Picture two hairdressers in the same town. They went through the same training, they're equally skilled and they charge the same price. One has gaps in the booking calendar all week. The other is fully booked three weeks ahead.
What sets them apart?
Feel free to stop for a second and think about it before you read on.
It isn't skill
Most of us have been taught that it's enough to be good at what you do, and then the customers will come. But customers don't choose the best one. They choose the one they know and trust.
That's what marketing is about. Not nagging, not selling and not being everywhere. Marketing is about the right people:
- knowing who you are
- liking you
- trusting you
In that order. Nobody can trust someone they've never heard of.
This is what the fully booked hairdresser does
If you look closer at the hairdresser with the waiting list, she usually does four things:
- She shows up where her customers already are.
- She shows her work, so that others see the result.
- She asks happy customers to spread the word.
- She stays in touch, so the customers come back.
None of that is hard. But it has to be done, and it has to be done all the time, not just when the calendar starts to look empty.
This doesn't just apply to hairdressers
It applies to the salon, the course, the craft and to anyone who wants to build an extra income from home. Without marketing there really isn't a business. There's a hobby, however good it is.
I've worked with marketing and sales for 20 years, and what I've seen over and over again is exactly this. It's rarely the knowledge that's missing. It's that too few people know about it.
That's actually good news. Skill takes years to build. Becoming known for what you already can do is something you can learn.
A small exercise
Ask three people around you what you're good at. Write down what they say.
The answer shows what you're already known for. That's your starting point, and it's often stronger than you think.
If you want to take it further, I've gathered all of this in a free video course in three short parts, The Foundation. The first part is about exactly this.
