New Barber Institute puts Barber jobs and careers within reach.
The York Daily Record is reporting the opening of the World A Cuts Barber Institute at 121 N. George St. in York, PA.
Sheila Smith, theory teacher at the institute said…
It’s fantastic. When I taught in Camp Hill, that dang commute was a problem. You need a really good, reliable car, and not everyone has that.
Now locals have no excuse for learning whatever skills they need for a fantastic barber job or barber career.
Getting Along With Other Hair Stylists
Already nervous about your first week on the job, you spill coffee on the report you had worked on all morning. Your co-workers look at you but don’t help. The phone is ringing and you are not sure if it is your turn to answer it. How will you get used to it all?
Be ready to learn a new “culture” at work.
While the above is not necessarily referring to hair stylists, the same thing applies. Your first week is going to be the hardest. There are a lot of new faces and new personalites to get to know.
And if you are trying to make a good impression, offering to help out a busy stylist won’t go unnoticed. In a busy salon, the pace can be nuts. If you aren’t busy, go and help someone and hopefully the stylist will return the favor in the future.
Paper Business Cards??
If you have some of your old business cards, you might want to hold on to them because chances are they won’t be around much longer.
The new technology, Toroblue.com, is a software program that automatically sends the company’s business card to a customer’s mobile phone as they enter the premises. The customer has the choice to either accept or decline the card. When accepted, the ecard is stored directly in the phone’s address book, ensuring that contact details are accurate, available and accessible. The ecard contains all the information found on a paper business card, including the company logo. Cards are sent and received free of charge using Bluetooth and importantly, never sent to the same phone more than once. Toroblue.com reports the number of ecards offered, accepted and declined.
While I definitely like the new technology, I think that there is still a place in your business for the old fashioned kind. And you might want to invest in some of those magnetic backs for your cards. If your business card is stuck on your client’s refrigerator, chances are you won’t be forgotten.
If You Bite Your Nails…
Your clients sit in the chair for a long time, so it is natural that they check out every part of you and that goes for your hands too. I know that it is hard to break a habit, and from experience I know that biting nails has to be one of the hardest, but give it a try. There are lots of products out there that will help.
And if you work with color and you find that your nails are stained, did you know that there are flat nail polishes that will prevent this from happening. And no one will ever know that you are wearing it. Just might not be something a guy wants to do.
Start Your Own Newsletter
Most stylists are quite happy to do a day’s work and then go home. Well, you can be a little smarter than they are. Tell your clients that you have a monthly/weekly newsletter with hair tips etc and have all the details on your business card. All they have to do is sign up and you would be happy to add them to your readership.
The newsletter reminds them that you exist and that you are taking the time to give them free advice. Chances are you will hold onto your regulars a lot longer than a stylist who doesn’t go the extra mile.
And if you should change salons, you have access to all of your clients so that you can take them with you! The salon might not like it, but business is business!
You should be handing these out on a regular basis by the way!
Getting Yourself Known
It seems that everyone I know who is connected to hair… has a great personality. Definite plug for my son and another for Cory Adrich of Baldiness!
Who would have thought that a woman (me) would head over to a site about losing your hair, but Cory just makes it so interesting. After visiting, I have either learned something new, or I leave with a grin on my face, so you have to admit, the guy is good!
Your Stepping Stone to Greatness in Hair Styling
““Everything starts as somebody’s daydream.”
Larry Niven
For all of you hairstyle gurus out there, what are you daydreaming about? You are daydreaming right? That’s the stepping stone to greatness! I’m thinking about Vidal Sassoon at the moment. To get where he is today, he must have done his share of daydreaming!
And my son just dropped over a thousand bucks to take a week’s course at the Vidal Sassoon school in Toronto… and he is already a stylist. Obviously, you can’t stop learning! And just last week, he told me that he has been asked to spend one day a week teaching at his own salon’s styling school.
Related Tags: hairstyle gurus, daydreaming,Vidal Sassoon, Vidal Sassoon school, Toronto, stylist, styling school.
Your Signature Look
If you are in the industry, chances are you already know who Jose Eber is, but you might want to take a few pointers. That cowboy hat… that is his signature look. Have you given your clients something to remember you by??
Related Tags: Jose Eber, cowboy hat, signature look, clients, hair industry
The Messy Hair Salon
The last thing I want to see when I go into a salon is a messy work area. It makes me question just how often the tools used on my hair are cleaned. A client expects the area to be absolutely spotless and that goes for you as well.
Don’t ask me why, but one particular chain of salons, expects their stylists to wear white. I don’t know who came up with that idea, but can you imagine how difficult it must be to keep their clothes spotless. And then think about the poor color technician. He/she must go through clothes every few weeks!
They Aren’t Called Hair Stylists Anymore…
Once upon a time, they were referred to as hair dressers and then hair stylists, but that is apparently old now. Some stylists are now calling themselves hair choreographers according to this article. And I guess I can see where this is going. What a stylist… oops choreographer can do with a head of hair is amazing.
“Admittedly, stars have special needs: They pay a lot to have their stylists travel with them for a movie or photo shoot (the going rate is about $2,500 a day). There are confidentiality agreements. Then there’s the pressure of making those stars look their best.”
Did you notice the going rate?? That isn’t half bad. Granted you have egos to deal with, but if you make yourself indispensable, they will be lining up for your services!
And one way to get your face out there is to participate in any and all hair shows in your area. My son is on stage this weekend, so he is obviously pretty excited. Who knows where he will be in a years time. If nothing, the kid has a lot of ambition!
