It’s no secret that social media can give your business a major boost, and this is especially true for salon owners and other beauty pros. But not just any post will get results. Try these best practices on your social media accounts to attract followers who will also want to set up an appointment and meet you IRL.
1. Image Is Everything
Twitter posts with photos get 35 percent more engagement that plain text; on Facebook, the numbers are more like 37 percent. Start treating all your social media accounts like Instagram to get those pictures out to your followers. Ideally, these will be your own photos, so snap some pix every day and develop a library you can go to as needed. Before and after shots are excellent, as are still-life photos of your equipment and candid shots of your salon.
2. Go Local
Having lots of followers is awesome, but your customers are local. Attract their attention by tagging your Instagram photos with location stickers so you show up more easily in local searches. You can do the same on Facebook posts by always tagging your business location. If you have hometown hashtags that local businesses use, add those too. These additions should become a habit on every post, every time.
3. Play Games
Getting your followers to interact with your social media account can be tricky, but it’s a great way to boost your appearances and attract more attention. Instead of thirsty “like and share” requests, try getting your followers to interact more naturally with games. Ask a trivia question about hair care techniques, start an opinion poll about favorite skin products, or host a GIF contest based on a salon-worthy theme. When you make it fun, the clicks happen naturally.
4. Give It Away
Your followers trust that you’re an expert in your field, so drop some useful knowledge on them. Demo a tricky technique, give tips for healthy hair, or host a Twitter Q&A session to offer advice. You can also give away promo codes and coupons as added incentive to get people in the door. By making your site truly valuable, you’ll keep them coming back for more.
5. Stay on Brand
It can be tempting to post any old meme just to have something out there, but your followers are interested in your professional services, opinions, and pictures. Stick to relevant topics on your professional site. For Instagrammers, this can include making sure your photos all have a similar color palette and style for a cohesive look.
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There are more than 1.2 million beauty professionals in the United States, and competition is fierce. Whether you’re an esthetician, nail technician, or makeup artist, you need a killer resume if you want to land the job of your dreams. Here are five beauty resume hacks that will increase your chances of finding work this year.
1. Use a Professional Email Address
Thirty-five percent of employers have a problem with job applicants who use an unprofessional email address. Including your childhood nickname or the name of your favorite pop star in your email address is fine when sending messages to your friends and family, but choose something a little more professional for the contact section in your resume.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Include your first and last name, and you’re good to go. Free email services like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail will let you set up an email address in mere seconds.
Want to know how to create a branded email address that will impress future employers and clients? Click here to read this simple guide.
2. Add Your Licenses and Certifications
One in five employers rejects a candidate before they have even finished reading through their resume. This is why it’s important to include all of your credentials and achievements. Listing your previous jobs, experiences, certifications, and licenses will increase your chances of finding work. Knowing how to list all this information, however, can be a little tricky.
This is where a good online resume builder comes in handy. One of these tools lets you organize your work history in a professional format, and it’s much easier than creating a whole new document from scratch. With an online resume builder, you can list your professional qualifications and previous jobs with a few clicks of a mouse.
3. Include Links to Your Social Media Profiles
Seventy percent of recruiters use social media to screen candidates, so including links to your Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages will boost your chances of finding a job in the beauty industry. If you’re a makeup artist, for example, include a link to your Instagram page that shows off your creative designs. Recruiters will love it!
The best online resume builders let you incorporate social media links into a professional-looking resume. Choosing one of these tools will help you create a resume that will resonate with recruiters.
4. Check Your Grammar
A massive 77 percent of employers have a problem with job applicants who use the wrong spelling and grammar on their resume. If you don’t want your resume to end up in the Trash folder, use a tool like Grammarly to improve your text. A simple spell check won’t take long, and it could increase your chances of securing a job.
“Any hiring manager will tell you that when it comes to your résumé, proper spelling is critical to making a good impression,” says Business Insider. “The average job recruiter spends less than 10 seconds reviewing an individual résumé, and résumés with typos and spelling mistakes are often the first to land in the reject pile.”
5. Add an Image
Adding a photo to your resume could increase the chances of an employer noticing your job application. A resume with an eye-catching image will definitely stand out in a pile of boring black-and-white documents. Some online resume builders let you add a photo to your resume for even more effective results. A prospective employer will see your image when they open your resume on their computer.
“In our new day, we have all become far more visual in our communications. It allows us to match names and faces,” says Forbes magazine.
Looking for a job in the beauty industry? Follow the four beauty resume hacks above and land the job you’ve always wanted. Using an online resume builder like beautyLeap will make things even easier. This simple tool lets you organize your work history, add social media links, include a photo, and create a great-looking resume that recruiters will love. Click here to create your FREE beauty resume right now.
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A good domain name and a proper email address will generate more customers, increase traffic, and make your beauty business look more professional. Still, the majority of salon and spa professionals don’t have either of these things. Only a fraction of people who post salon jobs have taken the steps to create a proper branded email address. Most people use email accounts from websites like Gmail or Yahoo.
What gives?
Here’s the kicker: Using an email address from one of these websites is risky. Using an email address from a service provider like Comcast or SBC Global could also jeopardize your business. Remember, these companies could cancel your service or merge with another organization at any time.
The domain name you choose is just as important as your email address. Pick the wrong one, and you could lose out on customers.
Forget everything you’ve been told in the past. Here are the things you must do if you want to increase the visibility of your beauty business online.
Keep Your Domain Name Short and Simple
A domain name is the name of the website you type into the address bar in your web browser (Google.com, for example). It’s made up of unique characters, and no two domains are the same, just like no two phone numbers are the same.
Here’s a simpler explanation:
“A domain name is your website name. A domain name is the address where Internet users can access your website,” says Website.com [1].
Got it? Good!
Once you have a domain name, you can put your website on marketing material and business cards. You can then create a branded email address that looks far more professional than a Gmail or Yahoo address.
Here’s an example: Salina Carter, a hair stylist in Brentwood, CA, uses the domain name www.hairbysalina.com. It’s short, simple, and it’s easy to remember. Salina uses a branded email address, too: [email protected]. Like her domain, it looks credible. Every time a client sends her an email, they will get a small glimpse into her branding.
Choose a Domain Name and Branded Email Address
How many times have people asked you, “Do you have a website?” Or “What’s your email address?” Your domain name and email address are important elements of your marketing strategy. They can help you create a presence and credibility when you communicate with customers and clients.
Here’s the good thing: Creating a domain name and branded email address is cheap and easy. The hardest part is choosing the right name and email. Don’t overcomplicate things, though. Use your first name and your beauty niche, just like hair stylist Salina did (Hairbysalina.com). It’s probably a good idea not to use your last name in case this changes in the future.
If you are a salon owner, you will take a completely different approach. You can just use the name of your salon in your domain — www.avedasalon.com, for example. If someone has already chosen your preferred domain, don’t worry. You will need to get a little creative!
You might want to include the name of your salon and your city, like Avedasf.com. If you have multiple salons in one area, incorporate the region into your domain, like Avedabayarea.com. Finally, if you have a salon name that’s hard to spell, create a domain with your location — www.saloninsf.com, for instance.
Try and keep your domain as short as possible. More than 70 percent of websites have domain names with eight or fewer characters [2]. Stay away from hyphens, too. And numbers.
“Remember, one of the biggest keys to success for your domain name is you want your customers to easily remember your business name, and be able to type it out quickly,” says Business.com [3].
Also, consider branded email addresses. You might need to create multiple branded emails for all your employees, but this is an easy process.
Once you’re done, you need to register your domain name. There are plenty of places to do this, including GoDaddy.
Why These Steps Are Important
All businesses need a domain name and branded email address to create an online presence. In fact, someone should be thinking about these details as soon as they enroll in beauty school. It’s never too late to create a killer domain and branded email address, though. There are plenty of tools to help you: Shopify has a domain name generator, for example. Once you have these details, you need to include them on business cards and flyers, so your network can link to your web address.
Domain names and proper email addresses don’t just look great on marketing material, mind. They can make it easier for potential customers to find you on search engines like Google. This is a process called search engine optimization (SEO). In short, choosing the right domain name and email address could improve your search rankings.
Once you have chosen a domain name, you will want it to match your social media profiles. This makes you look even more professional. You need to be quick, though.
“It’s pretty annoying when you dream up the perfect brand name, get hold of the domain name, and then find out someone has taken that name on one of the social media platforms,” says Search Engine Journal [4]
Follow the tips above and create an awesome domain name and branded email address that will drive your business success and increase the visibility of your beauty brand online. Good luck!
Sources:
[1] https://www.website.com/beginnerguide/domainnames/8/1/what-is-a-domain-name?.ws
[2] https://buffer.com/library/the-ideal-length-of-everything-online-according-to-science
[3] https://www.business.com/articles/the-perfect-domain-11-important-facts-about-domain-names/
[4] https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-choose-domain-name/252285/
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