Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Red Pump Project - Women and AIDS


Karyn of the Red Pump Project says:
Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and there's a whole lot of talking and educating happening all over the country in honor. Luvvie and I each have our own reasons for fighting AIDS, but most importantly, we simply agree that something has to be done. I mean, if we could just encourage women to talk about it and educate themselves and others, we'd be making a difference.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

4 Important Tips for building your Hair Extension Business


The following tips are for the professional stylist who wants to add extension services to their list of service offerings.

These four important tips are for building a successful and lucrative hair extension clientele.

Tip #1 - Consulting with your client
The Client Consultation is the most important first step in building your extensions business. If a client’s hair and scalp are not suited for these services, you may find yourself inviting unnecessary problems for your business. You must be sure the client has a healthy scalp, the hair is not easily pulled from the scalp and there is sufficient length to cover the extensions. Ask questions about the clients health –we have found that most clients will quickly volunteer issues they are having with excessive shedding, breakage and health problems as they are eager for solutions and are coming to you as the professional for advice. A fairly confidential atmosphere may be required for this consultation if you have such a space available. You may also want to generate a Client Questionnaire with a waiver for these services. If a client is having any of the problems mentioned above, you will want to decline them and offer other solutions, such as wigs and hairpieces, educating them on how natural these additions can look when properly selected and fitted. As a rule, your best extension candidate will have healthy hair and scalp, at least 3 inches of length and be educated on the process, care & maintenance of the extensions. It is your job to ensure these pieces are in place.

Tip #2 - Setting your prices
There is a wide range of price points for extensions services. How you set your prices is going to depend on the local demand and availability of the services, what prices you feel your potential clients will pay, and your level of expertise with the techniques. Advanced training is going to set you apart from other stylists and allow you to put a higher value on what you offer. If you emphasize the expertise you have in areas such as custom color blending, and providing a higher end hair for the extensions, you can put a higher price tag on your services. How much control you take over the process is going to also determine what you can charge. If you just want to provide the service only, allowing the client to buy their own hair and supplies, your price should be a bit lower. If you provide the hair, materials for the process, and supply products for after care, you are truly providing top shelf service and thus should price at the high end of the scale, including your costs in the price of the service. Again, however it is important to gauge what the market will bear and position yourself to accommodate as many potential clients as possible.

Tip #3 - Custom Blending Hair colors
The beauty of your training as a professional is the ability to use your talent in creating beautiful color compositions for your clients. Your customer can buy hair in solid colors and mixed colors, but you can use the tools at your disposal to create custom masterpieces. With wefts, you can combine the colors, split the tracks to regulate the amount of color, and position the hair where you want it for highlight and low light effects. With fusion you can mix the strands for a truly custom creation and at Just Hair, only buy the color you need in the amount you need.

Tip #4 - Care and maintenance of extensions
Extension hair is usually hair that was healthy when it was cut from the donor. It no longer receives nutrients from the body or natural oils from the scalp. As a result, the hair does need special care. While it is best to avoid products that can strip the hair, have a lot of alcohol, silicone and petroleum based oils, the hair does need moisturizing shampoos, conditioners and styling products to stay healthy looking and beautiful. We recommend Ionix products for cut hair and for the client with some damage to their own hair. Also recommended are salon quality products that are pH balanced and sulfate free. Botanical and natural oils that simulate the body’s oils should be applied to condition the hair—but sparingly so as not to weigh the hair down. A maintenance spray can be used throughout the day to help maintain the moisture balance in the hair and prevent brittleness and dryness. Hair extensions require more care than your clients own hair—it is important to stress this and to experiment with different products yourself so you can make accurate recommendations.

No matter what hair extension technique you decide to use, these 4 tips will help you to quickly develop yourself into the local expert, building your clients confidence in you, and making your business very profitable!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Wig Business News


Here is a terrific article about the wig industry as reported in Beauty Store Business Magazine. We have accounts with several of the vendors in the article. Check it out!

Lucrative Locks

Thursday, January 22, 2009

HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!


Before you take another step towards becoming a business owner OR continuing in your business you MUST check out Profit Mastery! Now if you already got your MBA or took business courses and feel like you already have a good handle on the PURPOSE of your financial statements then this advice is not for you. ( You never know tho - this is a different look at the same old stuff!)


The Profit Mastery course is a straight forward, easy to comprehend, logically packaged set of instructions for financially planning, managing, growing and above all understanding your business! It does not matter what kind of business you operate. I can not stress how important it is to your success to get this training!


Developed by the folks at Business Resource Services, Inc. in Seattle WA lead by Steve Lefever, the Profit Mastery program is available in workshops around the country. I took the workshop at my local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and it will change the way I run my business for the better! I only wish I had gotten this information years ago!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Tools and Tips to help Stylists ans Salon Owners Thrive


Industry veteran Miki Wright has an article in this month's issue of Beauty Store Business. She has started a web based mentoring program for stylists and salon owners. She also has a blog and a myspace.
Check them out!

http://mikiwright.blogspot.com/
www.beautysuperstars.com
http://www.myspace.com/mikiwright

http://www.beautystorebusiness.com/

Monday, November 24, 2008

Marketing yourself online

Qassia is fantastic because you get credit for sharing your intelligence. The more credit you earn, the better your websites will rank. And you get a backlink to your website for every intel you add - only Qassia gives you unlimited quality backlinks.

Last but not least, Qassia also has the best ad revenue sharing system on the Internet, so in effect you get paid for promoting your websites. Qassia rocks!

The more people join Qassia, the more everyone will benefit, so give Qassia a spin. Signing up takes less than a minute, so you've got nothing to lose.

Position yourself as an expert in the industry and generate quality interest in your products and services!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Marketing Your Business

Ahhh - the marketing plan! One of the single greatest pieces of information you can develop about your business & without which you will be like a fish out of water.

Granted, there are things you will feel instinctively about marketing your business. But know for a fact that there is an art & strategy to marketing - it all it's many forms - and the wise business owner will plan this out (again and again).

One mistake I think owners make is believing that their job is to run their business - as in physically operate it daily - and that's it. If that's you and your goal is to own a job (to borrow the phrase from Robert Kiyosaki) then do yo thang!

But most of us decide to go into business with the idea that our company will eventually be operated by highly qualified individuals we hire and will afford us the opportunity to go do other things we really WANT to do. Reading Rich Dad Poor Dad was my first glimpse at knowing the difference between owning a job and owning a business.

The point is that if you want to set out to build a business, then plan how you will market it first.
Investing in getting this done is wise, and just like your business plan, there are many options.


Marketing Plan ProMarketing plan pro is a cost effective and comprehensive software that will help you plan, guide and educate you on what to include.

Whatever option you choose get your ideas on paper and follow the plan!

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