Feb 2015 - Midwest Black Hair PRO

The Ultimate Hair & Beauty Porfessional Magazine

Beauty

Business University

-Marketing - Customer Service

Book Spotlight: 3 1/2 Secrets to Salon Success

Volume 1

Issue 1

A great read from Pam Stellema

Salon

Software

Appointment Booking, Inventory, Reports, Point of Sale & More 1

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pg.8

Rewarding Marketing Ideas For Your Hair Salon

pg.18

How to Establish a Top Nail Salon in Any City

pg.14

this

month 4

MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

5 Things Clients Might Hate About Your Salon

pg.10

The Benefits of Using the Best Salon Software in the Cloud

pg.24

Book Spotlight: 3 1/2 Secrets to Salon Success

pg.22

Hair SalonBusiness Ownership: Video Marketing Is Real

Photographer | Irma Lomidze, Model | Tina Richardson, Hair | Sabrina Hogue MUA | Mieisha Musawwir, Wardrobe Stylist | Toni Alexander, Accessories | Precious Heart Design

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Editor-In-Chief:

Malisse Lockhart-Ford mford@midwestblackhair.com

VP of Marketing & Advertising Christina Richardson trich@midwestblackhair.com

Advertising Department

contents

advertising@midwestblackhair.com

MWBH Contributors Jacquelyn Hollister

MWBH Interns Dianne Vasquez, Public Relations Intern

Public Relations Manager Asia Diamond Mason adiamond@midwestblackhair.com

Human Resource Department hr@midwestblackhair.com

Subscriptions MidwestBlackHair.com/Subscriptions Published By mlfCreations- Publishing Deptartment Lawrence, KS www.mlfCreations.com

MWBH Business University Salon Software Customer Service

Midwest Black Hair LLC info@midwestblackhair.com 816-866-MWBH (6924) www.MidwestBlackHair.com Cover Photography | Mr Don Pittman/www.MrDonPhotos.com Hair | Shernette Salon | Shernette Runway Salon Brooklyn, NY Model | Asia Diamond Back Cover Photography | Mr Don Pittman/www.MrDonPhotos.com Hair | Mr. Don Pittman Salon | Volumes Salon Model | Christine Gatling

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MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

Video Marketing Establishing Top Service

editor’s letter To all Hair & Beauty Professionals: Welcome to the first issue of MWBH PRO! We are excited about this new venture and bringing you great articles, tips, and more to help build your business! In this issue we are introducing the MWBH Business University, which is a new section that will bring you great business information to build your hair and beauty brand and take it to the next level. A great business owner never stops learning as well as evaluating themselves and their business.

We are constantly striving to perfect our magazine for our readers, and would love to hear from you. Please let us know if you have any feedback, suggestions, questions, or general comments that you would like to share with us. Feel free to email us at: info@midwestblackhair.com.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy this issue!

Malisse Lockhart-Ford Editor-In-Chief Midwest Black Hair Magazine

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Beauty

Business University

8 MWBH PRO Magazine - January 2015

Rewarding Marketing Ideas For Your Hair Salon

By Michael K Allen

T

he quality of your cuts, your staff, and the professionalism of your salon keep your customers coming back. Too bad your hairstyles don't walk out your door with your salon name printed on the back. Your great job as a stylist unfortunately doesn't grant you business, so a strong marketing strategy is crucial. Here are a few marketing ideas that are sure to get people in and ring rewards.

Internet Ads Instantly start building up your client base by establishing an online presence. We are in the age of technology, so establishing your business online is a great way to make you more accessible to your potential customers. Create a company website that features your great work, information on your staff qualifications, and the range of services you offer. Your website should represent your salon from your brand identity to your quality of work. Hair salons build customers based on referrals. Add your hair salon to local listing pages so whenever someone is looking for a haircut your business comes up.

An online directory is another great opportunity to build referrals by including customer reviews. Offer something extra like a discount on services after posting a review.

Print Media

Photography | Mr Don Pittman/ www.MrDonPhotos.com Hair | Shernette Salon | Shernette Runway Salon Brooklyn, NY Model | Asia Diamond

Print advertising can be a great way to increase sales at your hair salon. Hair stylists can start to build your salon with the simple addition of business cards. Pass them out as you build relationships with new people, and use your business cards as appointment reminder so clients are more prone to keeping your information with them. Mail hair salon postcards out to build knowledge about your salon. Offer a promotion to attract customers; discounted services when a postcard is presented. Print advertising can range from postcards, to flyers, to referral cards that can promote your business.

Store Signs Build an attractive hair salon image and even the unknown cannot keep new customers away.

Use window signs to create an appealing storefront that shows off your salon style with stylish up-dos and hairstyles. Window clings are ideal for promotional signs like sales on hair products, color specialist promotions, and cut and style packages. Clear decals can show-off your designs while still allowing visibility into your salon with a transparent background. Unique white ink printing allows for solid images and but needless background remain transparent.

A vinyl banner is the ideal attention grabbing signage for any budget. Vinyl banners make a bold statement when including in hair salon advertising. The oversized signage is attractive with vibrant colors and the gigantic message that is included can really bring impact to your promotion. Place one outside your hair salon to draw attention to your running promotions and bring traffic straight to your salon.

Michael Allen works as a Director of Marketing in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked with both large companies and small local businesses for over 20 years. His vast experience in the field of marketing positions him as an expert in helping businesses expand by using marketing tactics.

As a seasoned expert in Marketing and Branding, Michael has worked with a variety of different businesses, including spas and salons. His experience with beauty signs covers a variety of industries, including nail salon signs, hair salon signs, and tanning salon signs.

Article Source: Rewarding Marketing Ideas For Your Hair Salon

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The Benefits of Using the Best Salon Software in the Cloud

By Charles Dickens

U

sing the best salon software in the cloud for your spa and salon business can help you provide your clients an enriching experience, which would not only help in retaining them but make them come back to experience your superior services more frequently. Cloud software is designed especially for salons that would like an easy-to-use scheduling and client tracking system optimized for phones, mobile devices, and PCs.

No More Messing Up of Appointments The advanced salon management software makes appointment

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MWBH PRO Magazine - January 2015

booking a breeze for your clients and staff. It is flexible and extremely user-friendly. It allows you to book new appointments or modify existing appointments online and on your mobile device. You can add, remove, or modify services or products, change pricing, offer discounts, announce offers and a host of other things with an amazing degree of convenience.

The software allows you a quick glance at what appointments you have coming up for the week, or what is your schedule on any specific date.

How can the best salon software in the cloud help you deliver an enhanced experience to your customers?

The features of the best salon software provide client contact information, visit history, and tell the type of services and products the clients like to use on your browsing device within minutes, regardless of your location. You can easily check a particular client's details before their scheduled appointment and stock up on their favorite products. You can suggest new beauty treatments and services based on their past preferences and even rebook their appointment before they leave your salon.

Keep Inventory of Crucial Products Under Control The salon management software can be used to keep track of the inventory levels of fast-moving products with absolute ease. It is even possible to use a bar code scanner to scan your products when selling them to a client, so that inventory levels are updated in real time. The system can be programmed to issue alerts when products need to be restocked. Features, such as product reports, can be used to keep an eye on your inventory and even on the staff 's product sale performance. In other words, the best salon software can infuse an amazing degree of efficiency in all areas of your spa business.

Keep Critical Data Protected and Secure As the owner of a fast-growing salon, you are often faced with the challenge of keeping critical operational information confidential. The best salon spa software can be customized to limit access of specific features to each of your staff members, either online and on their mobile devices.

You can specify if you would like your employees to be able to only view client-specific information while keeping other crucial financial data confidential. On the other hand, the best salon software in the cloud can also be used to share specific reports with key staff members or to change settings, so that general circulars or data can be shared among all employees of your salon.

Millennium Systems International, creator of the best salon software in the cloud, is a leading business solutions provider. They are committed to delivering exceptional support and education to spas and salons through advanced salon management software that's guaranteed to enhance user experience and give salon owners the convenience of greater control on various areas of their business operations.

Article Source: The Benefits of Using the Best Salon Software in the Cloud

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MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

Hair Stylist | Mr. Don Pittma Salon | Volumes Salon Model | Christine 15 Gatling Photographer PRO.MidwestBlackHair.com | Mr. Don Pittman/MrDonPhotos.com

5

Things Clients Might Hate About Your Salon

By Pam Stellema

1.

Stop keeping your clients waiting. Nothing is more frustrating for them than having rushed to get to their appointment on time, only to wait 10 or 15 minutes to see their therapist. If you run behind because you're too slow delivering your treatments, then you must work towards improving your timing. If it's because the previous client arrived late, you must shorten her treatment routine so as not to delay the client who respectfully turned up on time. Regardless of the reason, if your client is going to have to wait for her treatment, always show her the courtesy of an explanation right up front, so she is at least aware of what's happening and how big a delay there will be. This is simply being respectful.

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MWBH PRO Magazine - January 2015

It's so easy to get comfortable in your day-to-day routine. As a matter of fact, sometimes you can get so comfortable you fail to notice the things that could be driving your clients away from your salon in droves. No matter how long a client has been coming to you, you can never begin to take them or their comfort for granted. As a matter of fact, a long-standing and loyal client should always receive first class service equivalent to the very first time they were in your salon.

Here are 5 things that could be happening in your salon that could cost you clients:

2.

Making clients listen to the tragic tale of the therapists love life is another no-no. Clients may smile and ask a few questions, but the reality is that they are in the salon to enjoy some personal down time. If they're going to talk about anything, it should be themselves.

Therapists must learn the art of delivering a peaceful treatment that allows the client to enjoy a relaxing and quiet time-out for themselves. This isn't a hard one to master.

Simply answer when spoken to and then stay quiet.

Beauty

Business University

3.

Too much noise. Nothing breaks the serenity and peace of mind quite like ringing phones, screeching kids and raucous laughter. Adopt a low noise policy in your salon. Turn your salon phone's ringtone down, ask clients to turn their mobiles to silent, encourage clients to leave their kids with a friend, and train your staff to speak quietly so your clients leave feeling refreshed rather than frazzled.

Turn your salon in a peaceful sanctuary and you clients will love you for it.

5.

Forgotten before she walks out the door. No matter how nicely you've treated your client during her treatment, if you ignore her the minute you've collected the payment, you've lost her. Engage with your client until the moment she steps out the door of your salon.

Your waiting client can afford the additional 5 seconds, especially if she was greeted properly when she arrived.

4.

Making your client feel stupid. This is easier to do than you may think. Each time you correct or criticise a client for the choices she has made or is currently making, you are making her feel stupid. Train your staff instead to congratulate their clients on being proactive in their beauty routine (no matter what that routine may be). Once you have won the trust of the client, she will then be more open to hearing your suggestions on how to achieve "even better results" from her home routine. Making a client feel stupid for her choices is a sure-fire way to lose them for good.

These are just five simple things that won't cost you a penny to fix in your salon, but could save you tens of thousands of dollars from lost clients.

Take a look around your salon by viewing it through the eyes of your clients. Use all your senses - sight, sound, smell and touch. What doesn't come up to scratch?

Don't let complacency set in and prevent you from seeing your salon just like your clients do.

Pam uses her extensive experience to help salon and spa owners put the profit into their passion. She does this by

coaching and mentoring salon owners, helping them to make better decisions, improve their business skills and learn how to be a better leader in their salons and spas.

Pam has a great many business building articles on her website at http://www.SalonSavy.com.au so please head on over and take a look. While you're there, sign up to her blog and download your free e-book 33 Proven Strategies to Make More Money in Your Salon... Right Now. Article Source: 5 Things Clients Might Hate About Your Salon

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Hair Stylist | Cynthia Feller Salon | Volumes Hair Salon Model | Christina Joyner 18 Photographer | Mr. Don Pittman/MrDonPhotos.com

MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

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How to Establish a Top Nail Salon in Any City

By Becky Watson

B

polish has to be of high standard and so does the other many services. In a high-end nail salon, consider providing multiple payment options.

1. Offer quality services- there is no business which offers poor services that can ever succeed. All services have to be top notch. This does not mean that you will have to include all the latest technology in you nail salon so as to be considered a high quality article. This means that your employees and you as the owner should have the best services. You can consider providing the services within a short while in order not to make the client stay for long in your salon. The application of the nail

2. Qualified staff- for a business to succeed, this can only be done by qualified staff.

Non-qualified might provide poor services that the clients may not love. This will make them never return to the salon. Always employ nail beauticians who either have taken lessons on that or have experience in the sector. In most cases, employ someone who has both factors as you are assured of high quality jobs. Nail salons do not only work on salons but also the feet. Therefore, someone with the experience is required in case some complicated situations can arise.

ecoming a top nail salon is not easy.

You will have to strive and work hard to compete against all the other nail salons. Below are some tips on how to succeed in a nail salon industry.

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MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

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3. Always keep the premises clean- it is always said, first appearance matters a lot in a business. Clients associate a good business with how clean and good looking the business premises is. If it is dirty and shady looking, the clients will not enter the premises even if you are the best at what you do. A clean room will always attract clients even from afar. Cleanliness does not only mean that floor cleanliness. Always ensure that the place has enough natural sunlight during the day or good artificial light. You should always ensure that the place is organized and also spacious enough. The room should be streaming with clean air.

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4. Merging with a beauty salon- it is always hard for an individual to go sit down at a specific place just to be performed nail care. Most people will receive nail care as their hair is being styled. Therefore, merging with a beauty salon might with a nail salon is a good business decision as you will be able to work on plenty of clients that when you operate on a solo business.

5. Never ever compromise for profits-people may offer services in order to make high profits. Thus, they may go all way to purchase cheap products that might harm the client but have good returns. This is a bad working principle. Ensure that the products you use are those from respected and well known beauty companies.

6. Location of your business- there is one thing that every business person has to consider when providing the services, location. The location of the business is very essential in attracting clients. Shady locations will get you few and shady clients too. A good location such us on a business street will attract high-end clients who will love and appreciate your services.

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Hair Salon Business Ownership: Video Marketing Is Real W

By Natalie Wynn

ould you agree as a hair salon business owner that online videos are here to stay?

If you are nodding your head yes then my next question for you is, "is your salon business and services being represented online using video marketing?"

I hope the answer to both of the questions asked above is YES! If not let me tell you why video marketing is so important to the salon business owner, hair stylist, makeup artist and beauty professional in general.

The Beauty Industry: Our industry is one of image, glamour and excitement. The best

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MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

way for people to understand how something looks, how something is done or what goes together is to actually see it. Since, we are unable to be in front of everyone in the world at the same time...video gives us the ability to capture the moment and details of what we do. Image is important in our line of work and video allows our images of different hair styles, makeup techniques, product education, do's and don'ts to be instantaneously seen by the masses. And yes everyone wants it now.

Draw traffic: As a salon business owner we want to draw traffic. We want to be in a traffic jam when it comes to online video marketing. Google and other search engines love videos when used with keywords.

A little unknown secret is that right now videos receive good

rankings in the search engines because they are looking for multimedia - Universal Search. The search engines want to give people the best information possible on whatever topic they are searching. Lucky for us there are fewer videos being made compared to articles or traditional blogging. This leaves a huge opportunity for hair salon business owners to market themselves with video.

To give you an example, imagine that there are 150 people searching for two color blonde highlights. Of those 150 searches only 7 videos are made with this keyword in the search engines. The chances of those videos being on the front page of Google is pretty high. Using online video marketing this could possibly allow you to jump pass all of the 100+written articles and blogs and go straight to the top.

In addition to specializing in Internet Salon Marketing and being a Trusted Advisor for Independent Salon & Beauty Professionals, Natalie Wynn would love to help you increase your client base and make more $$$ effortlessly. Visit [http://www.

SalonBusinessMarketingTools.com]http://www.SalonBusinessMarketingTools.com, it provides a wealth of informative articles and resources on everything you'll ever need to know about marketing your salon business. Get Your FREE Report....

The 5 Salon Marketing Mistakes You Can't Afford To Make!

Article Source: Hair Salon Business Ownership: Video Marketing Is Real

I would suggest that anyone with a hair salon or salon beauty business create a video of what they do because it can and will draw traffic to whatever you like - your website, your Facebook page, your product line, your blog....the sky is the limit and now is the time to capitalize on this avenue of income that can prove to be extremely profitable if done properly.

Discover right and wrong salon methods - and tips that will increase your profits by the end of the week.

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3 1/2 Secrets to Salon Success

By Pam Stellema

I

f you are a salon owner or manager, who wants to learn the secrets to financial success in your salon, then "3 1/2 Secrets to Salon Success" is a must have book for your business toolkit. You will find the proven and powerful strategies inside this book to be invaluable in helping you grow your salon and increase your profitability. You will also learn the secrets of creating an amazing salon team, so that you will have an indispensable source of support and motivation around you constantly. If you only have the time to read one great business book for your salon this year, make this the one.

3 1/2 Secrets to Salon Success will show you how to: • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Create an environment in your salon that will help you to become much more successful.

Remove the negative mindset your staff have around sales.

Set targets so that your staff have something to aim for.

Work smarter not just harder.

Purchase At: Generate more sales than you have ever had before – step by step.

Fill your appointment book months in advance.

Increase the retention rate of your clients by double.

Reduce the number of clients who don’t come back.

Generate increased client loyalty.

Become a better leader to your team.

Set your business goals to drive you forward.

Make a profit!

MWBH PRO Magazine - February 2015

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