I just read about a quirky e-mail campaign that worked ~ Joshua Green wrote it for Bloomberg Business Week:
The techniques for getting short-term responses (Like opening e-mail or getting them to click on a button):
- Is to make it ugly. Ugly draws people’s eyes
- You get attention by making things less attractive.
- So they ask themselves “How could we make this thing less attractive.”
But what they found is:
- It only works for a short time
- “Triumphs were fleeting”
- “Every breakthrough had a shelf life.”
Does this sound familiar? I think it sounds a lot like fashion to me. I watch fashion come in and out of season. And the truly ugly things get the press and attention. Then people say “Oh it is the IN thing. You should buy IT. Everyone is wearing IT.” But if the newest IT, is not YOU, then you should not buy it, because you won’t wear it. Because of this failure you will think you have no Style.
The trick is to find the IT, the style that is YOU and forget about fashion. Then your “Triumphs” are not fleeting, and this piece of clothing will have a long shelf life. This item will only go away when you wear it out or loose it. (At that point you should have purchased two or more when it was In Style and you could find it).
Long shelf-life clothing matches you in every way. Everything that you have worn-out has many qualities of your coloring and your style. It is usually compatible with your lifestyle. For example, If you have curly hair, clothing that has texture or an interesting curly pattern in the print matches you more than a smooth plain colored piece. The pattern and texture of your hair asks for a pattern and texture in your clothing. Look for that perfect match and you will wear that item till it wears out.
How do I know what is me and what is not?
Make a list of what you like and don’t like, what works and what doesn’t, etc. then review it. I do this initially with clients. It is called the style interview. We discover their pattern so we know what their “long shelf-life clothing” will look like. Then I do their custom color analysis, clean their closet and create a shopping list for the items they need. We then go shopping together to ensure success. It takes time and money, but is well worth the investment.
We live in a quick response world, but we are creating long term successes. It does not happen over night. It takes a goal and a plan to achieve it. As the writer Barbara Kingsolver’s mother said ” fashion has the shelf-life of potato salad, and when expired, is just a deadly.” Find your style and stick with it.