Hair Extension Entrepreneur’s Business Branding Tips.

July 27, 2018July 27, 2018Leave a comment

Creating Your Personal Brand

The internet has fooled us all! Think about it; social media in general makes it seem oh so easy to think that all it takes to have a successful brand is to post cute pictures and funny/ inspirational quotes on a regular basis – after all, that’s what the beauty gurus do – and they are successful..

But it’s far from that simple. Creating your personal brand means committing to finding a definition of who you are, and how you fit into this industry. Maybe it’s your business practices, your social media presence, or your work in the community – every angle you look at it, your brand has to create the same impact.

You need a consistent message or theme to present to your audience. Think of the big picture – don’t just focus on gaining likes, views, or followers – a personal brand is what you can deliver to your customer.

So where do you start when creating your personal brand? You start by creating your story.

Whats Your Story?

Your followers are far more likely to book with you if they feel like they know you. You need a decent bio/about me section. If potential clients feel like they know nothing about you as a human being, they are far less likely to reach out to you then if they feel like they can relate to you in some capacity. The people visiting your Instagram/Facebook/website are not just the women who have already visited your shop. They are going to be referrals, friends of clients, or random visits from a search engine or hashtags.

Potential clients need to connect with you on a personal level, your “story” to book with you, so make sure your own story is out there for consumption. There are a lot of other people out there trying, just like you, to gain their business, and the client knows it. Give them a good reason to decide on you.

So what does a good story entail?

Start with a strong, memorable opening statement. Almost like a cover letter of a resume. The point of the story is to sum up why you are a good, qualified choice for them. If you can add a short video or picture with you doing hair, all the better. Put your best foot forward by making sure the background is clean, bright, and clutter free, (don’t let potential clients focus on the wrong thing) dress nicely, wear makeup and as always…make sure you are in good lighting!

Add a testimonial to the end of your About Me section. Show new clients that your current clients stand by your work.

Be honest and authentic. Tell your audience who you are, what you do, and WHY you do it. Write the way you speak – i.e do not use fancy terminology that no one would ever hear come from your mouth in real life. If you use slang – example “Yassss” or abbreviations, just make sure they are easily understood. The last thing you want is for someone to wonder what “icymi” or “on fleek” means.

Keep it brief, and stick to the point. Like I mentioned early, think “cover letter.” The clients aren’t ready for the whole resume yet.. This is not the time to share that you come from a long line of hairdressers. Do not expect your customer to read about your grandmother braiding hair in the 60’s. Instead, tell them the “why’s” – let them know why they need you. Use your key selling points to keep them reading, and give them a call to action so that they know to book you.

Your Specialty: Extensions!

You specialize in a particular type of hair styling – extensions – and that’s a very good thing. It would be advantageous for you to make sure that your platform really emphasizes this. And don’t stop there…

For example, if you specialize in nanolinks, add videos that show how your method differs from other extensions and post it on your page. Do this, and you will set yourself apart from the competition because you are providing proof that you do what you say you can do.

Tell a story with photos

A lot of hair extensionists, and stylists, post before and after looks – which is great, but if you want to stand out even more, show the good in between stages as well – perfect sectioning, maybe even the progress of your clients hair from when they first started wearing the extensions to 6 months later (to advertise healthy hair growth) close up on beads, maybe photos of products you swear by using with extensions, add personality, but keep to the theme of your brand.

You can create short videos explaining the different types of hair you are selling. Tell them it’s 100% cuticle intact European Hair etc – explain what that is, and why that matters. Clients are not going to be educated like you – they need to know “what’s so special and why should I care” Add in why you choose that kind of hair rather than another, and emphasize the importance of adhering to proper maintenance. Get them excited! You want to show that you are knowledgeable about what you do, and that they are making the right decision.

Your Hair

Whether you work from a salon, or your own home suite, make sure your hair is done whenever you are present in your salon, or open for business.

Yes, I understand that you do hair for a living and your business/family life is hectic, so you have no interest in doing your hair, and just let your work speak for itself. But you cannot expect people to buy into your brand and book a service from you if look undone.

You want to make sure you are presentable at all times. You, your salon, and your products are all a representation of your personal brand. You might think, “well, I’m just working at home in a small town, does it really matter that much if my client sees my kids toys all over the place? I am not working at a high end salon, after all.” YES it matters! No matter where you work from you should make sure that everything is clean and organized. If you have high standards for the appearance of your home or slaon clients will think you have high standards in other aspects of your life.

In regards to wearing the extensions, I’m sure you have all at one time or another been asked during a consultation, or even when you’re out for the night, “are you wearing the extensions right now?” followed by, “can I see/feel them?” Suffice it to say, practice what you preach.

Charge what your brand is worth

If you sincerely believe that your product and/or services are priced reasonably, feel free to ignore this.

A lot of times businesses that are just starting out feel the pressure to offer lower than fair prices to gain a clientele.

Or there are those who take their city or neighbourhoods into account, and price their products and services lower than what they really should be. Stop that! Just because you have a shop in a specific part of the country that may have a low cost of living doesn’t mean you should undercut the price. Likewise if you’re new. Be confident and sell your brand. You worked damn hard to get your certification, and know you are great at what you do. Trust me – it may sound appealing at first to drop your profit and get bodies through the door – but clients who are interested in low cost before all else are not the type of long term clients you are going to want.

Think of it like this; new clients could correlate pricing with quality. Some girls do not care at all about their natural hair nor the hair extensions quality or may think “it’s fine.” We know our hair is superior, but you don’t want to get sucked into dealing with those types of girls. They won’t be loyal, they will bounce around to whomever gives them the best deal, never mind their work, and may blame you if something goes wrong demanding their money back, leaving bad reviews, and generally making your life miserable.

Offer Top Knotch Service

To build return clients, (and not one time customers) you need to serve whoever is in your chair and keep that thought process first.

Don’t think about how much you’re getting paid. Don’t think about the tip you may get. Build your personal brand by delivering quality and going above and beyond to service your customer. That is what they will remember.

A great example of this would be to ask them if they would like their hair straightened or curled after the install. If you notice some grey hairs, spray it with some root touch up spray. Cut and blend the extensions before they leave. It shows that you care about their hair, its health, and their look as a whole.

It also shows that you’re not just focused on money. That will get you a client who continues to come back to you because they know that you care about them and they know that you care about their hair. This client is completely different than a one-time customer who may be coming to you because they want long hair for two seconds for a night out – a spur of the moment want and nothing more.

Relationship Building & Reputation

Make sure to invest in your relationship with both previous clients, and new ones…even if you perform a simple service for a presumed “one-time client” like a removal of someone else’s work, they come back to you for a more expensive service like a full new head install, and their future maintenance.

It’s a win/win because it not only means more money, but you’ve earned a client who becomes a repeat customer that you can bank on.

Clients will come back to for two main reasons – You did your job so well the first time, and you keep in touch. If your customer is satisfied with their service, they will come back, but you can speed that up keeping in touch with confirmation texts/emails for upcoming appointments, (we use; app.shedul.com, it’s awesome, and its free!) fun, engaging, social media account (you should definitely have all of your clients following you. If you don’t want to straight up ask them, take a good photo of them and tag them as a little nudge, or have a cute little chalk board sign in your studio with the wifi password along with a “don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @hair_flair_extensions or something along those lines) and even newsletters.

Tools like mailchimp are a great way to create newsletters, look super professional, and keep in touch with your client database. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – you could send a newsletter once a month featuring, i.e. your favourite shampoo/ conditioner combo to use with extensions – add a couple of good photos and a paragraph about why you like it. Go above and beyond as mentioned before but build the relationship with them via communication because with that relationship, and that repeat customer, could surely mean referrals.

So because you’ve spent time sourcing a high-quality product, you invested in a relationship with your future customer. You wanted them to come back, and now you keep up a correspondence with them through emails, texts, social media and newsletters. At the end of the day, they will become a repeat customer who buys into your brand, as well as helps to grow your reputation of having a high-quality extension line, are knowledgeable, and professional.

Quick question, what are you currently doing to better your relationship with your current clientele?

Invest in your brand

Merriam Webster defines the word optimize as, “to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible.”

Branding your business needs to optimize all of its features. If you have a website (which please tell me you do!) it should have great photos (you can purchase awesome photos on websites like shutterstock.com) an easy to navigate flow, and should be user friendly.

You need to invest in your brand and be willing to spend the money that your brand needs to put its best foot forward. Even little things like good lighting in the studio, candles to give a soft, welcoming ambiance, fresh cut flowers, even coffee or donuts for early morning clients. Do these little things to set yourself apart from other extensionists. Remember, getting extensions, for most people, is a big chunk of money to be spending on themselves. Make it a really nice, relaxing experience for them. Whenever they want to get their hair done, you want to be the first place they think to go, even if you cost a little more, or aren’t as fast as someone else.

Would you want to pay for an hour long massage in a chaotic setting? Maybe some of you wouldn’t care, but I bet given the option between a calm, clean, atmosphere with snacks, fluffy white towels, and mineral water, versus a messy, loud, space, that you are not going to go for the latter.

Picking Favourites

Who is your ideal client? Have you ever thought about this?

It is understandable that you want to cast out a net and reel back in all the fish. However, with your hair extension business, you are catering to women with medical hair loss issues, thinning hair, girls who want you to do something “crazy and fun” as well as girls who just want to look like a Barbie doll. Or maybe you don’t like blondes because they are always saying the hair looks yellow. (love you blondes, btw) Which clients are your favourite to extension? The ones who never thought they would be able to have beautiful hair, and tear up and hug you? The ones who give you complete creative control to make a customized masterpiece? The ones who want them for that special occasion like their wedding or graduation? Or helping women while they struggle through chemotherapy?

It helps to know the types of women you want in your salon, so that you aren’t marketing to the ones you don’t want.

Client Reviews and Testimonials

Do you have yourself listed on Google Business? It’s a great way to have another platform on which to be discovered. Also a nice tool for your clients to quickly find something, like your address, if they’ve forgotten.

You can ask some clients to go ahead and leave a Google review. The same thing goes for Yelp. These are vast platforms that people go to when looking for a new service provider in their area. And if you have reviews on these platforms, potential customers don’t have to go hunt for your website to know about the services that you provide.

They act as the middleman between you and your potential client. If you ask a current customer to leave a 5-star review, you can almost guarantee that others take in that feedback and use that to seek you out and grow your business. Try to get them to not only leave the star rating but a brief review (ex. “Always a pleasure dealing with Melanie”, or “This girl really knows her stuff”) You can also have them add a selfie of them with their hair looking amazing. Always comment back when this happens, even if it’s a mere, “thank you so much” – it will increase your SEO ranking, and help you appear higher up on the page when someone googles “Hair extensions.”

All about Connections

When growing your personal brand within the beauty industry, it is a good idea to associate yourself with a couple of girls/businesses to refer each other clients too – who want information on your respective specialties.

You could send out a newsletter, or make a post about an exceptional colourist you know who is familiar with, and knows to work with the nano link (with a great photo of her work) if you do not colour hair or extensions. You could even keep her business cards in your salon to pass along. In return, she would do the same. This can really help to put your name out there, and help associate you with a brand that is reputable and trusted.

Let people know that you have some affiliation with other businesses that know how to treat people and are credible. You are what you eat.

Your Portfolio

At the end of the day, your work will always speak for itself. You must have quality images, and ideally video too, of what you do, online. Be honest, are your current photos a proper representation of your work, or do you feel the need to tell people “it looked so much better in person, I wish you could’ve seen it in real life!”

Whether you have everything compiled on one Instagram account, one Facebook account, a gallery on your website, on Pinterest, or “look books” printed in your waiting area, you need to show your quality of work.

With mobile platforms like Instagram, it’s never been easier. You can use a high-quality cell phone camera to take good images. Have your client or model against a clean solid coloured background. If you can do this in front of a window, let sunlight hit them – this should take the place of an expensive light. Also, take a lot of photos. Not just a couple that are “good enough.” If you are rushed and don’t have time, it would almost be advantageous of you to forgo taking a photo altogether. Instead, ask the client to take a good selfie in their car (usually car lighting is really good) and send it to you.

Communication

If you’re interacting with potential clients or current customers who have questions or concerns, try to answer them within 24 hours. There are ways to set up automatic responses on email and facebook so even if you can’t get back to them properly at that time, a message will be sent letting them know you will be in touch as soon as you get the chance. Let them know that they’re correspondence with you is important by appreciating their time and getting them the information they’re asking you for.

If you’re open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and a customer comes in at 8:55 p.m. to ask about your services/ hair extensions, help them! Slightly annoying, yes, but you are open for another 5 minutes – you can do a quick consultation, book their install, and get them on their way. Even offer them a beverage so they don’t feel unwelcome or rushed. They aren’t coming last minute to be jerks – they are obviously very interested in your business and this was probably the only time they could see you.

Keep your word so that you can create dependability and consistency for your customer base.

Do You!

Let your personality shine in how you operate your business. You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but the ones who love your business, will love you too.

We hope you take these branding tips and find pieces that really resonate with you. Never think you have perfected the art of branding, or know everything there is to know about branding and marketing…in fact if you ever do, get out of business because you are no longer growing. Business is always growing and evolving, just as you are always going to grow and evolve. Look back at this blog often to mold your brand and hold yourself accountable if you slip up! You can do this!

Why are my client’s nano links sliding out?

July 13, 2018Leave a comment

There is little doubt that nano links have been a revolution in the hair extension industry. They have provided an alternative to old fashioned methods like; tape-in’s, weaves, fusions, etc. as a way of attaching hair extensions in a non-damaging way. Since they were originally developed for medical hair loss solutions, they were specifically engineered to accommodate the most brittle, and weak of hair, while remaining discrete and promoting healthy hair growth of the natural hair.

Attached using a tiny painted metal bead, the hair extension is secured to individual strands by clamping a section of natural hair. The result is long lasting, discrete hair extensions that are comfortable to wear, safe for your natural hair, and easy to remove.

Nanos are usually a very secure method of hair extensions that also allow clients to care for and style their hair however they chose to: high ponytails, braids, updo’s, and because of the quality of Hair Flair’s hair, even perming the hair is an option. For all of these reasons and many more, are what makes them such a popular choice, however as with any kind of beauty or hair treatment there can be the odd exception to this rule. It’s important for you to understand the possible cause and solution to help better deal with clients.

Slippage is one of the most common issues that you may come across. Here are the causes and solutions to most of these issues.

Lets cover some of the top reasons why your clients nano might be sliding out

Conditioner

We all tell our clients during their consults that they are to come in with clean, dry, hair, on the day of their appointment, but we sometimes forget to tell them to avoid using conditioner. (They can on their ends, but not where the beads will sit.) Most conditioners contain silicone: it is the silicone in the product that gives hair its soft, shiny, and easy to manage texture, but since it coats the hair in a very fine layer, it can certainly cause the beads to slide easier than if the hair is bare and clean.

Not using enough of the client’s natural hair in the bead

This is a very common cause of the extensions falling out prematurely. Ensuring that you have enclosed enough of your clients hair is not only key to making sure the bead stays in place, it is ensures that there is enough natural hair to support the weight of the hair extension. It is not “easy” to thread the bead into the hair. If it is sliding on easy for you, you are likely not using enough hair. As a general rule the thinner the hair the more you will want to pull into a bead.

Silicone Beads

We know a lot of you use our silicone lined nano beads, and that’s fine as long as you understand they A) can’t hold as much natural hair because the silicone fills up a portion of the bead, and B) silicone’s are slippery (think of other products that have silicone in them; non- stick cookware, hair oils, personal lubricants etc.) So if you can work with non-silicone nano beads, you should.

Not clamping down hard enough with your pliers

Another thing I have noticed is girls will unintentionally clamp the beads onto the bond too lightly. Because it is unintentional, you may not know you’re doing it until a client mentions more are falling out than expected.

When is it the clients fault?

If you straight up ask your client if they have used conditioner, or oils, around the bonds, or have washed their hair too much, or have brushed their hair too rigorously, etc., they will feel on the defense and assure they have done nothing wrong. Instead, ask them about their aftercare routine without giving them any indication of what the right or wrong answer is. If they are in the chair, ask them to show you how they brush their hair. Ask them when they condition, do they start at the scalp and work their way down? (because they should not be applying to their scalp at all) Ask how long it is left on for. This way they are a lot more likely to be honest with you then if they feel like they have a finger pointed at them.

Excess Oil

In the very rare occasion, it may not be the fault of your installation, nor the client’s aftercare routine. Sometimes our clients may just plain have too much natural oil. Often, extensions can help better distribute these oils because there is now more hair to accommodate the oil with. Sometimes though, the excess oil sitting on the client’s hair can cause the hair extensions to not hold very well at all. This is going to cause inevitable slippage that your client will be disappointed with, especially if they were not pre warned. You can advise your client to use a dry shampoo on their roots to help control the oil between washes.

Hair Extension Inventory

March 20, 2018Leave a comment

Do I need to keep an inventory?

Aside from the cost of taking the course, the biggest investment you need to make is that of a decent inventory. Yes, need.

In a perfect world, a client comes in, you match them with your colour ring, and they agree to come back in about two weeks for their appointment. Then you log on to shop.hairflair.ca, you purchase your extensions, and they arrive a week before the client is due to come back.

Now in reality, the client has probably messaged several other people looking for A) a good price, and B) an appointment. Because once girls commit in their minds that they are willing to invest in extensions, excitement sets in and they want them now. You need to have hair physically in your salon.

Don’t you ship next day?

While we do ship out same day, (on orders placed before 3pm EST) shipping times fluctuate, and as much as we’d like to rely on the post office, you should never leave things up to chance when playing the shipping game of Russian roulette. Save yourself a lot of stress by keeping an inventory.

Why is it so important to keep an inventory of hair?

A lot of times, a standard maintenance appointment, turns into a, “can I add another bundle?” type of a situation. If you don’t have hair on hand you are losing money and leaving your client disappointed.

You might also have a client come in that has changed their mind on colour, maybe they decided they want an ombre look now, or they have coloured their hair the night before and it is different than the colour you ordered. If you don’t have the proper colour in stock you will have to turn them away.

Last but not least, do not assume we will have hair in stock all of the time. Like most popular online brands, our most in demand colours/lengths go, and they go fast. We have hundreds of clients like you, as well as salons, and schools across Canada and the U.S, so to avoid disappointment, you need to stock up and keep a decent size inventory.

Consider this….

Think of it this way – Let’s say own a restaurant. Your patrons would stop coming or making reservations pretty fast, if you didn’t have any food or ingredients in the kitchen. And you wouldn’t take a reservation, and then order the food, you would have everything there for your entire menu, so no matter what your customer ordered, it would be ready to be cooked.

If you expect to run a successful business you need to treat it as a business and carry inventory.

What inventory should you carry?

Our recommendation for a minimum stock list, would be:

5 bundles (1 Head) of each:

#60 Platinum Blonde
#22 Light Ash Blonde
#10 Light Ash Brown
#4 Medium Brown
#2 Very Dark Brown
#1 Black

A full stock list would be:

5 bundles (1 Head) Of Each:

#60 Platinum Blonde
#1001 Lightest Blonde
#602 Dirty Ash Blonde
#24 Golden Blonde
#22 Light Ash Blonde
#10 Light Ash Brown
#8 Chestnut Brown
#5 Medium Ash Brown
#4 Medium Brown
#3 Dark Brown
#2 Very Dark Brown
#1B Soft Black
#1 Black,
Dark Burgundy
Dark Ombre
Light Ombre

You should also consider having a full head (5 bundles) of #60 Platinum Blonde in the extra-long length of 26 inches, and #2 in the extra-long length of 26 inches as they are becoming increasingly popular.

It may also be advantageous to keep in mind the time of the year. While brunettes still want extensions in the summer, you may find yourself in need of more lighter shades than dark.

Lets break it down…

Did you know we have a lucrative, bulk discount program? You can save 30% when ordering your inventory, resulting in a larger profit margin for you! Here is how it breaks down:

1 Bundle = $ 69.95 (No Discount)
1 Bundle = $ 55.96 (Professional Discount 20% applied)
30 Bundles = $ 53.16/per bundle (Professional Discount + Bulk Discount (5%)
50 Bundles = $ 50.47/per bundle (Professional Discount + Bulk Discount(10%)

To put that into dollar signs for you, think of it this way: with your trade discount:

The cost of 5 bundles with your 20% discount is $279.80
- if you are charging 100 per bundle your profit is $220.20
The cost of 5 bundles with the bulk discount is $252.35
- if you are charging 100 per bundle your profit is $247.65

The bulk discount is automatically applied to your shopping cart in our online store, so just put in your trade discount code to receive the full discount amount. Hopefully this information is useful to you, if you have any questions, let us know!

5 Keys to a successful hair extension business

1. Do it for the right reasons.

When running a hair extension business the most important factor to remember is that its not about you, its about giving the best possible service and product to your customer. They are relying on your expertise, your professionalism, and your experience. If your one of those people that is just looking for the cheapest hair so you can maximize your profit than read no furthur because this article isnt for you. This is written for people who understand the value of quality and customer service and building the foundation for a long lasting business.

2. Invest in training.

All great hair extension artists start out with a great training program. If you want to be successful you need to invest in training. Do your research. Find a company that supports its students, and most importantly offers great quality extensions. Even if you are an amazing extension artist, if you are using cheap hair your customers wont stick around and you’ll gain a bad reputation. Do you want to be the dollarstore of extensions or a company known for great service and quality. By offering great quality hair your customers wont be able to go anywhere else.

3. Set yourself up for success

Like with any business you need to invest in setting up your business. This means investing in tools and a basic stock of hair to get you going. A big mistake alot of people make when starting out is just buying the tools and extensions as needed. Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering a meal and after taking your order the chef has to run to the grocery store to get the supplies. That seems ridiculous doesnt it? As a responsible business owner you should have supplies on hand so you can serve your clients better. It looks much more professional if you have hair on hand that you can show potential customers. You may also cater to last minute clients and upsell adding more hair during a regular maintenace appointment.

4. Be prepared to work hard and continually learn

One of the biggest mistakes I see from students is they take training and are so excited to start, they start taking clients before they are ready. After you complete training you should continue to practice on your mannequin head and friends until you build up speed, your sections are perfect and you have memorized your training materials. We often get questions from students that are covered in the training materials and that is not acceptable. If its covered in training materials you should know it like the back of your hand. That means you should review your materials as many times as necessary. After that you should continue to educate yourself by reading blogs (like this one) and actively searching out new resources materials to learn from.

5. Learn how to market yourself

To be successful in any business you need to learn some basic marketing skills. Learning how to market yourself will help to bring in a continual stream of customers. Marketing really isn’t as scary as it seems and once you start doing it you’ll wonder why you never did it before. We have complied a few articles to get you going in the hair extension business portion of this blog so make sure to look at those. There is also thousands of free marketing courses and resources online.

10 Free Marketing Ideas for your Hair Extension Business

November 8, 2017March 22, 2018Leave a comment

You have probably already started with your family and circle of friends, but you will want to expand your reach to new customers to keep your business growing. To do this, you need to market your business.

We have compiled a list of our favourite free marketing tips that you can start to utilize right away.

1: Google My Business

Get set up on Google My Business https://www.google.com/business

It’s completely free
It’s how you get onto Google Maps
If you’re listed, when people Google hair extensions in your area, your business should show up with your contact information

2: Facebook business page

Use clear and high-quality cover and profile images
Make sure to have contact information (phone number, email address)
Share useful content (how-to videos, product suggestions, etc) more often than you promote your own services
Make sure to add your location so that customers in your area can find you

3: Set up an Instagram account for your business

Use high-quality pictures and videos
Connect your account with your business Facebook page
Follow other beauty businesses in your area to get ideas for local hashtags
Use hashtags on every post

4: Team up with other local businesses

Create packages that will help your client, for example team up with a makeup artist to offer a bridal or prom package
Other partnership ideas would be photographers, fitness shows,
Go to networking events, bridal shows, mom shows

5: Referrals

If you have hairdresser or makeup artist friends, ask them to refer clients to you (consider compensating them a percentage of each sale they bring you)
In exchange, you will refer clients to them as well
Ask to leave your business cards or other promotional material at their businesses and in exchange

6: Videos

You will get more attention with video content on your social media. Ideas include how-tos, show a client install, before and after videos, etc.

Live video such as Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, Periscope, Snapchat
Pre-recorded video like YouTube

7: Start conversations on Twitter

Connect with beauty biz bloggers, biz owners, top brands, and of course, any followers that are posting interesting content
Use a couple of relevant hashtags
Use images – they get re-tweeted more often than tweets without images

8: Home parties

Know someone who’s having a beauty-themed home party (Younique, Aloette, Arbonne, etc.)? Offer to demonstrate hair extensions to increase the appeal for guests.

9: Free online directories, classifieds, etc.

411.ca
Craiglist.ca
Kijiji.ca
Other free business directories in your area (do a Google search)
LinkedIn.com
Yelp: https://biz.yelp.ca/
Bing: https://www.bingplaces.com/

10: Write blog articles

Even if you don’t have a website, you can create blog articles with content your potential clients might be interested in and ask other local businesses that have the same clients to post them on their websites
Post a note to your Facebook business page

Remember:

Marketing can be a lot of work but it is one of those things that pays off in the end
The most important thing is that you’re out there, with accurate contact information!

Good luck!

Keeping it Professional: Texting your Clients

November 8, 2017November 8, 2017Leave a comment

Your clients are the bread and butter of your business, and you want them to be able to get in touch with you when they need to. Those relationships are so essential to the success of your business, and the people you spend hours with at appointment after appointment, year after year (if you’re lucky) can start to feel like more than clients. This is one of the best parts of the beauty industry: over time you get to know people (they talk about their kids, their partners, their jobs) and it’s like you have a whole extra clan of friends!

The tricky part comes when you have to establish some boundaries between your life as a business owner and your personal life. Hair Flair grew out of our founder Melanie’s desire to have the best hair extensions herself, and after she learned where to get the best hair and how to install extensions, her friends began asking her to install some for them, too. Soon, Mel realized there was business potential: no one else in the London area seemed to be providing the same quality of extensions! Her first clients were her friends, and then their friends. Long before she had a website or a Facebook page or a 1-800 number, Melanie had a cell phone and potential clients texted her for an appointment.

Fast forward several years later, Mel’s cell phone has become the main business phone, and many clients still text her for appointments. During business hours her assistant Jenn uses it like a business phone, and then after hours it once again becomes her personal phone. This arrangement works for us for now, because we take steps to ensure boundaries are adhered to.

Pros and Cons of texting your clients

Pros

Quick, easy communication
Sure-fire way to contact your client if something comes up (i.e.: you’re running late)
Fast way to answer simple questions (i.e.: whether you have extensions in a certain colour in stock)

Cons

Receiving messages at all hours and on your day off
Receiving lengthy messages requesting in-depth information
Can lead to miscommunication or worse

How to keep it professional

We may never give up the option of texting to communicate with our clients, because in many cases it works for us. But, when it comes to keeping it professional, here are some things we keep in mind:

If a text message for the business comes in after hours and we know it’s not an emergency (hair extensions seldom are), it’s okay to wait until business hours the next day to reply
When a conversation with a client gets more complicated than booking an appointment or choosing a colour of extensions, we ask them to email us or call us
We have the technology to set up an “out of office” reply on both our text and email communication channels, and we use them when necessary to maintain the boundaries between personal and professional (and we make sure we get back to those clients as soon as we are back in the office)
Our website has an instant messaging option which clients can use to communicate with us quickly during business hours instead of texting us if necessary
Original clients are welcome to text us, but going forward, we try to encourage new clients to communicate with us via email or another channel

Facebook and your Hair Extension Business

November 3, 2017March 22, 2018Leave a comment

As a business owner in this day and age, Facebook is one of those tools you can’t afford not to use. Not only can you market and promote your business for free, but the target market for your hair extension business uses Facebook regularly. As of 2016, the largest demographic of Facebook users are people aged 25-34, the majority of which are female. More than likely, many of your clients are females within that age group.

How do I use Facebook to promote my business?

Chances are you already have a personal profile on Facebook, and you may have been using it to promote your services to friends and family, and why not? But when it comes to making the most of Facebook for your business, a business page is the only way to go.

Here’s why:

Page insights
Scheduling content
Google search rankings
Instant messaging with clients
Share the work: page roles
Reviews
Promotional tools
Ads and promoted/boosted content

Facebook page insights

Facebook page insights provides you with information about who sees and engages with your content: where they are, what times of day they use Facebook, and more. These details help you focus your content to target the people most likely to be interested in your services.

Scheduling content

Since you now know who is interested in your content and when they’re online, you can use that information to plan posts to go out at a certain time. Facebook pages have a feature that allows you to schedule posts in advance so that you don’t necessarily have to be online posting during high-traffic times when your target market is also online.

Google search rankings

If your business has a page on Facebook, Google will rank it so that potential clients can find your business when they do a web search! In our opinion this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also have a website, but until you do, you can get your contact information, rates, and other important information out there to people.

Instant messaging

Using Facebook’s Messenger feature, your clients can quickly communicate with you. This is a great alternative to text messaging: you can send and receive messages from a mobile device, your client knows when you have seen their message, and you can even set up an “away” message if you are away from your computer or phone. Facebook will also indicate to anyone who visits your page when they can expect to get a response from you, based on how often you check and respond to messages. It’s a great way to help manage expectations.

Share the work: page roles

With a business Facebook page, you can designate other people to help you manage content and customer service. There are various roles you can add people to, such as Editor or Advertiser, so that your assistants or good friends can help you promote your business when you’re busy working. You retain complete control over your page and you don’t have to give your Facebook login information to your staff.

Reviews

One of the most valuable features of Facebook business pages is the ability for clients to rate your service and products. This is yet another tool you can use to indicate the quality of your services to potential clients. You could try rewarding your clients with a discount on their next service if they review your business.

Note that the review feature isn’t automatically turned on for every page – only pages in certain categories or with Shop sections.

Other promotional tools

Whether you’d like to sell your favourite extension tools or products, book appointments, promote blog posts, or merely indicate to clients what your regular hours are, a Facebook business page is a great resource. You can easily direct clients to your website to engage more in-depth with the services you offer, make it simple for followers to subscribe to your mailing list, or set up the “Call now” button which sends your phone number directly to a potential client’s device.

Ads and promoted/boosted content

Last but certainly not least, Facebook allows business pages to market to potential clients beyond the community of followers you already have on your page via targeted ad campaigns. For a fee, you can set up ads that will be seen by your chosen demographic in a certain location (your country, province, city, etc.) for a certain period of time.

There are lots of choices for customizing your campaign. Choose an audience, a goal, and a budget for your ad. Choose from several different formats of ads (video, slideshow, single image, etc.). You can choose to show your ad on Facebook, Instagram, and beyond!

Use your Instagram photos in ads, have multiple ads in a promotion, add a call to action, and more. You can also choose to boost (pay to promote) content you’ve already posted to your page, such as a product you’re selling or a blog post or image.

And Facebook guides you through the whole process, giving you tips on how to maximize your campaign’s reach. Two business help pages you might find helpful are Ads Basics and Ads Guide.

Your turn!

Now you’re ready to try it yourself — set up your business page on Facebook and start connecting with your clientele community online.

And check out the Hair Flair Facebook page for inspiration!

Creating a Portfolio and Getting Reviews

October 22, 2017March 22, 2018Leave a comment

Your Best Tools for Getting New Customers

The number one thing any potential customer will look for when choosing an extension artist is pictures of their work. Your website & social media accounts can be jam packed with everything you need to know about hair extensions, but ultimately your potential customers are going to want an idea of what they will look like. They want to see pictures of your happy customers and their well-blended and styled hair extensions.

Once they are happy with the pictures they see the next step into making them a customer is by displaying testimonials of your happy customers. This will instill more confidence in the customer choosing you as their extension specialist.

You will want your testimonials to be detailed and specific. Avoid testimonials that just say “Good job” instead ask them to specifically comment on the quality of the hair, your services, how well they blend into their existing hair, how no one can tell etc.,

Lets take a look at some best practises for portfolios and testimonials so that you can bring in as many new customers as possible.

Before And After Shots For Your Hair Extension Clients

These are going to be one of your most valuable tools for bringing in new customers. Potential customers will be looking for clients with similar hair to their own so that they can envision what their end results will be. That is why it is important to have a wide range of before and after pictures.

Before you even start taking pictures, make sure you are all set up to take great pictures. You will want a high resolution camera (new cell phone cameras are usually adequate), and a good lighting source. You can invest in special lighting (like a ring like) or just find a good place in your studio. Natural light is always great if you don’t want to invest in professional lighting. Take a few test shots to make sure that your pictures are clear and bright.

What Type Of Images Should I Collect For My Hair Extension Portfolio?

You should try to collect as many images as possible from different types of clients. You will want a before shot, preferably from the back, and then an after shot from a couple of angles.

It is also a great idea to take pictures during the service. You want to show off how neat and perfectly sectioned your rows are. It is also great to highlight how small the bonds are and how the extensions are laying flat to the clients head.

You will want to collect images from every client you see, with their permission of course, and in particular any clients with unusual styles and colour as this will show your versatility. As a minimum you will want to have at least one before and after shot of:

A brunette client

A blonde client

A red head

A mixed blonde:Blonde with lo-lights

A mixed brunette: A brown base with a highlight

A very short style e.g. a bob

Just adding Volume Client: the extensions are cut to their existing length

An Ombre or Balayage Client (preferably a client who is one colour and then gets an ombre look from solely adding the extensions

New Hair Trends :If a LOB (long bob) is in style you will want to show how you can use extension to take a bob to a LOB

A Medical Hair loss Client: Show how extension can be used to hide medical hair loss issues

It may take some time to collect these images, and to start off your portfolio you should include every client as the more images you have, the busier and more popular you will appear, growing the confidence of your potential client.

Pictures you do not want to show

Although we would encourage you to photograph as many clients as possible, not every client or fitting will be suitable for a portfolio shot. Reason for this include:

Incomplete Before And After – Do not include an image of an unfinished set of extensions. This would include not having had enough time to straighten the client’s hair after the fitting, or not having enough time to trim and/or blend the extensions. Your clients will only want to see the finished result, and uploading unfinished work will give the wrong impression of your abilities and skills.

Incomplete Hair Extension Colour Matches – From time to time you will have a client for example who has dyed brown hair that has faded since your colour match took place, and therefore it needs to be redyed after the fitting takes place. This will result in the hair extensions appearing darker in colour than they will be once the natural hair has been corrected to match, again, giving the wrong impression to your potential client who believes you have applied the wrong colour when in fact they do not have the complete story.

Unusual customer requests– If you have a client who has asked for something out of the ordinary, e.g. a client has blonde hair and would like purple and pink streaks in her hair extensions, only include this in your portfolio if you are happy with the finished result. Your client may be thrilled with the outcome, but if you do not feel it reflects you or your general style, miss this one out of the portfolio.

Hair Extension Testimonials

Testimonials are another great way to let your potential new clients know how good you are at your job, and how much your clients love the hair extensions you fit. You should try to ask all of your clients to leave you a review, either on your social media accounts, or via email so that you can upload this to your website.

How To Ask A Client To Review Your Hair Extension Business

When asking for a review you should ask your client to be 100% truthful and honest, and ask that they review the process as a whole. This means that you are not just looking for them to say “thank you for my amazing hair extensions, they look great”, but to also include details of their experience as a whole. You could ask them to review you personally, how easy you were to get along with or how comfortable you made them feel. You could also ask them to write about your communication skills, e.g. “she always got back to me quickly by email” or “she had lots of great advice to offer”.

Don’t Be Afraid Of A Bad Review

You will not be able to please everyone all of the time, and as every successful hair extension technician will tell you there is always an unhappy customer somewhere down the road, sometimes through no fault of your own.

If you do receive a bad review, do not see this as a personal attack against you, but as a chance to better yourself. Take on board their comments and process what you could do differently to ensure it doesn’t happen again, or what you could have done to turn this into a positive review. There will be some occasions where there wasn’t anything you could have done differently, however by self-critiquing and taking on board others comments you will better yourself as a hair extension technician, and as a result better your business.

Struggling to get enough clients for testimonials and portfolio shots when starting out

When you are just starting out it may be difficult to get lots of different clients with different styles. If you are not able to get these off of new customers as you are still in the process of building your clientele, why not do a few of your friends and family for free or just the cost of the hair to gain some experience and build your portfolio. Working for free at the beginning may not be how you saw your business growing, however it is a great way to get the ball rolling and with all of your new portfolio pictures and wonderful testimonials new customers will be knocking down your door for you to squeeze them into your busy schedule before you know it.

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