Intro: Do you feel like you were meant to have a kick-ass career as a hair stylist? Like you got into this industry to make big things happen?
Maybe you’re struggling to build a solid base and want some stability. Maybe you know social media is important, but it feels like a waste of time because you aren’t seeing any results. Maybe you’ve already had some amazing success but are craving more. Maybe you’re ready to truly enjoy the freedom and flexibility this industry has to offer.
Cutting and coloring skills will only get you so far, but to build a lifelong career as a wealthy stylist, it takes business skills and a serious marketing strategy. When you’re ready to quit just working in your business and start working on it, join us here where we share real success stories from real stylists.
I’m Britt Seva, social media and marketing strategist just for hair stylists, and this is the Thriving Stylist Podcast.
Britt Seva: What is up and welcome back to the Thriving Stylist Podcast. I’m your host Britt Seva, and I hope you brought something warm to wear to this week’s podcast episode ’cause it’s about to get a little shady. I’m going to go there.
The great news is I’m not going to publicly throw anybody under the bus, but what you should know is to prepare for this podcast episode. I spent a little time reviewing the websites of some people, specifically stylists, specifically salons, specifically industry influencers and I learned some stuff along the way. I’m going to be sharing some stories of some major mistakes and mishaps that I found along my journey. This is one of my favorite pastimes actually, is looking at terrible, tragic website and internet mistakes, and I’m going to share them with you and I’m going to expose them not to embarrass anybody, but to empower everybody to get out of your own way, to stop taking shortcuts, and to instead of making decisions that make your life easier, make the decisions that make clients choose to work with you. Period.
I as a mother, do everything I can to make my home life as easy as possible. You know why I get to do that? ‘Cause my kids don’t have a choice. They’re stuck with me. They don’t get to choose me or not choose me. Luckily, my daughter’s 19 now and she still chooses me, which I feel very grateful for. But when it comes to business stuff, you can’t run it the same way you run your personal life. And like I said, I hope you brought that sweater ’cause you’re going to need it today. I’m feeling a little spicy in this moment.
I’ve watched stylists and salon owners particularly probably in the last three years, I’m going to say since about 2019, get a little cocky, get a little egotistical, get a little bit big in the head and start to think like, “Well, if you don’t like it, you can take two steps to the left. You don’t have to come in here.” “Well, if you don’t like the way I do things, then you’re not for me.”
I think what happened is we swung the pendulum a little too far. Back in like the older days of the industry, and by older days, I mean like pre-2016 and everything that happened before that.
Most of this industry’s lifetime, stylists and salon owners were like walking doormats. It was like we were order takers. You had to keep your prices moderate as to not make clients uncomfortable. Salon owners had to make sure that stylists had everything they needed, but then stylists also had to comply because if they didn’t, they could be fired and everything was very fragile. And so through education and empowerment and just awareness, we realize like, “No, f that, that’s too much. We don’t want to be human doormats.We want to be able to do things in a lot of ways the way we want to do them and we want to make amazing money without sacrificing our life and our free time in the process.” And amen to that. I’m here for all of it. Don’t get it wrong.
The problem is, in 2020 specifically—I’ve said this a hundred times and I’m going to keep saying it ’cause people still aren’t getting it. In 2020 specifically, our industry experienced our recession. Our industry, I’m not talking about the world. I’m talking about specifically in the United States, which is where most of my podcast listeners are located, in the US, stylists, barbers, salon owners experienced a recession. We lost about 10% of our workforce. That’s a lot over less than a year.
So what happened was this client surplus was created also. I’m in California. Salons here were shut down for six months or more. I know some of you in other places and spaces either didn’t shut down at all or were only shut down for two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, whatever.
When I think about my friends up in Canada who were shut down a lot longer than six months—you have to realize that through those kind of things, clients were like begging to get into salons and to see stylists, right? And suddenly we were getting this respect that we knew that we deserved and people were willing to pay good money and you were getting more requests than you’d ever had before because there was a recession of our industry that there wasn’t enough awareness about. And so what happened was there was this booming influx of clients. They were down to pay whatever. We were kind of riding high on this confidence and I’ve watched a lot of people start to make really reckless decisions. Reckless decisions with their pricing, reckless decisions with their policies and a lot of reckless decisions with their brand positioning, their websites, their online booking process, their digital presentation. It’s sloppy out there.
When I did the research for this website, I was like, “Oh if anything, this is worse than I thought. I got a lot of work to do.” So we are going to be continuing—again another long intro. We’re continuing the series that we kicked off last week. We’re focusing again on the Marketing Funnel. But today I want to talk specifically about the Desire level and creating desire to come in and either work with you or for you.
If you’re a salon owner, I’m talking about how to attract the best of the best stylists to want to come in and work for you. If you are a stylist, I’m talking about how to attract the best of the best clients to choose you over everybody else.
Now last week we talked a little bit about that when we talked about brand positioning, right? Positioning yourself as the clear choice in your market. We covered that last week in case you missed it. This week we’re talking a bit more about formalizing, solidifying, and creating confidence in those decisions.
Going back to our Marketing Funnel, just quick review, we deep dived last week. At the top level we have awareness of our brand, the awareness we even exist. Then below that we have Interest. People become interested in us. If they become aware and interested. The next step hopefully is Desire. Hopefully the awareness marketing, the social media presence that we have has created enough clout for us that there is a desire to work with us above anybody else. Even when the desire is there, it’s not a sure bet, it’s almost more of a curiosity, like a “Can this work for me?” Almost like going on a first date with somebody. You have the desire for it to work out, but you still have reservations because you’ve been burned before.
What if this is just like it’s been in the past and for a lot of you, when I went down your marketing funnel and I clicked the link in bio in your Instagram and I looked at your websites, I was like, “…and they lost my trust.” Immediately I walked away.
I shared an episode, it’s probably been about eight weeks back now. It was a tale of why some friends of mine chose to leave stylists, leave salons, or chose to abandon pursuing a stylist or salon. I was shocked at how critical the website was, literally shocked.
I do have a resource for that. It’s called the Website Academy Templates. It is a pre-formatted template that makes setting up an optimized website that gives the ideal experience like literally a cinch.
But I want to give you a lot of hints on how to do that yourself today and talk about why the website is so critical.
Let me talk about why the website matters so much and then it’s going to get a little cold and shady. So first of all, I hear rumors that like who gives a rip about websites? ‘Cause we have social media and all these other things. That is the fool’s game.
Remember when I talked about a few weeks ago on the podcast about Web 3.0. Why is Web 3.0 emerging? Because consumers and businesses are getting a little fed up with Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is essentially social media, UGC (user generated content). The problem with Web 2.0 and every social media platform out there is you don’t own it.
We get so upset when somebody re-shares our content on social media and doesn’t properly credit us, right? Has it ever happened to you? You find somebody else is using your photos, something you posted on a platform and they’ve shared it, they’ve reposted it, but they’ve not properly given you attribution. It makes you feel a type of way. It’s made me feel the type of way, it makes me feel like my stuff is stolen. It’s really easy to do that on social media.
Web 2.0 is going through a real challenge right now. Real struggle. People are having a really difficult relationship with social media because we’ve come to realize we don’t own that shit even though we are the ones producing the content. We’re the ones running the online reviews. We’re the ones uploading the videos. We’re the ones uploading the photos. As soon as you upload that to Instagram, it’s Instagram’s. They’re going to do with it whatever they want to.
We complain about the algorithm. The algorithm is simply a part of the machine. It’s a part of Web 2.0. Yelp got an algorithm. Google Business Profile has an algorithm. Facebook got it. TikTok has it. Every single social media platform’s got it.
The reason I share all this is because your website is the only slice of the internet you fully own. It’s the only one. There’s nothing else and so optimizing that digital home base is your best shot at attracting incredible stylists at building legitimate business. It doesn’t mean social media doesn’t matter. In fact, we’re going to talk about social media next week when we get to the Interest level. But it’s not a replacement for your website and you can’t hack your way around it.
You know what else isn’t a website? Your online booking platform. I won’t even drop a name, but there’s a lot of online booking systems out there, many of which I respect deeply, who say things like, and listen, “We got a website tool for you y’all.” It’s not a website. If you compare the—I’m using air quotes—website that online booking systems provide to you versus a fully built out, fully fledged website, you can’t even compare.
What you have to realize is clients are playing the comparison game all the time when they’re trying to decide if you’re worth it, if your perceived value’s high enough, if you’re the person that they desire to see, if your website compared to the site down the street is just not that great, easy choice. You have to have the competitive edge in every single arena and so website really counts.
Also your website should serve as the main salesperson of your business. Mine does. Your website should have enough information, the right information, not too much information, but just enough to what I call create a concierge-level experience for your clients. It’s really important.
It also creates brand confidence. Branding matters. We talked about it a lot last week, but we’ve seen a lot of brands who are inauthentic or talk a good game, but the credibility’s not there. A good website really solidifies that.
It also creates expertise and authority, which are things that help to confirm for a prospective client that their buying decision in working with you was a correct one, right?
We can win them or lose them at the website. Your social media can be stellar. The social media of a few of the people I looked at preparing for this podcast was good. And I looked thinking like, “Ooh, this is what I’ll be able to showcase as a great example.” And I was like, wah, wah.
It’s so funny, like some of these people book a coaching call with me. The price was like a thousand dollars and I was like, “Your website is spooky. I am literally scared. Why would I give you a thousand dollars? I’m scared just being here.”
When you’re charging big prices for your services, coming in for cut and colors, 200 bucks, 300 bucks and your website is worth $4, it doesn’t make me want to invest with you.
Have you ever done this? I’ve done this. I did this recently, actually I did this over the summer. Have you ever booked a hotel reservation and you’re like, “Oh, okay, this should be pretty good,” and the rate is within your budget. You’re like, “Well, this is cool,” and then you show up to the hotel and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I feel like I paid two times too much ‘cause this is not what I bargained for.”
Some of you are giving that experience on your website. Before the client even sets foot through the door. Your social media sold them on a fantasy and then the website is like, “Oh, nope. They thought they were going to trick me, but they lost me.”
Your website has got to be optimized correctly.
As I pull up my phone, I’m going to go through some websites with you in real time and talk about my perception as a potential client, right? I’m taking off my business coach hat in this moment and I’m saying, “Okay, I’m looking for a stylist. Is this the person for me?” Great.
I’m looking at Instagram right now. They have over 5,000 followers, okay? Photos are great, confident on video, certainly—well, the brand is actually a little soft. I can see what they’re going for for sure. It’s almost like they’re telling me what they do versus what they’re showing me what they do, and a good brand should visually show what they do. You shouldn’t have to tell. It just means it’s lacking vibe, but that’s okay.
They have a big following, so I can see that people are into this. Over 5,000 followers. Link in bio and it links to a directory. So by directory, I mean something where it’s like maybe there’s an online booking, maybe there’s a gallery, maybe there’s a website. Maybe they have a link to a class that they’re teaching, a link to an application for stylists, whatever.
There’s a lot of third party sites that do this. We link to several of them in Thriving Stylist Method, but this one happens to open up to something like that. So we’ve got some options. Book an appointment with me, shop the hair care products they offer, apply to work for us, okay? Okay, cool. So I didn’t even know that.
This looked like a stylist page, but now on their directory it’s saying, “apply to work for us at our salon”, so clearly they’re a team-based salon. Then I have Meet the Team. Okay, cool. So I’m going to click “Apply to Work for Us”. Let’s see what happens. Eh, a Google form opens up wrong.
You need to sell me on it. Like I said, the website has to be the number one salesperson in your business. So you’re like, “Like my Instagram? Make a commitment.” You’re not making the runway long enough. You’re not creating the desire. You’re expecting somebody to go to from one to 17 and skip points two through 16 in between.
Your website is the runway. Your website is what sells working for you. I know you think you’re so badass and you don’t need to do this ’cause trust me, I see other people do it too. I’m feeling spicy today, just so you know. If you can feel it, I know I recognize it too. You’re expecting that your social media is just so phenomenal that why would anybody want to choose to work anywhere else? Because there’s a million other choices and your website needs to be the piece that locks them in deeper and that sales experience isn’t there.
So no, I’m not going to fill out the application ’cause you didn’t sell me on it, okay? But see, let’s take a look at what it would look like to book an appointment with you. Oh, takes me straight to your online booking site. Again, I don’t get to see pictures, you don’t tell me what the experience is going to be like. I don’t get to get comfortable knowing you, getting to work with you a little bit. It’s just like, “Hi, you found my Instagram, great, give me some money.” That’s what the messaging feels like when we do things like that.
Let’s go back and let’s look at the Stylist Gallery. Okay, cool. So I come here and I can see a bio of this person whose Instagram profile I’m on, which exactly I would expect. That’s cool. Then I scroll down and I can see some of the other stylists. Cool. No link to their Instagram, which is unfortunate because maybe I don’t like you, but I like Sheila and I can’t get to Sheila’s Instagram. So that’s unfortunate.
Then we have two others where “it’s bio coming soon”, which to me means ‘We were too lazy to finish our website before we published it, so here you go. We did our best.” It’s a really sloppy sales experience.
And like I said, you have to think of your website as a part of the sales machine. It should build confidence and curiosity, not create more questions.
Let’s play a little game of roulette. Let me actually just pick some out of thin air. I’m going to go to my followers list and I’m going to pick the first name I see and it happens to be somebody named Jillian, so I’m going to click her account, No link in bio at all, no website. The bummer for you, Jillian, is the pic. I’m actually going to like a couple of your photos so that if you listen to this podcast and if you happen to see that, you’ll know that you’re getting a little bonus free private coaching. Jillian, your work is phenomenal. The fact that you don’t have a website and somewhere for me to desire to work with you is holding you back massively. Build the website, it’s going to be a game changer.
Okay, let’s do another one. Oh, this is such a good one. This happens to be a salon and med spa. When I click on it, I open up the website and the branding is, I think trying to be kind of edgy, modern. It’s a little bit masculine, but I don’t hate it. I tend to actually be drawn to more masculine brands, so it’s good for me.
Now when I look at the top, here’s the calls to action: book online, last minute appointments, gift cards, and shopping. So immediately when I go to the website, you’re like, “book an appointment, hurry up and book an appointment, buy a gift card, spend some money,” okay? Not a super great warm welcome, but certainly actionable.
Then I look down and there’s a video tour of the salon and I’m cool with that. But again, you’re not speaking to me. You’re showing off what you want. Kind of a miss in the messaging there. Download our app. So again, I’m not even convinced I want to come in to see you yet, but here’s another thing that you’re asking me to hurry up and do.
Then you’re talking about what’s on the app and then I see a photo, but it’s not a really great photo. It’s actually low resolution. It’s likely a photo that looked good on Instagram but does not look good on the website. Then a bunch of words.
Okay, so that’s the homepage. Let me click the menu and see what else comes up. So we have About, Team, Services, Promotions, Gallery, Reviews, and Careers. Let’s take a look.
When we open up this one, we have salon history, public relations, policies, loyalty, brands, giving back, blog, contact, parking, Okay, lot of information. Then when we go into Team, a big photo of the team, Oh, see, this is funny, then pictures of each of the stylists and then it says Level Four, Level Three, Level Two, Level One.
Y’all, me as the client, I don’t know what a level is, and you’re like, “Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Once they come in, we explain it.” No, no, no, I’m not coming in. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. You’ve asked me to buy a gift card, you’ve shown me what your salon looks like, but you’re not speaking to me, you’re talking at me. Then you ask me to download an app. I don’t even know if I want to work with you yet, and now you’re expecting me to know what a level 4 stylist is.
Here, I click on this person’s—so I guess I’m choosing by picture, okay? So I’m like, “Okay, well this person’s beautiful, so let me click—oh, bio coming soon.” Y’all, I didn’t even pre-pick this website. I just got lucky with this one. “Bio coming soon.” Let me pick somebody else based on their looks ’cause I don’t even know how am I choosing these people if the team directory is not giving me information as to what they might be able to do for me, what services that they offer.
Let me see, when they pick somebody else, certified master in a specific extension application. The bummer is if a client doesn’t know what that extension application means, you’re going to lose them ’cause they don’t even know what you’re talking about. When I look at the bio, it reads like a resume. It doesn’t tell me what this person is like as a person. I can’t get a sense of if we’d have any good conversation ’cause you’re selling me on their bio and their experience, but not who they are as a human. And we are in the relationship business. It’s like we miss the mark.
Okay, let’s look at the Careers page. I’ll skip through some of these other things. When we look at your Careers page, we can see you have all of your positions listed, but there’s no career success path. How long is it going to take me to get from this place to this place? What does the income level look like at each of those different places? You’ve basically just listed all the jobs that are available within your company, but no other information.
That is an example. So the first example was like not even close to enough information, not even close to enough runway. You didn’t even make an attempt to sell yourself. The website was non-existent. This other one, they have a website. I can see that they attempted to make it professional. There’s no doubt about it. The problem is it appears dated. It has lots of information, but the wrong information and the customer journey on it was not good, not great, not set up in the way that I would choose to book you over somebody else.
A really well-built website that’s creating desire is speaking to the client. It’s not showing off how amazing you are. It is showing that you deeply understand me and that’s where that branding and that brand messaging. But first and foremost, the website format really counts and really matters. It’s where that money shot really takes place.
So in Thriving Stylist Method, we have lessons like creating your website map, website branding, design and photos, creating the perfect about me story. Again, to have a bio that’s not a resume but is written in a way that’s actually going to draw clients in. Next level service menus, new guest success path, get found online and track your results. Different website formats for commission stylists, booth renters, salon owners, a little bit of everything.
In Thriving Stylist Method, I certainly have some resources to help you, but in our new program, Website Academy Templates, you get a fully customizable template that is already formatted in a way to drive clients, to drive stylists, and to create success. What I invite you to do at this point forward is to look at your website through the eyes of a prospective client and ask yourself, “If I didn’t know anything about this business, if I found my social media and I thought I was pretty cool and I looked, I clicked the link in my bio, I did a Google search and pulled up my website, what story would my website tell about me? Would it say that my brand is modern, that my communication is stellar, that clearly the guest experience is going to be second to none? That I’m somebody that you can trust, that I explain things in a way that you’re certain to understand? Or does my website say I’m trying to look fancy? Or does my website say, ‘Well I put all the information here, figure it out.’ Or does my website say, ‘I don’t have time for websites?’” What’s the story it’s telling?
I invite you to really give it some thought. Really give your Nurture level a little love today as you think forward on it.
Y’all, so much love, happy business building, and I’ll see you on the next one.
