Although this post is aimed a bit more at those who are newer to the game of getting media attention and what to do with it once you get it, we suspect a few old-timers could also use some brush-up on their interview skills as well.  Only the questions might change.

OK, you’ve been doing your homework.

You have been sending your local news releases out regularly when suddenly one day the front desk calls and tells you a local TV news person you’ve been wooing (who noticed you originally because you sent them a VIP card and a great news release) is on the line.  Wow!  … flurry of excitement.  You hurry to your office, take a deep breath, and pick up the phone.

You discover they are interested in the news release you sent out about your upcoming local charitable event.  Woo-Hoo!  Lightning strikes …. a ‘magic moment’ opportunity … a media interview.

Are You Ready for Your Media Interview?

Being prepared to ‘make the sale’ to someone in the media means you need to be comfortable and conversant talking about two things right at that moment.

Number 1 – Your Recent News Release

Your caller assumes you are the subject matter expert (SME).  That’s why they called you.  If your name is on the release, on first contact people grant you that authority.

How well-versed and conversant you are on your topic, and how you come across answering their questions is important.  Having background knowledge on your cause, thus your passion about it, and knowing what you wrote in your own news release goes a long way to preserving that credibility.  Too many, “I don’t know” or, “I’m not sure” during your media interview eats away at your credibility and may diminish interest.

Number 2 – You!

Your passion and personality, your ability to share who you are, what you believe in, and what you are doing in an easy-to-follow, simple explanation is important.  This takes pre-call, pre-interview rehearsal time practicing your answers to some of the fairly standard questions you might expect to be asked.  You need to ‘get your lines down’ as actors say.

You know the media likes ‘brief’.  They appreciate the quick-communicating ‘sound bite’.  These ‘bites’ are the most likely phrases to get ‘quoted’ in print, or edited into TV interview moments during segments.  Having a few ‘sound bites’ at your fingertips is good.

Preparing to Share You

There are some fairly standard questions you might expect an interviewer to ask.  Having a few pre-considered answers with those ‘sound bites’ at your fingertips, improves your chances of coming off as a fun interview during a magic moment.  Here’s a short list of questions designed to stimulate your thinking down that track.  How would you answer these?

• Tell me a little about yourself.
• Why did you choose to become a salon professional?
• What is really special and unique about your salon?
• What are your thoughts on what we’re seeing in hair fashion this season?  Where do you see it going next season?  Beyond?  Why?
• What is it you offer your clients that’s unusual and not easily found at other salons?
• Tell me about the community/cause-related activities you and your salon are involved with.
• As a professional, what products do you think are absolute ‘must-haves’ for your clients?
• Are there any simple regimens you can recommend your clients to do every day that will make a significant difference to how they look during the day?

Get Practice, and Have Some Fun Too.

Remember when you played ‘pretend’ as a kid.  A friend ‘pretended’ to be someone else, and you ‘pretended’ you were someone else, and the two of you pretended together.  It’s what actors do every day they are working … they play pretend, rehearsing to become natural ‘pretending’.  Playing pretend works … and it’s fun. J So here’s our suggestion:

• Find a friend you trust that you can ‘play’ with.
• Both of you sit down and develop good answers to the above questions.
• Stick a video camera down and turn it on. (gasp)
• Have your friend pretend to be the TV interviewer interviewing you.
• Now switch roles.
• Do that over several times.

Did you laugh a lot?

How horrified were you? 

Did you both get any better after a few repeats and answer rewrites?

We’ll bet with practice you get really good at this … when it doesn’t count … while you’re playing.  You’re also going to feel so much better going into your next ’magic moment’

Share Some of Your Fun with this Exercise. Comments? Experiences?

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Those of you that chose the career of ‘cosmetology’ can hold your heads up even higher these days.  We know you have often had to endure annoying public opinion, comment, and yes … even sarcasm about having chosen to be a hairdresser. Well, now there’s some solid career data to make a strong case for just how ‘smart’ a decision you made to those who would have preferred you became a doctor, a lawyer, or a teacher. Someone has taken a highly credible approach to analyzing careers that you can place on the table that makes you look pretty darn clever.

Now you can announce to disapproving family members, friends, or others in ‘other industries’ that being a cosmetologist today actually ranks higher than becoming an attorney, an architect, or even a newscaster!  In fact, when we first reviewed the analysis, we noticed that our job, ‘public relations executive’ ranked a notch below ‘cosmetologist’!  We have often joked that we should have gone to beauty school.  With what we know and the skills of a good stylist, we’d be rich .

All of this is according to the latest ranking of jobs, from best to worst, by the respected job search portal CareerCast.com, whose 2010 Jobs Rated Section offers a comprehensive analysis of 200 jobs – from Actuary (#1)  to Roustabout (#200) – giving each a unique ranking based on the hard data of today.  The methodology of the research lends great credibility to the data so you should familiarize yourself with it.  You can find that here.

The Top Jobs study also ran in the Wall Street Journal recently, here and here.  Take a look. It’s fascinating … and reveals what many jobs are ‘really’ like.  So hold your heads up high – and tell the naysayers in your life to (ahem) … check it out.

Photo Credit: joeinfulleffect

What Should You Do With This Information?

1. Do Something ‘Local’ for Yourself

This is newsworthy information and local press likes national news pickup as it relates to a local business.  How to tie it in to you and your salon?  With such credible national media as the Wall Street Journal reporting on this latest ‘Best and Worst’ 2010 job survey, it makes perfect PR sense to share this perception of your work.  You might want to check out our blog post “Good PR in a Bad Economy – Catch the Wave“.

Here are a couple of lifestyle story ideas you could pitch to a local lifestyle editor:

• A Good Time to Be a Salon Pro – The thrust of your pitch is that a down economy is a great time to be in the beauty industry because beauty is relatively recession-resistant.  Your salon (if you can show your business is doing OK) can be a great illustration for that fact; especially if you are looking to hire stylists when other industries are letting employees go. Don’t worry that the writer may want to interview other salons in the area for their take … you and your business are in the story … you pitched it and you tell a good story.
• A Career for Any Economy – The thrust of your pitch is how you (and your salon business) have weathered several economic up and down turns because of your choice of career. You can share your experience with what beauty services clients are cutting out, cutting down and what services you have been providing that go the extra mile to bring clients back for me by meeting a consumer need.  Focus of this story is sharing what consumer trend is and how good salons and beauty pros are bringing even greater value to consumers.

2. Use the Information on your Facebook Fan Page, Website, and Blog.

What did the survey reveal?  Discuss misconceptions.  Use it to share your own stories of beauty school and how it wasn’t as easy as people might think.  Use it as a launching place to discuss how your salon has prospered by developing extra-value to the client services (not a discount story).  Have fun with looking at over-rated and under-rated jobs.

3. Create Fun Promotional Items for Your Staff

An example would be promotional tee shirts or buttons for your staff (and as client give-aways that says, “You Should Have Gone to Beauty School” or “Hair Designer: A Better Career Choice than Doctor, Lawyer or Newscaster – Wall Street Journal”

4. Dump Any Old “I’m Just a Hairdresser” Mentality”

If you’re one of those who ever answered the question “What do you do?” with an answer something like, “I’m just a hairdresser” … grab a copy of Vivienne’s “I’m Not Just a Hairdresser“.  Get inspired, proud and reminded of the passions that brought you to the career that you are in.  Your friends, clients and the media will certainly notice.

Oops – We forgot to mention in the first run out that this post was drawn from the conversation we had (and our regular column drawn from it) with Vivienne Mackinder in the latest issue of MOD magazine. If you don’t read MOD, you’re out of it. Her TV shows are also killer! … and fun.

What Other Things Can You Think of?

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Public relations helps to shape and cultivate how others perceive you.  But before you can focus your ‘public relations’ on others you need to shape and cultivate your story for yourself and be able to tell it effectively.  That means you need to envision ‘yourself’ clearly. Then, and only then, can you place it before others.

Since public relations shapes ‘perception’ (which covers a lot of ground — way beyond writing the better press release) — we have several suggestions on how to start building your own best perception of yourself.  Later come the press releases and media interviews.

To help your journey towards being more effective at your public relations, we’ve prepared this list of Ten Deadly Sins of Positive PR Projection (what we see too many out there doing that are less than helpful).  These things stand in your way of getting noticed – or they get you noticed, but in a less than positive way.  In the end, they are a turn-off to all … media included.

1. The ‘little voice’ stylist … They are shy and speak in a ‘small’ and un-authoritative voice.  They don’t project.  They often don’t smile enough.  They’re wonderful people and you like them a lot, but it’s not likely you’re going to follow them anywhere.  (The cure?  Look into Toastmasters or the many other organizations that help make you more effective in front of a group.  You need to practice making an impression.  It is a learned skill and very few come to it naturally.)
2. The ‘critical’ stylist … You know them well.  They are often publicly critical of others who are successful or in positions of authority.  They would rather tear someone or something down than find the positives and focus on those.  (Cure: Start complimenting others and their successes.  Be supportive of their achievements publicly.  And while you are at it, start copying what they are doing right).
3. The ‘all about me’ stylist … They’re the ones who don’t know how to ask questions of their conversation-mates.  If they do ask a question, it’s really only to open the door for them to tell you their answer to that same question.  If you tested them on what you said first, they’d fail.  (Cure:  Get out of talking about yourself and get into setting the stage for others to talk.  Pretend you are a media interviewer conducting an interview to learn more about the person you are interviewing.  You’ll be amazed at the results)
4. The ‘all talk’ stylist … They talk about what they are going to do and never do it.  The photo shoot they never schedule, the class they never take, the places they never go.  A real credibility loser.  The result: you speak and people mentally say to themselves … ‘yeah, right.  (Cure: Easy. Don’t do that.  Do what you say you are going to do – duh!)
5. The ‘overnight success’ stylist … Given new-found PR success or notoriety and they develop a false sense of importance and expectation.  They start believing their own press.  (Cure: Stand in the shoes of the industry’s ‘real’ greats.  Do just one, or some of the things they’ve done.  All of us in the industry would rather work with someone without attitude.  Lose the attitude).
6. The ‘stay-at-home’ stylist … You can’t be interesting to your clients or editors if you never go somewhere different and do something unusual.  People like to listen to the experiences of, and knowledge gained by, those who have been places they have not.  (Cure: Get out of the neighborhood!  Go to the collections in Europe or New York.  Go to industry events in faraway places.  Take classes with industry ‘greats’.  Learn new stuff.   You’ll have a heck of a lot more to talk about.
7. The ‘lost in the sauce’ stylist … They blend in, work quietly, and don’t have much to say.  They come and go without making a ripple.  (Cure: See all of the cures above).
8. The ‘Oh, I forgot my cards’ stylist … There’s nothing more important than networking to your PR progress and your pocketbook.  Lightening often strikes when you least expect it.  Your business cards are your link to someone being able to follow-up with you?  Scrawled names and numbers on scrap paper don’t cut it.  (Cure: DON’T LEAVE HOME WITH YOUR BUSINESS CARDS!)
9. The ‘clueless to social media’ stylist … Social media is not just fun, it is serious communication.  It is a way to reach and connect with your clients and your industry friends.  Learn how to use it.  It will grow your network, bring your clients closer to you, and put money in your pocket.  (Cure: Start by digging around this blog for some of the helpful posts of the past.  Follow the posts of these blogs: Problogger, Seth Godin, Skillfoo, Twitip (Twitter).
10. The ‘let George do it’ stylist … One sure-fire way to gain more recognition in the industry and in your own neighborhood/community is by getting involved in something greater than yourself.  It’s called volunteerism.  (Cure: Get involved in charitable volunteer work. It’s great for PR but even better for you and your friends and fellow staffers.  Make it more than the usual ‘ho-hum, humdrum’  one-time cut-a-thon.  Find out what’s important to your clients; ask your staff what’s important to them.)

Well, there you have it.  What not to do.

What Other Deadly Sins Did We Miss?

It’s great to see salons and spas taking on the recession’s summer season with some sizzlin’ hot PR ideas that your clients – and the media – think are just plain ‘cool’.  Gone are the days when the term ‘slow summer’ in the salon was expected, and accepted until the ‘back to school’ crowd brought business back to life.  Now, enterprising salon owners take the ‘offense’ against the dreaded slow season by thinking fresh with great ideas that keep clients connected … and coming back!

No more allowing clients to forget about or abandon regular salon and spa services ’till Fall rolls around.  Keeping the client flow consistently moving year ’round is entirely possible – but it means a year ’round love affair between your creativity and your activity on that PR calendar!  Summer no longer needs to be a ‘dead zone’ – but rather  just another cool season of  hot sizzle and substance at your salon or spa!

FOUR SIZZLIN’ HOT SUMMER PR IDEAS THAT ARE VERY COOL!

(… and hold your clients’ interest in ‘you’).

Summer Sizzle Idea #1: A Cool Client Event!

‘Hats off” again to Changing Heads Salon in Tappan, New York for constantly reinventing the PR/promotional wheel to suit the climate, the client and the time of year. Imaginative salon owner Bob Press and team just kicked off the summer (and July 4^th holiday weekend) with a Client Appreciation Evening.  Bob e-mailed all his clients and the local media, pulling out all the stops for them with an evening of breezy Summer jazz, wine and appetizers that didn’t quit from 4pm – 9pm.

Entertainment was live with a group called ‘aj’ (ahhsh) and clients were encouraged to ‘introduce a friend to Changing Heads couture salon’.  Co-sponsors included nearby local businesses, ‘The 76 House’ and Grape D’Vine. We discussed ‘partnering’ with other area businesses in an earlier post. To find out more from Bob, e-mail him:bob@changingheads.com.

Just in from Changing Heads while I was writing this:  Wouldn’t ‘ya know…just as I’m getting ready to post, I get another Summer Sizzle Tip from Bob Press to keep their ‘guests’ mindful of advance booking salon services. Basically, the salon e-mails clients their team’s Summer vacation schedule.  This ‘Vacation Notice’ helps clients know when their stylist/colorist/esthetician will be away and says: “We hope this helps to schedule your appointments over the Summer and we look forward to seeing you.”  The Changing Heads Team

Summer Sizzle Idea #2:  A Cool Product Promotion!

Scruples Professional Technical Educator and stylist Greg Lamb of Visible Changes Hair Salon in Dresden, TN is making the entire Summer (July and August) a perfect opportunity to offer his color clients free product  and reminder to book their color appointments. With Color, Highlights or Lowlight services, his salon’s clients get FREE a Scruples Color Shampoo and Conditioner.

Now, to be totally cool, Greg has Facebook-ed his clients and the media about his Summer promotion with this message:

Subject: July and August Promotion

“Know you are treating your new color with the respect it deserves.”

As a color client myself (here in Southern CA), I say that this message got my attention on Facebook.  Yes, I care about my color, I (and my hair) deserve respect, and I always LOVE some free product!  Greg then went on to finish his message with the rest of the product promo details mentioned above.  Believe me, if I were a client at Visible Changes, I’d be booking that color appointment now!  Want to learn more? Visit Greg’s Business Profile Page (formerly Fan Page) ‘Greg at Visible Changes Hair Salon‘.  It’s great to see more us in the industry beginning to use social media to reach our clients.

Summer Sizzle Idea #3: A Cool Community Cause!

And like all the seasons, those important community causes continue to go on and need year ’round support in terms of time, talent, and donations.  We chose to cite a beauty school as a great example of how more salons, spas and schools might be spending their summer in an effort to support their community while staying connected to their targeted audiences.  Accordingly, the Bellus Academy (formerly Poway Academy Of Beauty & Spa) in Poway, CA (owner: Lynelle Lynch), continues its on-going local effort behind ‘CUT IT OUT’, a national program of the ‘Salons Against Domestic Abuse Fund‘ dedicated to training and mobilizing salon professionals to recognize the symptoms of domestic abuse and be able to provide the simple information needed to help their ‘abused’ clients find help and safety.

A local ‘CUT IT OUT’ Industry Advisory Board has been formed and meets at the Bellus Academy regularly – including and especially this Summer (July) – to discuss multi-lingual webinars and regional training opportunities plus planning for Salon-A-Thon activities in every region. This promotes awareness, builds partnerships and increases fundraising efforts between the business community and all Domestic Violence Shelters during ‘DV Awareness Month’ in October.  Participating salon professionals are encouraged and trained to recognize the signs of domestic violence among their clientele and, with a caring and concerned approach and attitude, offer a special hotline to call to seek further assistance where and when appropriate. Learn more about the cause and how to support in your local area: visit: www.cutitout.org. It’s a cause that has the serious attention of the media, as well; the Bellus Academy‘s students and owner were featured in local print and broadcast media to create awareness of the cause and show how the beauty industry is participating.

Photos: Laurence Hardy at 24Photography

Summer Sizzle Idea #4:  ‘Summerzcool’ Client Communication’

Salon pro Terry Dykshorn chooses to keep her clients (and media) consistently informed about what she’s up to every season – and Summer is no exception!  As part of her communication effort, Terry encourages clients to ‘schedule your Summer appointments now because things are heating up’.

Terry e-mails a terrific personal newsletter she calls ‘Fresh Hair‘. Clients contact her here to get on her mail list. For Summer, she shares her pro-active schedule with a unique ‘Summerzcool’ edge — inspired by Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Summerzcool‘ concert tour (which kicks off Terry’s Summer).  Clients love to hear what’s going on in their hairdresser’s life so take a cue from Terry and share it with them in a fun and interesting way with a bit about your salon life, some personal news outside of salon life and yes, always touching on the trends!

Writes Terry in ‘Fresh Hair’: “My summerzcool schedule includes biking in San Diego, a Haircolorist Summit in Los Angeles, a couple of out-of-state weddings, a family reunion with the in-laws, training for triathlons and half marathons, and, oh yeah, taking care of business!”

Terry goes on from their to elaborate on each point  — but the real point here is the perception you are creating for those you want to read about you (your target audience). The more active and successful you are perceived to be, the more interesting you become to clients and the media. Lesson: Get some kind of consistent communication going with your clients and the press…Summertime and anytime!

I like the way Terry signs her e-newsletter: “Your friend in the business of fresh hair.”

Lest we never forget <g> to reinforce our role in our clients lives!

Title Photo: I am Melanie. Hear me Roar

What Are Your Doing This Summer to Avoid the Doldrums?

Share It Here with Comments.

‘Get Real’ in the Neighborhood

Good people and businesses ‘stand out’ in their community.  They are more than just a place to go for products or services.  They are part of the fabric of life in the neighborhood.  People respect and appreciate their caring deeds.  Individuals and businesses that ‘do more’ get noticed for their efforts.

Avoid the Crowd

An often heard fast answer to garnering attention is to “do charitable salon events“.  Although accurate, it’s an incomplete thought.  Just doing run of the mill ‘cut-a-thons’ for charity and jumping on the ‘popular’ fund-raising bandwagons doesn’t distinguish you or your salon/spa in the neighborhood.  Yes, you are a step ahead because you are doing it, but it’s certainly not unique.  Remember: Newsworthy = out of the ordinary.  So, we thought we’d suggest delving more deeply into this one.

‘Real’ Community Involvement for the Long Haul

Of course fund-raising is always good PR, but catch-as-catch-can fundraisers are over fast and everyone quickly moves on to the next ‘something’ that grabs their attention.  Not a lot of deeper, long-term client development value going on there.

The best community involvement is something that becomes uniquely yours, where you and your salon team find something in the community you can become “a valued part of”.  Real non-profit support has a deeper meaning to you and your staff.

It also makes all of you important to the members of that community who care deeply about that charity’s good work and your participation builds long-term value within that community, and their friends.  You become a very real part of their lives and events.

5 PR-Smart Steps To ‘Get Real’ In Your Area.

1. Do some detective work to discover what some of the well-respected area non-profits are up to.  What ‘good work’ is currently getting the attention of the media?  Ask your clients what charities they support and why?  Get good background information on those charities at Guidestar.Note:  In addition to your search for a local non-profit, consider another effort that really puts the limelight on the professional salon industry … check out “Cut it Out”.  Bonus with ‘Cut it Out’ is that domestic violence is always ‘in the news’ and doesn’t need a lot of explanation.
   
2. Watch the local lifestyle, and beauty& grooming sections of the local media (magazines and newspapers).  What out-of-the-ordinary local non-profits do they often write about?  Any popular themes that reveal those editors ‘fav’ charities?
3. After you have an initial assortment of area non-profits you feel an affinity for, contact the Executive Director or the Development Director of the organization.  Tell them you’re new to the neighborhood and you’d like to learn more about what they do first-hand.  Plan a visit to meet and get a tour.Non-profits thrive on interested supporting businesses and will be happy to share all about themselves.  They know you can use their help as much as they can use yours.  It’s a synergistic relationship that benefits them, their beneficiaries, and you.
4. After you settle on one or two of those charities, get more involved.  Attend their events.  Get to know their supporters.  Volunteer for other activities the charity needs help with.  Ask them what they think you can do to support them.  Perhaps you and your staff can do the hair and make-up for their annual fashion show?They don’t have a fashion show?  Maybe you can propose the idea?  Play with ideas with your staff.  Get them personally involved.  Set up a tour for you (and your staff).  Everyone at the salon will benefit.  Good things will automatically happen when the chemistry is right.  It is public relations at its best.
5. Become a leadership force for that non-profit.  Serve on its board.  Do more than the average bear.  Lead and others will follow.

Once involved with a community non-profit, your involvement within their circle of supporters means that everyone within that group will come to know you personally too … and so it grows.

Finally, remember that well run local non-profits already have established relationships with local media types and that ultimately benefits you in your efforts on their behalf.

That’s it.  Not hard … Very rewarding.

Make a Comment

What charitable work has your salon/spa been up to?

Has that made a difference to you and your staff?

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