Over the weekend I had a great conversation with my hubby and some of my good Twitter friends. The discussion was promoting your business/self and how to get paying gigs. I've been researching this aspect of the business every since I decided to come back in the business.
I will add that it hasn't been easy! Which I'm sure if it was I wouldn't appreciate it as much. So I got to thinking...."What can I do to grow my business"? My twitter friends and hubby both suggested promoting myself/business 24/7! Hubby suggested while I'm sitting on the computer playing my FB games that I could be at the mall with the mall walkers passing out my cards and flyers, Go for a morning walk and leave flyers in my neighbors mailboxes and even taking my kit to work and not letting any of my Hair clients leave out without their face being done! Wow!! What an eye opener!!
So we went to my family reunion this weekend and for the long ride I brought two books along ...Crystal Wright's "The Makeup,hair and styling Guide" and Scott Barnes "About Face" books. I had already read both of these books but still use them for reference when needed. Can I say it was like I had never read either of these books before!! Some information I don't know how I missed it the first time I read it! But needless to say I was amped up all over again and couldn't wait to get home to get things rolling and getting my promotional material out.
I have hundreds of business cards. I've had flyers printed and have taken them to nail salons and other salons and has even had some in my salon but after this weekend I realized I really didn't push hard enough. Yeah I went to about 5 salons but was that good enough? NO!! I should keep my flyers in my car so that I can hand them out whenever and wherever I'm at. I go to bootcamp(sometimes) and hubby even suggested that I take them there and hand out to the ladies there. I never thought of that! He also suggested that when I do decide to go to the gym passing them out there or putting them on the billboard there. For one I've never been a pushy sales person or pushed my business on anyone! Maybe that's been the problem!!
I'm basically saying all this to say that even though I've been in the beauty industry for some years now....Going on 20 there is always room for growth! You can teach an old dog new tricks!
Alot of my promotional material I design myself! I'm trying to save a few dollars. I'd love to have them done professionaly but it gives me something to do in my spare time and pick up another skill.
I can't stress how important it is to have promotional material in your arsenal of the business! Always continue to grow and continue to learn. The up and coming MUA's are on top of their game and you have to roll with them!
Some of my other promo materials I have are a promo video, business cards, flyers and T-shirts with my logo on them. I'm always changing my logo design or other promotional material to keep them fresh and up to date. I figure I might as well until some business comes along. Also I advertise on craigslist from time to time and have ad's with www.theknot.com.
What are some of your promotional idea's or suggestions? I'd love to have some feedback on this topic because I'm always willing to learn something new or something I'm not familar with.
You can find Crystal Wright's book at: www.CrystalWrightlive.com and you can find Scott Barnes book at Amazon.com or any book store such as Barnes and Nobles.
These are a few of my promotional materials that I've pretty much designed myself but I can use them. Sometimes I will design them and save them to my flash drive and have staples print them. I hope this has helped someone. Don't forget to share your ideas!!
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