Okay…now what do we do?

If you're feeling the pressure of how to spend your time and keep running your salon while your doors are closed... you're not the only one.

But I promise you, there are SO many things you can still do to connect with clients, work on your business, and yes, even make sales during the Coronavirus shut-down.

In this video and blog post I’ll share the four main things that are going to help you to stay motivated, productive and thrive right now.

And if you're ready to take these ideas and run with them, I have a 30 day program for the month of April called the Milk & Honey Club -- just to support beauty businesses with their marketing during COVID-19.

Click here to learn more about the Milk & Honey Club and sign up

How to continue growing your business while you’re closed

It’s normal to freak out for a bit of time because of all that’s happening: all of us need to time process. But here’s something I’ve realized: that panic has to stop at a certain point and we need to take action. We can’t just sit on our hands with worry and be afraid of doing anything because it might be the wrong move.

Now is the time to be flexible, creative, get scrappy about our businesses, despite all the craziness happening.

You might feel like there are a lot of things not in your control, especially if you were forced to close down without making the decision yourself.

But there are so many things you can do that are in your control. Today I want to talk about the four things that you can do to maintain a strong connection with your clients, continue doing an amazing job marketing, and still make money.

#1: Community, creation and connection online

Your clients and your audience (the people you serve) are spending so much time online right now. They’re spending much more time than usual on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and consuming videos. They’re there and you should be, too! So that’s the first thing: how to show up and create a connection online that bridges the gap even when your clients can’t come in to see you.

Here’s the thing: they’re at home, not getting their hair, nails, makeup, or facials done right now. And that’s actually an opportunity for you to step up and be an educator when they’re at home. This is where you can start teaching online classes, tutorials and videos; sharing what you’re best at.

Think about creating content that shares how your clients can create facial masks at home, style their hair, practice applying makeup at home, or how to take care of their feet with a DIY pedicure.

In addition to educating, it’s a great time to maintain and establish connections online with clients and your larger audience. Share with them your own life, behind the scenes: Show them what you’re up to at home, what classes you’re taking, how you’re practicing your skills up-leveling while at home. Don’t use this time to fall apart from your clients; use to it get even closer connection with them on social media. Now is the time to create a strong bond, while they’re feeling bored, while they’re looking for inspiration and education. You can be your best way to serve them right now.

#2 Be creative in your sales and promotions, and tell clients how they can support you

Your community does want to support you! They understand you’re a small business owner and that if you don’t have clients coming in you’re usually not making money. They want to do what they can help, they just need to know how. Son’t be afraid to tell them, and tell them often, the different ways they can support your business. Let’s talk about some of those ways:

Showing support on social media

Take a moment to post on your personal social pages and tell them: “Would you mind following me on Facebook / Instagram, or leaving me a review on Google?” Reviews are an amazing way of building up your presence online, so make the suggestion that your followers leave their feedback and help you in this simple way.

Gift certificates and gift cards

And they don’t have to be regular, everyday gift cards either. You can add on a little something special to thank them for supporting you to keep you afloat with revenue. For example: If they buy two $50 gift cards, they get a third for free. If they buy a $100 gift card they get a bonus product. Or when they buy a $50 card, they get a bonus card of $20 on top of that to share with someone. There are so many things you can do to reward clients while having them purchase, but remember you have to tell them!

Selling with an online store

If you don’t have a place for people to buy your gift cards and products right now, it’s the perfect time. You probably have the white space and time, so let’s get it set up. And an online store doesn’t have to be complicated: it can be a simple, streamlined store with just a few products connected to your website. You can have gift cards a few select products, services and packages for pre-sale on there. If you need a place to start for building your store, Vagaro eCommerce is free for beauty pros right now who are already signed up (no extra fees). Shopify is the most popular eCommerce provider starting at $29 a month. Squarespace also offers an ecommerce option for $26 a month. Remember that people would love to buy from your store, they’re at home on their computers, so tell them about it often!

Get creative with promotions that you can presell to clients

Now’s the time to be creative in packaging up promotions and offers that you can sell to clients now, and they can redeem them later in the year. Make them valid for one year from time of purchase. Just make sure you tell your clients that they can purchase now and use them when you’re open, even if you don’t know when that will be right now. Here are a couple of examples to get your creative juices flowing:

A pamper package for post quarantine. This is something that your clients will feel like they deserve after foregoing treatments while in quarantine. It might be weeks before they can see a beauty professional, so when they do come in they might want to enjoy a whole package of treatments. Package up something big and special for them with a special price.

Bring a friend special: This is something I would personally love to do. After not seeing my friends for weeks, I would love to connect with them and get pampered together with nails, facials, massages, haircuts, etc. Think about creating a package that someone can by for themselves plus a friend to get together for a girls day after so much self-isolation.

Remember that with all of these ideas, you need to communicate with clients and community about them multiple times. Post about them on Facebook and Instagram, but don’t stop there. If you talk to clients on the phone, when you’re reschedule or tell them what’s going on, tell them about your packages then. Also, send out emails to your list about them. Now’s not the time to pull back on marketing, but to communicate even more than usual.

#3: Invest in yourself and your education

We have more time right now to spend on our business than we usually do: we’re at home, with family and with our kids which is amazing. But it’s not an excuse to leave your business at the wayside. Instead, now’s the time to invest in uplevelling your skills and work on business building.

Work on those online courses you joined and never finished

I know I’m not the only one that sometimes signs up for courses and then puts them off forever. Now’s the time to get to work on them!

Join new programs

There are countless valuable programs that you can take without leaving your house, that will help you grow your skills as a beauty professional. And if you’re on a tight budget, there is also so much free training online on Youtube. Use this time to practice your craft using a mannequin or dummy, or even practising on your spouse. While you’re working on your craft, document it, too! Share photos and videos on social that you’re working to be the best professional that you can be.

Work on the marketing things that always got put on the back burner

We always have those things for business where we say “I’ll get to it later”, but we never do. And then it turns into a mountain of things to do on our shoulders. Well now’s the perfect time to get it all done! Work on your website, freshen up Google my business page, work on taking those photos of yourself you’ve always wanted to use on Instagram, update your Instagram bio… anything you’ve wanted to do for a while but didn’t have time to.

#4: Be a force for good and a leader

I know that what’s going on is scary. I’ve personally felt a lot of ups and downs in the past week. I know that when you have to shut down temporarily and you don’t have revenue coming in, you might panic, think the worst, and wonder how long it’s going last for.

But I also know that the worst thing you can do is freeze and got paralyzed by thinking: I don’t know what to do so I’m going to ignore this situation and wait for it to be over.

Instead of spinning out of control in a negative space, think positive and take action. When you take action you start feel better because at least you’re taking steps. Even if you’re not sure where those steps are going to lead you, that’s okay. All of us are unsure right now. But we don’t want to freeze and not have anything happen in business.

When you do take action, show up as a positive force for your clients, followers, team members friends and family. All of us are looking to someone to be that positive influence and a person they can look up to. Be a leader and inspiration and spread joy, whether it’s on social media, yours emails, phone calls, text messages. Once you start showing up that way, even if you don’t feel it completely, you’ll step int it and start believing it, too.

What to do next?

I’d love to invite you to the Milk and Honey Club. It’s a brand new community of beauty professionals, just for the month of April. We’re talking business and marketing ideas to grow your salon, connect with clients, and thrive even in uncertain times.

I’ll be doing live online trainings, guides, and how-to’s, plus interviewing beauty business experts on how to handle your business during the Coronavirus.

Here are some of the topics we’ll go going through in April:

• How to make an online store, step by step. From how to set it up, to selling and promoting.

• Irresistible offers and promotions to make money during the shutdown

• What to post on social media: templates and ideas to build community

• Creating education: how to host online classes to connect with, educate, and inspire clients while they’re at home

• Budgeting, expenses, mindset, and staying positive

I know that it’s a trying time for business owners right now, but I believe that moving forward and taking steps is what we all need.

If you want to be a part and go deeper into these things, I’d love to see you inside the program for month of April!

Click here to learn more about the Milk & Honey Club

Whether or not you join me, I hope this video and blog post have been helpful and you’re feeling encouraged on what to do next. There are so many things we can all do to move forward in business. It just takes some courage to try new things and get creative.