Strong Branding and Marketing w/ Elisha Monique

Let me guess, you are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business, even when you're not behind the chair. My name's Hunter Donia, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm, and this is the Modern Hairstylist podcast. Hey, friend.

Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. I am beyond excited today because we have somebody super freaking special, super cool, and super knowledgeable to talk about some really awesome things. And, uh, I met this beautiful human being on Clubhouse, I think it was. I think I was, like, talking about...

Like, I was, like, preaching about retail in, like, a Clubhouse room. Uh, Alicia, that's who we have today, Alicia found me and, and came up to speak on the stage, and we were just going back and forth about how important retail was, and we were in such agreement, and it was so beautiful, and we've been following each other ever since. And, uh, I was so excited that we were able to get Alicia on here. But Alicia, I'm gonna let you, uh, take it away for just a moment to introduce yourself, and then after that, we'll get into the topic of what we got going on today.

Thank you so much for having me on here, Hunter. I appreciate it. And I wanna thank you guys for tuning in, for listening, for watching, for just chiming in, and, and d- don't forget to subscribe, of course, 'cause I know Hunter's gonna have more fabulous episodes. There's already a couple great ones as it is.

So yes, we did meet on club- Clubhouse, and I remember that conversation, and it was literally, I popped in. Before I even introduce myself- Let's talk about it. let's talk about Clubhouse- . How we made great connections, right?

I literally popped in and was like, "Okay, this topic looks like a good topic." I said something, you said something, and next thing you know, it was this connection. We were just like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you should do this.

Oh, wait, you should do this." "Okay, wait, let's add this on." So that was- . super, super amazing connection that we have, and we've been connected ever since.

It's wonderful being on here on your show, sharing to your audience. I am Alicia Monique, and I'm a salon coach and product development consultant. I partner with salon owners and salon suite stylists to help you set a solid business foundation so that you can build your clientele, you can grow your business, you can open multiple locations, hire salon managers, and retire from the chair with ease and profitability. And that is my ultimate objective of 20 years licensed hairstylist, now retired.

I give it all into coaching, and I want to see my industry succeed and grow because the sky is the limit. You do not have to pause or stop or even switch gears completely. You can become as big as you want inside of the beauty industry through many, many, many, many avenues. So just to give an example real quickly, I've been published in magazines, I'm a published author, I've been in hair competitions, I've owned salons, I've worked overseas.

The, the road is endless, and I do coaching because I want salon owners to know that they don't have to be chained to the chair. You can build this business and do other things just as long as you have the right tools. So on the right... On, on having the right tools, Hunter, what are we talking about today?

We are talking about branding, right, and having a brand so that way, you can effectively market yourself and your business. And, you know, marketing and just branding in general are just, like, these massive, important systems that you need to have in your business to, um, approach all of those different avenues and possibilities like you were talking about. And so, I'm really excited because I think that you have a lot to share when it comes to branding, and I think that, you know, a lot of hairstylists, they see and they understand at this point, right? Like, "We need to be posting on social media," like, "We need to be, like, posting all these pictures, and we need to have maybe a website, and we need to be putting ourselves out there," but their efforts aren't getting them to where they want to go.

And I think that your philosophy, and where I very much agree, is that they don't have the structure first. So if, if you wanna take it away from there and talk about maybe what that structure maybe looks like or what is... What you see lacking, um, I would love to hear it. Absolutely.

So yes, we need all these things, guys. Hunter mentioned we need a website, we need a social media. We all know those are tools that we actually need. And good, you guys got them, wonderful, but let's fix it up a little bit.

Let's structure it out. And what I mean by structure, right? So take for example, right, we all drive a car or we get in a bus. We go to work, we get in an Uber, we get on a bicycle, we get on a moped.

What if you know that's a bike, but it's missing a wheel? It's gonna roll a little bit, but it's not gonna roll quite as effectively, you know? You get on a city bus, you're in a bus, but somehow, the driver does not know where they're going. They're not from there.

They don't have directions. The bus is going, but it's just not going in the right way. You have a website, and you're wondering, "Why aren't people coming to my website?" It's just not structured in a right way in order to get the marketing that you're, you're doing out there working.

So we have all these tools, so let's talk about structure for a little bit. In having a website, right, you want to make sure that your website is laid out in a way that people could easily come in, press buttons, find information, and get to where they have to go easily. We live in a world right now where people don't read-I'm just gonna be honest. Yes.

Listen, give me less words as possible. Don't give me- Yes. this long, drawn-out thesis because you're going for your doctoral. Give it to me straight.

You gotta pick- Yes. your, this book here. Don't be like, "Oh, if you're looking for the awesome, authentic, magnificent world of curly Q's and perms and Jheri curls and da da da da da." And I'm like, "Where's the button?"

Just where's the button? Where is the button? Yes. Right?

Like get, let's get to the button, but I gotta read all of this to get to the button, and you're like, "Why aren't people coming to my website, scheduling an appointment?" Because they don't read anymore. Let's get us to the button as fast as possible. And when it comes to having your website and having your social media, we have to talk about branding.

At the end of the day, Hunter, you have a brand. Your brand is amazing. I have a brand. Neither of our brands look alike.

You can literally, if a picture pop up, I can tell you what stylist belongs to that picture. They don't even have to be in the photo, and that's what branding. I want you to think of it this way. Every time I throw out a name, right?

I'm gonna call out a couple names, right? And I just want you to give you a, a quick second and you tell me what you think as I say these names. Target, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, Versace, Bed Bath & Beyond. Every name I threw out, your brain instantly was like, "Do, do.

I see it, I see it. Love it. Yes. Amazing.

I'm going shopping. Oh, by the way, I gotta pick up something at Target today, so I'm gonna be running a couple errands." That's what your brand has to do as well. So when it comes to branding, people have to identify it.

They need to know who you are at the drop of a dime, and then everything that you do and you're about when it comes to your brand, whether you, you're identifying your target market, you know what your color scheme is, you know the theme you have, you know the mood you set... I, I must say, Hunter has a great mood when I see his pictures. I'm like, "Oh, it's just so awesome." The color scheme, like the color scheme just sets the mood.

It sets the tone. And when you identify all of that, then we can slide into marketing. So that structure part, you gotta look at it. And, and here's a tip.

If you're confused, right? If you're like, "I'm not quite sure. She's talking branding. I, I think I got a pretty good structure."

Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go and ask a kid, right? 10 years old, you know, 10, 11, 12, maybe nine even. I want you to ask the kid, "Hey, look at this site and tell me what you think.

Look at my website, tell me what you think. Look at my Instagram, tell me what you think. Tell me what's wrong with it." Don't ask them what's right.

Tell them what's wrong with it, because they're gonna be brutally honest. They will tell you the truth. Right. But here's the flip side of it, right?

Take it to an older person who's not social media savvy, who can barely make a actual phone call, who FaceTime butt dials you all the time. Give it to that person and ask them those same questions. And now you're gonna get the honest truth from people from one end of age spectrum to the other end, and now you can see how to improve that structure. So if, if a, if a nine-year-old is like, "Nah, Ma.

I don't know, Mommy. This look, this look, this, this is horrible." And an older person is like, "Well, darlin', let me tell you here, I don't know what these here words mean, but um..." That's sort of how we can fix what we have going on, because we're so involved and we're so in love in our brand and, and, and having like 40 million colors that are not cohesive.

We like, "Yes, everybody's gonna agree with this." And no, at the end of the day, the answer's no. Right, right, right, right, right. 100%.

And so having that cohesiveness, having a, a really strong foundation of a brand allows you to really connect with who you want to serve, right? And, um, I love that you talked about getting real feedback, because I think that a lot of people struggle like when they hear that they have to create a brand and they have to decide on colors and they have to create all of these things. I think a lot of people really struggle as to like, "Where do I start? Like, do I just like imagine this?

Do I just create something that I love and that I would like?" Like, and they don't know, they don't know if it's like, if what they've created is actually gonna work, right? Mm-hmm. But I love that you talked about getting real feedback because it's like, like we can't just not remember that these are real human beings on the other side of the screen, like with real thoughts, like with real actions, and, and the, and, and, and we have, we're serving those people.

We're not just serving like an imaginary human being, right? So, um, I think that asking for feedback when you are deciding those really important core elements and like creating those tools and customizing them and making them your own, uh, I think it's super, super important. So I love that you brought that up. Absolutely.

Absolutely. But the thing is, when you're asking people also too, I'm gonna throw in another tip, don't ask your best friend. Don't ask your best friend. Don't ask- Yes.

your mom. Don't ask your dad. Yes. Of course it's beautiful.

Of course my son or daughter is doing an excellent job. No. Ask your grandma 'cause grandma's gonna always give it to you straight. "Honey, listen.

Listen, honey. I'm not sur-" Grandma's gonna give you the truth, and a kid just can't sugarcoat things, period. Even if it's your child. You know that- Right.

you know, they just, they just spill the beans. Push kinda shove, when your child best friend is over, ask their best friend. Their best friend don't even know you. They're gonna give you an honest opinion.

Go to grandma's book club that she's having with her good girlfriends. Ask all of the older women. Now you're getting the honest truth. And to really start building a brand, just to add on to what Hunter said, because you're trying to decide where to begin, just do it.

Just do it and then ask for feedback. If you're like, "Oh, I like this color and I like this color and I like this color," put them together, ask for feedback.That feedback- Yes. is gonna truly narrow down what your brand look like when it comes to color.

Once you identify your color, then you could identify who do you serve, who do you want to serve? We don't have to serve everybody, I- I'm gonna be honest. And I'm a huge fan of everybody does not belong in your chair. At the end of the day, if you and a certain guest is not getting along, you're more than welcome to tell them that they don't have to come back and you appreciate their services.

I just wanted to put that out there. So having that brand helps you identify who you want to serve. Who- Absolutely. And you can always, you can always switch it up.

You can always- Yes. change. You can always specialize in one thing two years, in three years, you're going, "Okay, I'm done with that, I wanna move on and do something different." Yes, yes, yes.

Okay, you brought up th- so many things that I wanna that I wanna expand on. Um, so first thing, it- I love that you were like, "Don't ask your best friend, don't ask your family," uh, because number one, yes, like, they will give you a biased opinion. And it's n- and I've actually almost seen it where the opposite happens, where they won't tell them that they love it, they'll tell them that they don't love it, but then the ideal clients that they're serving, they love it, right? Like- Mm-hmm.

they really enjoy it, but it's like maybe your mom or your best friend, like they aren't the ones who you really are trying to impress at the end of the day. And so I love that you said that. Like you wanna talk to people who are gonna give you the honest opinion, and get all types of perspectives and take it- Right. all into consideration, but at the end of the day, funnel all of that information down into, you know, who you want to serve, what your personal branding is, what your specialty is, and all of those good things.

Mm-hmm. And I also love that you said that, um, that you can always change. Yes. Yes.

You can always change. And you know what? Change is essential. Change is essential as we move through our careers, as we move through changes, as we move through life, in our businesses and our life.

Change is so essential. And, um, I've heard some, uh, some criticism about, like, you know, specializing and getting niched down and, and, like, and like having a personal brand and setting it there and, and not being, like, all over the place. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and, and it's like you can always change when, when things shift.

It- it's completely possible, uh, and you don't have to get so wrapped up and anxious about like, "Oh, but what if this happens?" And it's like it comes down to you ... Being a CEO of a company and being, uh, in marketing and being in y- you know, your own business, it comes down to always testing things. It always comes down to you're never gonna have, like, this perfectly amazing, uh, foundation that's just gonna, like, let you live for the rest of your life and everything's gonna be great, because things change.

So don't be afraid to test things, don't be afraid to get, uh, feedback, and don't be afraid to, uh, make shifts when, when needed. I just say, like, watch ... I- I- I'm a fan of watching, like, products. So I'll go into, right, this is what I'll do.

When I know it's time to change something that I do, you know how you go down to stores, we gonna use Target for example, right? You go in and watch the products at Target, right? And I know we all do not use, you know, store brand products, I get it. But watch the products, go down that product aisle, watch the packaging.

All of a sudden, the packaging starts to change. These companies, these major companies are making shifts. Like think, if you think back to like the old Schwa packaging, and next time you go in a store, look at this new packaging. If you think back to like what Pantene packaging looked like and what Pantene packaging look like now.

Head & Shoulders, I looked at Head & Shoulders, I was like, "Okay, Head & Shoulders, we stepped it up, all right." Now if these companies who have been around for God knows how long, since we probably even considered going to beauty school have been around, are continuously changing and developing and still selling, because we still see people down the aisle and you like, "Please don't buy that, don't buy that product," but they're still down there buying that product. But the packaging is consistently evolving, the brand is continuously changing. You can do the same thing with your business as well.

Change is inevitable. Like think about it. Like how many ... I'm just gonna put this, like how many of like the old school hairstyles from beauty school that you do now?

Like I have not done, done a Jheri curl since I stepped out of beauty school, literally. Left beauty school, that was the last one I did. I've done a couple perms shifted into my career, and I kind of slid out of that one as well. And when you see things changing, just be acceptable to the change that's happening.

Don't try and go back and get it, because if it's already slipping away from you, certain services that you no longer provide, just be okay with not providing that service and continue on w- whatever your, your new, your new change is going to be. Get comfortable in that. Yeah, absolutely. And I think a big lesson that I have just seen and learned from the past two years at the time that we're recording this, you know, like we're still pandemic-y, right?

Mm-hmm. Uh, is that, you know, the more that you fight reality, like the worse things get for you. Yes. Like the more miserable you're gonna be, like the, the more chance of failure that you're gonna have, right?

Like if, if... Reality is reality, like this is real life and you're living it right now. You have no other choice but to be in the time that you are living in right now. And...

If you just learn to embrace your uncomfortability, because- Mm-hmm. I think that, you know, change can be really scary and it can be super uncomfortable. I think if, if you can lean into your uncomfortability and shift your mindset to, "This means that I'm growing. This means that there's new opportunities ahead of me," and find resources, mentorship, a coach such as Alisha, to help you through those changes, that will make the journey of changing so much better and easier for you.

But also, you'll be able to say, "I am so proud of myself that I made the commitment to get uncomfortable, make the change, set the foundations for myself, so I can be really strong in my business as things evolve," right? Absolutely. So I love everything so far, Alisha. So, okay, so what else with personal branding?

So like, when we talk about personal branding, we have, like, colors, we have, uh, like, what, like, like, mission statements? Like, what do you think? Like, what are, like, those, like, core, like, some of those core elements off the top of your head do you think that we need to, like, really decide as a foundation? Definitely a mission statement.

So, like, your mission statement is your, your, your r- it's like your roadmap. It's your, it's your roadmap. Your mission statement tells you where you're going, what you're gonna do. For example, like, when we first started talking and I introduced myself, I help salon owners and s- and salon suite stylists.

That's who I serve. So your mission statement states who do you serve, but what do you do for them? I teach you how to build a structure and foundation for your business so that you can do XYZ. Yours should be the same way.

But what's the end results so that you can retire with ease and profitability? So that's the, uh, in a nutshell, that's what your mission statement is. It keeps you grounded. You cannot...

If you have a solid mission statement on what you wanna do, you can't deviate from that, because it won't make sense. Like, my, my, one of my biggest pet peeve is when people have a beautiful mission statement in the beginning and somewhere in there they say, "I provide healthy hair care." I'm like, "What is that?" Like, that is so broad right now, 'cause everybody wants healthy hair care, but yet everybody wants damaging things.

So I'm like, let's, let, let, let's rephrase this healthy hair care thing a little bit. Like let's, let's niche this down some. Are we gonna, are we gonna provide, um, a healthier scalp and clean hair for a beautiful blowout? Right.

That's healthy hair care. Right. Are we providing, you know, um, healthy color so that the hair stays vibrant and, and blowing in the wind or something? I'm making things up, but follow me.

Yeah. We're following. So definitely, having a definite mission statement is gonna... It's, it's the roadmap.

So when it comes to you marketing, you wanna stay on your roadmap. You can't, you know, showcase, let's say, um, if your rem is healthy hair care, you're not showcasing other things outside of taking care of someone's hair. So a mission statement is definitely important, but not just a mission statement, creating an entire customer experience. What does that look like?

Yes, I know we just dug into something completely different, but... I'm okay with it. I'm not mad. Your cus- your customer experience, and I know sometimes people say, "I provide great customer service."

Yeah, so does Walmart on a good day, right? On a good day. You be like, "Yeah, y'all were, y'all were fabulous." Come in on a bad day, you like, "Oh my God, it's so horrible here."

But the customer experience, like the time they walk into the door, the carts are, like, right here, they're readily available. You got snacks or something over here you can take. Target makes you buy things all the time 'cause they always have the refreshment bar set up and the... I don't wanna go over there, I just came here to buy something, and then you run into, like, the clothes and the jewelry.

It- it's the whole experience. So coming into the salon, what happens when the door opens? From the time the guests walk in to the time the door closes, that's the entire experience. That goes along with your brand.

Are you offering people places to sit that's in reclining chairs, vibrating chairs at the end of a busy workday? As opposed to sitting in this hard fold-up chair that's making this noise in the corner? It's all a customer experience. When people come into your place, are they being greeted right away?

I remember owning my salon, and we would be in the back of the salon. We would not know who came in the door, but when the door cracked and made the bell, you would hear us yell from the back. You got three seconds to get to the front, so one of... All...

We're back there trying to figure out who's gonna dry their hands to get up front, because it was a timeframe. Like, you got three seconds from the time you say, "Hello, welcome," to come and see actually who came in the door. That's all a part of your customer experience. So your mission statement guides your customer experience.

Yes. All roads lead back to that. Yes. Like, that's the point.

Like, that's the whole, like, the cohesiveness, the structure. Like, if you want to have effective marketing and if you want to have just an effective business and happy customers and continuing a- referrals and new guest requests, if you are advertising a- some sort of message or advertising, um, you know, that you are the best in this or this is what you doing, then all roads need to lead back to that, and that is throughout your entire, your entire business and how you serve people.Absolutely. So, I love that you also brought up the customer experience because, I mean, you could post about all of this stuff on social media and you can post in a certain way, you could have a great- a great social media presence, but then somebody walks into your door and it's not telling the same story, right?

Yes. And then that creates an incohesive experience for your client, because I would even argue, you know, I would expand upon, you know, the e- I always say, the experience starts, you know, the- before they walk into the door, like that pre-visit experience, the marketing experience, the funnel that they go through- Mm-hmm. then their real-life in-the-chair experience, and then after they leave too, right? And if those things aren't all cohesive and leading back to what that mission statement is, what your specialty is, how you help people, how you're advertising that you're helping people, then that incohesiveness is not going to create effective retention, new guest requests, referrals, et cetera, et cetera.

And everything feeds back into your marketing. Yeah. So, you can have a beautiful, like, I know lots of people who love the themed layouts of their social media, like it has to look aesthetically pleasing. But if I call you, I'm not aesthetically pleased anymore.

Right. I'm like, "Well, what happened? The page is so pretty." I called and it's like, "Hello?"

And I'm like, "Oh." I hang up. I thought I had the wrong number. I'm like, "Well, let me try that one more time.

Maybe- maybe I dialed one digit off, you know, and I got someplace else. Let me do it one more time just to be on the safe side." And I'm like, "Okay, the page is looking beautiful." Everything is like, you know, photo quote, photo quote, photo quote, photo quo- and I'm like, "It's what ...

'Hello? This is...' " And I'm like, "Oh, no. Photo quote, photo quote literally just messed me up.

Let me go back down. Let me go ahead on a search again." Right. So, I absolutely agree with you.

So, the branding starts on the outside for the potential c- guests, and then it goes through a whole i- a whole chain, a whole funnel that you should have. But that one- that one break could- could- Yes. cause you from building the clientele you want. It could- it could stop you from building the team you want, because it's that o- that one little- that one little chip that's in there, that one little page on your website that got 50 million words on it, that one person that answered the phone that- that was not professional that day, that probably, you know, was your client just picking it up for you or something like that.

Like, that one thing can literally break your entire strategy that you have. So, your brand is super important when it comes down to marketing. It also tells you what to market. So, I know we're talking about branding and having that solid structure, but I know you're probably like, "Okay.

I got it, guys. I got it. I got my structure, I got my brand, I got my customer experience, I got all of this. So, am I really supposed to make a pretty Instagram page?

Am I really supposed to have, you know, one pink, one white, one pink, one white? Am I doing this to do, like, purple and yellow and flowers and quotes," and this and that. My honest opinion is I don't care about a themed Instagram page. Like, who cares?

Who cares? It looks pretty. But at the end of the day, if it doesn't make sense, and if I call, I'm not getting the same feeling, if I come into your place of business, I don't get that look and feel that I have on Instagram, or you just can't keep up with your layout... I ran into that myself, uh, side note.

I tried to keep up with the theme, and I posted something and I got off track and I was like, "So that means I have to delete this stuff and I'm messing up my engagement?" Yes. Boom, there went my theme. Now I'm like, "Just post engaging stuff, post stuff that makes sense for people."

Yes. Post things that are relatable. Don't stress out on, "Oh, I don't have a quote, and that's supposed to be what I post next." So what?

You- you- keep it moving. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Like, we- I feel like we let, like- And, you know, can you blame people, right?

Can you- I mean, 'cause I've been there too. Like, can you blame people for, you know, being like, "Oh my God, I have to have this perfectly aesthetic, like, feed and, like, everything has to be so beautiful for me to be successful"? And it's like, really, truly, like- like, no. Like y- uh, y- that is not what's gonna make you money at the end of the day.

Not at all. And I love, I love, I love, I love, I love that you said that, um, you said that it's stopping you from posting what you know is gonna get engagement, what you know is gonna serve your audience, like, what feels authentic to you- Mm-hmm. and your messaging, right? When we have this pressure to, like, post all this aesthetic stuff and- and make sure it's all perfectly laid out and all this, it- it- it- it stops you from properly serving people and making real effective marketing decisions.

Yes. I love that you said that, 'cause we just get, like, we hold ourselves back because of all of these, like, fake expectations that we've built up in our head from being on social media and, like, comparing ourselves to everybody else and, like, wanting to be like these feeds, right, and, like, these people with a bunch of followers. Like, just because somebody has a bunch of followers and a beautiful feed does not mean they're making money, right? So, I love, love everything you said, Alisha.

I just- I just had to put that out there, because that was my start when it comes to not knowing how to do social media, 'cause it's something you do, right? Right. Everyone's like, "Oh, I don't do social media." And I'm like, "Well, I don't do social media either."

I just post stuff. I make things engagement. I make it fun. I might have some self-entertainment.

I might be dancing around. You might hear me talking in a different accent. You might even hear me just be going off the chain on something. But it's all about, that's what my brand looks like.

I am me. Some days you might get the really, really, really professional me, and some days I'll be like, "You gonna get to turn up me, because that's how I'm feeling today." Like, "Today it's- it's-" Yes.Let's- let's get this going.

I feel the weekend pumping, and I even might get pumping on a Monday. I don't believe in, "Oh, I hate Monday." We don't hate any day of the week. I don't do that, not when it comes to social media.

You put out your brand. You put out your- your aesthetics. Everything is cohesive. If you're looking for an actual theme, you can Google some Pinterest themes, and you can try and follow those.

But at the end of the day, I promise you, it's gonna stress you out, because you gotta have everything in a line. And I- and I get it, 'cause some people are perfectionists, and this is how it has to fall in line. And I'm cool with that. But if that's what you're gonna do, be consistent with that.

If you fall off, so be it. Just jump back on the bandwagon. Or just be a me and like- be- be- be like me and Hunter and just keep it moving. Just post engaging things.

Yes. Make sure that you're sharing valuable information. So, I wanna share, like, a couple tips also on, like, what to post, because I know that could be- Yeah. stressful.

We're talking about themes and layouts and looks and stuff like that. And I get it when you're like, "Okay, I don't have a theme. I don't even know how to create a theme. I don't even know what to post."

So, here's some suggestions, right? As a hairstylist, right, yes, we want to see your work. I'm gonna be honest. Everybody posts all their work all the time.

We wanna see your work. We wanna see before and after photos, absolutely. However, let's mix that up. Mix it up.

Because posting hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, and more hair , it just gets boring after a while. It just all looks like hair. I don't care if you do color and it's like red, blue, green, black, black, blonde, ash blond, warm blonde, reds, reds, reds, purples, greens, turquoise, more blondes, ash blonds, white. Woo, silver.

Yes, silver. Give us something else to look forward to, right? How 'bout you ask us a question? You post a red photo of someone with their red hair, and then your next picture could be, "What should you do to main- What do you do to maintain your red- your luscious reds, your ravishing reds?"

Use creative words. We like fancy stuff. And then, you answer the question in the bottom. And let people respond to that.

So, you're posting these- these- these, um, high-level blondes, these ash blonds. Everyone knows that blond is hard to maintain 'cause that warmth may be seeping out, depending on the undertones of the hair. So, how 'bout we ask, "Here's a hair tip on what to do to maintain that platinum blonde look. Read below."

Now, you can talk in the comments and everybody like, "Like, like, like." Now, instead of them liking these hair photos, you have 40,000 of 'em, we're breaking it up with some questions and some hair tips. That's always a great way to start if you're like, "I'm not quite sure what to do, and I'm not a fan of going live." I know everyone's not a fan of going live.

I have- I tell all my clients, "Look, I just need you to turn your camera on and put it on time lapse for a day." You can't go live? No problem. Sit the camera in a corner and time lapse a day, just one day.

Use that- that- that piece of footage, 'cause a day only break down to, like, not even, like, a minute. And you can use that to break that timeline up. Now, I'm sitting here watching you run through the salon all day long and I'm excited. And it's like, "Whoa, there's another client.

Okay, wait, where'd she go? Oh, wait, there's another client. Oh, wait, look at it. Oh, she moving."

It's like that excitement that's going on on your page that's getting people to come back and look at things. And you're asking questions. Now, keep going and post all the hair photos from the entire day, 'cause I know you probably have another camera or something where you can actually take your before and after photos. You got a time lapse running, you got some before and after photos.

Great breakup. So, when it comes to posting things, don't just be all hair, all the time, all day. Give us something else to look at. Give us something else to look forward to, especially if you're looking to gain new clients who have no idea about you, what you do, or what you even know.

We're curious. We already see you do fabulous hair. Give us something else. Yes, because like, the pictures of the hair don't necessarily establish you as the authority of your craft, of the thing that your client's looking for.

Like, you need to- you need to prove to that potential new client, like, looking at your feed, that you really know what you're talking about and you're the one to go to. And that's what sets you apart from everybody else who's just posting a bunch of hair on their feed, is asking the questions, giving the value, um, switching it up. Showing your face and, you know, showing your personality in one way or another, right? A set y- setting yourself apart from, you know, the- what you're normally seeing on everybody else's feed, because your client, when they're searching for a local hairstylist on the Instagram, they're just gonna see a lot of freaking hair.

So, how can you disrupt that? How you- how can you stand out from that massive grid of a bunch of hair? So, I love, love, love, love everything that you shared, Alicia. Uh, we unfortunately are gonna wrap this baby up.

But I could talk to you forever, so we're gonna have to have you back on this freaking podcast. And we'll have to, like, go live on Instagram and collab more in the future. Um, but I really, really, really appreciate you coming on and sharing all of this amazing value with us today, Alicia. And I know that every single listener is going to be obsessed with you.

So, we wanna know, uh, do you have any resources for the people? Where is the best place to find you and to work with you and to continue to connect with you and learn from you? And, um-How can people work with you? Absolutely.

Absolutely. Go ahead. Let us know the tea. This was- this was very, very fun.

Yes, we definitely have to do this again. So, of course, follow me on Instagram. You wanna look at an Instagram layout, come follow my page. Go to aliciamonique_educator.

Yes. I follow no theme, I must say, but I do post great content. So go to Instagram, aliciamonique_educator. You can always click the link on my bio from Instagram and get your Salon Business Blueprint.

Um, I give you the same base strategy that I share with all of my paid clients to get your going- get you going in building your salon business in the right way. Or head over to my website at aliciamonique.com and grab your- your books that I have available, um, under my salon resources. So, salon resource page is full of great content, whether it's free, whether it's grabbing books, um, or definitely booking a rapid growth call.

So I do free rapid growth calls, um, of course, for all salon owners and salon suite stylists. They're about 30 minutes roughly. We go through clarity. I gotta give you something.

I can't just be listening to you rattle off stuff. I gotta- I gotta give you a transformation on the call, so we gonna discuss clarity. I give you a growth plan, and I also give you a money strategy. At the end of the day, we're in this business to make money.

So I like to give you that strategy so that you can be able to move the needle forward and start going in the right direction. So, Instagram, aliciamonique_educator. Website, aliciamonique.com.

Awesome. I love it, and we'll make sure to leave that in the show notes as well too wherever you're listening to this. And what freaking awesome valuable resources, so make sure to go check Alicia out. Obviously she- she knows what the hell she's talking about and doing, and she's offering such beautiful things to the industry.

So, Alicia, thank you for all you do. Thank you so much for spending your time with us here on the Modern Hairstylist podcast. I appreciate you very much and I look forward to hanging out with you in the future, friend. So, peace out, girl scout.

Bye everybody. Bye guys. Have a blessed day, and we'll see you in the next episode.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.