What does branding yourself actually mean? Think about your favorite brand – Pepsi, Starbucks, Nike, OPI, Target, Wella, etc. Now think about why this is your favorite brand.
If it’s Pepsi, you like the flavor or the variety of products. If it’s Nike you like the design and the clothing is comfortable. If your favorite brand is Target, you like the selection, friendliness of staff, or that you can get a coffee while you shop. We all have our favorite products and services that we choose for different reasons.
With this in mind, how will you create YOUR BRAND to make your customers want to come back and recommend their friends to you. Will it be your personality, your specialty, or your million dollar hand & arm massage? Each Hairstylist, Nail Technician, or Esthetician has their own specialty. If you specialize in hair color, your customers may say “Go to my girl for your color, she’s amazing!” If you specialize in nail art, you’ll notice that you’ll get more returning customers wanting nail art.
Let your personality shine and look your best! This will also set you apart. Having a good stylist is one thing, but having a winning personality will make customers want to come back to see you for a great haircut and great conversation. Imagine if our hair stylist had a negative attitude and dressed like a slob, it wouldn’t make us want to go back to them.
Those ideas take care of what to do once you have customers in your chair, but how do we get them into the salon? Referrals are amazing, but you also need to take initiative to getting new customers. Your salon may do marketing for the salon as a whole, but you are still in business for yourself. Ways to get more customers to come to you include social media, networking with others in the industry, running promotions through your salon for new customers, handing out promotional cards, or volunteering your time at local events in order to meet other people and give back to your community.
The more active you are in promoting yourself, the busier you will stay!