Tag: fashion

A little help from your friends

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One of the most challenging things about being an equestrian entrepreneur is that often you’re embarking on this exciting business journey alone. Which of course has many advantages when it comes to quick decision making, flexibility in working time and location and a sense of ownership among many others.

Sometimes though, you might need a little help from your friends. If you feel like you do, the don’t be afraid to ask! More likely than not, your friends will be very happy to give you some feedback, like to feel part of your entrepreneurial adventure and come up with some expertise and input that even you the google expert might not have been able to come up with.

What kind of help can you easily ask your friends? A few examples:

  • Growing your social media presence: don’t be ashamed to ask everyone in your network on both Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and wherever else you are showcasing your business to like, follow, comment and share. There is no obligation for them to do so, so if they don’t want to, they won’t, but there is no harm in asking… It’s a great way to get that slow-moving social media snowball rolling!
  • Financial / legal expertise: zero budget and want to do things right? There might be someone in your network that can help you with the basics or refer you to the right person fitting your needs and budget.
  • Testimonials and references: chances are, you will have worked with some of your friends in the past. Ask them for a referral relevant to your current business, or for them to test your products and provide feedback, which you can then showcase on your website or social media profile (#credibility)
  • Business opportunities: if you are starting any kind of equestrian business, it’s highly likely a lot of your friends are either interested in or already have a network in the business. Ask around: anyone looking to list new technical breeches? Anyone who would like to host an equestrian wellness clinic etc etc anything that will get you started will fuel your business and create momentum.
  • Monday motivation: ohhh it’s so hard to stick to your guns, keep going and plow through those inevitable entrepreneurial dips. Have a friend on speed dial whom you know will help you get your priorities straight, remind you that you’re doing the right thing and provide that much-needed #mondaymotivation.

 

Of course, for all other business and brand building topics, an extensive equestrian network and years of sales and marketing experience, you can always give The stylish equestrian consulting a call.

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Four seasons in one day

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Kudamono

You’d think I was referring to the current European weather conditions, but no, actually, I’m referring to one of the branding workshops I recently ran with German Equestrian premium casual fashion brand Kudamono.

Kudamono, founded in 2016 by experienced fashion designer and avid equestrian Nele Obst, offers a unique point of view to the equestrian world by providing immaculate styles, casual street to stable looks and technically top-notch garments hero-ing all-time favorite: denim.

Although they already have an established brand with a very distinct voice, story and point of view, they got in touch with ‘The stylish equestrian consulting’ to help take their business to the next level.

After a few initial phone calls determining the exact challenges Kudamono was currently facing and goals they wanted to reach, we decided that a full day workshop would be the best option for them.

In this 1 DAY workshop we covered four seasons in one day:

1. Branding health check and (re) positioning

2. Marketing communication strategy and planning

3. Social media marketing strategy

4. Retail / B2B marketing strategy

A super intensive, but fun and productive day I would say!

 

Need help kick-starting, re-positioning or branding your business?

Interested in a brand health check or intensive workshop?

Get in touch with The stylish equestrian today for a free 30min call

 

Brand coaching + visibility​: a winning​ team

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EQ Athletica Product review 3I’ve had the pleasure over the past few months to work with a young entrepreneur to start up a new line of technical riding breeches: EQ Athletica. Manon Schuten, the founder, is the visionary behind the brand, the designer and the one with the drive to launch an innovative new product into a difficult and saturated market.

I’m incredibly proud to say that this week the brand has gone live and is ready to sell via their online shop thanks to an intensive coaching process including the definition of the brand story, the USP, defining the communication strategy and determining a long-term growth strategy.

One of the benefits of working with The stylish equestrian consulting as your brand growth partner is that we can offer not only tailor-made start-up coaching or brand re-positioning, but also immediately offer a platform for visibility to a targeted equestrian audience by leveraging The stylish equestrian social media (Instagram, Facebook and blog): Brand coaching + visibility: a winning team

Go have a look at the latest product review for EQ Athletica’s first line of technical breeches and get in touch if this could be an option to help boost your brands’ awareness and visibility.

Influencer Marketing: The importance of finding the right story teller

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Influencer marketing is THE most time and cost efficient way to get your brand seen and known fast with a large target audience. Combine this with the ever growing need for brands to tell a story and be able create a personal, emotional connection with the target audience… and you have a bit of a marketing paradox.

There is quite a big risk that your brand story might get lost in the viral storm created by the latest Instagram star, but it is the best way to get to the brand out there, right? So now what?

Here are a few tips and tricks to make sure your brand story isn’t lost the viral storm:

1.         Choosing a person by follower/social reach alone is not always the best decision making criteria (the follower numbers are not always true…), rather look for a few smaller accounts, with very high engagement that really fit with your brand identity.

2.         The influencer of choice should be able to co-creatively design original content with the brand, not just use a product for a selfie. This will ensure more personal involvement, engagement and endorsement of the brand and it’s story.

3.         Do a quick intent check: Does the influencer of choice want to truly represent the brand or is it just an opportunity to boost their personal image/numbers/fame?

4.         When choosing your influencer strategy, always ask yourself  “What personal value does my target customer get from the created content other than a pretty image to look at?” i.e.  Is the content a one-off cute pic or can it be used for a future local campaigns or online activity?

6.         When choosing your favourite influencer, did you provide them with a briefing? Is your brand story clear enough for them to ensure they are telling the same story?

Need help getting your brand story across? Need help identifying the right partners for your brand?

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Post content inspired by Linkedin articles from Cornelius McGrath: 2017 The year to tell your story and Valerie Ox: This is why most influencer marketing campaigns fail – and how a bad strategy destroys authentic storytelling

 

Boosting your brand visibility with targeted social media collaborations

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4 seasons in one day

You want a very select group of consumers to get to know your brand, but you’re not sure how to go about it?

Why not work with a select group of social media influencers who can not only showcase your brand to an extremely targeted audience, but also endorse your products with genuine support and product reviews for increased credibility.

A good example is thestylishequestrian.com: a platform that showcases the latest trends and provides daily inspiration for the ultimate street to stable lifestyle. Working with the stylish equestrian has brought small businesses new distribution opportunities and large brands the targeted visibility they require for growing their brand with the right audience.

The stylish equestrian provides tailored visibility packages that include visibility in the signature sets on multiple social media platforms, but also brand ambassador programs that include product reviews, Instagram endorsement to over 31K followers and the option to run give-away competitions.

Want to work with The stylish equestrian or need some advice on how best to increase your brand visibility?

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