Are you still clinging to the old school ways of building your clientele as a hairstylist? It’s time to embrace the power of social media and a professional website to transform your business. I take you on a journey from the traditional methods of client acquisition, to the modern ways of expanding your client base. Let's talk about expressing your unique personality through your online presence, targeting dream clients, and crafting an enticing professional image through your website.
In this episode, you're not just going to learn about client acquisition, but also how to retain your dream clientele. We talk about the effectiveness of a clear pricing strategy, the magic of client referrals, and the advantages of online booking. Not to mention, I'll guide you on how to handle queries that may arise and keep your clientele engaged. Remember, the digital world is a stylist’s runway, and it’s time for you to strut your stuff. So, tune in, and let's unlock those doors leading to infinite possibilities in the hairstyling business.
Are you still clinging to the old school ways of building your clientele as a hairstylist? It’s time to embrace the power of social media and a professional website to transform your business. I take you on a journey from the traditional methods of client acquisition, to the modern ways of expanding your client base. Let's talk about expressing your unique personality through your online presence, targeting dream clients, and crafting an enticing professional image through your website.
In this episode, you're not just going to learn about client acquisition, but also how to retain your dream clientele. We talk about the effectiveness of a clear pricing strategy, the magic of client referrals, and the advantages of online booking. Not to mention, I'll guide you on how to handle queries that may arise and keep your clientele engaged. Remember, the digital world is a stylist’s runway, and it’s time for you to strut your stuff. So, tune in, and let's unlock those doors leading to infinite possibilities in the hairstyling business.
Welcome to the smart, wealthy stylist podcast. I'm your host, emily Cardin. Over here. We're dedicated to helping hairstylists manage their finances, stay organized, healthy and manage their time and mental well-being. We focus on staying healthy in all areas of life and maximizing productivity. If you're a hairstylist looking for these things, then this is the podcast for you. Together, we'll avoid burnout and step into being the smartest, wealthiest stylist that we can be.
Speaker 2:
Welcome back to the smart, wealthy stylist podcast. So for today's episode, I'm going to talk all about how to build your clientele from nothing. I know so many people really struggle with this and don't really know where to start. There's just a lot of resources and ways. 13 years ago, whenever I started doing hair, it was just so much different than it is today. There's so many different ways for us to put ourselves out there, to be noticed, to allow clients to find us.
Speaker 2:
In today's day and age, if you're building a clientele, you are fortunate. You are in the lucky spot. I guess I should say so. Back in the day, I would leave a generous tip and a business card. I would always fix my hair super cute and try to really look the part, and anytime I'd go out and all the time people would say, oh my gosh, your hair is so cute, who does your hair? And I'm like well, I'm actually a hair stylist I work at. Here's a card. I had a stack of cards with me at all times and then, of course, client referrals and stuff. I tried to find a place that was high volume walk-ins and that was very helpful because people would come in looking for a new stylist and I was able to take walk-ins, so that was a great way to build clientele in the early years. But then now new stylists have such an advantage because we have social media.
Speaker 2:
Social media do not sleep on it. It is the single most valuable way to build your clientele. People can see what you're about, what your personality is like, what you offer people. Everything, anything that you do behind the chair, you can put on social media and people know what to expect. In today's day and age, people really, really want to know what they're getting into. That's what you're passionate about. By utilizing social media, you can post only Blonding. By doing that, you show people. Okay, she does Blonding. She's an expert at it. This is all she does. Look at all these pictures. They're beautiful and that's what you want to do. So whatever you're wanting to serve, whoever you're wanting to serve, by posting on social media those dream clients that you want in your chair, post what they want to see, and by doing that, you will start growing exponentially. And with social media, you have the ability to showcase yourself, showcase what your salon looks like and, like I said, your personality. You know, making some of those like funny videos is good if that's your personality, if you're very professional and want it to look extremely professional, post that it's all your preference. So whoever you want in your chair, post things that apply to them, and this goes for Facebook groups too. And just depending on what your demographic is so like, if you're wanting these, you know young, blonde, like college age people, or you know up into their 30s 40s, but you're not really into gray coverage those are the people that you're going to post on your page.
Speaker 2:
You know taking lots of pictures. Every single client that's in your chair, that is your dream client. Make sure that you are taking lots of pictures of them, and I'm talking like at least 20,. Take a before video, take an after video, take before pictures, after pictures. You can even take during pictures and during your service videos. However you want to do it, you can. But by having all those pictures and videos, you are able to later put together those you know carousel posts or create reels or whatever it is that you're wanting to do. You can create those posts and drive those clients into your chair and Then like say you're into you know forties and up great coverage. There's not a lot of users, like on Instagram, that are in that age range. So for you, you may want to post on Facebook, on the next door app there's. There's a lot of different platforms for that, because a lot of those age range people Live on Facebook. You know that's. That's their preferred Source of social media. So you just need to figure out, like, who is my dream client, who do I want in my chair? And then figure out which social media platform you need to show up on. Once you figure that out, it is really helpful because that's when you start getting the people that you want in your chair.
Speaker 2:
The second thing I would say is a website. People want to see that you are professional, that you are an actual business entity. Having an actual website set you apart from so many other people. I am not tech savvy and Having a website is not as hard as you might think. It's one of those things that you think oh my gosh, there is no way I can make a website. Well, I use a website Builder, or I guess you could call it. It's called Wix Wix and I use their templates and then just Customized it to fit what I wanted it to look like. You can check that out at revive a fysiloncom, but by having a website, you can put on there who you are. You know what you're all about.
Speaker 2:
I have like a new client path that they is mapped out on my website very clearly, what I want them to do, and the people that will go down that path and do the actions that you're asking are Most likely your dream clientele because they're willing to jump through the hoops. It eliminates a lot of the riffraff and a lot of those problem clients and it's there for a reason. And then I also have, like, my retail sites linked to my website. There's online booking on my website. Everything that it takes for them to have a successful hair journey is on my website how to find me, my social media links, what hair products I'm using and about me video that I had professionally made, you know. It just gives you a full idea of Once again, you're.
Speaker 2:
You're reiterating what you're posting on your social media with your website, who your dream clients are, what you're, you know, wanting to get in your chair. On your website will also be the same. So on your website it will look a lot like your social media page and that's okay. You can even like on wix. There's a little template where you can link your social media To your website and it will automatically scroll through those pictures that are on your social media account. So that's a really handy feature, because then they're like, oh yeah, I saw that on her Instagram.
Speaker 2:
So a website basically just shows professionalism, that you're better than everyone else in your area, and People are most likely going to choose you over someone who doesn't have a website. They want to see that you are a serious hairstylist, that you are giving people the services that they want, you're giving them a way to book. And if you're not doing online booking, I absolutely 10 out of 10 would recommend it and, to be honest, it's just the day and age that we live in. And if you're still running off of a paper book, you're probably gonna have a hard time filling your chair, simply because a lot of times, you know, when people are scrolling social media at midnight, they want a way to be able to jump on their book. You know, if they come across to you and you know you can't, they can't get a hold of you they may book with someone else because the other person has social media or online booking. So online booking super important. And another thing that's cool about online booking. They can see your prices, they can see what packages you offer, they can see what services you offer and they have a very clear idea of how much it's gonna cost them when they come see you. Something else that's super important that I'm gonna touch on later in this episode Um, on your website, you can also Collect reviews and post them on your website. People trust reviews. They want to see reviews, so posting those on your website is also very important.
Speaker 2:
And just put yourself in your client's shoes. So say you're looking for a service and you know your hairstylist. You don't want to do your own hair. You've been looking for someone that can do your hair exactly how you want. You've been wanting you know this like really dark. You know rich brunette color, and you just Don't find anyone that you're wanting or you haven't heard of anyone. And so you go on Instagram and type in rich brunette or brunette specialist near me, or brunette specialist Joplin, missouri.
Speaker 2:
So all these results start popping up, right, and you can see that this person specializes in brunettes and they're close to you, and that you click on their, their Instagram, and then you go to the link in their bio and there's a website when you click on that website, you can go in there and see okay, this is how much they charge, this is what the colors look like, this is what their clients look like, this is what the salon looks like. You go in knowing exactly how much you're going to spend, what the place looks like, what type of personality that the stylist that you're going to has, because you're in their chair for anywhere you know, at least an hour and a half, possibly two, three hours, just depending on what service you get. But having a really good idea of who you're going to get your service from is comforting, right. So why should we not offer our clients these same things? Your clients are going to pick you over anyone else because you've went the extra links to give them exactly what they want to see and hear.
Speaker 2:
The second or the third thing is you know Facebook groups or communities. So once you figure out who your client is that you're wanting to get in your chair, you're going to know where they hang out. So you know someone in their 20s like college websites. There's, you know, maybe, fitness places that you like to go to. There's people that go there. You start interacting in these communities when people ask questions like hey, have you heard of any good hairdressers in this area? You can come on in there and say, hey, check out my Instagram, I do hair, you know, and just finding those comments where people are asking for hair stylist or does anyone know of anyone who does this, this and this? Go on there and drop your Instagram handle or drop your website.
Speaker 2:
Engaging in those communities and showing up and just showing what you have to offer others is a huge impact on your client booking and people love that whenever you're already creating a relationship with them before they even set foot in your chair, and then, once you do start getting these clients into your chairs, client referrals is just one of the hugest things as well. Like all of these things are, like my very, very top favorite ways to get clients in my chair and to build a lasting clientele people who come back to you only because they love your services, they love what you offer, they love the environment in your salon or they just love their hair. So client referrals is my next topic and with client referrals you can create a referral system. There's so many different referral systems out there and you know loyalty programs or whatever, and even like with my Vagaro app. It offers a built-in loyalty system and point systems and all those things. So by creating a killer referral program, that is a great way to get more clients in the chair too, because your clients that are in your chair are getting benefits from their friends coming to see you. So that's another really great way to just say, hey, I appreciate you spreading the word, I'm trying to grow my business and your clients want to see you thrive and so by doing that and, you know, really gifting them whenever they send their friends into you, it's just such a special thing because they feel special and appreciated and then you're getting a lot of like-minded people coming into your chair, because if some of your very favorite clients are the ones sitting in referrals, a lot of times the people that they hang out with are kind of like them, and so you're just getting more people in your chair that are nice or tip well or they are your dream clients. So that is very special whenever you have clients who already love you sending in their friends and family because they think that they'll love you too.
Speaker 2:
Another opportunity is paid advertising through Instagram or Facebook. You can also do paid advertising on Google. That can be a really great way to get your name out there to people that it wouldn't normally. This is at the bottom of my list simply because it doesn't always work, but it is worth a shot. I have had some paid ads do really well and then I've had some other paid ads where I didn't get a single client. That's why social media and your website and Facebook and referral programs and stuff is at the very top of my list, because those are the ones that have the very most impact. I get the very most new client requests off of Instagram. Instagram is just the number one place because that's where my dream clientele hang out. So that's where I post the most consistently and that's where they find me is on Instagram.
Speaker 2:
But, like I said earlier, reviews matter too. So if you can create a Google account, a Google business account and a Yelp business account and have your clients leave you reviews on those platforms, that is super, super, super important. It's kind of like the icing on top of the cake, like you've built this business, you've built these clientele, you've really nurtured these people into becoming loyal to you and the next step is just to show the world exactly how awesome you are. So by having those clients who truly value you leave those reviews. It's super, super important. I like having my extension clients leave reviews on Google and Yelp and kind of tell their story. I had a girl which Yelp is crazy. Sometimes they're reviews post and sometimes they don't. So I'm not sure what's up with Yelp, but I just keep having people write reviews and I just stay showing up consistently on there because it's just as important.
Speaker 2:
And you use Google and Yelp almost like a social media. I try to post to both of those at least once a week just to keep my visibility up. But I post before and after pictures on those. I just have an app called Layout and I just put the before picture and the after picture in one picture together and like edit it that way. Then people can just scroll through and see all these before and afters. They love that. They wanna see what that person came in before and what they left with.
Speaker 2:
And one of the really great things about Google reviews is people trust Google, people trust Yelp. They want to see real life people leaving reviews on what they received. They wanna know that they are in fact going to get what you say they're going to get. And when you have all those reviews, it is so helpful because people say, oh, you know, oh, wow, that's exactly what I'm struggling with and look how she fixed her hair. Or if you're an extension client or an extension stylist and you have a client that suffered hair loss and that's kind of your specialty Maybe you're a hair loss specialist and you have all these clients that come in with a super thin, fine hair and then you install these extensions on them and give them their confidence back and then eventually they get to take them out because their hair is recovered and someone posts an honest review about that. Like that is gold. You cannot get anything that's more valuable than that. Real life clients traveling real life journeys that have overcome exactly what you're posting, that you're an expert in Showing people true life Things that have happened and your clients raving about it. That is Insurmountable. I mean it is. It is the most valuable thing that you could offer a potential new client is an awesome five-star review showing them Exactly what the problem that they're having can be fixed in your chair.
Speaker 2:
And one last really great way to gain new clientele Is to get involved in like a local community group. So I know the Chamber of Commerce here in Joplin meets, I think monthly. I used to be a part of it a long time ago when I worked at the Alliance dinner. It was the very first place I ever worked and I went to some of those meetings and I did gain some clients from that and that was really cool to be a part of, because you're meeting all these other Joplin business owners and or wherever you're at, you know you're meeting business owners in your city and Business owners want to see other businesses succeed in their town. So by going to these like Chamber of Commerce type meetings, you can create really great relationships with other small business owners in your city.
Speaker 2:
You can gain new clients from that and a lot of times what ends up happening is these business owners. You know Someone will come up to them and say, hey, do you know if any good hairstylist you know my daughter is looking for hairdresser or whatever, mine's not taking any new clients and they'll say, actually, yeah, there's a girl in my, my Chamber of Commerce group and she is has been, you know, trying to build your clientele. I, her Facebook looks great or her Instagram looks great, you should check it out. So those those people, relationships and having those communities that are with other small business owners is A really great way, also because they want to see you succeed and you want to see them succeed. And a lot of times, you know, I'll have people ask me Do you know a, you know HVAC guy, or do you know this or that? And I still have those same connections from when I was in the Chamber of Commerce, you know, 13 years ago, and a lot of these people are still in business. So it's a great way to kind of share and build up the community around you with other small business owners in your city, while also getting new clients from those people.
Speaker 2:
When you start running your business like a business, it is just such a powerful thing because you have the opportunity, like no one else in this day and age, to get the exact people that you want in your chair. You have the opportunity to present yourself in such a way that those people that want to be in your chair can find you and and Whenever you take that seriously and really post social media and use it like a tool and which with that I will also say reels is an amazing way. Right now I have gotten so many new client requests. I've been posting at least four times a week on my Revivify page and what I'm seeing is that when I'm using keywords and doing different things in these reels, I Am getting noticed by the people that want to find me.
Speaker 2:
So when I do my extension posts, I create a reel that's anywhere from seven to eight seconds long. I post an audio that is trending with less than 10,000 listens or 10,000 uses, and then On the text on the screen, I try to write something interesting, or I try to. Well, I also type out words that are keywords. So typically I'll put Joplin extensions, healthy hair extensions, hair extensions and Joplin, you know, like keywords like that Someone would be searching if they were trying to find you, and then I swipe those words down off the screen in the bottom right-hand corner and hide them. But Instagram is working almost like a search engine now, so you can go to the search bar and type in you know, hair extensions, joplin and my reels will pop up, because I have been hiding keywords in the videos and then also in the caption by writing meaningful captions and explaining in detail what's happening in the video. Or you know the journey the person took, or you know just giving some value to your clients. That is very meaningful and Instagram likes a juicy, meaningful caption.
Speaker 2:
So by going on there and just putting you know oh, awesome hair extensions, come see me you're probably not gonna get seen by very many people. But if you say, you know, my friend Nicole came in and you know she had suffered hair loss from postpartum, we did one row and you know this is a year later, but we finally got to ditch the one row. Her natural hair has recovered. She's, you know, grown her hair out. It looks amazing. It's healthy and thick again. You know, putting someone's journey or putting the exact process that you go through on something. It can be time consuming to create these reels, but if you block out your time and you're intentional and you can schedule these posts or maybe you just do it every morning at you know, 7 am or whatever, like you have your time, you block it out and you get it done and by doing that you are getting seen more. Instagram bumps up your views more and you can really get put in front of people who are looking for services in your area. So it's a huge tool and when you use a social media like a tool, it will absolutely grow your business.
Speaker 2:
But, like I said, make sure that you have the online booking ready to go. So whenever they do find you, they have a called action, they have a way to, you know, slide into your DMs or they can click the link in your bio and go book or you know. However you prefer to book them. But online booking is so important because a lot of times people are searching late at night and they want a way to book right away. They don't want to have to wait until the morning or until Tuesday when you return to work. They want to book right then and you will get way more people in your chair if they have the opportunity to book online versus if they have to call you.
Speaker 2:
People don't even want to call people anymore. They want to book online. So, anyways, I hope that this was helpful and I hope that it added value and it gives you some hope, gives you some direction and gets you excited about building that clientele. If you have any questions, feel free to find me at smart, wealthy stylist on Instagram and I would be glad to help guide you through anything additional. Or if you have any questions about what I said today, I would love to help you out. So I hope you guys have a great day and I will talk to you next week.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening in today. If you have a burning question or a topic you want me to cover, leave a review and ask the question in the review. This is the best way to get your questions answered. Just remember you are a smart, wealthy stylist and you are capable of anything you set your mind to. I'll catch you later, Don't be a stranger.