Diversify and Grow: Additional Services and Revenue Streams

Morgan Franklin: Welcome to the
Aspiring Stylists Podcast with

Tracey Franklin. Where to
begin,grow and aspire to become

the best stylist you can
be.Whether you're thinking about

becoming a stylist opening a
salon, or developing your skills

as an experienced stylist the
next step of your beauty career

starts here. Each week we'll
discuss strategic ways to

design, plan and execute on
becoming a stylist that excels

behind the chair and above the
bottom line. Here's your

host,Tracey Franklin.

Tracey Franklin: do you ever
look at your service menu and

think it's a little bit one
dimensional, like maybe you're

not offering enough of a variety
of services to your guest? Do

you even know what services your
guests want? I mean, you can't

really provide them with new and
exciting services. If you don't

even know what it is they're
looking for. I think it's so

important to have a really
diversified portfolio,

especially in the beginning, you
just cannot be a one trick pony

in this industry, or your
clients will be forced to look

elsewhere for services that they
want. Your clients may want a

place where they can get more of
their services done. So be that

place. If your guest is coming
in for a color service, then

maybe they also want their
eyebrows tinted or their

eyebrows waxed, are you offering
your clients the little extras

that they may want to receive?

The only way that you can find
out is by asking them, you know,

take the time to have that
conversation with your guests

like what other services would
you be interested in, I'm

looking to grow my portfolio,
and I'm just kind of surveying

some of my guests and finding
out what it is exactly that they

want. Because you may have
something that you're really

interested in learning how to
do. But if you don't have the

demand for it, then it's not
going to be very lucrative, and

then you're gonna get
discouraged. In the beginning,

you need to have a very
diversified portfolio, you're

building your clientele. And
that means you really need to be

ready for whatever walks in the
door, you're not in a place in

your career yet where you can
afford to really be picky. So it

is important to know how to do
the basics and maybe even a few

extra things. As you continue to
grow and succeed, you will be

able to find your niche and
really lean into that. And I

think that is so great. I mean,
I've really enjoyed figuring out

what services I love to perform,
because it makes my work more

enjoyable. But you can't negate
the services that your guests

want and depend on. And I'm just
going to use haircutting as an

example. I hear so many
stylists, and even some stylists

in my own salon that grow weary
of doing haircuts. Well, the

thing about a haircut is, for
one thing, it's going to usually

be the first thing that a guest
tries when they call your salon,

if you'll notice, a lot of your
guests are not willing to dive

all the way deep in the services
that they want to receive. They

want to kind of test the waters,
and they want to make sure that

you're a good stylist. And
that's going to start with a

really great haircut. And the
other thing about haircuts is it

makes all your other work look
really good and really polished.

It doesn't matter if you're
doing color or extension

services, a great haircut is
always going to follow that and

it's going to make your
extensions blend better. And

it's going to make your colour
pop more. So don't forget how

important some of those basic
services are. And don't forget

that no matter what you're going
to be cutting hair for the rest

of your career unless you just
decide to specialize in

something and some people do
that. But for me, that would

just be a little bit one
dimensional. And I like to offer

a lot of things. I like my
guests to be able to sit in my

chair and know that I've got
them from the beginning to the

end. So how do you identify the
new services that you should

offer? You know, you can really
love a service and really be

interested in it and feel like
you could be good at it. But

will it serve your particular
client base. An example of that,

for me would be vivid hair
color. Like I look at vivid hair

color and it just excites my
eyes. It's like a feast for my

eyes. It's so beautiful and bold
and vibrant. And I think it's

absolutely gorgeous. And I love
the way that society is kind of

embracing this trend. Now, you
know, I can remember when I

first got into this industry,
like the only people that wore

vivid hair color were
hairstylist and you know

musicians and just really
eccentric people but it's become

more of the norm and that really
excites me because I believe

that it's more commonplace now
in the workspace and in schools

and things like that to allow
people to express their self

with hair color. So I'm really
glad to see this catching on.

But at the end of the day that
is not the service that is going

to best suit my guests needs. My
guests are blonds their

extension wares. They are
professionals. And that's just

not their particular style. I'm
sure they appreciate the art

behind it. But if I were to
bring that in and offer that to

them, I don't think I would get
very many takers. Some services

become really popular. They
emerge onto the scene and they

really catch on and a few of
those that have really paid off

For me are texturizing services
like Brazilian blowouts? Before

there was no way to eliminate
frizz completely forget. So you

could offer them an at home
regimen that would help, you

could make sure that their hair
was healthy and nourished, but

it wouldn't really reduce their
frizz. Well, this is a huge

problem for a very large percent
of people. It's at the top of

the list for things that clients
struggle with. I was at a hair

show in Birmingham several years
ago, and I had heard of

Brazilian blowout before, but
honestly, I really didn't know

what it was, I thought it was
some version of a blowout of a

traditional blowout. Well, of
course, I sat in, you know, they

have the presentations on stage
at the shows. And so I sat in on

one of the presentations, and my
mind was blown. I honestly

thought it was probably too good
to be true. But they were having

a really good intro deal like
they typically do with these

shows. So I signed up and
brought it into the salon, made

sure everyone got certified. And
it literally took off, there was

no one in my community offering
this particular service. And it

really, really caught on. And
now it is absolutely one of our

biggest sellers, and a really,
really great new stream of

revenue for me and my stylists.

Another one is hair extensions.

So I'm going to take you back to
the beginning of my hair

extension journey, we were doing
what are now called AI tips

where you place the strand by
strand of hair in individual

beads. And you know, there was
really no way to blend that to

me, it looks like really, almost
noodley if you can close your

eyes and picture what I'm
talking about, you'll know

exactly what I'm trying to say
there was just no real way to

make that look good. But if
people wanted length, that was

what we were doing. It took an
immense amount of time to

perform this service, I think a
typical full application would

take me about eight hours, I
knew I was interested in the

service, but I just really could
not get behind this technique.

So for a while there, I didn't
do any hair extensions at all.

And as our industry continues to
evolve, like it always does,

taping extensions came out. So I
thought, Okay, this is a brand

new way for me to offer this
service. So now I'm offering

taping extensions, they're very
thin West, they blend really

well with the hair. And I'm
excited about the hair extension

industry again. And now we have
hand tied webs and machine webs

and lots of other ways of
performing this service. And now

it is absolutely what I'm known
for. It's my favorite service to

provide. And I have created a
platform with my clientele where

most of my clients are wearing
hair extensions. Now, I want to

emphasize the importance of
proper training and education

when you're offering new
services. As for me, I'm a paper

chaser. And what I mean by that
is I love certifications, we

have something at my salon
called the wall of fame. And

it's where all of our stylists
have their name on the wall and

all of their certifications
underneath it. Well I take a lot

of pride in that I have a lot of
them. And it is definitely a

talking point for the clients in
the salon. There's a big

difference in free education
versus certification. Free

education is great. And I think
it's really great for fine

tuning your skill set. It's
great for learning new

techniques and things like that.

But when it comes to learning
how to do a brand new service

from start to finish, I really
prefer a certification because I

really like all of the support
that I get. I like how they

break it down in great detail. A
lot of times you get to go

somewhere fun to get your
certification and get out of the

salon for a while and you know,
rub elbows with other industry

people. And it's just a lot of
fun. And so for me, I feel like

if you're just looking to clean
up your skill set, free

education is great, and there's
an abundance of it. But if

you're gonna bring in something
brand new, I recommend getting

certified in it. And then that
way you can brag to your clients

about your big weekend and your
certification. And they can feel

really comfortable that you've
been properly trained. So when

it comes to new services and
certifications, where can you

look, you know, where can you go
to find these new services,

what's new, what's up and
coming? What's Trending in the

industry. For me, again, it's
going to conferences and hair

shows it's going to classes and
other salons and seeing what

they're doing. It's just really
staying aware of what's going on

around you. There are a lot of
big brands out there that take a

lot of pride in creating
something new and being the

first one to design a new
service or a new product. And

don't forget about the brand
partnerships that you already

have in place. You mean these
companies spend a lot of time on

research. I mean, they literally
have people that actually have

the job of shopping trends of
like monitoring what's going on

in the industry. And it's really
important that you just get out

of your own neighborhood like go
somewhere new. Open your eyes to

a new horizon. You know, you
can't really rely on your

hometown to tell you what's
going on in New York or LA. You

got to get out of your own
neighborhood, get out there, see

something new and be totally
inspired by it. So how do you

effectively market and promote
this new service that you've

learned? Well, I would start
with your current clientele, I

would be mentioning it to
anybody and everybody that sat

in my chair, I mean, you need to
be excited, shout it from the

rooftop, literally post it on
the walls, put a flyer on your

station, talk about it over and
over again so that people don't

leave that appointment without
knowing about the exciting new

thing that you're doing.

Literally talk to every client
that sits in your chair and make

sure that you are networking
with other professionals in the

salon, make sure that the
estheticians and the nail techs

and even the other hairstylist
that don't offer this service

are talking about what you're
doing. Inter salon networking is

a huge promotional tool that
people sleep on all the time,

make sure you ask your co
workers to help you out. Let

them know how excited you are
and have them spread the word

for you start out with offering
a promotion, maybe you come up

with an entry price, you know a
little discount that inspires

people to try it out. Definitely
be posting on social media, make

sure that there are a lot of
eyes on this exciting new thing

that you're doing. And make sure
you get good content, you know,

I would try to recruit a model
like a girl or a guy with really

great hair and have them come
in, you know, offer to do it at

a big discount or maybe even
free so that you can get some

really great pictures for your
social media. And lastly, I

would do a giveaway, I love
giveaways because the benefit of

those is that a lot of people
are sharing that content for you

on their page. And a lot of
people will see it that would

not otherwise even know what
you're doing Who You Are any of

that. So it's a really great way
to build your audience. So I

want to explain the importance
of tracking the success of your

new service, you're going to
need to keep records you can

keep handwritten records, if you
don't have a really great

software that keeps up with it.

But you need to know how many
people are getting this new

service. How many of your new
clients have enlisted in your

offer and have taken advantage
of this new opportunity with

you? What percentage of your
clients are actually trying new

things with you? And what is
falling flat? What is it that

you're offering that they aren't
interested in and maybe never

word that's important
information to know, at the end

of the day, we're learning to do
a new service so that we can

increase our income so that we
can make more money behind the

chair? Yes, it's very important
to have that little spark of

excitement when you learn
something new. And I think it's

really important to honor
whatever like your spirit is

saying about what direction you
should be going in with your

career, that voice inside of you
that says, hey, this is really

going to work. That's all
really, really powerful. But at

the end of the day, you do need
to be monitoring the numbers,

you need to make sure that what
you're doing is actually growing

your business and actually
creating a new revenue stream

for you. So how do you stay
informed about the latest trends

and products? How do you know
what your clients preferences

are? And how do you know that
you are going to be able to

offer them the services that
remain relevant and profitable.

Again, I'm going to talk about
hair shows and conferences. It

is by far one of the most
important things you can do to

stay relevant in this industry.

Hair shows come out at a very
strategic time of the year when

the trends are about to shift.

So just know that that is not by
accident that that is a

carefully orchestrated process.

And whenever I see a new hair
show, I'm always looking at my

book, I'm always looking at my
education budget, and I'm seeing

if it's possible, because quite
honestly, I would go to all of

them if I could, that's how much
I love them. That's how much I

enjoy being inspired by other
professionals, and how I stay

passionate and how my fire stays
ignited in this industry. I

really like to read fashion
magazines. I know that might

sound a little bit old school,
but I am a little old school.

And I really still love the way
a Vogue magazine feels in my

hands and the way it smells,
especially with all those yummy

perfume samples that they still
put in there. But I think that's

a really easy and relevant way
to kind of see what's going on

because honestly like
celebrities are definitely

determining and making the
biggest contribution into what's

about to trend. So you're gonna
find all that information inside

these magazines. And lastly,
make sure that your scrolling is

relevant, like don't just get on
there so that you can be

entertained for a few minutes.

Make sure that you're being very
intentional about your time on

social media, because you should
be following people that inspire

you and keep you up to date on
what's going on in this

industry. So make sure that you
are following enough of those

type of people and that enough
of that content is showing up in

your feed.

Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of

The Aspiring Stylist Podcast
with Tracey Franklin. If you

enjoyed listening and you want
to hear more, make sure you

subscribe on Apple
Podcast,Spotify or wherever you

find your podcasts. The Aspiring
Stylist Podcast with Tracey

Franklin is a Morgan Franklin
Production. Today's episode was

written and produced by Morgan
Franklin editing and post

production by Mike Franklin.Want
to find out more about Tracey

and the Aspiring Barber and
Beauty Academy go to

aspirebarberandbeauty.com

Diversify and Grow: Additional Services and Revenue Streams
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