Friday night, on the metro going home, the woman next to me sighed. “It’s been a long day.” My phone was being weird, and she seemed normal enough. “It’s been a long week,” I replied. Soon we were talking about where we lived and worked, and when I asked her what she wanted to be doing, she told me she wanted to be a personal stylist for the everywoman. I have always thought that should be a thing. Just like I don’t necessarily want to learn to fix my own toilet, I think many women want great style but don’t want to have to learn fashion fundamentals.
Fast forward to me doing some keyword research to see whether she’d benefit from Adwords, and I ran across mimiglumac.com. And as I see a lot of small business websites, it struck me as particularly adept.
Let’s look at why.
The headline is fantastic. “Mimi Glumac Personal Stylist.” True, it’s not complicated. That’s the point. It tells you what you need to know, which is that she’s a personal stylist. And I like that she’s using her name. It’s a bit of a trust signal. She’s not going to run away into the night with your money. You know her name. It also signals that this is a sole proprietorship. Interesting information.
Let’s look at the subhead: “Looking stylish is not about the money you spend on clothes. It’s about the time you invest in creating your own style. I’m here to help you do that.”
I’m less in love with this, but I like it. Again, it gets to the value prop. Many of her customers have likely either spent a lot of money on clothes and not felt any more stylish, or have put off doing so because they know that they don’t know what they’re doing. She’s addressing the pain point that stylishness is less about money and more about knowledge. She has the knowledge, you don’t.
I also really like the photo. This is a really hard thing to get right. Mimi looks both intimidating and approachable here. She’s clearly stylish. But she doesn’t seem snobby.
But the home page copy is where this page really sings.
It’s so true you never get a second chance to make a first impression — at work, a social event, or when meeting someone for the first time. Great style conveys an unmistakable message for every modern woman — she’s confident, well put-together, and capable. As a woman, I understand how important it is to feel great about the way you look. And nothing feels better than stepping out in style.
I will edit and organize your wardrobe, teach you how to put together polished, sophisticated looks, shop for what you need, and understand what works best for you. You’ll leave the house looking stylish and effortlessly chic every day. What a fantastic first impression to leave in any milieu.
Don’t spend another moment staring at your closet thinking “I have nothing to wear.” You do, and I’ll help you find it. So let’s get started. Today.
She sets up the need for her services (you need to look good). She makes her value clear (you will feel good when you look good). She lays out what she does (edit wardrobe, help you complete it) and she goes for the ask (let’s get started, today.)
The one huge, glaring, unforgivable mistake here is that it’s totally unclear HOW to get started. What am I supposed to do? Fill out a contact form? Call you? What? I want your services Mimi! How do I get them?
The footer says, in tiny type “by appointment” with a phone number and email. Better than nothing, but barely.
Her services page is great. Her about page is great. The copy and photography on this site is just fantastic. The design is also killer. It’s readable. And, most importantly, there aren’t a million elements competing for my attention, distracting me from my purpose, which is to buy from Mimi.
The buzz page is also a great idea. Testimonials are essential, and she has some great ones. I might move one or two to the home page to entice people who might not otherwise stick around. But that’s because I think of homepages as landing pages, and you need your three elements: call to action, clear and compelling headline, and trust signals.
I ended up getting the girl on the metro’s card, and emailed her this site as an example. If either want to repay my kindness with a free closet edit, I’m totally game!
Wha???
I think I’ll unsubscribe.
That would be my dream job, too.