Do you remember the time you met your first love? That all important first impression really captured your attention.

No one else in the room or the place you were in mattered, in fact you probably have trouble remembering if anyone else was with you at all.

You recalled how they looked, sounded and even how they smelt. Everything about that person resonated with you as someone you definitely wanted to develop a relationship with.

Its no different in business. Your first impression has to be a stand out, it has to resonate with your ideal client quickly and with meaning.

You only get one chance, and its almost instantaneous.

There’s no second chance with this. We as individuals are bombarded with 5 times more information than we were 5 years ago. Our conscious minds are having to process so much ‘noise’ every moment of every day, its a wonder we can filter out the necessary clues to be able to reach a conclusion at all when we meet people for the first time as to whether they are our kind of person.

In this very insightful TED talk, Zanya Rose highlights the value of making it easy for people to find you, relate to you and engage you in business.

Creating your own unique and authentic personal brand that communicates the right message and best version of you at any given time is like giving people a movie trailer of what they can expect when they do business with you, and its memorable. That’s the sticky part.

Mess up other peoples first impression of you and it can take you a long time to change their view. People crave authenticity and a uniqueness that differentiates you from everyone else.

Women I work with understand this concept. They accept that they are highly skilled at many things but they don’t have to be an expert at crafting their image and personal brand. Dressing for success should be an easy and stress free experience, to help them make a statement about who they are and what they represent before other people tell them.

First impressions don’t just happen in person either. Your online presencecan influence another’s’ perception of you in less than a second. The challenge is to ensure that the image you have online for the platforms you present on are authentic to that specific platform and the message you want to deliver so that it is memorable and intriguing to the viewer.

People need to sense who you are in seconds.

Your first impression is important.

Revisit your style and image, ask yourself how other people might perceive you. Ask others too. You might be surprised at the response, particularly if you have been dressing a certain way for some time and have become protective over it, or like to flavor your style with items that are out of sync with the whole look.

You cant be expected to know everything, and if style and image is not on your list of can do’s then it only makes sense to find someone who can help.

If you think it doesn’t matter, think again. First impressions do matter and can determine whether you get the Board position, directorship or CEO role you were wanting. How you dress can determine your future and your success, its that simple.