Welcome back to Part 2 of things you DIDN’T learn in hair school! In Part 1, we talked about customer service, how to be profitable, professionalism, and money management. This week, I want to talk more about one of the biggest things that I did’t learn in hair school: how to market yourself and book clients!
We cover social media, branding, and marketing in ALL of our classes at Harper Ellis! We believe that teaching you how to book hair extensions clients is just as important (if not MORE important) than learning a method. After all, you can be the best stylist in the world, but if you don’t know how to market yourself effectively, you won’t make any money.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Let’s be real: we learn something new about social media every single day! We all know that social media changes fast. We’ve seen marketing on social media change so much from just posting on Facebook to making little squares on Instagram to making TikToks and Reels!
One of the best tips we can give you for social media is to STAY ACTIVE! The more active you are on social media, the more you’ll be able to keep up with the changes and trends. Don’t give up, and don’t bog yourself with too many rules about how much to post, when to post, and what to post. Set aside an 30 minutes to an hour a day to edit photos, schedule posts, write captions, research hashtags, and analyze how your posts are performing. Engage with your followers, answer comments and DMs, and maybe say hey to everyone on your Instagram Stories!
MARKETING
I don’t know about you guys, but when I was in hair school, no one taught me anything about marketing myself! And guess what? When you’re working behind the chair, no one but YOU is making sure you have clients on your books!
To market yourself well as a stylist, it’s crucial to have a plan. Do you want to start an email list or Facebook group to keep your clients up to date on openings, updated pricing, etc? Do you want to collect their phone numbers so you can send mass texts about special discounts on products? Do you want to create a strong social media presence where you offer tips and advice for maintaining and styling your hair? What about gifts for your clients after every appointment to keep them referring their friends and coming to you?
There are a million ways to market yourself. Sit down and create a plan! “Strategy” may sound intimidating, but you do need to get creative and strategize to become the incredible stylist you want to be!
BRANDING
When you think of a brand, what do you think about? Is it a logo, particular colors, or a certain tagline? Those are all aspects of a brand, but when it comes to being a hairstylist, your brand includes so much more than your name in a nice font!
As a stylist, your brand is on every client who sits in your chair! Every style you create, every color, every extensions installation . . . they all become part of your brand. How you photograph your work, how you treat your clients, how you talk about your work on social media are all part of your brand, too!
Our favorite tip? Define your brand by what you want people to think of when they think of you. Do you want them to see a flawless icy blonde and wonder if you did it? Do you want them to see perfect beach waves and think of you? Do you want them to tell their friends about how sweet you are while you work on their color?
Take some time to think about how you want to be perceived. How will you make that happen?
If you’re ready to dive deeper into the business side of being a stylist, maybe our next Masterclass is right for you! We cover all of these topics and more. You’ll even have small group breakout sessions with Terra and our marketing and branding experts!
And of course, we also touch on everything here during our in-person classes and in our online certification program! At Harper Ellis Hair Co., we believe in giving stylists a complete education, not just a method!