kinderclobber.com.au, an online children’s accessories start-up,
is the brainchild of Dimity Mitsis and Kate Askew. They’ve
registered the domain name, but they need to know where to go from
here. Nett drew from its panel of expert contributors to answer
their burning questions
THE PANEL
Larry Bloch
NetRegistry CEO
Expertise: Creating an online presence
Stephen Murphy
Founder payperclick.net.au
Expertise: quality website traffic
Sue Blatchford
Head of search, payperclick.net.au
Expertise: online audience engagement
Justin Herald
Motivational coach
Expertise: keeping yourself motivated
Louise Kelly
MD Hearts and Minds
Expertise: building a brand
Host: Stuart Ridley
Nett content director
Expertise: media and strategy
Stuart: How does Dimity set up her website?
Larry: There’s a series of products and services you can
organise at the same time as domain registration, including email,
setting up a website and web hosting. Because you’re selling
online you need to get some sort of online shopping-cart technology
set up. You can get these services from different companies, but
you’re better off using a full service company such as NetRegistry.
Stuart: When it comes to creating her first website, what are
some of the things Dimity needs to think about?
Sue: Nut your objectives for the site. Is it online sales, a subscription
database, or do you want people to browse your online catalogue?
Do a profile on your audience then make a list of goals they will
want to achieve from the site. A wholesaler might want catalogue
and pricing information. For shoppers, it could be detailed garment
sizes, postage and handling, or your return policies. Look at competitor
sites and decide what you could do better.
Dimity: I’ve used
my kids as models in the photos of the products. Justin, how
did you handle the initial product shoots for your clothing brand?
Justin: When I started out I didn’t do catalogues because
I couldn’t afford it. If you don’t have the money you
can’t spend it, so use your kids and your family’s
kids. You probably just need to get a better photographer.
Dimity: Do I have to get a catalogue photographer?
Justin: No, just someone who’s a good photographer. Also,
if you see a child on the street you think would look great, approach
the mother. Offer them some free clothes in return. You’ve
just got to use what you’ve got until you can move to the
next level.
Stuart: What about getting the user group to submit photos of
their kids wearing the clothes?
Louise: That’s an excellent idea. Work out how you want people
to feel when they wear your clothes, what emotional experience
they’re going to have, because that’s the promise of
your brand. Pick one emotional experience, understand it well and
make sure the website reflects that.
Stuart: In a way, you’re creating an online catalogue for
free. Try and get the kids to just have fun while they’re
wearing the gear. You’ll get much better shots than putting
them in a studio where you’ll probably just get really hammy
stuff.
Justin: Have a look at the Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue. Their
photos are unreal. Don’t just look at competitors in your
market, look at competitors in the entire fashion industry.
