How to make the most of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more By Cailley Hammel

Stop and think. What’s the most powerful business tool you have at your disposal? Nowadays, says Patrick McIvor, Matrix Artistic Director and owner of Patrick McIvor Color Studio, the answer is social media. It offers all the marketing, communication and promotional advantages that at one time would have cost a fortune—and does so for free. But you have to do it right! With help from Patrick and other pioneers in the world of social media, here is our guide to everything from Facebook, to Twitter, to Pinterest and more. Read on, study up and get social.

Facebook Posts That WorkIt’s all about variety when you’re populating your Facebook page, says Jennifer O’Neill, owner of Hair Studio 322 in Downingtown, PA. “We post our monthly deals, imagery we think is hot right now, holiday news, coverage of the fashion shows we do and anything that catches our eye,” she reveals. “At first we were just posting hair pictures. By changing it up we have expanded to a diversified audience. It gets boring for Facebookers if you post only hair-related content all the time.”

However, that doesn’t mean hair pics aren’t important. Stephanie Hodges, an independent contractor at Cleo Hair Salon in Oak Park, CA, says she sees results when she posts her work as well as great images from Pinterest. (More about Pinterest a bit later.) “I recently posted a cool picture of red ombré,” she says. “The girl looked so hip and cool in the photo that a client asked me to recreate the look!”

Patrick believes there are three types of Facebook posts that generate engagement and interaction for salons: tips, photos and videos.

Tips should be helpful tidbits of beauty-related information in bite-sized portions. Need inspiration? Look out the window. Patrick says it could lead to a tip like this: “It’s humid outside today. Looking to fight humidity? Have you tried Matrix Total Results Sleek?” One valuable byproduct of a great tip is its pass-along value. If somebody likes your idea, she’ll pass it along to her friends and before long, you’re going viral!

“We are a visual industry,” Patrick says. With that in mind, photos are no-brainers. And thanks to Facebook Timeline, pictures have grown in size and prominence on the page. Make them work for you by posting pictures of your work: your latest makeover, your genius red haircolor, a hot celeb’s latest haircut—all of which are images that will pique fan interest. Patrick suggests a promotion like “Picture Me in Foils.” Take before and after shots of clients—one in foils and one with the finished look. It shows off your foiling expertise and demonstrates to clients that it’s a messy process to look fabulous.

Finally, you can’t go home with your clients (well you can, and that’s your business) but how-to videos make great substitutes when it comes to helping your clients recreate their looks at home. “In 30 seconds to two minutes, you can show somebody how to use a product or get a look,” says Patrick. “Before, you needed a TV show to do that. Now you’ve got your own TV show!”

Jennifer uses video to support her salon’s community activities—and it pays off. “We did a kids’ festival and moved our whole salon to the park,” she says. “We raised several thousand dollars for our fire department. We posted a short video of the festival and the increase in our walk-in traffic was overwhelming.”

Engage and EnrollFacebook is most effective when it’s active rather than static, meaning it engages your fans and motivates them to act. Then they become your brand ambassadors and do your promoting for you! Generate interaction with strategies that encourage them to take pictures, upload them and tag themselves in your salon. Or, create a fun check-in offer. “I’m currently running a check-in promo,” Stephanie says. “When my client checks into my Facebook page from her smartphone, she receives $5 off of her service.” Patrick offers another check-in suggestion. When a client checks into your salon on Facebook, Foursquare or Twitter and posts a picture of her finished look, offer a five or 10 percent discount off of a service. “It works,” he says, “because you’re rewarding them for bragging about the fact that you did their color—and you’re turning a discount into advertising.”

Want more great interactive ideas? Try a Song of the Day—post the name of a song on your Facebook page. Clients who hear the song in the salon that day receive a complimentary deep-conditioning treatment.

GROUPON: deal or steal?As Groupon and other daily deal sites surge in popularity with tempting offers and discounts, salon owners are wondering whether or not to jump on the bandwagon. Greg Welchel, president of Trichology Salon in Oklahoma City, OK votes no. “We were excited when 154 people purchased our deal, but we were disappointed to learn over half of the Groupons sold were to our existing clients,” he says. “Not all, but most of the new clients from Groupon were either bargain-hunting hair hoppers, or not the demographic we were trying to reach. They didn’t tip, much less return. Some were upset that they bought multiple coupons and could only use one per visit. We were in a catch-22, and honored them anyway rather than get the bad publicity from an upset client.” At the end of the promotion, Welchel’s salon received 50 percent of the Groupon revenue, from which they deducted two percent for credit card fees and stylist commissions. “We were in the hole with no new serious customers,” he notes. “In the end, we strongly feel serious clients would rather receive added-value services over cheap coupon deals.”

Patrick agrees. “We found out pretty quickly that no one is going to come in and try highlights with you because they’re 50 percent off,” he says. “We can’t give our work away and survive in the long term. We can use Groupon, though, for ‘bumps’ and special offers.”

Have you or your salon used Groupon?

If so, would you use it again?

yes: 65%

no: 35%

no: 97%

yes: 3%

groupon: We asked BTC members about their Groupon experiences. Thumbs up or down?

Facebook vs. Twitter You wouldn’t wear the same outfit to a pool party that you would to a charity gala. Social media is the same way—different strategies work for different situations.

Here are two important things to keep in mind about Twitter—it creates a sense of urgency and it isn’t archived. That makes it the perfect social media option for communicating open appointments, flash sales and deep discounts.

Say you have a last-minute opening at 2 p.m. Tweet the news and hype the fact that the slot will probably fill quickly. “Remember,” Patrick says, “what you post on Facebook stays on Facebook. So if you’re frequently alerting clients to openings, it could impact the integrity of your brand.” In other words, it will look like you have too many openings.

The same holds true for discounts. If you post an amazing, but limited, offer on Facebook, a client could come across it months later and wonder why she can no longer get the same deal. “Make your biggest, craziest offers on Twitter,” advises Patrick. “That way, they go away!”

Facebook, on the other hand, is great for ongoing offers and promotions. For example, if a first-time haircolor client always gets a complimentary glaze in your salon, the offer should live on Facebook. It’s also a great place to promote your unique salon culture. Do you serve delicious cappuccinos and pastries in the morning or wine after 5 p.m.? That’s Facebook fodder!

follow the leaderPatrick McIvorTwitter: @patrickmcivorYouTube: youtube.com/patrickmcivor Hair Studio 322Facebook: facebook.com/hairstudio322Twitter: @hairstudio322 Stephanie HodgesFacebook: facebook.com/stephaniehodgeshairstylistPinterest: http://pinterest.com/scizzergirl

Twitter is best for deep discounts and filling

last-minute appointments.

Be sure to credit your staff for the work they do! This way, new clients know who to ask for when seeking a particular look.

Patrick works with Andreas Hogue Salon in Northbrook, IL. One tip: Upload images to your posts to snag your fans’ attention.

Share hair images that inspire you—

it’ll inspire your guests to come to you for a similar look.

reversing a bad reputationIf you’re a salon owner, you know your business faces the scrutiny of online commenters on sites like Yelp, Yahoo!Local and Insider pages. Peggy Wynne Borgman, president of spa consulting company Preston Wynne, Inc. and owner of five San Francisco-area salons, shares her strategy for keeping a clean rep online:

prevent: Surf the internet to see where your salon appears. “If a business is unaware and isn’t actively managing reviews, it can be a liability,” Borgman says. Bookmark these pages and check them regularly.

contact: Borgman joined Yelp, which allows business owners to contact the reviewer directly via email rather than simply posting a rebuttal. She contacts every client who reviews her salon—both good and bad. She apologizes to those who report disappointing experiences and invites them back for a free service.

ask: Be proactive and solicit customer feedback after you perform services. Borgman’s spa has an e-newsletter that encourages clients to write favorable reviews, and post-service survey cards ask clients concise questions during their checkout at the front desk. Better still, Preston Wynne managers call clients within 48 hours of their visit to find out how they can make their next visit more enjoyable. “It’s time-consuming, but just catching one unhappy client can save you thousands of dollars from lost business,” Borgman notes.

Curate Your ClienteleOne of the ultimate goals of social media is to get new clients in your salon—but you can also help make sure you or your team members get the right clients. “In the salon, you have people who like to do the big, sexy blow-dry. You have people who like to cut short hair. You have people who like to cut men’s hair, people who like to do redheads and people who don’t like to do redheads at all,” Patrick says. “If you use social media as a tool to communicate what they love to do, instead of getting the next guest that comes in, they get the right guest.”

So, when you upload style photos onto your Facebook page, be sure to credit the artist. You can even create albums. Your colorist’s album of fabulous redheads is likely to attract a client who is eager to try a new red shade. “Trying to be best at everything is not as important as being better than everybody else at something,” Patrick says. “And social media lets you define what you’re best at.”

Avoid the FlatlineWhat if you’ve tried but your Facebook page still has a weak pulse—few “likes,” infrequent comments? Ask yourself these questions—they just may resuscitate your efforts:

1. What kind of page do you have? If it’s a profile page instead of a business page, you’ll be limited to 5,000 friends, which may not be enough down the road. Even more important, a business page provides you with valuable analytics, which help you keep track of all of your Facebook activity.

2. What do your numbers tell you? Be sure to review those numbers! Facebook Insights will offer hard data about which posts work and which don’t. For example, you can see how many people actually viewed a photo or a post, rather than who simply liked or commented. If a post receives lots of interest—be sure to do something like it again…and again!

3. Are you on a schedule? “If you do something consistently at about the same time every day, people start paying attention,” Patrick says. “It’s like knowing to tune into the news for the weather at ten past the hour.” Similarly, if you post a tip or a makeover at the same time each day or each week, your fans will start looking forward to the updates.

The Pin CrowdPinterest is the newest social media phenomenon—and it’s exploding! After Facebook and Twitter it’s ranked the third largest social media site. Pinterest is a pinboard-style, social sharing site that lets users create and manage image collections. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, “repin” images to their own collections and/or “like” photos. “There’s a unique power in Pinterest because 85 percent of all Pinterest users are female,” says Patrick. “And 87 percent of guests who come into a full-service salon are female. So you’re basically looking at the same pool of candidates.”

How can you use it? Joico Celebrity Colorist George Papanikolas creates seasonal “My Haircolor Favorites” boards on Pinterest and invites his clients to follow his inspirations. “Doing so not only sparks ideas for your clients’ haircolor, it also demonstrates you’re on top of the trends as a color professional,” George says.

You can also promote across social media platforms. “Grab one of the haircolor photos you’ve pinned and share it on your Facebook page, announcing, ‘This is a Hollywood-inspired haircolor trend—come on in and we’ll try it on your hair!’” George suggests.

Your Pinterest boards don’t all have to be hair related. Other images that inspire you—whether they’re décor-, food-, travel- or design-related—will present a strong sense of your personal esthetic and attract like-minded clients.

Get CreativeOne of the best things about social media is the possibility for creativity. “We print our Facebook address on pens and business cards, and we cross-promote our other social media outlets on our Facebook page,” Jennifer says. “And in the salon, our fast food-style salon menu contains a QR [quick response] code that takes people directly to our Facebook page.”

The other advantage is that it’s, well, social, which means everything is out there to see…and study. So if you’re stuck for ideas, just surf around! “I look to my online mentors to see how they are running their pages and get all kinds of ideas from them,” Stephanie says. “I tweak them to fit my needs and my audience. I think the more you put out there the more you get back in return.”

let’s get social together! BTC’s Facebook: facebook.com/behindthechairTwitter: @behindthechair_Pinterest: pinterest.com/BTCmag

more than 100,000 fans!

The Power of Social MediaRide the revolution that has changed our businesses, our careers and our lives forever.

By Mary Rector-Gable

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That was in 2003. Last July, Facebook announced that it had snagged its 500 millionth user, and as of now, the number of Facebook users is estimated at more than 700 million worldwide. Financial experts have valued the company at more than $82 billion and today, people are spending more than 700 billion minutes per month on the site.

Facebook is the celebrity of the moment, and it certainly is the lead story when it comes to considering how social media has completely and irrevocably changed the way we all conduct our businesses and live our lives. But I believe it’s just part of the story—a large part admittedly. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, Wikipedia, Craigslist, behindthechair.com—and the thousands of other free, online communities that have sprung up in the last 10 years—are all part of a complete social, cultural, financial and historical revolution, and nothing will ever be the same.

Consider Egypt. Earlier this year, after enduring what they characterized as 30 years of oppression under the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, dissidents took to the streets in protest and ultimately, Mubarak was forced to resign. Of course, people have risen up against poverty and human rights abuses throughout history, right? So what makes the situation in Egypt so unique? Many say that Mubarak was ousted by an uprising that grew from small groups of young activists organizing online. One in particular—a Google manager named Wael Ghonim—set up a popular protest page on Facebook and is now seen as one of the revolution’s figureheads. Many believe this page helped organize and mobilize the masses of Egyptians that took to the streets. And since Mubarak resigned, what happened in Egypt is being played out throughout the Middle East—in Libya, Jordan, Tunisia, etc., with varying results. Conceivably, this part of the world will be changed completely and irrevocably in the months to come.

Bottom line? That’s power. Intense, incredible power. And here’s the thing. That power is universal and it’s completely egalitarian. Anyone can now be heard, thanks to a Facebook post or a page or a blog. Anyone. That means I have the power to be heard. So does a salon owner in Biloxi, Mississippi. So does a stylist in Redwing, Minnesota. So do you.

As interpreted by the screenwriters of the Academy Award nominated movie The Social Network, the phenomenon that would become Facebook was created by a socially awkward college kid with girl problems. Feeling dissed after being dumped by his girlfriend, Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard underclassman, sought revenge by creating a directory of female students at the university, which allowed other students to rate them “hot or not.”

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we’ve got the powerMost of us in the beauty industry probably aren’t interested in toppling governments. But we’ve certainly seen many instances of the power we do have. Take our own website—BTC.

When I started behindthechair.com in 2001, it was my intention to empower hairdressers in several ways. By uniting all of you in an online community, I felt that you would have the power to get everything you need in one place. That you would have the power to offer feedback on products and education. I wanted to provide you with the power that education provides—to offer free step-by-step technicals and articles that would enhance your skills behind the chair and your savvy as businesspeople. I recognized that many of you worked in places where you felt isolated—removed from the industry mainstream. I envisioned behindthechair.com as a place where you could all come together—to bounce ideas back and forth, to share challenges and triumphs, to reach out for support and inspiration. I reasoned that everyone in the community has walked in the same shoes. That means that no matter what the question, someone, somewhere would have the answer.

Turns out, we were right, because more than a half million members from 90 countries around the world have become members of behindthechair. In addition, we just recently topped 65,000 fans on our Facebook page. As a community of beauty professionals, we live together, we learn together, we laugh together, 24 hours a day, every day. We share advice on everything from color formulas to the best blow dryer to how to recreate the latest celebrity looks. We help each other build our businesses, generously sharing advice on staffing and attracting clients and creating special events and promotions. The best part of all of this to me is simple—nobody has to be alone anymore. No one is isolated. We’re all in this together. That’s power.

hairdressers unlocking hopeWe’ve also discovered another kind of power. We’ve discovered the power we have when we come together to make

a profound difference in peoples’ lives. In 2007, Vidal Sassoon came to me, distressed at the fact that two years after Hurricane Katrina, thousands of New Orleanians remained homeless. So Vidal and I created Hairdressers Unlocking Hope, a moving online campaign featuring the top hairdressers in the world, exposing their souls in a series of photos that spoke on behalf of those displaced victims. As a result of our campaign, stylists, salons and companies came together, raising more than $2 million. With that money, we headed to New Orleans and built 22 brand new homes, giving 22 families a new start in life.

matrix chairs of changeAt the incredible Matrix Imagination event earlier this year, my friend Colin Walsh, the vice-president and general manager posed this question: “Is there anything you can’t do?” Colin unveiled another exciting online initiative that day—it’s called Chairs of Change. He explained that this is a movement, anchored by chairsofchange.com, which celebrates, empowers and inspires professional hairstylists as they create positive change in their own lives, the lives of their clients, in their communities and in the world. Within the Chairs of Change community, hairstylists will have a place to tell their stories, celebrate their colleagues’ triumphs and share ideas with like-minded professionals—whether it’s organizing a cut-a-thon for AIDS research, rebuilding after a natural disaster in their community or even transforming someone’s life with an incredible makeover. Chairs of Change “lives” on the new MyMatrixFamily.

redken break roomAnd fans of Redken can also tap into the power of their favorite brand on the new Redken professional website. In The Break Room, they can connect with other members of the Redken salon professional community. They can also explore new Redken haircolor formulas and access great Redken education online.

Vidal Sassoon and BTC formed Hairdressers Unlocking Hope to build new homes for Katrina victims. We raised $2 million and built an entire neighborhood of 22 homes.

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let’s get down to business:how to make facebook work for youNow let’s take a closer look at how social media can impact your business. When it comes to salons, in my mind, the most important, most effective and easiest thing you can do is to create a Facebook page for your salon. I think it’s even more important than having a website at this point. People—your clients and prospective clients—spend hours on Facebook each day. It’s free. And it’s a quick and easy way to promote your business, your work and your brand. Here are some guidelines for getting the most from your Facebook page:

1. The most important thing to remember is to set up a Facebook fan page for your business, not an individual page. That’s because a Facebook page for an individual is limited to 5,000 friends. A fan page can accommodate up to 1 million friends. Group pages aren’t a good choice either—they don’t allow you the flexibility of a fan page.

2. Your Facebook page photo should be the best possible photo of your salon. On the left, include basic salon information like your hours, location and areas of specialty. This is also where you should list awards and accolades, i.e.: Voted Best Haircolor Salon in Miami by Miami Monthly Magazine.

3. A fan page contains folders and your folders should include:

• About Us: Basic information about your salon including a summary of your salon, services you provide (hair, haircolor, nails, massage, etc.), service pricing, service specialties, number of team members and any salon awards.

• Our Team: A team folder, introducing each team member, describing his or her hours and areas of specialty.

• Style Shots: Create an overall salon gallery and add to it frequently. Create a photo album for each of the following: salon interiors, make-overs, client styles, color and special occasion hair.

• Community Service: Gather all the community service pictures you have of cut-a-thons, fashion shows, etc. to show your clients you’re very involved in your local community.

4. Keep your focus on building “fans.” This is where the definition of “viral” hits home. Start by sending an invitation to every existing client to become a fan of your Facebook page. Make it mandatory for team members to invite all of their Facebook friends to become fans. Young people often have hundreds of friends, so if you have 10 stylists, and each stylist has 500 friends, that’s 5,000 invitations! When you send out Facebook invitations, explain that as a fan of your salon, they will receive exclusive specials, updates and Facebook-only deals. To entice your team’s Facebook friends, try to offer something special.

Once your page is up and running, it’s important to keep it active, which means you should try to post something once or twice a day. Great ideas for Facebook posts include:

• Notifications of promotions: “This week, get 10% off of any color care shampoo with a color or highlight service.”

• Promoting last-minute schedule openings: “Hey everyone, we have a few openings with Jane on Thursday between 2 and 4 p.m. Bring a friend and get a free, full-sized shampoo!” (Post the openings two days prior, and never on a Saturday if you’re closed on Sunday and unable to take calls for appointments. Remember, Facebook is immediate—people will respond right away.)

• Establishing yourself as an expert. Post beauty and fashion tips, weigh in on the best hair at the Oscars or Grammys, offer celebrity trend reports and “how to get the look.” Create seasonal messages—if it’s back-to-school time, for example, post photos of top teen trends and celebrities.

• Conversation starters! Pose interesting questions like, “If you could have any celebrity’s haircolor, whose would it be and why?” On New Year’s Day, post “It’s a New Year and a New You! What are your New Year’s resolutions this year?” These types of conversations engage clients in lively interactions and make them feel like part of your family at the salon.

• Recaps of events and activities. If your salon participates in fund-raisers, fashion shows or competitions, let clients know. When you’ve attended an industry event or class, share some great tips that you picked up for their hair.

Mario Tricoci does a great job of calling out specific holiday and monthly promotions.

Oribe uses a beautiful salon image instead of a pretty model shot. Clients want to see the interior of your salon.

Elizabeth Arden Salons engage their audience with questions like, “Who do you think had the best hair at the Oscars?”

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• Introductions to new team members. Let clients meet any new staff members that have joined your salon.

• Shout outs to a client. Maybe she just got married, graduated, had a baby, or experienced another exciting life milestone (show a photo if you happened to do her hair for the occasion, with her permission of course!)

• Comments! Take time to check out your fans’ personal profile pages, and make sure to comment on what’s happening in their lives. Doing so sends out the message that you truly care about your clients and love being part of their lives! The best part is that their friends are introduced to you with every post to your client’s wall.

Your goal with your Facebook fan page is to be helpful, engaging, informative and fun. Make it a place that clients look forward to visiting…and to sharing with their friends. And above all, be sure your content is relevant and appropriate. This is NOT the place to post the photos that your best friend snapped of you and that pro football player in the club last Saturday night. Your Facebook content should ONLY be about your business and your clients…not about your personal life.

reviews: the good, the bad, the opportunityWhether it’s part of your Facebook page, or if you participate in a dedicated review site like Yelp, client reviews can become a huge part of your social media marketing. In general, reviews are excellent—86% of people who take the time to review a business actually post positive reviews. The online shoe and fashion e-commerce company Zappos discovered they actually sold more merchandise when items were reviewed and they also discovered that customers really liked reviewing their products and services—it made them feel like they were part of the Zappos “family.”

From time to time, however, a bad review is inevitable. The trick here is to turn it into an opportunity. Salon owner and customer service expert John DiJulius famously says that if you do dissatisfy one person, they’ll tell three people. But if you resolve their issue to their satisfaction, they’ll tell

10 people. So monitor your Facebook wall and other client review sites scrupulously, and respond the instant you encounter a negative review. If the complaint is about the salon, say something like, “We’re so glad you let us know that you did not enjoy your experience. We strive to make every client’s visit to our salon memorable and extraordinary. Please contact us right away and give us the opportunity to make this right.” If the criticism is directed to a particular stylist, post a similar response, and offer to set the client up with another service provider. Another great way to handle this is to send “We’re sorry we disappointed you” postcards. Most of the time, you’ll learn who the client is from the review post and BTC has “We’re Sorry” postcards you can send with a gift certificate on the back inviting them to come back to the salon.

Sometimes bad reviews are more insidious—for example, a disgruntled ex-employee might post negative content. If you suspect something of that nature, you can check with the site’s admin department. Yelp, for example can verify the original IP address and will pull down the reviews if there are multiple posts coming from the same source.

facebook ads, google ads, groupon, whodoesyourhair.com: not free, but very powerfulUp until now, social media has been a free entity, but in recent years, it has been the source of some powerful marketing and advertising concepts that offer some highly cost-effective options for salons. Here are a few worth assessing:

facebook adsFacebook offers a very targeted advertising program that allows you to choose your audience based on zip code, age group, area of interest, etc. So let’s say you would like to target men between the ages of 30 and 55 in your salon zip code area to promote a special Mother’s Day Gift Certificate program for their wives and mothers. Facebook will search out the guys who fit those criteria and place your ad on their Facebook pages. You’ll pay 40 cents to $2 per click on your ad depending on

The salons on the top with the tan background are paid ads. The more you pay and they more they get clicked gives you premium positioning above other salons.

Make it a point to scan Yelp, Google and City Search for customer reviews of your salon.

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your market and the target you seek, and the more you pay, the more frequently your ad will appear. For best results, create ads that are seasonal in nature, or that call out a specific promotion or reward. For example, use a photo of a great, classic style on a mature client and say, “Is there a woman in your life who deserves something special? Purchase a Mother’s Day gift certificate and get a free bath and body gift set worth $25.”

google adwordsWhen you invest in Google AdWords, the focus is on the search function. Why is this important? Of all businesses, salons are always in the top 10 businesses searched on Google, just behind pizza parlors.Clients are online looking for you! Google’s ad program will display your ad when keyword searches for salons, spas, hairstyles, etc., in your city happen. The more clicks your listing receives, the higher up on the list it will appear when a client does a search, and often it will appear highlighted at the top of the search results page.

groupon couponsMany salons ask me my opinion about Groupon and I agree that it’s a marketing phenomenon at the moment. However, I urge all owners to consider “the cost” of Groupon very carefully. Here’s why. First of all, the discounts are substantial. The offer must be at least 50% off for Groupon to accept it and Groupon gets 50% of the other half. So, if you are offering a $100 service at the Groupon discount, the client will receive your service for $50 and Groupon takes half of the $50 left over. That leaves you with only $25 for a $100 service, from which you will have to pay your service provider. This can cause two serious problems. First, your service providers can become resentful if they are only paid about $12 for a service for which they would normally receive $50. So it’s important to share your plan to use Groupon and get their buy-in beforehand instead of surprising them after the fact. In addition, you need to consider that Groupon can attract several hundred clients who must take advantage of the offer in a 3-month period. Can your salon handle all those new clients at a discounted rate and still satisfy your existing clientele, not to mention your existing clients who take advantage of the offer? While Groupon is very tempting,

you also want to think about the types of clients you are attracting. Are they “deal” hunters, who will enjoy their service at your salon and then look for the next deal from the salon down the street? All of these issues need to be thoughtfully considered before you sign on the dotted line. Where Groupon can be very effective is for new salons just opening their doors. This may be a great way to introduce your salon to the community. Consider it a marketing expense that drives new clients through the door to build the books of all your new service providers.

whodoesyourhair.com salon directory from btcIn late March, behindthechair.com is launching the most powerful salon-only directory on the web. It’s called whodoesyourhair.com and works in a similar way as Expedia for travel. For example, when a consumer searches for salons in Chicago that offer highlights using Wella color and also carries Bumble and bumble, the search results will show those salons that match all four. Similarly, if a client searches salons in 60185 that do Keratin services, eyebrow waxing and carry TIGI products, it will also display only those salons that match all requests.

In addition, your salon can choose from over 100 templated promotions which will be displayed on your profile page. Similar to Groupon, your specials will be emailed weekly to prospective clients in your city. And, one of the most amazing features of whodoesyourhair.com is that you can upload your work—cuts and styles, color, updos—and clients can search the styles in their own zip code. Imagine if it’s prom season and a young client is looking for a stylist who can create the perfect updo. She will be able to search updos in her zip code, find the one she loves and then be directed to your profile page! It’s an incredibly powerful site that blends the concepts of Expedia, Groupon and Facebook all into one. It’s simple to sign up and easy to update, whether you’re a salon or a stylist. And you pay only when your profile is viewed by a prospective client, similar to Facebook and Google. And, the best part is, each profile view is only $.95. It’s just another way behindthechair.com is working for you! You can sign up now for free: whodoesyourhair.com

Salon directory listings can be searched by service and zipcode.

Easy to fill out Salon Profile with promotions, services, and retail lines—all serchable.

Stylists can each have their own Stylist Profile and upload their personal styling work.

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