The Aspiring Stylist with Tracey 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.

So I have been using Instagram since 2013. In truth telling I was probably a little behind the times, I was still using Facebook a lot getting a lot of traction with Facebook. So I started a salon Instagram first, I had my personal Facebook page again, felt like that was going really well. But I knew that businesses were definitely moving over to Instagram. And so I felt like you know, I had a responsibility to the salon to go ahead and create a salon page, the shift from focusing on the words I was saying to the content that I had to post felt different for me, I felt like I've always been, you know, pretty good with words.

But now I had this new responsibility, right, so now I have to be a photographer, as well as a poet.

So after several years of running my own page, and not really gaining any traction, I decided that it was time to hire a social media manager. So before I hired Nicole, you know, I was doing still just a lot of boring still shots with boring captions, just putting a little bit out there maybe three posts per week, I never really took the time to do any kind of research on what people on Instagram were actually looking for, or what they were looking to get out of social media at all. I just posted pics and hope that somehow it would get me a client or two at some point.

Shortly after hiring my social media manager, I really started to notice that my feed started to look different was definitely a lot more videos and pictures.

And anytime I was at a hair show or an educational event, all the stylists that I loved following were talking about video, and they were making short videos while they were on stage or why they were wandering through the crowd. And I knew that it was definitely time to shift. But I still didn't know what I was doing. Even though I had a social media manager, I still felt like we were kind of figuring that out together. So as far as hiring someone to help you with your social media, I mean, when is a good time, I think it's a good time when social media really overwhelms you. If it really makes you anxious if getting on there and making a post absolutely frightens you to death and you might want to get a little bit of help. I think it's good to hire someone when you like actually don't even know how to make a post, you are just a baby, you are completely unsure of how any of it works, you might need some help, and when you can afford it. And let's not skip over this part. Okay, I am not recommending that somebody that is having a hard time breaking even or making their booth rent every month should go and hire somebody that's not at all what I'm saying. That is definitely for someone who has the budget for social media manager because although they range in price, they can be pretty expensive. I knew that my social media wasn't working. I didn't have any real strategy. I wasn't gaining any traction. I wasn't gaining any followers. My engagement was almost none. And I mean, like no comments, no likes, I mean a few from the same 15 people that care about your stuff, you know all the time, thank God for them, right?

It didn't translate into sales, picks up products, cheap graphics is just not what people were looking for. I think Instagram reels really connect with my audience in particular, and I'm sure a lot of audiences, I built a following in the beginning, from you know, just getting people I already knew to follow me, personal people friends, I got them to follow me on my personal journey. So unless I knew someone it was unlikely that anyone was going to follow my page. I personally knew most of my followers, but posting reels gives you so much more reach I mean people from faraway lands find you and you get to build a community of salon professionals that understand you and the content that you post. My following definitely shifted from potential clients to other stylists, which honestly is perfect for the professional shift that I'm making. And lastly, I'm hilarious. Okay, I take everyday salon situations and I make them funny and I Make them relatable to my followers, it's entertaining, and they love it. I'm not saying anybody doesn't know. But if for some reason you don't know what a real is, it is a short clip, you know, usually with some background music and some on screen captioning or you use some kind of funny audio and reenacted or something that's relative to the sound bite. It's just usually short videos like that. If you have Instagram, you know what a reel is? You know, you can really also use the voiceover option to create amazing educational content for your followers as well. I mean, the sky really is the limit with reels. So how are they different from the regular posts or stories, I mean, reels have their own feed. So people who prefer that kind of content, they don't have to sift through everything else, all the memes, all the family photos, they get to just go and watch exactly what kind of content they prefer. And some people like to hang out in stories, you know, which is obviously affected too.

But reels will live on your page, while stories will disappear. So my social media has grown a lot since the rise of reels it has done a complete one ad, it would have been impossible for me to make the kind of shift I've made on my Instagram. Without these videos.

My ideal follower is no longer a potential client. So the kind of content that I'm posting is not me trying to get clients. But for you, as a stylist, I highly recommend the kind of content that you post should somehow translate into dollars, it should be about getting clients in your chair, it should be about promoting products you're passionate about. It should be about letting people know all the services you offer. Again, the sky really is the limit and for you if you're growing a clientele than your content is going to look different than what my content looks like right now. Right now I'm looking for stylists to engage with and entertain. I love all the dialogue in the comments. And it honestly just feels so good to be seen and heard and understood. I'm also looking for potential students for my academy and stylists for my salon. And I'm still definitely looking for listeners for this podcast. So content, how do you even find content for a real?

Well, I mean, a lot of it is simply imitation. I'm searching and reels for something like something funny, you know, something that is relative to some kind of experience I've had at the salon or some kind of challenge I have behind the chair, you know, something that really speaks to me as a stylist that I think other people will find funny and relatable as well. And some of it is looking at what I captured last week and letting that speak to me. I mean, I'll just go into templates and find something and put some of my work together or put some things that happened at the school or at the salon together and create a reel with some trending music. I mean, it's really not rocket science, I promise. Like, you just have to familiarize yourself a little bit. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have at social media, go to my social media, Tracy Franklin beauty and send me a message. I'm happy to answer your questions for you and support you in any way I can. I also really like to showcase my students and my stylists, I mean their work, I feel a real sense of pride when they're having some success with their own social media. And when they're creating beautiful work and posting it, I feel very, very proud of them. So batching content is the easiest way to have plenty of things to grab from for the next week. I mean, you're going to have busy weeks, and you're going to have slow weeks and you're going to do interesting work and you're going to do boring work. And so you can batch content ahead of time, and you can get 10 reels out of something that you didn't think you could get one out of really great clear videos have a beautiful blog that you did with perfect lighting. I mean, nobody gets tired of saying that stuff.

You just have to get a lot of something that you enjoy doing and something that you promote because you want more of it.

Your content needs to be relative to what you want to do behind the chair. So when you do a gorgeous blonde and you want to be known as a blonde boss, then you need to be posting a lot of pictures of blonde work.

But what about those weeks when you don't have a lot of blonde work when you're just covering grace for those brunettes? I mean, that's where you really want to get a lot of options for those weeks. When your book doesn't look maybe the way you want it to different people are going to see different things you never have to worry about posting the same client or the same look multiple times people simply will not pick up on it.

As far as like making content in advance. I do feel like it's important I don't think you have to make it super far in advance.

I mean sometimes I'm really really good and I'll you know carve out a couple hours in my schedule and create some content, save it in drafts, and then on set. And then other times I just find a good template and I just throw up some pictures or videos that speak to me. I mean, the important thing is consistency, consistency and posting good content and posting it often. So what about music and hashtags?

And your captions? I mean, there's so much to worry about, right? Oh, not really, I mean, I think using trending audio really does help your reach.

That's something I try to pay attention to think about how many reels in a row that you see on your feed that are using the same audio? Exactly, that speaks to me, I find that as a tactic that really, really works. I don't waste a ton of time captioning my reels unless I have something really important to say, you know, I'm going to save the eloquence for my feed, I'm going to save those really special poetic moments for when I post a picture of my granddaughter or something like that something that really speaks to my heart. Other than that people don't care, especially when it comes to reels guys, nobody is reading your caption. Unless you're posting some kind of reel that's so obscure, nobody's going to be able to tell what it is, unless they read your caption. I do not recommend doing that. People just don't pay attention to that. And rails. I do not use any editing tools or scheduling apps. They're not wrong, I just don't use them. I like authenticity. So I've never been much on editing photos of myself or of my work. But editing for you know, videos, and for reals is a must. But I can find everything I need in the Instagram app or on my iPhone.

Yeah, all your iPhones are magic little creations, you need to become really good friends with your iPhone, and you need to learn all the ways that it can serve you because I'm still learning and I'm still amazed every single day, I recommend staying away from scheduling apps, this is just what I believe to be true, I believe Instagram is pretty picky about the content being posted organically. Plus Instagram already has its own scheduling features within the app. So I guess I just don't really understand the extra step, I post five to six times a week, if growth and followers and reach is the goal, then posting a few times a week simply will not do it. And I think the time that you post and how optimal that is, is different for everyone. If you have made your page, a professional page, then you will have access to insights. And you'll be able to tell what times of day people are seeing your content the most, you will more than likely have more than one optimal time.

So keep checking and keep modifying. I do not have a ton of followers, you guys, I have a little over 5000 followers. But what I do have is quality followers. And what I mean by that is that my followers are for the most part people that I care about, you know, my immediate family, my clients, my friends, my team's work people, I've met people in the industry that I've met people that I admire, very industry related, but I've also got my family on their friends from high school, I mean, it's sort of a hodgepodge of everybody. But all of those people mean something to me. And then I also have people I've never met in person that are just encouraging and inspiring, and I love following them as well. That being said, I have quadrupled my followers since I started posting reels.

And since I doubled the times, you know, per week about I post, I said quadrupled. I mean, again, 5000 doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot more than the 1200 that I had when I started. So what about tracking the success of each reel, I mean, I really do not dig too deep on this, I pay attention to likes and shares. Mostly, I think views are nice, but taking the time for someone to actually like and share it to me is a real measurement of success. I think views are just Hey, someone saw it while they were scrolling to me, it doesn't feel as much of a metric that I should be measuring. I get a ton of local support. I mean, not a day goes by that I don't bump into people in my community where they're like, hey, love what you're doing. Oh my gosh, girl, you're so funny. I mean, I just get a ton of support and it means everything to me. And honestly, it keeps me going.

There are days where I don't feel like being the comedian, you know, where I don't feel like being the person that inspires other people. I mean, I'm sorry, we all have those days where we just don't wake up and shine as bright as we could, right? But when I run into someone and you know they're giving me a high five or they're giving me some kind of praise then it reminds me why I do what I do and that people are watching and that what I do does matter. It will definitely connect you with more people that you wouldn't meet otherwise like in my Aveda Tribe i mean it's expanded so much so many people that I admire that have been an asset to my journey, my Aveda journey and I would have never met them without social media. People in My community loves being in our reels. I mean, they do they come into the salon and I'm like, Hey, would you mind sitting in on one of their reels, and they're always so willing and they absolutely love it. They share it with their friends, their friends are laughing like our clients just really love it. So I want to give you a little advice on how to show up consistently and authentically. It's very simple.

Everything is content, capture anything that speaks to you and turn it into something that will speak to others. Always be relatable. Post your mistakes, post your hard times. Being real makes you vulnerable. I get it.

It does. But it can also make you someone that they can relate to, and it makes them feel so much less alone.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of anytime soon. 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