The key word to this post will absolutely be "Specialist!"
We all have an idea or an understanding of exactly what that means. In fact it's more than likely that we all have experienced one!
But the question here is, have you ever thought of yourself as one?
Well guess what? YOU ARE!
Not buying that yet? Well think about this.... We all get the question: what do you love to do the most? or what are you best at? yada yada yada... you get the idea.
Well if you can answer that question in any shape or form then you are on the right track to reaching your niche market and that is exactly what we are after; your specialty and how to place your self within that Niche market.
So do you have the answer to that question?? Great! Let's go with that.
Maybe you've said Colorist, Cutter, Up-do's, Etc...
At this point it's not enough to be a broad or a "general" specialist. We need to dig deeper. What do I mean? Well the more niche you go with your market the easier it is to build a stronger presence within this market.
In other words it's always going to be your goal to be a BIG FISH in a SMALL POND.
So how do we dig deeper? Well that's easy too!
The next question we need to ask is, within that category of what you love to do or what your are great at doing, what specifically do you love to do?
For instance, if you are great at color, what type of color are you great at? Blondes? Reds? Highlights? Brunettes? Are you a Cutter? Maybe specifically long hair? short hair? bob haircuts?
I think you get the idea!?
So, now that you are heading in the right direction, lets discuss why this is important and what it means to your business.
Lets start by personalizing it. When we are need for something for our home, specifically a new toilet, where do we go? The Home Depot maybe? They are home specialists, however that's not enough right? When we get to The Home Depot we naturally go to see a specialist who understands exactly what we are looking for, in this case the toilet section of The Home Depot!
Why do we do this? The million dollar question and answer! We want our needs met! Bingo that's it!
Now does this mean that if we were just a "Hair Specialist" that we would not be able to meet the needs of lets say a Blonde looking to have her Blonde color look the best it has ever looked? Well of course not, we know our skill level! But that's our ego talking if that's what we are telling ourselves!
The reality is that if you are that Blonde client looking to have your hair done, you are going to seek out the stylist that positions themselves as the Blonde Specialist. The only thing that Blonde client knows is what she is told by the stylist who positions themselves as a Hair Stylist or a Blonde Hair Specialist. Naturally they will go to whom best suits their needs the Blonde Hair Specialist.
You tell me... what would you do?
The same reason when you are looking for a new toilet, you go and see the Toilet Specialist!
OK, so we can all agree the importance of a niche market!
[Looking For Some Great Reading Material? Check out Riches in Niches. A great book to increase your specialty awareness and the importance of growing in a niche market.]
Here is a quick list of some different ways that you can position yourself as a specialist within your Niche. I don't want to babble on anymore :) so I am going to do this in a list form to make it easy and accurate. Before I do this though I want to leave you with one last, very important point!!
JUST BECAUSE YOU BECOME A SPECIALIST IN A PARTICULAR AREA DOES NOT MEAN YOU STOP PROMOTING YOURSELF AS AN ALL AROUND AMAZING HAIRSTYLIST!!
This will never change. This is about growth and how to position yourself as an amazing talent to a particular type of person.
So...... Here you go:
1. You need to build credentials, it's not enough to just call your self a specialist. So here are a few options:
a. Attend any advanced courses that you can get your hands on and document everything.
b. Use the documentation to promote the skills you have earned to classify yourself as a specialist.
c. Practice and create as much as you can to build documentation for credentials, using things such as mannequins and models. Make sure to take lots of pictures!
2. Make your new found niche seem as if it is a promotion. Your current clientele needs to know about this! Anything you can do to put your name in their mouth in conversation to their friends is the greatest thing you can do for your business.
a. Use your social media sources to promote your promotion.
b. Use your email marketing to promote your promotion.
3. Offer incentives to your current clients to send you a specific type of client. For instance, (lets use our blonde hair guest as an example again) tell your guests that if they send you a blonde hair client you will give them a 20 dollar credit towards their next service.
a. You can do this by using a client referring card.
b. A gift certificate that is made out to a specific person, if they bring it back their name will be on the back so you know who gets the credit.
and lastly
4. Promote yourself as a specialist on your business cards. Make sure all of your business cards state that you are in fact a "[Blonde Hair] Specialist."
...... Thanks for reading :)
