It’s a long time since I started my first salon business in 1985. For me, it was about making the money. Yes, service was key but making money (profit not turnover) was the key. No money and my kids didn’t get fed. I was young, I was naïve but it worked and ran until today.…
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Do you employ a FREEDOM WORKFORCE? The way people – hairdressers – work and think has profoundly changed. If you are still trying to employ staff the way you’ve always employed staff you are in trouble. Staff of today don’t even consider themselves to be workers (or as they would say and think slaves). They…
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By the time you open this email I will be on a plane at 30,000 feet heading to Aberdeen, Scotland with my little salon punk, Demna and of course my darling wife Tamuna. I am heading to meet a client and make (hopefully) radical changes in their business over the next few months. Here’s what…
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Grab a coffee, grab a seat, get some quiet and read. I’m on a plane. I’ve just had a moment. Before I tell you that moment I will tell you why I am on a plane. I have been invited to visit a 21-year old salon business that has become layered with unnecessary ideas, old…
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When you love what you do, when you are creative, stepping aside is not easy. But as times goes by, priorities change. How you want to lead your business and what you would rather do on a day to day basis changes as well. Whether you choose to keep your seat behind the chair or…
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We are definitely in an age where everything is being RE/defined. Salon business, workspace, money, life, death, age and just about anything else you can think of. Take (older) age for example. At the age of just 48, my own dad retired (at 84 he’s still going strong). In those days dads looked old and acted…
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Weird question right but your survival might one day depend on your answer. Here is how to know if you are a yesterday salon. Do you open up and sit and wait to see what the day or week will bring? Are you reliant on how your team behave or perform? Are you being used…
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I want to share something with you. It’s more than relevant for your salon. Many years ago before I wrote my first book I realised the first thing I had to conquer was my mind. I didn’t realise right away it took years of wanting to write before I really began writing and then finally…
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A new salon mentor client I am working with has a problem almost all salon mentor owners have and it is this. All are infected by the salon industry corporate thinking. This is a massive problem because it really doesn’t work in salons and probably isn’t working in yours. So first the good news. It…
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In 1979 I did my first marketing. It was a couple of fly posters and tickets I design for my punk band, Clone Youth. It was easy. Get big posters made up and stick them where the people you wanted to come to the gig were hanging out. Marketing doesn’t get any more basic than…
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Who controls your salon? There is a huge problem in our hairdressing or salon owners industry. It is good to know what that problem is and how it began. You probably are affected. When the modern salon began it was all about the haircut. Precision, perfection style and just cool. The scissor was the tool…
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When my favorite Italian cafe, Carluccios, closed down I was disappointed, but not surprised. Carluccio’s had the best location in our very wealthy village, but while other casual dining places in thrived, they had to close their doors. Is your salon also located in the best street in the busy town, or city, but struggle…
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What happened when one Extreme Stylist decided to break the rules of the hairdressing. A case study podcast every salon owner and stylist should listen to. Also available via Apple iTunes, follow here Salon Punk
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Staff don’t care much in your salon? It’s most likely that the staff problems are created by yourself, but you have the power to change that so that your team is happy working in your salon and enthusiastic to help you build your vision too. listen to the short episode below Salon Punk Visit: How…
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THE TEST WILL REVEAL The Health of Your Salon Business The Future of Your Salon Business The Changes You Must Make To Your Salon Gives You A Guide As To What You Must Do Next Life these days have become a series of tests. I really noticed this since Tamuna has been pregnant. (OUR BABY…
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On Friday’s make sure to do this and you’ll have full cash register this weekend even if you were quiet on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Listen to the episode below and don’t forget to follow us on IGTV stories on Instagram for more stories like this. The Salon Punk
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How to increase your takings on Thursdays when you’ve had a quiet week? Listen to the short episode as Alan Forrest Smith explains what you can do today to make up for quiet days this week. Also, don’t miss your day by day to do list to grow your clients on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.…
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Did you create a list of things to be done? Did you get more clients through your door? Don’t worry I get it I understand that running a salon can be mental! So here is what you can do today – Wednesday – to get your takings up. Write another list (oh shit lol) and…
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How salon management will grow your salon business and create busy columns for any stylist. Listen to the short episode as Alan Forrest Smith shares the proven tips to managing your salon effectively. For more stories visit Salon Punk Podcast
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How do you fill columns on Tuesday? Yesterday we talked about creating a list or two on Monday’s (not my fav thing to do) but we did it. My own salon Tuesday was like this: So I would jump in my mini copper and drive over to my salon 5-miles away. The 5-mile drive could…
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Even if you’re off on Monday in your mind you’re still at your salon. Do this simple exercise and it’ll give you an amazing week I promise. Mondays for me in the early days always felt as if I was freaking out over what the week would bring into my salon. Until that is I…
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Here’s a fact: A successful salon is a well-managed salon. But let me tell you this. A salon that has no management will struggle with things that should be easy. Let’s start with a story. First, I know I have written for a while myself but my excuse is we have been very busy trying…
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“Alan if you had to do just one thing to pack out any salon what would it be?” SALON SAMPLER – IS That Program We caught up with Alan Forrest Smith in the coffee shop to talk about his new book, Salon Sampler. Listen to this brief interview as he explains why he wrote this…
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Sombody mentions “customer reviews” and you are probably thinking about the likes, comments and thumbs ups next to your salon’s social page profile. But if you look beyond the salon industry you will probably notice how some of the successful brands are actively bringing this social proof off the web and into the brick-and-mortar shops.…
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IMPORTANT: Apologies for late delivery of THE SALON PUNK BOOK. The truth is it keeps selling out so fast we literally cannot re-order them fast enough. We have now caught up and can expect delivery in 3-days. INCREDIBLE BEST-SELLER … Even I am shocked. Thank you 😉 Read the book here… That is Paul and me. Here…
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Beauty salon flyers Social media posts updated, clicked and liked Salon Ad is in the newspaper Refer A friend cards done and printed Salon website swipes in all the right directions Salon software systems – invested in the best in the market…. Do you have all kind of salon flyers and hair promotions printed, ordered…
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In today’s highly commercialized digital world you’d be forgiven to assume that your clients don’t care about getting another email from your salon, but, based on the official stats your clients still love receiving emails and you should use it as part of your salon promotions on a regular basis. From your point of view,…
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Next time you hand over a recommend a Friend voucher ask yourself, is this exploding my salon business? And if it is not, ask yourself why? After all, some 84% of consumers say they trust referrals. Sometimes all you need to turn the OK salon promotional tool, RAF in this case, into a cash-generating tool…
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How is it possible to increase salon income by £88,400 from one stylist? One graduate stylist did just that. Listen to the podcast episode to discover how this was possible. Tamara from Salon Punk
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How do you create hair salon promotions that actually work in your shop? How do you turn your salon into a proper business? Listen to this short episode as Alan Forrest Smith shares his decades of salon building and advertising experience. Yours Salon Punk
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How To Push Your Salon Into The Next Level .. Read if You’re Stuck Seriously – If results in your salon are the same week in, week out, year after year. No change in profits, clients, staff or anything … You’re heading for trouble. One of my favourite clients to work with are salons that…
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It’s Alan, The Salon Punk here. Last December I had a call from a salon owner that had just 4 weeks to survive. By the end of January not only had they experienced their best weeks ever they managed to stabilise and pay off a load of invoices. When they started SALON MENTOR EXTREME things…
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Why is my salon marketing not working is probably the biggest question most salon owners ask me? “ Alan, we do everything in our salon business but nothing works – NOTHING!” This year I saw the reasons becoming more obvious than ever before. Research reveals some shocking facts that most salon owners and marketers are…
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Do you know what does Valentino and Alibaba have in common or for your salon brand? This week we’ve been sending out some ideas about how to do things differently in your salon, I hope they were inspiring for you? Anyways, inspired by the theme, how to be different, I came across some cool examples which…
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After writing The Salon Column Builder in 1999; After Creating a big how-to guide for salon management SalonExtreme 21; and around 10 other books on the subject of hair salon building, we asked Alan Forrest Smith, why he wrote The Salon Punk Book, and what was so different about this book. From the salon stories…
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This is a quick one. You guys keep asking so it’s easier to reply like this. SALON EXTREME21 (SX-21) VS. SALON MENTOR EXTREME? “Alan I’m not sure what to do, SX-21 or Salon Mentor Extreme – what’s the differences?” Both are very different so I’ll try and explain. SX-21 £245 SX-21 is a guide, manual,…
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Scary monsters aside, it’s a great time for you to reconnect with your salon clients. Halloween-themed hair salon promotions and creativity can help your shop to attract new people through the door. But getting your clients interested enough to get into the spirit and spend money requires more than putting a scary costume on. Here are some tactics…
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I’m not sure why but as soon as the kids are walking back along the street to school my brain goes into something that is still 12-weeks away – Christmas in the salon. What are we doing, where are we eating, who are we seeing and what will I buy my darling wife so she…
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Missing Salon Client Kit – has been updated for 2018. Good news for salon owners, if you already purchased the product in the past you should have received the updated link to the product, simply go ahead and check out the newer version (check your email). If you have not got the product yet, for…
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My salon accountant, Graham, looked like one of the Bee Gees. His hair was perfectly coiffured with every 120,000 hairs held in place with at least 3 layers of falcon hairspray for men. His shirt was always open almost to his navel exposing his thinning grey chest hairs and a huge cheap gold medallion with…
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Exciting news. My new book The Salon Punk can be ordered from today. So what do you get for £10? Around 250 pages that I hope will help you realise that everything is possible in your salon. I went from a new, hopeless and almost catastrophic salon owner to having an insanely busy No.1 salon…
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From salon management to solving staff problems; From pricing up to successful salon marketing; From running a hair salon during a bad economy to figuring out different ways to take your salon to the market, and more, during this 28minute salon group call, salon owners like you ask questions that every salon owner or manager has on their mind. Enjoy…
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SALON MENTOR EXTREME can transform your salon – proof below. Let’s be honest … £10,000 is a huge amount to invest in the advice and opinion of another person you hardly know. Yet that is exactly what James and Izaak decided to do at MOD SALONS LEEDS. What happened? Was it worth it? Did they…
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How can you make your salon shop more mobile friendly and get better results from your salon marketing? In the previous article, I have shared the excitement of how the future of brick-and-mortar shops like your salons are bright. After all with the 92% of clients wanting to continue to visit the “real” shop, it’s always a…
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Tell me where is your salon business focus right now? A salon owner emailed me and told me how hard they push on their retail. They push so hard in a single week they pulled in just over £600 in retail sales. He was amazed and felt thrilled about the sales. I asked him how?…
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Yes, Yes, Yes and it does work. But let me tell you, I am amazed by the amount of salons that try a letter, send it out, get no response and wonder why there was no response so give up, is that you or your salon? How hard is it for you to get a…
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My test! This is a slightly different front line as I thought we would run a test for you all. I think you will enjoy it so here are the nuts and bolts behind it. This test took place in Manchester ( UK). It was in a Number one salon and it was with a…
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Every now and then you have to take a leap of faith. Life’s like that. Love, relationships, health, business it’s just life. Some risk can feel higher than others especially where money is involved. I once paid a consultant in the USA $5,000 for 30 -minutes of advice. I spent maybe 3-years thinking about it.…
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Sometimes however you want to try you just can’t drag the clients in, after all, if they are parting in Ibiza, the best thing seems to do is to join them. But, it’s also a great time to become creative and actually, increase the footfall into the shop. Here are some ideas 1. Throw your own party…
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Summer in salons is traditionally quiet, but you can still earn more money, maximize the sales and use it to your advantage to create a stronger salon for the rest of the year. Here’s how! 5-minute inspirations and focus tips from Alan Forrest Smith. Salon Punk
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If you have no interest in being the best salon, busiest salon and most successful salon for miles and miles … please don’t read the following. One of our salons on SALON MENTOR EXTREME has just finished their program and the results are way off the chart. They have finished on their best week ever…
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I FIRED THEIR MANAGER … What Happened Next Unbelievable! When I started working with this salon they told me about their manager and how great she was. So, as usual, I got all the info I needed via reports and more and then got back to my salon mentor client. They asked what do I…
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