When we posted the joke/quote above on our Facebook page back in June, it seemed either nobody got it or did not think it was very funny. Ah, the perils of learning what your community responds to. Anyway, we still think its hilarious and discovered this awesome Instagram Cheat Sheet, perfect for all you hipsters out there obsessed with this platform as much as we are. Enjoy.
(image discovered on Google)
Lets play on Instagram, you can follow us @passionsquared. We would love to follow you back and watch how you are using Instagram to showcase your art, your business and of course, your awesome life.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“Think left, think right and think low and think high. Oh the thinks you can think up if you only try!”
Dr. Seuss
Why Pinterest?
With all the social platforms available for us to engage on, Pinterest is one that has not taken off in our industry as much as others. Yet Pinterest is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website or blogsite and to become more discoverable on the web, just by being creative. And more traffic to your website can mean more new clients. Hmmmm.
Hair + Beauty Rule
What is alarming, very much like we see on YouTube, is some of the most popular boards on Pinterest are Hair & Beauty boards, NOT created by beauty professionals. Just people passionate about hair. Hey wait, isn’t that you? Well yes, but if you are not on Pinterest sharing your passion for hair, then how can you become discoverable? Think about it.
Two of the top 15 most popular pins ever on Pinterest are nails and hair. One mom, Elizabeth Van Essen , who is not a hairdresser, had one of her how-to hair videos liked 7341 times, repinned 32,620 times with 99 comments. She has an entire website called Babes In Hairland dedicated to hair how-to’s. It may be something you want to take a look at if you are interested in Pinterest for your salon.
Is Pinterest for You?
Are we saying everyone should be on Pinterest? No. But what we are saying is if you have specific goals and want to drive more traffic to your website, to become more discoverable on the web to attract new clients, this may be the perfect platform for you to engage in.
Of course, when they get to your website or blogsite, you must be sure they can easily take some type of action. Such as the ability to see your salon through pictures, browse your services and prices, and most importantly, can they make a reservation online.
If you are looking to better understand the Power of Pinterest for your salon or business, we have a super cool webinar recording on our YouTube channel PassionSquaredTV. If you are currently on Pinterest, we would love to follow your boards. You can follow us by clicking here.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.”
Michael J. Fox
Meet The Teals, a beautiful family of uber talented artists, educators plus one fantastic photographer.
Ryan, Deannalyn and their daughter Tuesday (who just graduated from beauty school!) are by far one of the coolest families in our industry. What makes The Teals so awesome? They are authentic, kind, creative and have turned their passion for hair into a successful family business. Ryan and Deannalyn are masters of long hairdressing, and won the NAHA Salon Team of the Year in 2008.
Passion Squared: What are your current goals as a salon owner?
Tuesday Teal: The current goals that our salon has set are specific; we make them detailed so that we have more to work toward. For us we want a balance and rhythm of our guests to be happy, as well as to be continually growing.
We are working toward a specific number of friends on social media places. Our newest project is we want as much local traffic as we can. We have local only cards that give everyone in the area a chance to come in a meet us.
Passion Squared: Which social platform are you focusing on to reach that goal?
Tuesday Teal: Well I think that the best way to make friend is by shaking hands. You have to be real. If you are trying to just get random people in your chair that you don’t care about, this is not the industry for you. I like social media because it’s so easy to keep in touch!
Facebook is amazing because you can talk to people and they get nice comments about their hair.
I also love Instagram because there is not a lot of talking just pictures. The fun part is whatever you post is cool no matter what it is. Funny things in the salon are even funnier on Instagram.
The results of using Instagram and Facebook are fantastic; our clients love watching our lives play out.
Passion Squared: What did you do with those platforms?
Ryan Teal: One thing I did was to let my teenage daughter handle most of the social media. I don’t feel like any thing I do is super interesting mainly because I came from a pre-computer generation.
Tuesday, my daughter, grew up with Facebook and knows how to have what I call the Facebook face, which says “we are always having fun and everything we do is great.” For me everything we do is great I just didn’t think any one cares. But I guess they do?!?!?!
Passion Squared: What have the results been?
Ryan Teal: According to our Google Analytics we had 111 visits to our salon website in the month of September. 105 of those visits were new visits. We also have recently claimed our YELP page and have become more active promoting YELP. Two weeks ago, we had 4 new clients call in just one day who found us on YELP.
In my opinion that kind of return is amazing. A business card is typically 2 inch by 3 inches so very little can be printed on it. How many people can you hand out a card to in a month? I feel like spending more time & money on the social media side and less on the traditional advertising side, it’s the only way to grow your business in our new world.
You can find the The Teals traveling the country at shows sharing their passion for hair, at their super cool salon in Portland, Oregon and on the social platforms they play on.
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”
Chinese Proverb
In the world of the social + digital web, many of us are still unsure of how to engage for our business on social platforms in terms of “context”.
The Definition of Context
n. Context
1. The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.
2. The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting.
You may have seen the graphic around the web using donuts (doughnuts), but we found this super fun explanation of the context of engaging on social platforms using bacon (for our vegetarian and vegan friends, click here for the donut edition).
Now its your turn. Using this graphic as a guide, try putting your business into context. Try it, you will be amazed how much you really know and understand about the context of engaging on the different social platforms you use for your business. Ready. Set. TRY!
Once you have created yours for your business, we would love if you shared them on our Facebook page or via email.
A big thank you to Corey Smith for creating this awesome and easy to understand graphic, and for putting engaging on the social web in context.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
PS: We use the term “social web” vs. “social media” as we believe this revolution is a global movement to engage and connect to world, it’s not just about media. The web is about “we”, while media is about “me”. We choose WE.
“Excuses don’t make things better. Excuses only offer a rationale to avoid trying.”
Simon Sinek
Marketing is the activity and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging products and services that have value for customers, clients, and society. So, yes, we are all marketers, whether we own a salon or are a beauty professional. How cool is that?
You may have heard about the 4 P’s of Marketing at some point, we actually believe there are 6. Yes, we added 2, why? Because we think they are the most important parts of the marketing mix.
The 4 P’s of Marketing plus our 2 P’s
1. Product (service)
2. Place (salon)
3. Price (price points of product/service)
4. Promotion (how you will promote product/service)
5. People (you, your team, your clients)
6. Passion (you got this, yay!)
Yet many times, we hear people say, I’m an artist, not a business person. I’m creative, not a sales person. Well guys, the fact is, marketing is all about art + creativity, so congrats, you are a marketer.
Here is a super cool infographic on Facebook Marketing. So, no more excuses, its time to jump in and start trying.
If you want to learn more about marketing in the social + digital space, or just how to better market your salon, we offer one-on-one coaching and mentoring to help you craft an effective and engaging plan. Click here to learn more about our services. We look forward to helping you achieve your dreams, and yes, to become a better marketer.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas, Nina + Gordon)
