Your Salon Social Media Content Is Your Marketing

December 6, 2023Nina KovnerGROW

Your content is your marketing

Every photo, video, caption, like, comment, and share is connecting you to your salon clients or disconnecting you from them. When you have clarity of your salon brand story, you also simplify your salon content creation.

Aligning your social media marketing with this narrative is the key to resonating with your target audience or what we call ‘brand people’. This alignment goes beyond aesthetics or your brand identity; it’s a strategic choice that extends to how you price your services and products. By understanding this intricate web, you’ll gain clarity, allowing you to make informed and aligned decisions and navigate building and growing your salon brand with purpose.

Let’s look at an example of content, context, and aligning that with your salon brand. The image below is my sweet baby Courage. This picture could have several different meanings, thus, it’s important to provide “context” which in this example would be a caption.

I decided for this example to make this a message about our Salon Animal Agreement, or what some would call a policy. I prefer the word Agreement as it indicates shared responsibility, versus being a one-sided rule, which we all know how most folks feel about rules, lol. Ok, back to the lesson. So the context here is the caption, which is written in alignment with our salon brand story, and uses our Content Framework below;

Content Framework
1. Who is this content for?
2. What problem is this content solving?
3. How does this content add value for the clients, teams, or tenants I serve or want to serve?
4. What feeling do I want to inspire?
5. Is this content aligned with my brand story?
6. What result or action am I seeking?

Now, if I was feeling resentful, in a rush, and didn’t have clarity of my brand story, I may instead post something like the example on the right below.
How did the message on the left feel versus the message on the right? It matters because your current and potential future salon clients are listening.

This is just one of many tools and strategies inside the Creating Your Awesome Brand, a complete course for beauty professionals. Because when you have clarity around your salon brand, you have a strong foundation to make more aligned decisions, save a ton of time, money, and energy, and feel more confidence, courage, and joy. Click here to learn more.

Much love, in service to you-

Nina

Going To A Salon Isn’t A Luxury, Going To A Luxury Salon Is A Luxury

November 28, 2023Nina KovnerGROW

Your experience is your brand

In the awesome landscape of the beauty industry, you don’t just provide a service; you create an experience.

Understanding your brand story, and market position, helps you create experiences that are aligned with your brand, business model, objectives, and desired outcomes. Your brand story is the foundation from which you make all of your decisions for your salon, and clarity is the first step to simplifying your decision-making so you have more time for joy!

There are many different brand positions – from bougie luxury to the accessibility of value brands. Understanding where your salon fits into this spectrum is essential to help you create your brand story. Understanding your salon’s story, business model, and market position isn’t merely a strategic exercise; it’s the essence of creating an authentic connection with your clients, teams, and tenants (renters).

Your brand story isn’t just about the services you offer; it’s about the problems you solve and the emotions, values, and experiences you evoke. It’s the thread that weaves through every cut, every color, and every client interaction. Aligning your marketing with this narrative is the key to resonating with your target audience or what we call ‘brand people’. This alignment goes beyond aesthetics or your brand identity; it’s a strategic choice that extends to how you price your services and products. By understanding this intricate web, you’ll gain clarity, allowing you to make informed and aligned decisions and navigate building and growing your salon brand with purpose.

It’s super important to dispel the misconception that all salons are synonymous with luxury. The beauty industry caters to a diverse clientele with varied preferences and budgets which is awesome. Whether you’re a luxury salon offering high-value pampering or a value brand creating accessibility, each has its place and purpose. Your salon brand is a reflection of your values and the experiences you deliver, creating a space where individuals, regardless of budget constraints, can indulge in feeling and looking more beautiful.

This is just one of many tools and strategies inside the Creating Your Awesome Brand, a complete course for beauty professionals. Because when you have clarity around your brand, you have a strong foundation to make more aligned decisions, save a ton of time, money, and energy, and feel more confidence, courage, and joy. Click here to learn more.

Much love, in service to you-

Nina

Two Simple Ways To Keep Your Salon Clients Coming Back To You

November 17, 2023Nina KovnerGROW

Consistency builds trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships build referrals. Refferals can be retained when you deliver awesome experiences consistently.

In 2023 and beyond, your salon clients are looking for more value, and to know you care about them. They have so many choices, and one of the reasons they choose you, again and again, is because they feel like they matter. That along with the experience you deliver, how that experience is aligned with what they care about and value, and clear, consistent communication.

Telling your salon clients you care is not enough. You must show them. And the truth is, it’s really simple to do that, particularly now that nearly every salon software program and booking app has these capabilities for you. And if you are not sure what is available to you, contact your salon software platform or booking app and ask them.

Two ways you can show your clients you care is in your post-experience follow-up communications.

Post-Experience Thank You Message
This is an awesome way to say thank you and invite your salon clients to share their experiences on your primary review and referral platform such as Google or Yelp.

Salon Client Check-In Message
This is a real game-changer. It is inevitable that your client won’t pre-book their next experience with you for whatever reason and some just ‘fall off your books’. Each week, or month, you simply run a report that shows which of your salon clients are outside their regular maintenance schedule, and you reach out. This not only shows them you care, it gets them back into your chair. One of our clients, who owns two employment-based salons, runs this report and sends this message every week. In less than a year this one action generated over $100K in new appointment revenue. Yes,  you read that right.

The truth is long-term growth happens when you execute the fundamentals consistently. And salon client care and communications are fundamental to building and growing an awesome salon business and brand.

This is just one of many tools and strategies inside the Creating Your Awesome Brand, a complete course for beauty professionals. Because when you have clarity around your brand, you have a strong foundation to make more aligned decisions, save a ton of time, money, and energy, and feel more confidence, courage, and joy. Click here to learn more.

Much love, in service to you-

Nina

The First Passion Squared blog March 2012 hd

5 Truths of Turning A Passion Into A Brand

November 7, 2023Nina KovnerGROW

Small business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the patient and the persistent. It’s for the overcomer. Unknown 

This blog was originally written on  March 26, 2017, the day we celebrated our 5-year birthday at Passion Squared. As I was working on another project, I came across it and wanted to share a little update with you, as we approach year 12!

Years 6-8 were pretty awesome and then came the pandemic. I’ve never worked harder, or more hours, in my life for our clients during that time, and with the loss of so many of my most cherished loved ones, I fell into a deep, dark depression. Grief is hard, complex grief and trauma, are really hard. This made years 9, 10, and 11 the most difficult years at Passion Squared and that leads us to today.

I’ve never felt more hopeful, and continue to be incredibly grateful for our clients and community. I just poured my decades of brand development experience into a new course our industry has never had before and one that is needed, Creating Your Awesome Brand, a complete course for beauty professionals. This course brings the missing context salons and hairdressers need, to better understand how to communicate, market, and lead, to find more clarity, confidence, and courage, and to say goodbye to the comparison, confusion, and chaos that has plagued our precious salon industry as long as I’ve been in it.

You see, I’ve worked with thousands of salon pros, from employment-based salon owners to lease-based salon owners, to independents, and the problems, are almost always the same. Having clarity around your brand story is the solution to nearly every problem, and is the foundation for making decisions for your salon business. You need this. Our industry needs this. Click here to learn more and get started.

Original Post March 26, 2017
Five years feels both so very long and so very short. My first and only career lasted 25 years. My life, 50 years as of this writing. But there is just something about creating a business from scratch and reaching this milestone that is giving me all the feels, something I know all small biz owners can relate to.

How did we get here? It’s a simple story quite honestly, but far from easy. Actually, it was and continues to be, hard AF. The obvious is passion. But, and here is a big BUT, you can be passionate as all get out, and never turn that passion into a brand. It takes more. Way more. A lot more!

Courage
This comes first cause without this; we will never start. I gave up everything. Sold everything. Sacrificed everything. Do you need to do the same? Not at all. But no matter how you slice it, you gotta dig deep for the courage to take the road less traveled. To risk everything. To walk from failure to failure with grace. Courage will keep you going when you want to quit. There are still days I want to quit. But I don’t. And you don’t have to either.

Clarity
There was never a doubt of what business we were in and why we were in it. From day ONE. Clarity allows you to make decisions, build strategies, stick to plans, and most importantly, not become distracted by the latest, greatest fad. Know what business you are in, and more importantly, WHY you are in it. Gain a deep understanding of your purpose, promise, and people. That is the foundation of an awesome brand.

Commitment
Building a brand around the social + digital web in 2012 was not the most brilliant of ideas. We were too early, like 4 years too early. But knowing that business was changing, forever, and our belief in the social + digital web as a means of empowering small business was so strong, we stayed committed. No, after no, after NO. Most people are committed only for as long as it’s easy. It’s never easy. Which is where commitment comes in. Commit. And take action. And commit again. Adjust your strategy but never your vision or purpose.

Consistency
Once you have committed, now comes the even harder part, consistency. And I do not mean consistency as in never changing, boring, status quo stuff, nope. I mean consistency of purpose, vision, message, voice, of focus, of story and of simply showing up every damn day. A big part of our success has been simply; consistency.

Community
Without relationships and a tribe, we got nothing. From community comes clients, from clients comes revenue, and from revenue comes the ability to create more value for your community. Simple in theory, but not easy in execution. Building relationships takes time and good intentions. If you think you are going to make something and all of a sudden the world is going to start calling you, it just ain’t so.

You see, I didn’t just fall into creating brands and businesses. Nope, I had a long, awesome, and very successful career as a leader, marketer and educator. I spent over two decades creating stuff for others, but I had never, created something of my own.

But on March 26th, 2012, I finally hit the LIVE button; on our website, newsletter and social pages. OMG! I totally wanted to throw up. You feel me?

Passion Squared began with a vision of empowerment and engagement. Myself and my former biz partner saw something that we believed could “change everything” for creative small businesses. But nobody would listen. We had some pretty turbulent times, and every day came with at least one WTF moment, well, actually, a ton of them.

Early on, my biz partner decided to move on, and I was left with what to do next. I began again, from zero, about 1-½ years in. Throwing in the towel was on my mind, almost on the daily. But how could I throw away something I believed in so deeply? How could I throw away the idea of waking up each day empowering the people I loved? I just couldn’t.

Pushing my ego aside, I got back to work. And worked, and worked, and created, and showed up, and delivered value, and built relationships, and community and… finally, one day, it all clicked (pun intended, kinda).

Here is what the first few years of Passion Squared looked like;
Daily blogs
Daily newsletters
Daily Facebook engaging
Daily Instagram engaging
Monthly webinars
Weekly vlogs
Online Courses

This was my strategy. I did not create an Internet marketing funnel. I did not take any Internet marketing courses, I did not need to. If I knew nothing else, I knew how to build a brand, a community, and how to market. It’s what I did my entire career and quite successfully. But, what I also did was stay true to my purpose, and promise, and that was infusing personal development into everything I did. Every course I created. Every piece of content. As one thing I know for sure, MOST of what gets in the way of creative small biz owners after all the stuff, is confidence. And that is an inside job. It requires self-awareness, therapy, losing the notion of perfectionism, setting healthy boundaries, processing traumas, and dropping the co-dependency bullshit.

As the community was built, I built more online courses and offered one on one coaching. I created more products and services that I knew would add value to my community. I wrote a book and sold lots of them, and helped a lot of people in doing so. I created A School, by far the most awesome service I ever created, and to this day, my greatest pride and joy. As our A School Members remind me on the daily WHY I started and WHY I stay.

I got into a ton of debt, took side jobs as needed, and even worked a few hours a week for $15/hour, after making millions as a big executive. And I did all this for two reasons; to save my life, and to live my purpose by empowering the people I love.

You see, I never, ever thought I would leave my career. I had not planned on it, not ever. Money has never had much value to me, so I did not have a nest egg significant enough to last me the early years of not generating revenue. But I persisted. And never gave up.

And here we are. This is not a unique story. This is all of our stories. And this is mine. Today, I can breathe. I can wake up each day knowing I have one job, and that is to help people by empowering you to create your own kind of awesome.

To our beloved tribe, thank you for 5 awesome years of passion + awesome. And while this is a milestone that I am proud AF of, we still have so much work to do! Heeeere weeeee go!

Love + Awesomeness-

Nina

PS: We made a little love note for you to say thank you. For reals. Watch it. THANK YOU!

 

Passion Squared Fifty Six Wisdoms at 56(1)

Fifty Six Wisdoms at 56

October 7, 2022Nina KovnerGROW, MY TRUTH

              Be where your feet are

On October 9th, I turn 56 and per usual, I am deep in my feelings. You see, I should not have made it this far, and honestly, I never imagined I would. However, I believe in a higher power and purpose and do not take lightly that there’s a reason. Whatever the reason is, I do my best each day to wake up with gratitude and continue to love, support, and serve those in my care.

Last year, I wrote a list of 55 Wisdoms (and recorded a podcast with my bestie!), and this year, while I attempted to write a new list for 56, the truth is, the new list sounded much like last year’s so I’ve added one more and am sharing this list with you, again.

My intention in sharing this is for you to feel seen, understood, and loved. And just maybe, something on this list will help you feel more joy.

Take what resonates, and leave the rest. And if you feel someone would find value in this list too, please share.

Fifty Six Wisdoms at 56

1.  Be where your feet are.
2. The power is in the pause.
3. Perfectionism is a myth. So is balance.
4. Find your rhythm.
5. Your rhythm will change like the tides. Surrender to it.
6. Cherish folks while they’re still here.
7. Make time for the shit that matters. Everything doesn’t matter equally.
8. The journey is short and quick.
9. Do the inside work as early as you can so you can feel more joy while you’re here.
10. Prioritize your “someday I’ll…”
11. Real confidence comes with self-awareness and experience.
12. People are complicated.
13. Allow others to have their own experience.
14. Give yourself and others grace.
15. Love is the foundation and compassion, and empathy are the walls.
16. Some days, weeks, months, years and decades are gonna be rough, hold on.
17. Release the resentment yet hold on to the lesson.
18. Compassionately honest has a more positive influence and impact than brutally honest.
19. Never stop caring.
20. Integrity can get lonely at times. Have it anyways.
21. Remind yourself often why you get up in the morning.
22. You are worthy of feeling joy.
23. Listen more than you talk.
24. You can be humble and also confident.
25. Blaming and shaming affect your own self-esteem.
26. Try to stay out of judgment. And when you go there, ask yourself why.
27. Lead with love.
28. Healthy boundaries build confidence and save a fuck ton of time and angst.
29. If you’re angry, take a time out, go within, and sort it out.
30. Most folks are scared.
31. You don’t know everything and you never will.
32. It’s ok to say I don’t know.
33. People will break your heart. Don’t let it harden you.
34. Tell people you love them, often.
35. You are not broken, you are a perfectly imperfect human.
36. You can’t un-ring a bell. Think before you speak.
37.  Self-awareness comes with desire, curiosity, and time.
38. Stop waiting for the apology, it likely will never come.
39. Do the work upstream and spend less time fixing shit downstream.
40. It’s almost never about you.
41. Humans are inherently selfish.
42. Be generous with your gifts.
43. Your journey is yours to travel, design accordingly.
44. Not everyone is gonna understand you.
45. Some people are mean. Be kind anyway.
46. Life is hard. Business is hard. It’s all hard.
47. Managing your own expectations is the hardest.
48. You have no control over experiences outside of yourself.
49. Focus on what you can control (YOU!)
50. Daily gratitude lists help us with perspective
51. You can be grateful and also sad, angry, depressed
52. Do everything possible to retain a beginner’s mind
53. Your purpose + value are not tied to your productivity
54. Slow down enough to catch the magical moments
55. All folks really want is to be seen, heard, and loved. And that is not hard to do.
56. You can change your mind and perspective when you get new information, however, only if you care enough to do so.

I would never have made it here without you. It is an honor and privilege of a lifetime to empower you to make more aligned decisions and feel more joy in your journey. Thank you for your trust, support, and love.

With love, a fuck ton of gratitude, and in service to you-
Nina (they/them) @passionsquared

PS: One wish that I do have this year is that give generously, through your time, actions, or money, to support vulnerable and marginalized communities. They need us. They need our compassion, empathy, and understanding now more than ever. Thank you.