BeautyPRpro » The PR Mindset

What’s Your Excuse?

Alexander Irving — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:50:05 +0000

Some writings resonate

We’ve heard every reason and excuse in the book for salon professionals not becoming successful with their own PR.

“I can’t afford monthly PR agency fees“, or, “I can’t afford multi-month commitments right now“. Those two have always been among the biggies. Well we’ve solved that one for you. Check out PR a la Carte. Let’s not hear that particular excuse anymore. OK?

On that topic, here’s a post we received a copy of this morning from Seth Godin’s Blog . If you don’t subscribe to his blog, we suggest you do. Here it is, short and sweet.

Every successful case is a special case

It’s easy to dismiss strategies or plans or people who succeed by pointing out how they have something special, something irreproducible, some sort of advantage that makes their success special.

Special as in, “not available to me.”

They went to Harvard, they’re public, they’re not public, they have a great fundraising team, they have a powerful partner, they didn’t go to Harvard, they already have a reputation, they have no reputation to risk…

This is silly, as all success is special. That’s what makes it success. We don’t consider breathing a success, since, fortunately, we all can breathe.

The trick is learning about what the special cases have in common, in understanding how maybe, just maybe, you have some of the very same attributes that others have used in a new way.

Comments?

When Were You Happy Right Down to Your Very Soul?

Alexander Irving — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:53:03 +0000

Photo courtesy of Tolis Flioukas

Pay Day Yesterday!

Like the “Starfish story” … we know we have done something important.

We all work hard. You, in the salon behind the chair, and we, in our BeautyPRpro and Esche & Alexander PR roles. We do what we do … over and over.

We bring our experience and talent to the table every day for our friends and clients. We share our information, experience, and observations to help make the world (and life) a little better for ourselves and others.

But despite all your (and our) best work, we know people are often fearful. They stay where they are because they are afraid. You can only hope a few are really paying attention, being affected and improved by your efforts and inspired to get past that fear of change.

You get your pay off in your chair. We get ours in the form of comments on the blog (See comments in yesterday’s post) and when we see the results achieved by individuals and companies who have used our information and guidance. That feels good?

A Cacophony of Great Voices

Look around the professional beauty industry and you’ll see and hear a multitude of voices that have carried similar messages over the years. Our friends Vivienne Mackinder, Tony Beckerman, Ian Gavet, Dwight Miller, Martin Parsons, [too many to list here … boy, are the others going to be upset ] the list goes on and on … all with the same message:

Learn how
Be the best at it you can be (at this moment in time)
Get out and do it (despite your fears)
Love (and respect) yourself
Share your time, treasure and knowledge with others.

We’re proud to serve and love seeing these kinds of responses to our message. Thanks Becci See … it does happen.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Are You a Self-Sabotaging Salon Pro?

Alexander Irving — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:29:55 +0000

Just talk … It’s upsetting.

… and it always makes us sad.

The wishers … the dreamers …. the pretenders … the talkers …. so very few actual starters.

So many stylists talk a good game. They talk about about stepping out from the crowd. They talk about what they are going to do for themselves tomorrow. They talk about entering the ‘big pool’ … NAHA or the Contessas, or some other great PR opportunity.

I don’t mean I’m upset because they miss out on being as famous as Nick Arrojo, Beth Minardi or Vivienne Mackinder … Very few do. I mean because they end up never realizing some of their greatest dreams and creativity. They never even take the risk.

Why so Upset Alex?

Because Sharon and I have seen it so many times over the years … so many talented salon professionals dropping the ball on themselves. Not following through. Not taking a risk.

We got a call from a salon pro in Canada last week. She wanted to know how much BeautyPRpro charges for a press release. Sharon and I were both at a meeting. She left a voicemail. The Contessas are coming up you know.

We called back quickly. 3 hour time difference to Toronto. Made it in the same day before her salon closing. We can work with that. We called her back at work and on her cell.

We returned the call several times the next morning early because we know what crazy hours stylists have and how little time they actually have between clients. It’s tough out there so we always go the extra mile. We’ve done that for years.

She never called again. I hope she wasn’t just wishing … dreaming … talking … and that she found someone great to write her news and that she got it out and got what she needed. I hope I see her in the Contessas. I hope, I really hope.

Make You Angry?

Gee, I hope so. Mad enough to do something different for you? I hope so.

If you found this article useful, get a free subscription to BeautyPRpro. You’ll also get a FREE copy of “Life-Changing PR for Salon & Spa Owners. We’ll keep you posted on new articles and PR info.

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And the ABCH Winners Are …..

Sharon Esche — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:27:21 +0000

Drum Roll Please

We’re announcing the winners Were you in our “Make Your Clients Raving Facebook Fans” classes at the ABCH ‘Energizing Summit’ on June 12th? If so, you got the secret password to enter our June 19th drawing for a complimentary Day of ‘Ultimate Imaging’ for you and your business. That’s a full and fabulous $7,500-value day you’ll share with national PR consultants Sharon and Alex (Esche & Alexander PR / BeautyPRpro) PLUS doing a hair fashion shoot with industry-renowned photographer Gary Lyons.

As promised there is a winner from each class. And the two winners are …

AM class – Judi Troutman – Raleigh, North Carolina

PM Class – Rosey Ibarra – Downey, California

If you two would call us at 760-414-3370, we can get started. Yippee-Kazoo!!

Congratulations!

If you found this article useful, get a free subscription to BeautyPRpro. You’ll receive a FREE copy of our ebook, “Life-Changing PR for Salon & Spa Owners” and receive each article/post minutes after it hits the blog.

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How To Become an ‘Overnight’ Salon PR Success

Alexander Irving — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:26:10 +0000

“The World is Filled with Talented, Poor Dreamers”

We don’t remember who gets attribution for that quote, but our BeautyPRpro header copy above reflects how we feel about that headline.

Several thousand years ago a Roman philosopher said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. More recently, a guy named Samuel Goldwyn, a Hollywood producer/movie mogul said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get”.

Well, odds are you’re not going to be ‘hit by lightening’ and hired for that new reality TV series on Bravo, so you better start planning how you are going to get noticed and get ahead in your career.

Every stylist/colorist on industry stages and in the magazines editorially has garnered real PR success (forget the ‘flash in the pans’) by beginning with passion, fear, anxiety, and hope. They plunked themselves down, talked to people who knew the industry and how stuff happens, planned out their early steps, and added their personal sweat, blood, tears and talent. Simple, no?

What Did They Do … ?

Wrote a personal bio and media information material
Developed a fashion point of view
Created a news release plan to get known by local and industry editors
Did charitable activity for the year
Developed fashion photography for their clients and the media
Grew their editorial relationships
Attended industry events to be seen at, involved in, and photographed at.
Decided on newsworthy local sponsorships
Argh …. That a huge list! … Yeah, and that’s not even the half of it … but …

Just Do ‘One’ Thing

If you try to think about it all alone, it feels overwhelming. That’s why so few actually step out and move on down the road to real PR success.

It is actually simple. Just do the first thing. Once you start (and succeed) at the first thing you do, the next gets easier and feels more doable.

It Really Is That Simple?

Yep! Want help? No cost to say hi and share your dreams. Ask those salon professionals who’ve done it how they did it. They’ll talk to you. Just call ‘em.

Are You Inspired? Share Your Thoughts with a Comment.

Magic Media Interview Moments-Are You Prepared?

Alexander Irving — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:52:49 +0000

Brushing Up Your Interview Skills

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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3 Hot Ideas to Make You Cool News

Alexander Irving — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:10:10 +0000

Early Birds Get the Worms

The media loves the ‘bleeding edge’. News is about ‘new’ after all. As always, it’s the ‘early bird that gets the worm’. In this case the ‘worm’ is neighborhood, industry, and even national news pickup. What’s the scoop?

Geolocation, and QR codes

… Smart Phone Technology and ‘smart’ marketing! It’s not the future … it’s now!

Although the mass appeal isn’t totally ‘mass’ yet, several of these new social media tools are hot-hot-hot and just starting to hit ‘in the news’. You can be the first salon or stylist in your area to be really ‘cool’ and ‘in the news’ because you are using one or more of them in your salon to your client’s benefit.

It’s not difficult to grasp, but it does require you do more than read this post and move on. It takes some looking into, thinking, and pondering.

Of course if you don’t … not a problem … it’ll be so much easier to learn about when the salon down the block shows you how. ( how come he gets all the press? Darn.)

Once you implement even the simplest idea using one of these concepts however, it’s only a matter of writing your news release and getting that news out to the media AND your clients. I can almost promise you local news pickup. Your clients love it when their salon is “a leader’ … and in the news.

“But So Few of My Clients are Techies”

Fine … who cares? This is about marketing and pr leadership. Don’t look at it strictly from a “how many of my clients use it now” point of view. That’s not what this is about. You’re first! You’re going to share your knowledge with your clients and make life wonderful for them. Trust me on this one.

Remember when you used to say “Facebook is for kids”? Missed the Twitter curve eh? Did you learn anything from that experience? Smart Phone marketing is very shortly going to be a major component of everyone’s marketing and right now is your opportunity to have the world grow into your leadership for a change.

I’ll say it once again — Being first makes you newsworthy. Remember the plethora of “Oxygen Bar’ stories around the country in the early 90s? That was ‘cool news’ back then. You remember the oxygen bars don’t you? Well just in case you don’t … it was a unique and slightly controversial ‘service’. It caused conversation, questions, and was a real curiosity. Here are some leftovers from that ‘wave’.

So What are These Smart Phone Hotties All About?

Geolocation Apps

Geolocation social networks are to 2010 what microblogging was in 2008. Currently the geolocation leader is Foursquare, with Gowalla, MyTown and Loopt trailing along behind. Here’s PC World’s recent explanation of Geolocation and here’s what readwriteweb.com has to say about it. Start reading and watching this technology. Although geolocation, and the apps for it have a way to go yet. it needs your awareness.

QR Codes

QR Codes are absolutely now! … And they are THE hot trend in Japan. They contain addresses, information, and web URLs and are starting to appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or just about any object that users might need information about like the city of Manor, TX that gives users with a camera phone equipped with a ‘reader app’ guided tour information.

Lots of Apps

There are lots of apps (many free), like Quickmark (cool), neoreader, optiscan, to name a few with better reviews. A quick Google search on “QR Codes” will net you lots of choices. The phone scans the image of the QR Code causing the phone’s browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL. Techie phone users snap a picture and immediately are taken to a website’s special info, promotion page, special offer, value, coupon, and contest puzzle piece … whatever.

Happening Now

Don’t think this is where it’s going? The Feds do. Paper boarding passes will be ‘the old way’ within a couple of years. The TSA pilot program is at 48 airports right now. Read good info here. Here are more examples what’s happening right now.

… and it’s coming to Facebook soon too.

Stickybits

You can embed digital content on any ‘object’ and when someone scans that object they can “tune-in to the conversations around that product”. Your object’s message and the conversations around it are delivered to those scanning with their smart phone and on the Stickybits website (which gets Googled).

It is your message and the social media conversations that form specifically around your object/product. Ben & Jerry’s, Campbell Soup and Doritos already have content forming around their products.

What if your object is a bottle of shampoo or hairspray? Prospective customers can view your video, photos, text, or audio right at the point of sale and make their own comments on it for the next prospect to see. What’s that worth? Your counter card might have a barcode that brings all the details of what your salon promotion is all about. Tell a story. Share your cause. Whew.

Get Busy! Be First!

Three new things to learn about shouldn’t be too difficult? Huge payoff here. It took me all of three hours to learn enough to ‘envision’ how a salon or stylist might use them and then find all this info for you. Took a little longer to write the post though J.

After you do your own homework, come back and share some ideas with us. We’ll share a few with you in future posts.

Question: How could you use QR Codes and geolocation in your salon or next public event?

Seize the PR Moment!

Sharon Esche — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:21:41 +0000

Cosmetology Leads Among Respected Professions.

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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Where Have All the Mentors Gone?

Alexander Irving — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:06:51 +0000

Opportunities for PR happen not only because you are a talented salon professional and send out interesting news and photo releases. They happen because you are a part of people’s lives doing things that distinguish you from others in the crowd. You are a respected member of the community … a player .. you do things ‘differently’. That’s ‘unique’.

I’ll disagree with my guest poster’s contention that you don’t see mentors in the news. Actually, we do every day. People like Beth Minardi, Brad Graham, Vivienne Mackinder, (uh) Don Bewley , and hundreds more on the list. These individuals parlayed their love of the industry and their focus on support for the next generation as an ‘element’ of their overall industry reputation and recognition.

It’s true that thousands of others haven’t paid attention to the value of a PR strategy for themselves and haven’t been recognized in the media, but that’s by their own doing … or lack of doing. Mentoring is something that, coupled with good PR habits, does serve to get earn ‘stripes’, thus more people take notice.

PR is a very POOR motivation for mentoring, but the fringe benefit of being a caring and supportive industry professional certainly serves to enhance someone’s image in the eyes of others.

I thoroughly enjoyed what Don Bewley had to say about mentoring. It is truly the very foundational ingredient that has elevated the professional salon industry to what it is today. Read it … then don’t just sit there … get out and mentor someone.

Where Have All The Mentors Gone?

By Don Bewley, Eufora Intl., Co-founder – Reprinted with permission of Stylist Newspapers

When interviewing and hiring staff and educators at Eufora I always ask: who is your mentor? If the potential hire does not have one, I do not consider them for a position.

Why is this important? People who seek out and find mentorship are people who are committed to being successful.

There are many great mentors out there who truly care about the salon professional industry and nurturing the future generation. I have met many of them during my travels throughout North America. Sadly, these mentors often go unrecognized because they are rarely seen gracing the pages of our industry magazines, but they are definitely out there ready to share their expertise, provide guidance and serve as a sounding board.

So what is the definition of a mentor? A mentor is someone who has achieved a great level of success and sustained that success over time. They choose to share their expertise and success strategies and they do it based on their love of the hairdressing industry.

They are giving, humble leaders who are not afraid of someone becoming better than them, in fact they actually want their protégés to surpass their own level of success.

I have had three key mentors throughout my 30-year hairdressing career. It is difficult for one mentor to give you everything you need. Mentor Number One was an amazing hairdresser who understood the correlation between hair and fashion and the power of great technical cutting systems.

Mentor Number Two was a businessman who understood and excelled at the financial side of the business and taught me about profitability and how to drive points to my bottom line. And Mentor Number Three taught me how to be accountable for the goals that you set for yourself. All are important skills in becoming a success in the industry and are skills that continuously need nurturing and improvement.

It’s important to seek out your mentor and do not wait for them to find you. So where do you find these successful people willing to share their secrets to success?

Stylists should start with their salon owner. Salon owners obviously want you to make money, be your best and be happy, so it’s only natural that they would want to help you. However, if you’re not finding a mentor in your salon, it may be time to look elsewhere.

Industry networking groups are a great way to connect to successful salon professionals. We’re a tight knit community that can be very generous and loving; the entire salon industry wins if we help one another by acting as mentors because we elevate it as a whole. A great example of this is the Eufora Salon Owners Network. Salon owners, who are all competing in the same market, come together to discuss their common challenges and share solutions based on their own experiences. They are helping themselves while helping others.

Great mentors can also be found through premier industry business and creative educators. These professionals have dedicated a part of their career to helping other succeed either through haircutting and styling or business solutions. Most importantly, expose yourself to successful industry professionals through attending education. You‘ll discover talented and caring people more than willing to help you go to the next level

Everyone has something to offer and we shouldn’t be afraid to share our knowledge. Maybe reading this you realize that you are the successful professional that can reach out to help others. Since day one, Eufora has been dedicated to helping cultivate mentors through our education program. It starts with a desire to help others, a commitment to be the best. From this, success is nurtured. Educators are constantly in training themselves to better learn how to help fellow salon professionals achieve their goals and dreams.

If we all participated in the mentoring process by seeking the guidance of others, being mentors ourselves and helping develop mentors, the salon professional industry would be unstoppable. Just think of all the many opportunities it would yield for everyone of us to be prosperous and fulfilled.

Who is Your Mentor? Are You Mentoring?

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Out with the Old, In with the New

Alexander Irving — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:41:33 +0000

You Recommend Clients Change their Look, Don’t You?

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
– William Edwards Deming (1900–1993)

Every hairdresser you know loves to be in the ‘news’ and to find a measure of fame … Why not? It’s a noble goal … and very doable for those willing to plan for, invest in, and put the sweat equity into obtaining it.

You need a few basic ingredients of course … talent and skill, a personality, and a decent work ethic. Of course that does sound like a whole lot of hairdressers you know who aren’t getting very ‘noticed’. So there must be something else we haven’t mentioned yet.

No, we’re not talking about hiring PR and marketing gurus. Of course it helps to have someone who knows the ropes, but that has more to do with ‘making a fuss’… more about that in a moment. First you have to think ‘newsworthy’.

What’s News?

It’s not remarkable that if you drop the ‘s’ from the word ‘News’ you have the word ‘new’… a discovery, something unique, something no one has heard or seen before, a ‘light’ people haven’t seen you in previously … something newsworthy. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been ‘in the news’ and ‘famous’ before, although it does help during the ‘fuss’ process.

But, even if you’re previously famous, unless you’re doing something ‘new’, you aren’t ‘newsworthy’. Unless you innovate, remake, redesign, reform, or re-something, you’re a retread. You can’t repeat the same act to the same audience and expect them to be re-thrilled for long, no matter how famous you are. Once they’ve seen your act, you’re pretty much done.

Photo by Phil Hawksworth

Change and Innovation are Mandatory

The world is pulling out ahead of all of us, all the time. Innovation comes fast and furiously all around us. ‘New’ concepts and technologies are emerging everywhere. So what do we have to do to become ‘newsworthy’?

Find one thing that pulls you out ahead in some way, somehow, if only for a moment … and while you have the lead, then make a big fuss so everyone around you notices. Do that repeatedly every time you pull ahead for a moment and you begin to grow the circle of those paying attention to you. You achieve ‘fame’ in an ever-widening circle. It’s a process, not a rocket ride … BUT FIRST YOU MUST INNOVATE.

The Fuss

The fuss we keep referring to is the PR, advertising, and promotional processes … the mechanics of writing a good news release, telling a good story well, making phone calls to targeted local and/or national media, taking out ads, mailing promotional material, and in general doing whatever you can afford to do to share your story with as many people as you can reach every time you pull ahead for that moment. Yes, of course it helps to have public relations and marketing people to help you make a fuss, but don’t expect them to be very successful retelling your ‘old’ story … that’s old news … save your money.

Bottom line

What you DO is the secret. How you INNOVATE and REINVENT is paramount. So before you spend your time and money making a fuss, decide what you are going to DO this year that is worth paying attention to. If you’re going to spend money, spend it on someone that can help you see and do things differently. Worst case … Just do one new thing in 2010.

It All Begins with a List and a Plan

What do I need this year?
What do I want to accomplish this year?
What worked for me last year? What didn’t work for me?
What is my plan for this year?
Who can I hire to help me innovate?
What is my budget to innovate?
What is my timeline?

These are tough questions. That’s why most people don’t make the effort. Those that do … and at least try … have a chance at succeeding

Have a great new year everyone!

Alex and Sharon

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Out with the Old … In with the New

“It is not necessary to change.Survival is not mandatory.”
– William Edwards Deming(1900–1993)

Every hairdresser you know loves to be in the ‘news’ and to find a measure of fame … Why not?It’s a noble goal … and very doable for those willing to plan for, invest in, and put the sweat equity into obtaining it.

You need a few basic ingredients of course … talent and skill, a personality, and a decent work ethic.Of course that does sound like a whole lot of hairdressers you know who aren’t getting very ‘noticed’.So there must be something else we haven’t mentioned yet.

No, we’re not talking about hiring PR and marketing gurus.Of course it helps to have someone who knows the ropes, but that has more to do with ‘making a fuss’… more about that in a moment.First you have to think ‘newsworthy’.

What’s News?

It’s not remarkable that if you drop the ‘s’ from the word ‘News’ you have the word ‘new’…a discovery, something unique, something no one has heard or seen before, a ‘light’ people haven’tseen you in previously …something newsworthy.It doesn’t matter if you’ve been ‘in the news’ and ‘famous’ before, although it does help during the ‘fuss’ process.

But, even if you’re previously famous, unless you’re doing something ‘new’, you aren’t ‘newsworthy’.Unless you innovate, remake, redesign, reform, or re-something, you’re a retread.You can’t repeat the same act to the same audience and expect them to be re-thrilled for long, no matter how famous you are.Once they’ve seen your act, you’re pretty much done.

Change and Innovation are Mandatory

The world is pulling out ahead of all of us, all the time.Innovation comes fast and furiously all around us.‘New’ concepts and technologies are emerging everywhere.So what do we have to do to become ‘newsworthy’?

Find one thing that pulls you out ahead in some way, somehow, if only for a moment … and while you have the lead, then make a big fuss so everyone around you notices.Do that repeatedly every time you pull ahead for a moment and you begin to grow the circle of those paying attention to you.You achieve ‘fame’ in an ever-widening circle.It’s a process, not a rocket ride … BUT FIRST YOU MUST INNOVATE.

The Fuss

The fuss we keep referring to is the PR, advertising and promotional processes … the mechanics of writing a good news release, telling a good story well, making phone calls to targeted local and/or national media, taking out ads, mailing promotional material, and in general doing whatever you can afford to do to share your story with as many people as you can reach every time you pull ahead for that moment.Yes, of course it helps to have public relations and marketing people to help you make a fuss, but don’t expect them to be very successful retelling your ‘old’ story … that’s old news … save your money.

Bottom line

What you DO is the secret.How you INNOVATE and REINVENT is paramount.So before you spend your time and money making a fuss, decide what you are going to DO this year that is worth paying attention to.If you’re going to spend money, spend it on someone that can help you see and do things differently.Worst case … Just do one new thing in 2010.

It All Begins with a List and a Plan

What do I need in 2010?
What do I want in 2010?
What worked for me last year?What didn’t work for me?
What is my plan FOR 2010?
Who can I hire to help me innovate?
What is my budget to innovate?
What is my timeline?

These are tough questions.That’s why most people don’t make the effort. Those that do …and at least try have a chance at succeeding

Have a great 2010 everyone.

Alex and Sharon