One of the great benefits of owning your own business within the Salon Suite Concept is the ability to set your own hours, prices and services. This freedom gives you the ability to create a higher income level than working in a traditional salon. Salon suite leasing concepts such as Salons by JC offers you the opportunity to create an atmosphere that is unique to you and your clients. As an independent operator it is your responsibility to market and promote your business. To help promote your business for the long run you need to understand the 3 key elements of success:

• How to define your personal brand
• How to understand and use all the marketing tools available
• How to create advertising options to find new guests

So how do you create a personal brand and market your services? Let’s see…..

Creating your personal brand

Branding will totally take your beauty career to the next level. A brand is your distinct graphic image, business name, logo and or image that helps define and differentiate you from the other businesses in your market. How do you create those images and logos? Well first let’s start by defining your brand….

• Understand your strengths and specialty

Discover and capture what you love doing best…..work and focus on your strengths. Operating from what you love doing best will bring you more joy, increase your income and develop your brand

• Understand your market

Who is your core customer? You have the ability to work with kids and older people but if your bread and butter is women from 20-50 then keep your brand focus there

• Know your values

Making decisions in business is easier and potentially safer if you have an understanding of your values and mission. Keep those values front and center in all you do

• Understand your product

Are you a colorist or do you focus on bridal parties and updos. Regardless of your product make sure and focus your brand in that direction for consistency and messaging in your marketing materials

• Create your image

Finally…begin to craft your message and your professional image by focusing on personal attributes and characteristics that stand out from the crowd. Eventually you will need to create a photo and color palette that  represents you and can be translated into your room, business cards, website, print materials and most importantly your social media accounts.

An excellent place to start the learning process is by meeting with the owner or manger of your business location. Salon suite concepts such as Salons by JC offer advice and to tools through their signature concierge services. Lets looks at several ways to give your business a lift….

• Business name and logo creation

The best place to start is to consider your business name and logo. As you know now….your personal brand needs a visual identity and you can achieve that with a business name that fits that. A great place to learn about logo creation is on Pinterest. You will get great ideas and tips to build from scratch an cheap. A resource we recommend as well is www.logo.com

• Business Cards

Once you have a business name, logo, and contact information you can easily create business cards to promote your brand. One of your best resources here for inexpensive business cards is www.vistaprint.com

• Social Media

You will have several options to consider when using social media to promote your business. I recommend that you consider at least one of the following:

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Instagram

               Make sure that your accounts are linked to the salon suite website and                     

               your directory.

• Online booking systems

This is a great tool and often free!  Systems such as StyleSeat can promote and manage your business. Even if you elect to not use the custom features the free site can act as a website on your directory and ensure that everyone can find you.

• Room Customization

Another overlooked area can be your actual place of business. Make sure and take time to plan your room look in a way that makes sense with your business name, logo, and social media pages. Your colors and style should be consistent.

Custom Room At Salons by JC

Marketing to keep and get new business

There are a lot of great ways to retain your current clients and if needed acquire new clients for your business. They range from the inexpensive (text messages) to the very expensive (postcards).

Text messaging and email messaging are great ways to stay in contact with your current guests. You can also purchase phone numbers and emails to attract new guests but remember that those response rates can be very low. Certainly the statistics show that this method can be productive and there are several companies that can help. One you may consider is constantcontact.com or mailchimp.com.  They have predesigned templates where you can add your own images and logos.

Did you know that…..

A more expensive and complicated way to reach out to new guests is through direct mail. Direct mail can come in several forms:

• Post cards where you provide the addresses
• Coupon mailers such as Valpak and Moneymailer where they mail to areas you designate

Both methods take time to plan and generally give response rates that are less than 3%. The best way to boost the response is with aggressive offers and too purchase lists of consumers who are in your target demographic. One great place to start is the US Post Office at www.everydoordirectmail.com

Using Photo-shoots to your advantage

Another significant way to market your business is through photo-shoots and placement of your work in magazines, blogs, and newspapers. Here is how you start:

• Find a professional photographer who works with models/people
• Find models or use your clients and obtain model releases
• Build your portfolio
• Connect with beauty magazines and style books and submit your work
• Research your market for local style bloggers and beauty editors to highlight your work and business

Plan and Track

Finally…we strongly encourage you set a budget and plan your advertising for at least 6 months out. During an advertising event it’s a good idea to track the response rate and how much income was produced. Your concierge has forms you can use to track the results.

Drew Johnston, MA

Drew is the VP of Operations at Salons by JC an international salon suite concept that provides life-changing self-employment opportunities to beauty and wellness professionals. Drew can be reached at [email protected]