clients use popular lead generation directory sites such as Home Advisor, Thumbtack, Yelp, and Merchant Circle to find businesses. Register and list your business for free on these platforms to help you receive leads on potential clients. They only charge a small fee for you to respond with a proposal to the client’s inquiry.
6 Tips for Running Your Own Image Consulting Business
If you are having a hard time managing and running your image consulting business, here are a few tips to help you sustain yourself and grow:
Have a Growth Mentality
As a business owner, you should always have plans for your business and the goals you need to achieve. A growth mentality helps you explore strategies and opportunities that will get your name out there and attract more clients.
Learn from Mistakes
At times, image consultants make decisions that end up hurting their businesses. You may ruin your reputation through one customer whose image may have hurt them. Any business requires an owner who can handle a slight drawback or downfall and get back up and running again.
Beware of Possible Failure Forces
The job of an image consultant requires you to work for long hours in some days, travel long distances, and interact with many people. It can sometimes be overwhelming but being aware of possible failures due to slight mistakes gives you the strength to take that next step every day. You should know the consequences your business might face if you fail on some of your duties.
Network with Other People in the Industry
Every niche has a forum and platforms where people share ideas, strategies, and help each other grow. These are free sources of knowledge from fellow image consultants on how to get clients, new strategies to adopt, and other vital information. You can also network with other consultants in your local area.
Analyze Your Competition
Even while networking with other people in image consulting, they may forget or intentionally omit some information that could be beneficial to your business. It is a business like any other with competition for customers. Therefore, it is important to analyze some of the moves they are making by visiting their social media pages, websites, and reading their blogs.
Hire the Right Employees
An image consulting business consists of several employees, including:
- Hair and makeup experts
- Career coaches
- Lifestyle coaches, among others
- Office staff
All your employees should be well versant with their department and capable of delivering quality results with each client. If you are looking to avoid office work and hire an assistant, the skill requirements should be very high. You mainly require the help of an assistant early in the business before growing to the limit of moving into an office.