BUSINESS
Copycats Stealing your Thunder? By Robyn McAlpine
Other people keep copying your ideas? Great! Just keep having new ones! Easier said than done, yes! But what if that salon that always seems to be a few steps behind you was one of the best things keeping your own business moving forward?
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but what about when you’re the one getting copied? It can feel pretty ick to see others around you taking your work and passing it off as their own bright idea. I see it often in the beauty forums, a salon owner asking for advice when they see their competitor copying their promotions, replicating their social media posts, and sometimes going as far as logos, brand styles and language. It can feel like you are just working your butt off to give your competitors all the ideas. As someone who has this happen often, I want to share with you why it’s actually a good thing, (even when it feels yuck!) and help you reframe the way you think about copycats and the impact it has on your business.
60
Beauty Biz Year 16 Issue 5
If you are seeing your ideas, words, and images all over the internet, buckle up buttercup, we’re learning how to not let it put a kink in your chain so you can keep on rolling. I’m also sharing some seasoned advice for those who might have (accidentally) found themselves in the copycat seat. I’m here to help you find your own voice and connect with your clients as the amazing skin therapist you are, no copied inspiration needed! It can be so disheartening to see someone copy everything you produce; you might see your social images replicated, sometimes just cropped and reposted. Maybe it’s your captions cut and pasted into someone else’s social posts. You might have seen your exact same promotion replicated all over the internet in a way that feels like weird deja vu.
I’ve had some first-hand experience with this. Occasionally, mid mindless scroll I stumble across something I have written and for a moment I have to stop and check I didn’t actually post it and forget. I’ve also seen salons replicate my entire printed treatment menu, word for word, some right down to the price point! Ouch! Whoever said copying was the highest compliment, a form of flattery, I don’t know what they were on at the time, because it certainly doesn’t feel like it when you’re mid-scroll and see your competitor down the road making a carbon copy of your business! But it’s true, copying is actually the biggest compliment to you and I’m about to explain why! Take comfort. I’ve been around the block enough times to see that those who don’t find their own voice and instead constantly borrow yours, will soon switch to copying someone else. I promise
