Creating success is much easier when you’re doing the things you love, today many stylists don’t realize, that thanks to social media, you don't have to get the guests you get, you can get the guests you want. In the past in our industry, as it is still today, it was hard to build a clientele or business for ourselves, but unlike in the past, today we can better define ourselves by sharing our work. Sharing our work advertises our strengths and talents and attracts the guests we want - we can use a simple make-over to make-over our business. What kind of business do we want? How do we get them? How do we make sure we aren’t stuck again with either not enough business or business we don't want?

It makes me laugh when I speak with friends and fellow salon professionals and they mention that they wish they had a different clientele or more guests. I usually ask, “What would you like?” The answer almost universally is, “…more fun, stylish/trendy guests or better clients.” What is "better?" And, what causes the clients to be less fun and not stylish?  Maybe it's not the clients that are the challenge, maybe it's how and who we’re attracting as a business? I always think if I'm not getting the right guests, am I using the right bait to catch them?

Use MAKEOVERS to define your brand - let people know what you’re best at, get guests that already love you (before they sit in your chair for the first time), do more of the work you love and create the business YOU want.

The mistake that is made, including by myself before I figured out branding techniques, is that in life, as in business (and even with a great makeover), it is not how much is changed, it’s knowing what needs to be changed that’s important. A new fringe, a different part or even a subtle shift from warm to cool might be the transformational key in taking someone from dull to beautiful and bright. In business it’s the same, it might be learning why your accent color on the wall of the salon needs more thought than “it’s my favorite color.” 

For good business, we need to understand how to create the same experiences in the salon, whether guests’ eyes are open, closed, relaxed or daydreaming. For existing guests, we need to be true to what our brand stands for, and for new or potential guests, we need our brand to WOW and grab them instantly. It doesn’t matter how they landed in the chair – word of mouth, walked pasted the salon or saw an image/ad, with the right makeover you turn heads.

A makeover should not be viewed by the client or stylist as personal, it's just someone not being seen at his or her full potential. When you think about it, a before isn’t “ugly,” the client just hasn’t been packaged or branded correctly, yes? Because when you get right down to it, the beauty is there, it just needs to be highlighted.

I remember when we opened our last salon and my mom was looking at one of the images of a model we shot for a promotion. She saw it on the table because it caught her eye and she picked it up, looked at it carefully and said to me, “You know if I got this I wouldn’t come to your salon.” I smiled and said, “Mom, I’m not looking for guests like you to come to our salon.”  If you ever look at your book the night before and wish different guests were coming in...click the link below and sign up to learn how to use Makeovers That Makeover Your Business.  

I’m sharing two “Makeovers That Makeover Your Business” classes/experiences this year that are open to all salon professionals, regardless of the products used in the salon.  August 12-13th 2013 in Santa Monica and October 14-15th in Baltimore. Seating is limited, visit goldwellkmscalifornia.cvent.com/academy to attend.