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By Alexander Irving —
  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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By Alexander Irving —
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. (<sigh> 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?
By Sharon Esche —
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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By Alexander Irving —
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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By Alexander Irving —
 Your attitude …
… in every situation in life, is what sets the standard and the stage for what happens to you daily. What you get … and what you don’t get. This is true if you are being interviewed by an editor, working with a salon staff member, talking to your spouse, shopping in a store … any conversation or personal exchange in your life. How you turn your ‘lemons into lemonade’ by responding instead of reacting makes all the difference.
I don’t have an attribution for what follows, but it is such an excellent message I’ll simply share it anyway. The best I can do is credit Anne Vasey (Anne works with Sharon and I) who sent it to us the other day.
Be A Thermostat
Not long ago I called to order a pizza. I had called this restaurant dozens of times before. When you call, the first thing they always ask for is your telephone number. Since I was so familiar with the routine, when a young lady answered the phone and, I answered very friendly and politely said, “Hello. My phone number is (713)…” and I gave her the rest of my number.
When I did that, you would have thought I had just totally insulted her. She practically screamed in my ear in the rudest voice you can imagine, “Sir! I am not ready for your phone number. And when I get ready, I will ask you for your phone number!” I wanted to say, “Lady, I will give you my phone number whenever I feel like giving you my phone number! I will call you at midnight and give you my phone number if I want to.” But down in my spirit, I didn’t want to hear it, I could hear that still, small voice coming up inside saying, ” be a thermostat, not a thermometer. You may have walked into a room that’s 200 degrees, but you have the controls. You can bring it down.” I thought to myself, “Yeah, right. It will take me six years with this lady!”
But I realized she didn’t have anything against me. She was just having a bad day. Something was irritating her. So I decided I was going to do everything I could to cheer her up. I started thinking of everything I could possibly compliment her on. And God knows I had to use my imagination! I said, “Ma’am, I just want to thank you for answering that phone so quickly and taking such good care of me. You guys make the best pizzas in the world. Your delivery is always on time. You run such a great organization.” On and on I went telling her all these compliments. Do you know by the time I got finished, she was throwing in hot wings and Dr. Pepper and coupons for more pizza? I had won her over. What happened? I became a thermostat instead of a thermometer.
A thermostat changes the environment by bringing the temperature up or down. Through self-control and wisdom, you can do the same in situations and in the lives of others around you.
You overcome evil with good. In your life, when you deal with those who are negative, critical, rude and short-tempered, you don’t have to let them infect you. You can infect them. You don’t have to be a part of the majority; you can live in the minority. You can act as a thermostat, one who changes the temperature and the attitudes of those around you.
When you go to work, people may be singing the blues, complaining about the boss, complaining about the economy, talking about how bad somebody is treating them. Don’t join in and say, “Oh, you think you have it bad? Let me tell you about my problems! My teenager won’t straighten up. I think I’m going to have to have surgery on my back. My insurance has doubled. We didn’t qualify for that new home we really wanted.” No, when you talk defeat, you draw in defeat. Don’t let them influence you and draw out the worst. You can make the choice and act as a thermostat. Yes, you may have those problems going on, but your attitude should be, “Yes, I may have some problems. Yes, it may be difficult, but I know this too shall pass.” Or, “Yes, it’s true I may have to have surgery, but I know I will come out better off than I was before.” And “No, we didn’t qualify for that new home, but I’m not discouraged. I know there is something better in store.”
That’s a thermostat. You didn’t let them pull you down. You pulled them up. You’re not talked into getting defeated, dragging through life with no enthusiasm, letting every negative voice influence you. No, you can choose to live life as a thermostat. When you walk into a room, you change the atmosphere!
Photo by Dr Craig
No question. But we’d love to hear your experiences.
By Alexander Irving —
It Used to Be Simpler
 Those of us in the PR game a decade ago remember when internet press release distribution was a paid service offered mostly by PR industry dominant media services. Bacon’s & Burelle’s (renamed Cision and Burelles Luce respectively). These industry biggies offer PR professionals and companies full-service media research, lists, & clipping & monitoring for blogs, print and TV. In the past couple of years, excellent upstart Vocus joined the battle for our hearts and minds.
These major media services all have annual subscription fees that although not inexpensive (read thousands), to their credit and favor, have all designed affordable packages for small businesses that are serious about their PR. They’re worth your time to learn about.
Dominant Internet-Only Distribution Services
Like Cision and Burelle’s above, PRNewswire and PR Web were pioneers of the internet press release. They offer a variety of enhanced services that assist less experienced news release writers in creating and distributing news releases as well as additional packages of distribution you probably wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. Again, well worth the value until you get to know more about optimizing your news releases. Their cost varies from $80-$400 per release. At last check, PRNewswire had an annual membership fee. PR Web had no membership fee.
Two Benefits of Internet Distributed News Releases
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search engines ‘like’ optimized press releases. Well written, they are good subject matter and, well designed, have the right SEO ingredients to become ‘backlinks’ to your website. You’ve experienced the result when you do a web search and find multiple links (from the same domains) with your search term in the title. If it’s a good headline (Title) and ‘Description’ (first paragraph) , searchers click through to have a peek and you end up with a website visitor.
- Journalists doing story research use the web extensively looking for research information, subject matter experts and fact checking. For the same reasons as in #1, they might grab your news. Here’s where your content really becomes critical. Fluffy copy, puffery and overly descriptive adjectives need not apply. You can find good press release writing tips at Bill Stoller’s website. Smart Guy Bill.
A Plethora of Free
In the Supernova of internet access in the last decade, literally hundreds of free press release distribution services have surfaced (maybe thousands?). Which ones to use?
Here’s a little help. We’ve gathered the following sites that should meet your needs nicely. Invariably we’ve missed some ‘newer-gooder’ ones, so drop a comment below and we’ll update this list.
Free Press Release Websites
We’re not plowing new turf gathering this kind of information so here’s some good homework with a top 50 list assembled by Avangate who has Google Page Rank ordered them.
Our Own Current List:
Pitchengine.com – A Suggestion
With a tsunami of social media washing over the world, it wasn’t surprising to find an enterprising young person (Jason Kintzler) creating a website to help both bloggers and press release writers gather their related material (photos, videos, print material and other media, into one convenient resource and link(s) offering helpful, organized and ‘enforced’ SEO guidance. That’s pitchengine.
You get to post your ‘stuff’ for 30 days for free or you can pay $35 a month to keep an unlimited amount of your material for as long as you continue your subscription. We recommend it. Our Pitchengine links always pop to the top of the charts.
Writing a Good SEO Optimized News Release
Whoa! A subject for another day. We’ll start in working on that one for you this weekend and link it to this post when finished. We think you’ve got enough to keep you busy for days.
Share Your Information
If you discover valuable new resources everyone should know about, comment below and we’ll update our list for everyone’s benefit.
What Results Have You Had From Your On-Line News Submissions?
Photo credit: trevarthan
By Alexander Irving —
 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
What’s new with you? Share your comments.
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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
By Alexander Irving —
Our friend Jerry Tyler has an amazing attitude toward life, his career, his industry and his family. Sharon and I are proud to call Jerry a friend and applaud his many contributions over his 35 + years in the industry to the lives of so many professionals in the industry, from students to wizened old pros. Thank you Jerry for your friendship, inspiration, and view of life in the world of beauty we all live and play in.
Reprinted with permission from The Stylist & Salon Newspapers, this post is Jerry’s December column in the magazine. You can read more of Jerry’s columns here
Photo courtesy of Alaska Dude
 The Road Less Traveled
As the year comes to a close I am prone to stop and take stock of what I have gained, learned and lost on life’s “Blue Highways.”
So here is one for the road.
The first thing I learned is the awesome power we have to create opportunity in times of adversity.
The real key here is not to give attention to what we are challenged with, but to keep a clear focus on our dreams and desires with unwavering faith they are ours to have. There is always a choice between what we are confronted with and how we act on it. We are only bound by our own self doubts and fears that keep us from moving forward.
If all we see ahead are barriers and constraining boundaries we will always be confined to the landscape of that vision. Conversely if we see boundless abundance and unlimited potential, then the Law of Attraction will move people, places and events on our behalf. Our dreams and aspirations will be our assured reality.
In challenging times, moving our spheres of influence and personal power outward can create room to grow financially, professionally and personally. This power lies in all of us.
As an educator, I notice an example every time I place a pair of shears in a student’s hands on their first day of beauty school; I get their look of momentary fear of the unknown. “I don’t know if I can.” or “What if I make a mistake?” I look in their eyes and tell them: “Your future is now, it starts right here, there is no someday.”
The greatest responsibility I have learned is to always affirm the inner beauty and future mastery of evolving new professionals. Guide them and be the good example of what they can aspire to be and hopefully grow beyond.
The secret is when we attend to this task, we get better. We become more inspired by being inspiring, we radiate inner beauty and grace because we are nurturing those attributes in our emerging professionals in a quest to grow our industry from the inside out. We become mentored while mentoring, as we remind ourselves of what it is to be true to the path we need to create for them to follow. It is the balance between nourishing and nurturing.
Another truth is the challenge to embrace change, to be in the now, and accept the new. To live in the past is to stay there, while the ever-changing world moves on without us.
Resisting change is like fighting to restrain a freight train that is already leaving the station. The more it picks up speed the more energy is needed to get it to stop. Creating positive change is also like a freight train. It hardly seems to be moving at all. This is where tenacity and perseverance comes into play.
If you don’t give constant attention to moving the train forward it will stop and the journey won’t continue. At first the train may seem to barely moving, but once it catches speed you can’t stop it. Are you on board the train or back in the station? Don’t let life leave without you.
No matter how focused we are on the destination our journey is taking us, life sometimes throws curve balls. Often we don’t see it coming. Sometimes, all we can do is dive and not get hit. Then what? The natural reaction is to lose or trade in our joy for anger and frustration at things beyond our momentary control. Often these circumstances are a wake up call to bring us where we need to be. We may have lost our sense of direction and don’t even realize it.
One of the unrealized blessings from these reality checks is to be grateful for the long term benefits these departures and detours provide us. No matter what is placed in our way, either by design or default, how we let it affect us is our choice. Nothing truly happens by chance. If we are going to succeed or fail, we have everything to do with it.
In the end it’s facing challenges, providing meaningful solutions, and awaiting success that make this all worthwhile. No matter what, it is all because we did it on purpose. I know I won the race because I am tired from the effort. I know I fell short of my desired success because I tripped. I have to get up, dust myself off, refocus and persevere toward my intended goal.
Those who stand on life’s sidelines may applaud those who won the race, but the difference is, they will never know the thrill of victory or the temporary pain of defeat. They were not part of it, they didn’t enter the race, they weren’t present in the game of life. True abundance in life is not a spectator sport. One of my mentors once told me that this is all we get in this go around, so just go for it. This is not a dress rehearsal for the next life. Now go produce a standing ovation with standing room only to a sold out house!
As I roam the Blue Highways on the road less traveled, I will always be grateful for the gift to share with my industry partners. This has been for me, as I hope it was for you, an amazing year full of promise for new horizons. I wish you all a happy and festive holiday season and prosperous New Year.
By Sharon Esche —
 Thia Breen - President, North America, Estee Lauder Companies I love meeting amazing and straightforward people like Thia Breen. She lifts me up with her own phenomenal career success story but stops me cold with forehead-slapping simple solutions to ‘OPSCOCC’ – other people’s self-created overly-complicated career challenges! (my term, not hers <g>) How does Thia know about all that? She was one of those ‘other people’ once! I recently inhaled (along with 300 others) every word that Thia shared as guest speaker at the Beverly Hilton for the Cosmetic Executive Women. It was all part of CEW’s ‘West Coast Women In Beauty’ Series addressing “Building Beauty, Brands and Careers”. I have to admit to you that Thia won me over at the phrase…
… ‘bloggers are the new beauty editors’.
Remember that as you increase awareness of ‘your’ brands: You, Your Salon and Your Services.
I figure that if anyone can keep any of us from catching ‘OPSCOCC’, it’s the person who oversees 29 of The Estee Lauder Companies’ brands for their North American operations (including our salon world giants Bumble & Bumble and Aveda). Surely, stress and hard work are no strangers to this role-model beauty industry career pro in the retail world and now professional side of beauty. We would all do well to pick up a few career-building tips from her no matter who we are and what our level of experience within the beauty field. New stylist … salon or spa owner… seasoned colorist … aspiring student … corporate exec or publicist/writer like me … we can never forget that at those times when our career feels like we’re running in place but going nowhere fast, it’s probably ‘little ole me’ who is standing in my own way and self-sabotaging my advancement.
 Now in her later 50′s, Thia Breen remains a knowledge ‘sponge’ and a passionate powerhouse every day at work, be it at the office or most often, on the road and in department stores. She inspires others to work smart – not harder, be organized and above all, ‘get a life’. Carving out quality, nurturing personal time is key to performing great on the job and getting ahead.
We all know we can get to feeling ‘sluggish’ at times and can easily drift toward blaming other people and things for our own ‘ho-hum status quo’ career. I have no time. I can’t work any harder than I do. My boss doesn’t notice my good work. Or the flip-side classic: I know my boss sees what I do and will promote me soon.
These statements are all what I’ll call the ‘self sabotagers’ But after listening to my newest ‘fav’ role model, phrases like these are officially ‘shunned’ from my vocabulary and brain waves from this blog forward!
Allow me to share how Thia got through to me…and maybe you, too (if you’re open to what the President of 29 amazingly successful companies has to say <g>). Let’s start getting out of our own way and unleash that career path! As Thia quipped to us that night: “The beauty business is a great business to be in. Just think of what you looked like this morning – and now, how you look tonight.”
Top 10 Tips For Greater Beauty Career Success: Inspirations from Estee Lauder’s Thia Breen
- Compartmentalize: - Thia keeps her amazing focus on many different things during the day by ‘leaving work in her mind’ at night. She loves being home and turning off her Blackberry at 8pm to just relax and ‘be’. At 8am the next morning, the Blackberry is back on again and Thia is back at work and focused 100% on the work at hand. (Thia admits that early on in her career, she was th essence of “all work and no balance”.
- Make Something Happen: Thia encourages us all to not be afraid to make decisions. She says ‘Be Fearless!’
- Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes: You don’t want to move too fast or quickly but just look around the corner, anticipate what’s coming, and MOVE.
- Be Sensitive To Other People’s Feelings: It’s great to be an achiever and successful, but avoid that ‘killer instinct’ and the desire to be #1 at someone else’s personal expense. You don’t have to be ruthless or hurtful to get ahead. Be very aware of other people’s feelings!
- Be Aware Of How Your Customer Is Responding: Thia reminds us that the consumer or client today has been changed forever by a number of things…technology, the economy, media, etc. She/he is thinking differently about everything. Some consumers just want information when she wants it and doesn’t want to be ‘sold’. Others love the element of ‘service’ like the ‘beauty advisor’ at the department store counter (and certainly the professional in the salon and spa!). Everyone today loves ‘value’ – and many love ‘options’ (like having choices of smaller-size products to try before committing to the big size of something).
- Manage Yourself, Too – Avoid the ‘24/7 Mentality’: You need down time! From the management perspective, Thia wants her team to have ‘non-work’ on their schedules to really look forward to. In my business, those who are working that 24/7 schedule are just plain working too hard. “They ‘crash and burn’ when I really need them…like over the holidays when things really get busy, etc. I tell them: “Your jobs aren’t that hard!” A good manager has to manage herself, too. You just get duller and duller with a 24/7 work mentality.“
- Give Feedback To Others: Thia shared that a good manager has to give consistent feedback to be effective. According to this ‘ultimate manager’, good feedback means saying things ‘whether people like it or not’.
- Get A Mentor: If you don’t have a career mentor, then get one. Thia reminds us that very often, you need mentors to advise you along your career path. Says Thia: I had mentors…and remember one in particular early on in my career who really believed in me…who took a chance on me. It made a big difference.
- Make Your Own Career: Sad but true…there are a lot more bosses that are ‘not great’ than bosses who are. Don’t assume they are always going to recognize your talents and pave the way for your career promotions. Thia remembers learning a critical lesson in her first days working in a small-town drug store in Benson, MN. – “I learned the hard way that I am totally responsible for my own success. Up until that time (that I first got fired’), I kept expecting – believing — that there would always be someone else there to take charge of my career. I also learned that it is entirely up to you, and you alone, to ask for what you need.”
- Customer Service Reigns Supreme: I couldn’t agree more with Thia…and what she says is as true of our professional side of the beauty biz as it is of her retail beauty world and brands. “The only thing that really matters is customers coming to the beauty counter,” she says. “If someone gets great service, that’s the reflection of the brand.”
What was your biggest career success blunder?
What did you learn from the experience?
By Alexander Irving —
At Lightning Speed in Today’s World.
 We just got our October issue of Beauty Industry Report (BIR) and immediately noticed Editor Mike Nave wrote the ‘Guest Columnist’ column himself this month. That’s unusual. Obviously, he had something important to say.
Mike’s topic was about bad PR. He was annoyed. Annoyed enough to need to share it. I reprint it (with his permission) in this post because there is no link to his ‘subscription-only’ newsletter on the web.
This is an excellent lesson in ‘silent’ bad PR. Mike isn’t making public the name of person who was the straw that broke the camel’s back that kicked his pen into gear, but when asked, he was willing to share it … with a friend … off the record.
The Lesson?
It’s what you do, not what you say, that is your best, and worst, PR. And, just because your name or company doesn’t appear, doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about you. Good … or Bad.
Mike Nave publishes The Beauty Industry Report (BIR). It is the only executive newsletter serving the professional beauty industry, including manufacturers, reps, distributors, associations, chain salons, day spas and top independent salons, with behind-the-scenes information about the people, products and companies meaningful to its readers.
Mike is also a 40 year veteran consultant in beauty industry marketing, sales, distribution and industry communications including e-commerce related activities. You can contact Mike at www.beautyindustryreport.com.
Although Mike’s newsletter is not written to salon owners, stylists, colorists, nail techs and estheticians, it is without a doubt the best source of ‘insider information’ you can find for ‘who is doing what (and to whom)’ in the professional beauty industry. You would be wise to consider subscribing.
Here’s the editorial …
Please Return My Call!
I hope it’s not a sign of old age, but my patience level is lower and my time has become more valuable, as I have less and less of it. As a result, I feel compelled to write about appropriate good business practices or just plain common courtesies related to responding to phone calls and email. Not responding either to a phone or an email message is bad business in any economy; in today’s climate, it’s suicidal!
I am sure you, like me, get some emails and voice messages to which it’s clear there is no value in responding—an email from Nigeria saying you’ve inherited millions of dollars or a message from someone pitching Genie Garage Doors. However, it’s mind-boggling to me how a number of beauty industry executives simply do not respond to any form of communications.
There have been a number of times I have called a company to request specific information and received no response. I have no problem with responses, such as, “I am not interested,” “This is the not the right time,” “I am not the right person to answer that,” that are straight communications. I’m talking NO response at all.
When email was invented, I thought one of the big advantages was the ease with which it provided the recipient to respond quickly, and I dove in head first. In retrospect, I made a mistake in assuming that this “improved” method of communication would eliminate the past phone calls that were not returned. It hasn’t, and the heart of the issue is low tech and basic—it’s all about courtesy.
I shared my thoughts with Greg Sheperd, PhD, the dean of College of Communication at Ohio University, who made the following observation, “I think some folks believe that technology so changes the character of communication that the rules of politeness we know so well, and follow in face-to-face interactions so naturally, somehow no longer apply. But they do. Just because the social encounter is now initiated through email, it doesn’t mean those rules can be violated. A non-reply still suggests you and your wants don’t matter to this person. And you are, as a result, almost sure to be ticked off. No matter the manner of communication, ticked off people typically don’t become good customers, make good employees or remain good friends.”
If you find yourself being bombarded with emails and, out of frustration, find yourself just ignoring or deleting them before you even read them to get them out of your inbox, you might find that my approach is helpful to you. Under the ‘all mail’ folder section in my Inbox area of Outlook, I set up three separate folders: Hot Emails (respond in 24 hours or less); Warm emails (respond within 72 hours); Cold Emails (answer whenever or delete). With this system, I can quickly manage my email list without feeling overwhelmed.
I close with this quotation:
“Even if I am busy when I come to my office and there is a note that says somebody has called, even if I have five minutes to spare, I call back,” says Vladimir Putin, former president and current prime minister of Russia. I cannot believe there is anyone in the professional beauty business who is busier than he is.
How do you feel about people who do that?
Please Return My Call!
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