Changing the Conversation

It's funny, change is hard and as it is discussed in the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” change can cause some pretty predictable human responses. Some people see the change coming (sniff), others adapt quickly (scurry), many deny and resist out of fear (hem), and some just need time to make sure they see something better (haw).

Right now our industry is in full on immersion with Social Networking, if we aren't affecting it, it’s affecting us. The Social Network, at this point has affected every salon in the world in some way, from building our business through new digital word of mouth to new non-professionals sharing beauty and fashion ideas. Have you heard of Bethany Mota? All of this is amazing, but as with new technologies and societal changes, with the good comes the bad, and until it is discussed nothing can change.  

As many of you know, I had an experience after watching a “How To” video that at the time had 1.2 million views, it now has 1.5 million. In the video, the young, non-professional lady (she later says her sister is a hairdresser) does a "How-To" sharing how she used professional products to color her hair and the information was not safe. The problem with videos like this is that they are distributed as a “How To” and are telling you “How To” do something that they are not qualified to do.

We need to change the conversation as an industry and raise the awareness of the CORRECT way to do techniques like these by making our own videos and providing safe information from accredited individuals to keep beauty safe!  We need to change the conversation on social networks and become the go-to for our community again. By partnering together we can let salon professionals voices be heard as we take back our social network and use it to keep beauty safe!

How do you do this? Here's my five point plan:

1. Stop complaining about these videos and change the conversation to safety.
2. Make our own videos that help our guests and keep beauty safe!
3. Show ideas that guests can do at home such as styling tricks and techniques. For example, post an emergency fringe trim “How To” for when guests are on a trip and can’t get to the salon.
4. Communicate that what we do is special and takes training. It’s not just the paint, it’s the painter that creates a beautiful image and like tattooing, surgery, or even a do it yourself back massage, there are some things that should be left to professionals because they can’t be properly done to yourself at home.
5. Share that looking great helps create success – it’s the best way to make a good impression and as salon professionals we are trained to make people look great.