As a hair stylist or barber, you know how difficult it can be to market your beauty salon, nail salon, day spa or barber shop with all that competition out there. Luckily, there are many cheap and easy ways to get the word out that your shop is THE place to be.
The best and least expensive way to get started is to first develop your image. Don't hire an image consultant! Just sit down and think... What makes your salon or barber shop unique?
Is it the people who work there, and their special skills? If so, they can be the cornerstone of your advertising campaign- especially with your business cards, which are the best for of word of mouth ads. One online shop, BusinessCardsThatWork, has a great feature where you can upload any saved photo onto one of their hot salon business card templates. Why not take a great group picture of all your stylists, and integrate it into your business cards? This lets the world know that you're super proud of your peeps and their mad hair styling skills. Alternately, you can order a smaller set for each of your employees that has their own profile and picture.
Is your location a factor in what makes your salon or barbershop special? An example of this would be if your business was located in a historic part of town, a popular shopping mall, or near some well-known landmark. You can use this to your advantage when it comes to designing your business card online. For instance, write "Located in historic Downtown Boston!" and have a picture of the area in the extreme background. Or how about, "Right across from City Park"? Being able to say you are at or near some exclusive real estate will give you some extra cred.
Is it the type of customer you cater to that makes your shop special? Take stock of your clients: Are they soccer moms or an edgy younger crowd? Do you excel in specialized procedures like weaves, extensions, etc? Whatever your clientele, play it up with colors and pictures that reflect their interests. Darker colors like purple, black and brown for the younger set, neutrals for the over 25 suburban types, etc. For specialized procedures, you'd want to have them listed clearly- be sure to use a simple but prominent font, and bullet form, here's an example:
Professionally Rendered
* Hair Extensions
* Weaves
* Colors and Highlights
* Eyebrow Waxing
After you figure out the basis for your image, the next step is to get some great business cards to promote that image. The best way is to find business cards that are extremely customizable with your very own graphics, photos, logos, colors, etc. Choose a basic salon, barbershop, or spa template that you think would be good to start with- then, open it up in an easy design editor. From there you can add your business info as well as upload any pictures, logos, etc. That will make your business cards uniquely you.
Luckily there are plenty of quantities to choose from- none of this being forced to order a kajillion cards at a time. You may order 250, or 10,000 if you like. Different finishes are avaiable as well- from matte to glossy, and rounded or square corners.
Make your business cards work for you. After you recieve the cards, give a few to everyone you know and put a stack on the front counter of your salon.. and don't skimp on the business card holder- you put a lot of thought into this...
