Social Media Policies Story: I have a close friend who lives a very “normal life.” Career. Kids. Suburbs. He’s opinionated but not obnoxious. At parties he never drinks too much. In fact, he’s really a fun guy most of the time, so long as you hang out with him in-person. But online, his opinions become amplified. He updates his status on Facebook. He Tweets. He posts blasting reviews on YELP! and CitySearch.com. And it is because of his online “tone” that my friend had recently been let go of his now-former job. He was fired for going against his company policy where it concerns social media.

I do hope he never reads this blog. I doubt that he will. He was always more of a give-information-guy than a learn-something-guy. He’s that one friend who would always tell me how harmless Twitter and Facebook was whenever I lectured him that these platforms were not his private platforms. We always argued about how he conducted himself online. (Maybe I secretly do hope that he reads this…?)

“I told her,” my friend would exclaim, after filling me in on one of his week-long tumultuous back and forth Facebook “conversations.” He had been arguing, via Facebook Timeline, with an ex-high school gal-pal. “And then I un-friended her!” And then he would dramatically swipe his index finger in the hair as if he became the Statue of Liberty, or liberty itself incarnate.

I don’t know if you are like my friend. He spends hours on Facebook and Twitter. But, to my friend, these two social media platforms offered him a place where he felt he could rant and fix people and save the world. Offline he would complain how nobody signed his last “Save the Wales” petition on Twitter. And yet he thought the person whom he lectured to on Facebook about racism in America would “think twice before ever making another comment like that one!” Reading his Tweets and viewing his online discussions on Facebook made me cringe. I don’t think he would ever be brave or rude enough to say some of the things he said in-person as he freely did online.

My recommendations to anyone who interacts with others online is to be exactly who you are on-line, as you would be at a party where you are the only blind person, white person, gay person, and Buddhist in the room. (My fired-friend would have a field day with that last sentence. He hates run-on sentences.)

When I couldn’t stand to see his Facebook outbursts his train-wreck Tweets anymore, I un-friended my friend on Facebook, and I Blocked him on Twitter. He didn’t speak to me for a month for doing that, which is so ironic; but I enjoyed a month’s worth of drama-free.

What exactly got my friend fired? It turns out that my friend inadvertently pissed off one of his company’s main clients. My friend took a very strong anti-religious stance to something someone said on Twitter and someone from one of his company’s affiliates was offended. I won’t go into details. But my friend made the mistake of thinking that his company would back him up on the issue he took umbrage with. They didn’t. His company fired him because he had always been very vocal about where he worked. What he should have done, in the first place, was to Tweet that his opinions were his and his alone. In fact, it should have been in his Twitter Bio Profile; especially if he was publically known to be in the employ of his former company. What his company should have done was to clearly make my friend, and all their other employees, understand and digest the Social Media Policies they already had in place.

We never want to hear anything negative about our business. Unfortunately, at some point it can happen. And it is legal. Think Yelp. But if you are a company who has employees who use social media platforms, you can help safeguard any negativity where it concerns them. You can help employees understand that what they “say” can be misconstrued and is permanent, as well as could be grounds for termination. Social Media Policies for your business are key to insuring keeping your business safe from onlin PR nightmares. Have a group meeting and go over every word of your policy with your staff.

There are many Online Social Media Policies available in Template form. Check out this one from: EricSchwartzman.com.

This Blog is an excerpt of the new eBook “Twitter for Salons & Spas: 10 minutes a day wins new clients and keep customers satified.” A book for every small business!

Sign up for the #SalonSpaChat Newsletter to recive this book for Free June 3rd at the first Twitter Chat!

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Social Media Managers

Like all people in the same industry, I hang out with a lot of Social Media Managers. We “get” each other. We all deal with businesses, friends, family, and co-workers who don’t understand Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Google+ like we do. Our “normal friends” don’t understand the necessity of keeping up with the times where it concerns online marketing. Most of my “normies” say they “just want to use Twitter to learn more stuff,” or “catch up with my friends on Facebook.” But the fact of the matter is that, although these platforms are “free,” they are, collectively and separately, big business. Almost every Social Media Platform uses your tweets, your posts, your pictures and your web-searches to gain information about your buying habits, where you live, how you live and how many kids you have. Social Media Managers, and myself, understand that Social Media is a business. And Social Media should be a part of your business plan.

I can wax philosophical on how Social Media may be harming society because people are losing their actual social skills. I have a friend whose daughter had a mental breakdown during her first year in college. This was because, in her parents and my opinion, the computer was the girl’s babysitter from 10 years old to adult. Although you may like to play on Facebook, and you may get information from Twitter, I do recommend that you spend more time interacting with people, in real-time, and in-person, rather than on Social Media Platforms. Social Media Managers can help you do that by taking over the amount of time you spend on Social Media Platforms. They can take over the business part of your interactions on Social Media Platforms.

Here’s the problem I have with Social Media Managers who are crappy:

1.            They can take advantage of a company that has no idea what Twitter or Social Media is let alone what it can do for their business.

2.            They don’t give weekly or monthly reports showing the business how the tweets they produced directed traffic to the client’s business website.

3.            They don’t fully explain to the business that it is the business’s job to provide all the “Tone,” “Information,” “Content,” “Business Specials,” “Business Specialties,” and the “PERSONALITY OF THE BUSINESS” TO the Social Media Manager.

None of my SM Manager friends are crappy. But their biggest problem with clients deals with Content. A business must provide the Social Media Manager with all the information that the SM Manager needs to create campaigns on Twitter. This includes a constant stream of imagery, photo’s, videos, Tweets, quotes, likes & dislikes, information about clients and employees, events, desk staff news, new products and specials. DO NOT THINK THAT A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER IS GOING TO DIG UP THIS INFORMATION FROM JUST YOUR WEBSITE: This information changes and needs to be kept fresh. Please don’t make my friends keep begging your business for content every month.

A good Social Media Manager can and should interact with “your” Twitter Followers, and a good SM Manager will be professional and keep the Twitter Conversations going.

My advice to every stylist, manicurist or business owner is to take over your Twitter account for three months. Only then will you understand how much content is needed and what content works for you and your personal or particular business. You can hire a Social Media Manager to do your posting and you can email your content to them, weekly, when you understand Twitter completely.

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Why do I need Twitter?

You don’t need twitter. There are 150,000 new Twitter users signing up every day. And there are over 500,000,000 registered Twitter users already. The Twitter party is already going strong. But who are you and what do you want people to know about you? There is always someone at the party interested in getting to know you.

If you are manicurist by day, a mom by night and science-fiction fan, then you are just as unique as everyone else in the world. You have a lot to offer and your insights and opinions matter. Now, let’s say that you have only been working at a particular salon for about 6 months. Like many new salon employees, when you’re new it takes a while to build up a following of loyal clients who will keep you busy for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. You might be doing a lot of sitting around in the salon’s employee room looking through Facebook, and occasionally clicking on a friend’s humorous YouTube share of a kid on a rollercoaster: “Janice, I’m falling!” You’ve seen it, right?  Hilarious!

So, why do I need Twitter?

Since you are a mom, you’ve got at least one other mouth to feed. Not being booked up can be very taxing on a weekly budget. And, I don’t know about you, when I’m not busy I end up spending money because I have the time to do so. Even if the salon where you work gives you the new walk-ins, and your fellow employees of hair stylists and spa techs send you new clients, sometimes that’s not enough. How would you help yourself to gain a more rapid rate of business growth?

You could attend weekly Chamber of Commerce Breakfasts in your town and pass out your cards to those whom you meet. And you can leave your business card for every waitress who serves you at a restaurant when you eat out. Maybe you should post regular updates that you have appointments available on your Facebook? All of these suggestions are terrific and put you in front of people where you can tell them who you are and what you do; as well as invite them to come into your salon to get a manicure.

Why do I need Twitter?

But what about that Twitter party going on around you? There are thousands of potential new clients who live in your town and they are in attendance. And, at this party, there were also other manicurists, like yourself, who were still building as well. Of course there would be other manicurists who have already built a following. I’m sure they could offer you a few tips on how to get more clients. There are other moms at this party too. And Sci-Fi fans! Can you picture yourself walking around the party and mingling with the people you have common interests with?

Push the fact that I’m speaking of a metaphor out of your mind. What happens when you meet people face-to-face who have common interests? You talk about puppies, or about being a mom, or how much you love Star Trek. You also end up talking about the fact that you are a manicurist and that you are building a clientle: That comes up naturally too.

This is why you need Twitter.

Twitter can be your party. It can be the party where you can easily connect with other individuals who have your interests. They will help you once you get to know them. Momdom, Sci-Fi and being a manicurist are terrific ice-breakers. And, just like at any party, you can tell if anyone is interested in finding a new manicurist. And then you can invite them to your salon to give them one.

Twitter for Salons and Spas AND Barbershops and Small Businesses will be a free eBook June 3rd and 4th, 2013.

Sign-up here.

June 3rd is the first Worldwide #SalonSpaChat

If you are a beauty junkie, beauty industry professional or a professional beauty brand, join host Mafia Hairdresser.
We will talk about salons, makeup, products, and how social media is changing the beauty industry.

Become a Ninja on Twitter: Start by updating your Twitter Profile.

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Even the best hair salons in world don’t know about Nexxus Emergencee.

We don’t even officially use Nexxus in the salon where I work. But I’ve been applying it on my clients with fine hair for over 20 years and they love it and it keeps them coming back to me because not many stylists know about it. I buy Emergenceee myself and “laminate it” on my clients who have fine, wimpy, never-grows, wispy-weak hair. We can do many other hair treatments in my salon but they almost always work better when I use Emergencee first. (I do not recommend using Emergencee before or after Keratin treatments, unless hair has been overly damaged by the Keratin Treatment itself.)

If you have a client or know someone (you?) whose hair doesn’t seem to grow past a certain length. Or if you come across hair that is fly-away or baby-fine, Nexxus Emergencee is for this type of hair. This product is a polymer that coats the hair, thereby thickening it. And once the diameter of the hair is increased, it is stronger, shinier and more reflective of light. And “Emergencee’d” hair also accepts color better. The use of this product helps keep your colors in your clients’ hair which is great value.

Where can you get this product if your salon doesn’t carry Nexxus products? I order mine online at Amazon.com.  Past and present names for this product: Nexxus Aloxxi –Emergencee–Polymeric Reconstructor.

To be the best stylist or the one of the best salons in your city: add Nexxus Emergencee to your arsenal of wonderful hair treatments.

Here’s the Nexxus explanation of what it actually does: Stops hair breakage, repairs and strengthens severely damaged hair. Dramatically improves hair’s health, condition and shine. Contains a renewing blend of Polymers, Elastins, Amino Acids and Collagen. Creates an internal framework within the hairshaft to restore integrity. Strengthens internally and externally. Repairs and smoothes damaged cuticle; restores flexibility. Magnifies shine and depth of colour. Improves body and stylability. Acidifies hair, pH 2.5. (Closes and fills in cuticle.)Excellent pre-treatment for delicate hair prior to all chemical services. Great nail strengthening treatment. (I wouldn’t know this one but it sounds interesting.)

I’m all for clients being able use this product at home but I’ll tell you why many won’t. It needs heat to properly adhere it to the hair and that is not on the bottle’s directions. The way I use this product, in my opinion, is the best way. And only the best hair salons in the world will know how to use heat properly.

How to use Emergencee the Mafia Hairdresser way: On wet clean/towel-dried hair, I put about a 1/4 ounce amount (Quarter sized) of the product on and work it through. Since it goes on like honey, you will not be able to get a comb through it. Then I put a layer of foil on each panel of a flat Iron with a control setting. I would use a 2 out of 10 range. Not too hot! Then I just” laminate” the product right on the hair directly with the foiled iron, section by section, root to ends. Five to ten sections all over the head. No need to “linger” on the hair with the iron. Just run the iron quickly through the hair shaft with a tapping motion. The foil is the “buffer” that insures you are not “boiling’ the hair. When done, rinse with cool water and follow with your regular professional-line conditioner. The excess product rinses out clearly and you can feel the strength immediately.

No more “trashed” hair: When you have a client who needs a complete re-stregthening, sell her a package. Do Emergencee Treatment 3 times in one month and then one time per month after that. Once the hair is coated up well, there is only so much more thickness you will achieve.

Nexxus does not endorse me in any way by using their product in this fashion. And please don’t sue me if you don’t like my technique.

Jon-David aka Mafia Hairdresser

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“I wish you prosperity and abundance in the business that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping the salon and beauty industry to achieve that goal and give back to my community. And you are more than welcome to ‘friend me’ on Facebook through the #SalonSpaChat Page.” ~ Jon-David

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Check-In Foursquare: It’s one of the awesome apps/platforms that ever was. It’s a geo-location app that tells your Foursquare friends where you are and where you’ve been. And you can tweet your “Check-In” or share your Check-In on Facebook. Facebook also has its own check-in button and that’s fine and dandy, but you’ll be attracting a whole new slew of friends with Foursquare which ultimately extends who you know and who knows you.

I like Foursquare to Check-In at restaurants, salons, parks, bars and events. I’ll use the event’s Hashtag and I’ll usually post a picture of me or what I’m eating or drinking wherever I check-in. I’ll also write what I’m up to where it asks me. (Keep it short.)

Foursquare is a great app to let people know that you like the business or event that you are visiting. You are endorsing their business and that’s a very nice thing to do.

I’ll also tag whom I’m with so that they can re-tweet or acknowledge me on Twitter or Facebook as well if they want to.

I understand that if you are an actual business that you may not Check-In Foursquare under your business name as much as you would as an individual. But if you have companies and businesses that you know who come into your barber shop, it would be nice to make sure you check-in when you frequent their businesses.

One Foursquare campaign that I’ve been running for a while is, when I’m on any of the CTA lines, I will Check-In Foursquare at every stop along my route. “CTA Redline Lawrence Stop” “CTA Redline Wilson Stop” I may not state what I’m doing at that stop. And I may not tweet it or share it on Facebook. (You have the option of not sharing.) But I will leave a cut-and-pasted “TIP.” My Tip usually goes something like this: “If you need a good book to read, might I suggest ‘Mafia Hairdresser?’” And then I’ll leave that Tip with a picture of my book cover. So, every time someone Checks-In at that CTA stop, those Tips will pop-up in rotation with all of the other Tips left for that location. (Make sure you pick your picture first when leaving a Tip.) As you can see, Tips can tell Check-In’s if you loved the service at a particular salon or just remind people to buy a book!

Note: If you are as lovely and as photogenic as I am, you might get stalkers. (Insert wink here.) So never Check-In at your own home. Many of my women friends don’t post pictures of themselves alone and they choose to Check-In to restaurants and bars as they leave instead of entering. If you are at a large event and you want to promote the event, take a group shot and post during the event.

Sign up with Foursquare online first and then download that App for easiest enrollment. Choose a nice face-pic avatar first, and your profile should state who and what you are. And do Check-In a lot when you first become a member. Although it is the least reason that I now use Foursquare, you will earn badges and you can become mayor of a business that you check in at regularly and more than anyone else. Many businesses give discounts to their mayors and some even give you free stuff!

You will build more friends with Foursquare. The more you Tweet and share your Check-In’s  will build more awareness of you and your business. And Foursquare will help you find your existing friends who are already on Foursquare. If you don’t want to be alerted when your friends comment on your Check-Ins (I do!) just go to settings and change them.

Many salons, restaurants offer discounts when customers Check-In Foursquare. To learn more about how you can attract and build relationships with customers and fans go to Foursquare.com and click Business Tools. And for “gosh-sake,” if you are business, make sure you “Claim Your Business.” Click the Check-In Foursquare “Special Here” picture. ↗

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

“I wish you prosperity and abundance in the business that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping the salon and beauty industry to achieve that goal and give back to my community. And you are more than welcome to ‘friend me’ on Facebook through the #SalonSpaChat Page.” ~ Jon-David

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pic from natutobase.net

Salon, spa and barber professionals, do you want to become a Ninja? Do you want to cut through the fog of confusion and perplexity that clouds your vision and understanding of how Twitter can attract more clients? Allow me to be your sai (spear-sward) and I’ll help you to connect to more clients, and knowledgeable professionals such as yourself. I want you to become a Twitter Ninja. As I am putting the finishing touches on a book I’m writing, specifically for the salon and spa industry, (Twitter for Salons & Spas) I am noticing that many Salon and Spa professionals have weak Twitter profiles. Avatars and profiles should intrigue and captivate another Twitter viewer. They should enlighten people and show that you are awesome and a skilled professional.  If another Twitter user viewed your profile they should not only want to follow and re-tweet you, they should be enchanted enough to go to you for their next haircut or facial. To become a Ninja with Twitter you’ll have to be ruthless in your evaluation of what you are presenting to the world with your Twitter profile.

I believe the most important part of your profile is your bio and that is limited to 140 characters, just like tweets. Like all things internet, you only have 2 to 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention. So your avatar better represent you well and your bios have to tell it like you want it. Get rid of extraneous words like and, in, a, the, because they waste space. And since we are a visual group of professionals allow me to show you what I would do to Ninja-up a few real bios that I came across on Twitter. (I changed the names.) I randomly picked 7 in a row off a list from a friends’ Twitter follow list. (I threw in a few avatars that either I have used or ones that I liked.)

His: “Chris is a third generation member of the Professional Salon Industry. Distributor, PM School Owner, Salon Coach, Husband, Dad and Grandpa.”

Ninja-Fix: “Chris*Third Generation Salon Industry Professional*Distributor*Owner-Paul Mitchel School*Salon Coach*Proud Grandpa”

Hers: “A beauty website by Lorelei Benton. Love all things beauty and work as a Social Media Manager for a British beauty brand… LOVE my job!”

Ninja-Fix: “Lorelei Benton Beauty. Beauty Junkie. Social Media Manager for British Beauty Brand. I heart my job!”

His: “State-of-the-Art Cosmetology School, Full-service Salon and Retail Location. From the owner of JOJO studio and original hairstylist of TLC’s What Not to Wear”

This one was hard for me because I don’t know what he had to tell me. Is he a hairdresser now? Or an owner of a school or a salon? I would suggest that he use this tag: “You’ve seen my work on ‘What Not to Wear’ on TLC” and then drop State of the Art, and Full-Service and Retail Location. If he owned a school, he should state the name of the school. If he works or owns the salon, he should use a quote someone has yelped about his salon or a nice tag line such as, “Known as the Salon to the Stars.”

Hers: “Entrepreneur @MediaTLT | Dance Mom | Wine enthusiast | Always planning my next meal & my next vacation!”

I liked this one. She gives her professional Twitter handle, which is different from the one she’s describing.  She breaks her words creatively with bars. I would just capitalize enthusiast and take out the second “my next.” Cheeky is good. Don’t be afraid to get a little edgy if you actually are.

Hers: “International Make-up Artist Working in London, NYC.Beauty Blogger on Tumblr’s Beauty Spotlight!Beauty Editor.Best Beauty Twitter of the year-Marie Claire  GOOD!”

Ninja-Fix: “International Make-Up Artist based in London & NYC ~Beauty Blogger/Tumblr Beauty Spotlight/Editor~Best Beauty Twitter 2011/Marie Claire”

Hers: “Fabulous Hair Artist To The Even More Fabulous!!Fabulous Hair Artist To The Even More Fabulous!!”

I love the word Fabulous. But words like Fabulous, Diva, Guru, Full-Service and Unisex are so late 1900’s. And I should know: I’ve been doing social media for a long time, and hair for longer than most of you were born-combined. For this one I advise no not use exclamation points and the same word over and over, unless it “works.”  I’ll give you two examples that, I feel, would better represent this cheerful fabulous hair artist: “Fabulous Hair Artistry for the Fabulous”  Or:  “Hair Artist. Creative Color. Visionary Appearance Designs. Fabulous Clients Who Demand Excellence.”

“Christopher Jones Salon is a premier salon located in the Paradise Mart in Chicago, Illinois. For hours and a list of services please call +1 555-378-2270.”

premier salon… Yeah? There’s a reason that I chose to concentrate on Bio’s and not avatars. That’s because many artists get the visual part but not the written. This salon really needs to tell their story in writing. And No phone numbers! No one can click on the phone number and make a call to your salon. If you don’t have a website, make sure you have Facebook Page or even an Instagram account. At the very least you can add a URL of your Google Map locator. Hopefully all of those platforms have your phone number listed. And even then, you don’t add that URL to your bio/profile. That URL should be placed in the website section that hangs under your bio so you don’t waste characters. If someone wants to call you for an appointment, they will be able to click on that to get your exact location, hours, and your phone number.  And then you will be able to tell them, personally, more about your services. Your bio is where you DO list your services, your specialties and what makes you unique.

If Christopher Jones would allow me to do so, I would change his profile Bio to: “Christopher Jones Salon, World Famous Paradise Mart, Chicago, 7th foor. Educated Top City Stylists, Facialists, Manicurists. First Visit Discount” Of course “Illinois” is not needed. And the discount would be highlighted on their website or Facebook Page which would hang below the Bio.

Okay Ninja-Newbies, take a stab at fluffing up your bio profiles. You’ll get more followers and more traffic to your pages and salon websites which translate to new clients!

An extended version of this article with complete how-to’s and examples will be in the upcoming book, “Social Media for Salons, Spas and Stylists,” by Jon-David.

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

*”I wish you prosperity and abundance in the industry that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping you achieve that goal and give back to my community. And you are more than welcome to ‘friend me’ on Facebook through the #SalonSpaChat Page.” ~ Jon-David

“Why Do I Need Twitter?”

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Then READ: How to Find New Clients with Facebook

I don’t know why, but in the U.S., hairdressers, makeup artists, facialists and massage therapists haven’t seemed to embrace social media like my fellow beauty specialists in the U.K., Europe, Australia, and Asia. When I began to teach U.S. stylists & salons how social media can build their businesses and how to find new clients, their eyes rolled back into their heads. Most of them thought that I’d be asking them to spend hours on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google+. Um, no. They don’t host online Twitter Chats, write and promote books or teach social media. That’s crazy. Or is it?: Look, I’m not a guru on any subject but I have to know as much as I can about social media to be able to tailor my teachings to each stylist, manicurist, salon, or barber shop.

How many hours do you spend sitting in the backroom waiting for walk-in’s? Blame it on the seasons but I know some of you are not busy. Are you on your smartphones playing Words with Friends, or watching YouTube videos?  I know you aren’t on Twitter because you’d soon have so many new clients that you’d never have time to sit in the backroom on your smartphones at all.

CHALLENGE: To take down some of the barrier that I just made between us please answer these 2 questions: “Do you want to know how to find more clients?” and “Would you spend one hour per week to get those new clients?” You said yes to both questions, right? Good.

I am assuming that you are a stylist, colorist, facialists, manicurist, massage therapist, med-spa technician or a makeup artist. And I will also assume that all of you use at least one one type of Social Media platform, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. This enables me to recommend that you choose your favorite platform that you enjoy connecting on but, from now on, you are going to give an extra hour each week to using it to help you learn how to find new clients.

I will use Facebook, as an example, to teach you how to find new clients in this article. But I bet that you can translate my advice to other platforms.

Onward:  I recommend that you begin to invite every single one of your clients to connect with you on Facebook. Existing clients and family and friends give you the best word-of-mouth recommendations. And those recommended clients add to your better retention rate than walk-ins. And since you’re only going to spend an hour a week, and most of your friends, family and clients use Facebook then this is the social meda platform that you should start with to build. If you have a problem with this recommendation, I will point out that my title was a disclaimer: “How to find new clients with Facebook.”

For those of you who use Facebook for sharing only between you and your family and close friends, I suggest that you open a Secret Facebook Page. That way you and your family can truly be private. You can then use your regular Facebook page and timeline to communicate with your clients AND your friends and Family. Make sure your profile and your pictures are “PG” and do state where you work in your “About” section.

Of course you can open a Public Facebook Page, and use it as a pro tem website, but it will not be as effective as making your clients regular Facebook friends with your main timeline. For a Facebook Page you will not be able share or post more than every few days at the most—and not posting daily won’t get you new clients–quickly.

Okay: Here is how you will proceed with your Facebook shares:

1)      Every other day I want you to post something about your salon: a new product, a professional hair show you went to, a new blog that was posted on your salon’s website. I even want you to be friends with your co-workers so you can re-share some of their good work-related shares. Use links back to your salon as much as possible.

2)      Every day that you work, I ask that you post a picture of what you did that day. It could be a picture of a happy client and yourself. It could be of you and one of the assistants or of one of your favorite skin-care or styling products. I love to share pics of the spa in our salon because its fab and many of my clients have not tried our facialists and massage therapists. Instagram and Pinterest will help you with picture shares.

3)      Every third day I would like you to post a question or a challenge on your Facebook wall. Examples: “I love the new Kerastase Oils. Has anyone used them yet?”  “Weekly Hair Challenge Question:  Should you brush the tangles out of your hair wet or dry?”

4)      And now I want you to daily respond, politely, cheerfully and succinctly, to anyone who makes a comment about your postings. Thanking is always nice. Thumbs up is a quick acknowledgement that you appreciated their comment. I also want you to go through your timelines and thumbs-up and comment on other’s posts that you are inspired to do so on. Be inspired. A lot.

If you do what I have asked you to do, I’m sure you may have almost used up an hour of your time that you put aside for social media. But look at what you have actually accomplished. The question of “How to Find New Clients?” has turned into “I am available for new clients to find me.” Because of your shares, your interaction with friends, family and clients, along with your comments and shares with them, have also become visable to thier friends. In Social Media terms, you have started “conversations.” And conversations can lead to you inviting people to use your services. Don’t constantly and aggressively tell people to come in and get their haircut by you. Be natural and invite when it seems like someone may need your services.

Note how many of your clients that get into conversations with you on Facebook are reminded to book with you just by you posting events and work related shares; as well as you commenting on their shares. If ten clients a year came in one week sooner than they would have before your Facebook interactions, then you just made more money and were busier. And notice how many Facebook-friend-clients recommend you to their friends. Again: thank them. Gratitude is my favorite emotion and expression.*

Let’s do some math: If a stylist gets one new client per month for posting work-related shares on Facebook, and he charges an average of $100 per visit: that’s $1,2000 more per year that stylist is going to bring into the salon. That makes the stylist’s social media hour worth $23.07 per week. And if he made one new client per month and all 12 of them pre-booked for three months later, that is an extra $1,800 per year. That weekly social media hour is now worth 57.68 per hour just by using social media practices on Facebook.

Walk-in’s are great but I hope you take an active role in making new clients. I always say that Social Media is an extension of who you are and your work is a big part of that. You don’t have to do or be or “act” any differently on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, than who you are. Be you. Just make sure you add that you are beauty professional and that you always have something to share about that.

An extended version of this article with complete how-to’s and examples will be in the upcoming book, “Social Media for Salons, Spas and Stylists,” by Jon-David.

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

*“I wish you prosperity and abundance in the industry that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping you achieve that goal and give back to my community. And you are more than welcome to ‘friend me’ on Facebook through the #SalonSpaChat Page.” ~ Jon-David

The post How to Find New Clients with Facebook appeared first on Mafia Hairdresser.

I’m one of the people who are paid to help businesses with forming their social media strategy. You can call me a social media strategy manager, an internet marketing specialist or an online communications director. But don’t call me a guru just because I may know how to do something that seems daunting or un-comprehensible to you. Anyone can do what I can do.  You just have to take one step at a time. Come on, I’ll walk with you…

Social Media Strategy (in addition to doing hair and writing books) came about not because I was formally trained. My “expert” status was earned because I set out to learn how to better market my eBooks online. Then I applied the same online tools and know-how to help my personal salon business as well as the salon where I worked.  I also had the good fortune to become friends with some very good in-the-know social media strategy people.  Some of my friends are Steve Green of Netup Now, Jeff Willinger of Social Media Club Chicago, Ramon DeLeon of Domino’s Pizza fame, and Liz Strauss of SOBCON.  By doing their hair, hanging out, and watching how they operated online, and reading their blogs was invaluable. But the casual personal conversations were where I ascertained that we are all still learning in a field that is constantly changing.  (Like many artist/hairdressers, I learn more from people than I can from books.) None of us really knows everything in the ever-changing social media world for that very reason. I think that is why this group, with our extended connections, is very good at what we do. We teach and use what we know. And we get excited when we have to reach out to others for help with what we don’t know. We like each other. We like learning. This puts the social in social-media! And this dynamic makes it great for our clients because we can deliver what say we can deliver as far as social media strategy and business assistance.

So there are no Gurus. But there are people who try and intimidate others to think they are so they get paid more, or paid for a job not well done.

Unfortunately, many businesses are getting taken advantage of by PR and marketing firms who claim to be social media gurus. Because their clients don’t know what social media is or how it works, the “Gurus” and “Social Media Strategy Firms” do all the work online and remotely. And the businesses that pay them wait for a rush of customers to knock on their business’ doors. The business may never see an increase in business. And many PR firms don’t give a clear and quantifiable dollar or client-increase amount for what they do. I ask you, how can a small business have a social media strategy when they don’t know what social media is?

I recommend that you take time to ask the following 6 questions of yourself and your business before you talk to a social media manager about outsourcing your social media. Know clearly the answers to the following questions before you begin any social media strategy for your business. If you don’t, you won’t be able to know if your social media strategy worked or didn’t work. And you might get taken advantage of.

1)      How much time are you and your staff willing to spend per week on social media?

2)      What business are you in and what is special about your business?

3)      What do you want people to know about your business and is this information on a company website?

4)      Where are your prospective clients hanging out? Starbucks? Facebook? Twitter? Do they read emails? Can you get their email addresses?

5)      Do you prospective clients read reviews about businesses like yours? Can you get your business reviewed?

6)      What do you expect from social media?

By answering these questions you can go to any social media manager and tell them who and what your business is and why your business is unique. The PR firm needs this information to constantly put on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram etc. But you and your staff will have to be the suppliers of this content. And it has to keep coming to make a good social media strategy successful: not per month, but per week. Even though you may be paying a PR firm to do your Social Media postings, you will have to tell them when you have a new product to Tweet about, a new staff member to talk about on Facebook, and you’ll have to take the pictures to upload to Pinterest.

A good Social Media Strategist will also find out from you what type of client that you want to attract. There is Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and more. If your clients are mostly in their 30 and 40s, and they work, but they make high wages, then LinkedIn and Google + might be where you start a good social media strategy.  If your business is in a small town, you might use email and Facebook. Would Instagram and Twitter attract as many clients in the perfect demographic that you want to reach?Social Media should be thought of as an extension of your business. It’s about interacting with your existing clients and prospective clients. And if you don’t have time to respond to clients on Facebook or Twitter, then the Social Media expert that you pay had better have the time.

Make sure you know what you want from Social Media Strategists, including a clear way for you to monitor and understand what they do, as well as proof and analytics showing you that your money was well spent. Are you starting to see how clear you need to be for a good social media strategy? Get clarity before you move forward. This will inform your social media strategy.

 ~

Jon-David is a Social Media Guru Person who specializes in helping small businesses, Salons, Spas, Barber Shops, and Service Industry Professionals. #SalonSpaChat is his way of giving back to his industry.

An extended version of this article with complete how-to’s and examples will be in the upcoming book, “Social Media for Salons, Spas and Stylists,” by Jon-David.

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

The post Avoid Gurus of Social Media Strategy appeared first on Mafia Hairdresser.

If you work in a salon, spa, or a barber shop, I assume that you work directly with the clients. And clients ultimately keep the doors of the business open by their continued patronage. So, in order for you, the “service expert,” to do your job satisfactorily for the client, you are going to have to be:

• A) Happy to work where you work.
• B) Have the tools and environment to do good service.
• C) Be paid enough so you can support yourself abundantly.*

And for a client to keep returning to your salon or barber shop, they are going to have to be:

• A)    More than satisfied with their service because they are constantly being marketed to by other worthy salons.
• B)    Extremely happy with the environment of your barber shop and front desk staff because they are constantly being marketed to by other worthy barbershops.
• C)    Using more than one type of service and purchasing products in your spa so they will be less inclined to try another spa which has been target-marketing to them.

No, this article is not about who is marketing to your clients. It’s about Employee Satisfaction and Client Satisfaction. It’s about how if you are an owner you should clearly know how your employees feel about their ABC’s. And both owners AND their service employees should know how their clients feel about their ABC’s.

It’s no secret that I’m a big believer of employee forums and information exchange. That’s why I love social media so much. I’m constantly learning from other hairdressers and owners in my industry. I learn new ways of how I can give excellent service for my clients. One of the things that I’ve learned is that successful salons, like successful corporate businesses, recommend taking periodic polls of their employees and clients.

If I were a boss or salon owner, I would want to know how I was doing with employee satisfaction. Am I providing employees with the tools that they need? Are they happy? Do they feel like they can provide good service to clients? If I didn’t know, I would ask them.

And if I were a spa owner or a service individual, I would want to know if my spa, my staff, and I were providing the quality services and best environment for a client to want to keep coming back. Yes, I’d ask the clients directly as well.

Polls are a simple way to get clear focus on what is running smoothly and what areas might need attention in a salon or its services.

Does the stylist or facialists need to be friendlier or receive more advanced education? Does the employee have a “voice” in the salon and do they feel like they are able to fully contribute? Do a majority of clients like a certain coffee sweetener over another?

Polls are a simple quick way to get a pulse on how you as an owner are doing at employee satisfaction and client satisfaction. And stylists need to know what their clients are not saying to be able to keep clients happy in this economic climate. I recommend starting a quick poll with your staff members. It will inform you on how to proceed with a poll of your clients. Here’s the ABC’ of polling:

• A)    I like Survey Monkey polls because you can make an anonymous poll and email the link to your employees. It’s quick. It’s Free. It’s easy. And your employees will appreciate you asking how they feel. Contributing is human.
• B)     Switch up your questions: use multiple choice, 1 through 5, write in your answer… And give something to your employees if 100% of your staff take the poll, like a thank-you pizza party!
• C)    When you get around to polling clients through your salon email newsletter, or postcard, or website, make sure your staff gives you suggestions on what to ask and how to ask it. I bet they know that some of the clients have requested better internet access, or have requested a certain product not yet available. And you might give the clients a free product if they fill out your anonymous poll on a laptop while they are still in your salon.

I love where I work and we don’t do employee polls because we interact so much with each other. Some of us have worked together for over (gulp) 20 years. Even if your salon owners doesn’t poll you or the clients, I recommend that stylists, facialists, manicurist, barbers, and massage therapists poll their own clients.  Click here for a Survey Monkey poll I recently made for my clients. You can tell that I’m giving information to my clients as well as receiving; which is very valuable to me. You can also use a printed version and give it to your clients to fill out.

Even if you don’t poll your employees or clients, this doesn’t mean that improvements that can be addressed are not crystal clear to your staff and to your clients. They are your best business advisors. All you have to do to ask.

An extended version of this article with complete how-to’s and examples will be in the upcoming book, “Social Media for Salons, Spas and Stylists,” by Jon-David.

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

*I wish you prosperity and abundance in the industry that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping you achieve that goal. ~ Jon-David

The post Employee Satisfaction & Client Satisfaction appeared first on Mafia Hairdresser.

Does that sound super-secret cool? Elitist? Are you jealous? I’m okay with any answer because Secret Facebook Groups are really just a great way for salons or small businesses to exchange information and share between employee meetings. Secret Facebook Groups also enable clubs, or like-minded communities to talk about events or projects.

I don’t know about your salon or spa or barber shop, but I don’t think you can never have enough staff meetings. Most successful large and small corporate businesses conduct meetings at least once a week, whether it be virtual, such as Skype, Google Talk or Join.Me.com to name a very few, or in-person every Monday morning. They keep the businesses’ staff and management up-to-date on how the business is running and adjustments can be made from information gathered if needed. They should also be great morale boosters.

For salons, meetings are where staff members can swap ideas on how to better use new styling products and tools, learn about new products and even how to better utilize social media to reach new clients instead of sitting on your styling chair waiting for walk-ins. Watch your retail sales and ticket charges go up after meetings. Do they go up? Meetings!

Busy salons, spas, barber shops aren’t big corporations and may not be used to regular meetings. But Secret Facebook Groups can supplement inspiring information that stylists, manicurists, colorists, massage therapists and facialists may need to give better service, attract more clients and bond with other staff members. Secret Facebook Groups can even bring to light and address small problems within the salon structure which can be worked out before salon meetings and this saves time. One of the great thinks about Secret Facebook Employee Pages is that employees get notices when new information has been posted and they can look at it when they have time to do so during the week.

I bet most of your staff members are already on Facebook and are probably already members of Groups. There are Open Groups where anyone can find the group via a search and anyone can see who’s in the group and what is posted. Closed Groups can be found in searches and people in the group can be seen but none of the posts can. With Secret Groups, only members asked to join the group can see posts and share. Searches cannot find the Secret Group so it’s private.

Let me give you a few guidelines on how to properly use a Secret Facebook Group for your Spa or Small Business:

1. Set up Guidelines: Tell your staff that you are going to set up a Secret Facebook Page for them to share with each other. It’s your salon’s rules for the group but you want participation, first and foremost, and you should expect everyone to participate. The more participation the less actual in-person meetings will take up valuable non-client time.
2. Tell your staff the types of information that you want them to share in your Secret Facebook Page. Examples:
   1. Tips on how to use new or favorite products.
   2. Tips on better customer service.
   3. What they learned from a recent class or tradeshow.
   4. Post pictures of happy clients.
3. Grievances are fine to post and bring up so long  as they are come from a helpful presentation. Inform your staff that you want to know if something isn’t working in your business and that you have an open-door policy and that you expect them to converse with management first. BUT small things can be aired, especially when management or individual staff members don’t really know if anyone else has the same problem. Properly airing “small grumblings” can make employees feel like they’ve been heard and boost morale, and this enables management to step in and help or allows the staff members to find solutions  themselves. I like adding a question to my posts. Examples:
   1. “Some of my new clients didn’t know that there is free parking located across the street. Can we put up a sign at the front desk?”
   2.  “Are anyone else’s clients complaining about the new hair spray cans clogging up?”
   3. “I feel like I’m the only one cleaning up after myself in the break room. Is there any way we can have a policy where everyone has to wash their own dishes?”
4. Monitor you Employee Secret Facebook Page. If you have an employee that only complains and doesn’t offer solutions, or  if someone isn’t participating ask them why and help them to see how they are a valuable part of a team and participation is key.  But do give your NEW Employee Secret Facebook Page some time to find its own pulse. Don’t jump in and address every post–trust your staff. Problems and solutions existed and were addressed BEFORE your employees began to interact on a Secret Facebook Page, this just might be the first time that you’ve heard them. Relax.
5. Be open: Every business environment is different and Employee pages will reflect your salon business environment. You can use your page to see where your environment can be better and find out  what is working and amplify that.
6. For every post, every staff member should add a LIKE, or a comment. A LIKE in Facebook-world does not mean “I agree,” it just means “I heard you,” and an Employee Secret Facebook Page is the place for EVERYONE to be heard. The problem with not LIKEing is that there are always individuals who will post and get LIKES more than others and the ones who do don’t get LIKES will feel a little bit ostracized and they’ll  be the first to stop posting. A successful Secret Facebook Page gets input from everyone.
7. Limit the number of posts per employee per week. (This means management too.) We see it on our regular Facebook timelines: some of our friends just love to share and share. And many people are good at sharing pictures and posts that get lots of comments and LIKES. But your Employee Secret Facebook Page should also help the more quiet employees participate and even learn how to post interesting post in their personal timelines.
8. If one person’s client has donated pizzas to the whole salon, or a salon client has recently been featured in the newspaper, this is a great place to share such information. Ask your staff to thank or congratulate them on the person’s timeline. This is great social media practice and inspires referrals.
9. And lastly: participate yourself as an example. To be successful you as a manager and owner have to get behind what you present to your employees 100% with full knowlege of what you are presenting. Learn all you can about Secret Facebook Groups. And then you as a manager/owner can shout-out: “Good job to Sally on making Glamorama the best event in Chicago,” “Thanks for bringing that up-I’m on it!” Or, “I’m just so happy to see that we have such a great staff.”

Do you have a Secret Facebook Group for your employees? Tell us about it. How has it helped your salon, business, spa or barber shop? Contact SalonSpaChat.

Here’s a how to guide on setting up a Secret Facebook Group.

An extended version of this article with complete how-to’s and examples will be in the upcoming book, “Social Media for Salons, Spas and Stylists,” by Jon-David.

Sign up for the Mafia Hairdresser Newsletter and receive a Free eBook Twitter for Salons, Spas and Stylists: June 3rd.

*I wish you prosperity and abundance in the industry that you love and #SalonSpaChat is my way of helping you achieve that goal. ~ Jon-David

The post Secret Facebook Groups Salons and Small Businesses appeared first on Mafia Hairdresser.