In world adjusting to Covid-19, many nail professionals have shared with us their concerns about salon reopenings and what kind of client traffic they'll be facing. Will there be a crush of demand or will it be a slow trickle? So many “what ifs” populating our brains, it can stop us in our tracks. It’s scary. What if the clients don’t come back? What do I do then? We understand the fear you might be feeling and the apprehension a client might have setting foot back in the salon. The first thing you need to do every morning is to center yourself. Try to quiet the negative voice in your head. Now, truly believe that you're going to be ok no matter what. If you have unwavering faith in yourself and take one action a day towards improving your business; everything will turn out.
BELIEVE
We’re living in tough times but your clients will come back. You have to believe it. It will just take a little bit of time. If you’re not seeing clients right now, can you commit to work on other aspects of your business? The most important daily work is called Marketing. Right now you should be connecting with your clients through social media via Instagram and Facebook. Show them what you’ve been up to and how you’ll be ready to see them soon. If you have a full client book, you just never know how some of those clients’ circumstances may have changed. You should never, ever, ever, ever stop marketing yourself no matter what pace your business is in- slow, busy or on pause because of a quarantine. Never Stop.
DAILY HABIT
It’s more than just talk. It’s what we actually do. The solutions we recommend for you come directly from our own successes and failures. What’s really saved us is our ability to stay in touch with nail pros around the world through our social media. Pre-Covid, we were producing content on a regular basis. Nowadays our schedule is completely out of whack but we’ve still kept our communication with you going. Never in a million years did we think a pandemic would affect our lives in immeasurable ways. We are on a crazy roller coaster ride, so much is out of our control. We recognize that the only thing we do have control over is ourselves. Why focus on all the things we can’t control; when we can focus on the singular thing we can, ourselves? The biggest complaint before was that there wasn’t enough time. There is time now. You can always make time. It doesn't even have to be a giant production. Before you get lost in a digital distraction. Consider creating your own content rather than consuming someone else’s. You can always make time even if it’s only ten minutes a day. Marketing is an essential part of business. It’s a priority. Today, take advantage that your options are digital and free.
LOCALS ONLY
What exactly are we talking about? If you've already got a steady and regular posting habit on Instagram, that’s so awesome. There is another step you can take to amplify your posts to build your clientele. Layer this on top of your posts. The one method we especially love available only through Instagram is called LOCATION MARKETING.
1. Search your area.
2. Type in your city to see what everyone is tagging.
3. Find the opportunity. Go on every single post and write a comment about the image and circle back to nails. Did you like their makeup, nails, car, bike, dress, shoes, garden, food, etc? The circle back sounds something like this, “Nice ride, reminds me of this great shade of polish”. “Amazing shot, would even be more amazing with wicked acrylic stiletto nails.” Be charming. Be witty. Have fun. It’s easier to do this if a person is in the post.
4.Be ready for them to react to you. You want them to click on your handle to see what’s up. Make sure your own page has content that shows the best of what you have to offer, technique, creativity, cleanliness. They can’t help but notice you and try to figure out who you are. They are going to react to you but now you’re in their heads. Dedicate some time for this. Literally schedule time to do this. Don’t over think it. Start out small and you could find yourself spending hours on this. Don’t be afraid if people might think it’s weird you're sliding into their post. Would you rather feel weird or not have business? You have nothing to lose. Confront that thing that makes you uncomfortable and break through.
Nail salons are ready for their come back and the time is quickly approaching. You’re going to come back; so will your clients. We feel very confident about it. Keep going. Keep investing in yourself. Keep moving forward. Keep your head up.
**This is an adaptation from our YN Biz Talk playlist on YouTube, “MY CLIENTS AREN’T COMING BACK”.
***Follow our YN YouTube Channel and click here to watch the full discussion:
08 June 2020