Raney Day Talk Episode 25: Building Your Authority / In Demand Hairstylist Virtual Summit

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Transcript

Kristen Rowley:
Alrighty. So, let’s try this again. So, we had some technical difficulties but thank goodness for technology even when it’s being a pain because we’re able to come into Zoom and record this which is amazing so it’ll be even better. We can post this in the group and everyone can watch it back. But I don’t know if anyone caught the beginning part of our conversation. If not, today’s guest day two of the virtual summit, In Demand Virtual Summit is Jennifer Sakowski who is the founder of Raney Day Design. And she is also an online marketing strategist and I am so excited to have her here. She’s a dear friend of mine. She’s helped me out so much in my salon business, my salon website, as well as my personal website as well. She’s just such a genius when it comes to all things designing and marketing and you just are such a bright light. I am so excited for you to share with my community today all of the things so why don’t you go ahead, introduce yourself, let people know who you are, what you do and what you’re most passionate about.

Jennifer Sakowski:
All right. Thank you so much. I love you too first of all. Thank you for such a sweet introduction. I’m so excited to be a part of your group. Basically the first thing that comes to mind when you had said, “What are you most passionate about,” obviously it’s Jesus and coffee because that fuels my life. Outside of that for business as you mentioned I have Raney Day Design. It’s a creative marketing agency. We are almost turned the big 10 since I launched that biz baby and I am most passionate about with team is helping businesses leverage the internet basically on how they can reign leads to their website.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, we talk all about digital marketing, SEO, web design. Basically we’re a full service marketing agency. On the other side I am very passionate about helping women who are building businesses or maybe raising babies, maybe it’s both like I am, and how that they basically they tackle their home front, on how they can get themselves together, embrace the mess and that they can really shine and succeed with their businesses that they’re launching. So, it really is two fold. So, I’m excited to be here to talk about how you leverage all the things and building your online authority.

Kristen Rowley:
Awesome. I love that so much. And before we even get started in that I just want to piggyback on a couple of things that you said because I think that we’re all here to learn about these social media strategies and how do we get all of that but I think the other piece about what you said is just that embrace the mess. Be who you are and be authentic. And I think authenticity especially in your online presence is so incredibly important.

Kristen Rowley:
And so, I love seeing you do your thing while you’re embracing the mess and you have little ones at home and you’re running a business. And I think that’s just super encouraging that the message is coming from somebody who’s going through life just like a lot of us are. Even if you don’t have kids we all have things that we’re juggling while we’re trying to grow our career and it’s just such an amazing message. So, thank you for just being you and sharing that little piece on top of just everything else that you’re going to share today. So, I will open up the stage for you and I will go ahead and let you take it away. I’ll be taking notes while you’re talking too so.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Thank you. Yes. If you hear screaming in the background that’s, we’re at home right now, there’s littles. So, let’s talk about building your authority online. Yesterday you heard and there was a little nugget that I wanted to bring to life today is that even though you’re behind the chair you’re still a leader. And that spoke to me going into today because I really believe that no matter who you are and what field that you’re in, obviously we’re talking primarily in your industry today but it doesn’t matter that you have the capability to utilize social media to build your authority.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Now, what does that mean? This is my take. All right. I believe even if you’re not in the salon right now you can still start building your following, your presence, so when you step into the salon that you’re able to be better for COVID happening and I know that’s a hefty goal, right? Well, today I have three points and I’m going to try to keep it… I totally Kristen I’m coming in with a bang. But I want to make sure that y’all understand that the capabilities of utilizing social media. Social media is free, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, it’s free for you to use. It’s just going to take a little creativity.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So the number one thing when I’m talking about whether it’s a business, established business with 100 people, employees, to the mama who’s building out the business at home, to you behind the chair, it’s the same thing is that you have to show up. So what does that mean? Well, you can’t just say, “Here I am. Here I am. I know how to do hair. I’m really good at doing…” No, you’ve got to show up. You have to bring your presence with it. Because I know that just from knowing Kristen, because Kristen manages this going on top of my head, I know that as a stylist you have your own flair. You have your own flavor, what you bring to the chair, what you bring to the people who are sitting in the chair. So I want to challenge you to, we’ll get to about creating content but I want to challenge you is to harness that confidence when you’re helping someone navigate what they want for their style to your social media profiles. I want you to bring your authentic self.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Now, as I mentioned on Embracing the Mess I’m all for bringing all of the mess, all of the authenticity behind it. So whether it’s maybe you’re at home and you don’t have much to go off of but girl, boy, whoever you are, I know that you have before and after photos. I know you probably have the capability of pulling up your phone and doing your own before and after. Maybe it’s a tutorial, maybe you’re just sharing about you and some of the products that you love and you can’t wait to get back to. Whatever it is I just want you to share it. I just want you to show up and start talking about it, start posting pictures. Because no one will know who you are unless you show up. So, and it’s the same thing offline as it is online. So, that’s my number one point.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Because I get a lot of questions about, “Jen, how do I get people to buy from me?” You’ve got to show up. You’ve got to step it up. Because the thing is and if you think that other people, “There’s so many stylists out there that have awesome Instagram feeds, awesome.” I don’t care, they’re not you. I’m coming to Kristen. Sorry.

Kristen Rowley:
No, I just love where this is going and I was just going to say that I feel like that is such a good point. There’s so much talent out there that what I see happen is that stylists will go on and go to post some of their work or they’ll hold back from posting because it’s not quite as good as somebody else’s or maybe they’re afraid to just step into fully embracing who they are and putting that out into the world on their social media. So I just love this conversation because it’s so relevant. I think it’s just that simple piece of just show up is like oh my God it’s so simple. And it was just like even if it’s not perfect just show up, just put it out there. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Jennifer Sakowski:
Yes. Yes, absolutely. I went through it and I launched my personal brand. I had to make an own challenge for myself in February, it was called No Fear February, that I made myself… No one else joined in this it was for me because I knew I had to rip off that bandaid to get through my own self doubt, my own talk about worrying about what people are going to say or maybe it’s not good enough or maybe I don’t have a great filter or whatever it may be. It doesn’t matter just post. Because what’s different in you will attract people who want what you have. So, that’s where we just have to post it. And let’s be honest, it’s a very, very crowded space so once you post it most likely they’re going to be moving on to the next. That’s why we have to show up consistently. That’s why we have to keep coming back up to get their attention.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, and this is what I am most passionate about because as I’m talking to the mamas in the group or the people who are trying to do offline and online and just get in your house it’s the same thing. If we want change to occur, if we want people to notice, we have to take action. And for today’s encouragement to you is just to show up. I just want you to post something. And the more you do it the more comfortable you will get I promise you. And then the quicker it will be for you because you won’t be second guessing yourself before you post. You’re just going to get it out the door.

Jennifer Sakowski:
The second point that I want to bring today is create content. So, if we’re going to show up so we’re already preparing ourselves, we’re in the mindset that we’re going to share our tutorial. We’re going to talk about the products that we use. We’re going to talk about just what we like and what we don’t like and just our thoughts. So, you’re going to create that content. If you think of it as the, who, what, where we already talked about the how we have to show up this is the what.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So what do we create? And that’s where I think and I was truly struggling with this because it’s really easy when I look at businesses and I look but in your industry I think that you have to get creative. I think that, and Kristen you can correct me if I’m wrong in this but I think that you have an ideal person who sits in your chair. I think that you know just like me that if I could have 25 of these people in my chair a month… Or not probably in a month what a week a day I don’t know how many people you see. But whatever it is I think that like you have that ideal person, that ideal customer. I want you to talk to that person. I want you to hone in who they are, what they’re about, maybe what they do for work, maybe what their style is. And if you really want to peel back and get into the meat of marketing it’s all about knowing who your target is, it’s picking out.

Jennifer Sakowski:
And I was thinking maybe I shouldn’t bring this to the table but now I’m in it, is that I believe especially as a, even if you may not be a salon owner but you’re still an owner of who comes in that chair and how you represent yourself, right? So I believe that you can draw those people out to you if you speak to them and even if it’s on social media.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So what does that mean? So how do we put that together? That means if you know that type of person and I’m just going to go off of I’m going to talk to me so I’m going to pretend like I’m Kristen wanting to attract more Jens. So, let me tell you who I am. I am the person who will come in your chair and be like, “I don’t care what you have to do just make it low maintenance but make me look like I’m high maintenance.” I am that person. And Kristen’s laughing because she knows that’s exactly what I tell her. “I don’t want to put a lot of effort.” This is yesterday’s hair and I just did the front to make it look presentable for my meetings today. So, that’s the kind of look I need.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So for Kristen, some ideas of how she can attract me on social media is tutorials, easy tutorials. Use words like how to half up or I don’t know what even the words are but in five minutes. Or I want quick and dirty. I want posts that messy buns. I want how to use the products that I have or at home whatever it is. I want them tutorials that’s how you attract me. So, what you have to do is for when you’re creating your content work backwards. Work backwards from what you know who you’re trying to get in that chair and break it down. Who are they? What gender are they? Where do they hang out with? What’s their hair like? What kind of products that they use? And then start brainstorming what you would tell them when they’re in your chair.

Kristen Rowley:
I love this so much Jen. This is so spot on and it’s such great. Because another thing that we run into is like, “I don’t know what to post. I feel like I post the same thing all the time.” But I think finding, like knowing your target market and actually viewing yourself as an owner regardless if you are an employee in a salon, if you’re a booth renter, a salon owner, whatever your situation may be, we are all selling something. What you’re covering right now is so spot on especially for stylists zeroing in on who your target client is. Who is your ideal client? Who’s that perfect person? And start creating content for that person. I love that and it’s so good, so good.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, and to drive home this even more is so when we talk about target you have to know what you’re good at. So whatever you like, whatever you know that man I’ve got that thing whether it’s color, whether it’s… I once again don’t know what the words you use. But whatever it is that is your thing that sets you apart and that you know that you’re good at drive that home. Because it’s okay to be really good at one thing. Now, obviously y’all have to be good at a lot of different things when you’re behind the chair but there can be that one thing that you stand out at. So, and I want you to just drive that.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So it’s like you have your ideal target, your ideal customer that you want in your chair and then you start coming up with, “Well, what sets me apart that I’m going to attract them because I’m speaking to them?” Then you drive that home because that’s going to make you stand out in this crowded space. If you hone into your skillsets, I call it the sweet spot. So if you… I’m getting off topic. But if you have a sheet of paper, it’s an exercise that we do when we’re trying to get people to be in the space where they need to be is that on the left hand side you write down what your skills are, you write down what you’re good at. It may not be something that you want to do every day but you’re good at, maybe it’s organization, maybe it’s selling products, maybe it’s the personal touches within this line, maybe it’s the followup, whatever it is, but write that down. Write your skills down.

Jennifer Sakowski:
On the right hand side write down what you’re most passionate about. What fuels you? Maybe it’s that customer interaction, maybe it’s going live, maybe it’s doing tutorials, maybe it’s just getting somebody a good cut, whatever that is, whatever that fuels you that you know that you could do every day. And you don’t have to be the greatest at it but that’s fuels that fire in your belly then draw a line in comparison. Whatever it is that connects, that’s the same, that’s your sweet spot.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, just as you are home and maybe you’re not in a salon right now these are some of the components to build your business and be the authority is to do. You have to get to know yourself and the best way that you can do it is that you have to dig deep into what fuels you and then who you want to hang around with who you want in your chair and then you’ve just got to share it. So that that’s point two. So the last thing… You’ll have to cut me off if I’m cutting close on time.

Kristen Rowley:
I am soaking it in because it’s so good.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So number three, this is where we bring it all together. So ,we already talked about the how and the what this is where. So where do we share it? And whatever your experience is with social media I’m going to give you a couple of little creative nuggets that I haven’t seen anybody in your industry do. So I think it might be fun to try it and I really would love for you to post or to share with Kristen and let me know if it works. So, obviously we know Instagram is a hot tamale for stylists. Everybody’s posting great pictures, they are doing Insta-stories, you’re able to add however hashtags that are relevant to your posts. That’s great. That is awesome. That puts together a gallery of your before and afters, your tutorial, whatever it is. Instagram is hot.

Jennifer Sakowski:
But you know what else is sexy? It’s showing up when somebody searches for you. Now I’m not going to go so dig into search engine optimization but I want to tell you what’s sexy, and I’m going to put it in my world, when somebody puts web designer near me and my business pops up. That turns me on a little bit I’m not going to lie. Because I know that I’ve done the work and that my business is showing up. So I’ve done the things. So, how can you [inaudible 00:17:52] social media? If you’re sitting there watching this and you’re like, “Well, Jen, I don’t have a website or I don’t have control of our website so how the heck am I supposed to harness that?” Social media. Social media isn’t the end all now it’s just a component but it’s a strong component when it comes down to search engine optimization. And how you can use it is that you want to saturate it.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, do not be afraid to claim your handles. And if you’re like, “What handles,” I’m not talking about these handles. I am talking about what comes after. So if you go into Instagram it’s instagram.com/KristenRowley. It’s facebook.com backslash, you’re creating a page and you’re making your name consistent across all of the social media. Those are your handles. Those are what you share. I want you to go in and I want you to claim them all. Whether you’re ready for them or not I want you to claim them. Because when you are ready you have them. Sometimes if your name or your business name or your own name is something that is familiar or used often that it’s hard to find those handles. And Kristen’s ran into this right now of trying to navigate all your handles. But it matters that consistency matters. It’s not the end all but it matters.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So I want you to claim them and then I want you to go first if this is your first time really promoting yourself online showing up, I just want you to go where you’re most comfortable. So, I’m speaking to the people who are like, “Okay, I haven’t done this. I’ve done it to just connect with my friends but I haven’t really put myself out there.” Wherever you’re comfortable if it’s Facebook perfect go there. If you’re on Twitter and you just love that interaction, that conversation go there. If it’s Instagram which I feel like is where most of you are probably most comfortable at right now then go there. And so, but you already claimed all your other handles and you’re where you feel most comfortable so you’re starting to create content. After a little while I want you to start branching out into the other social networks.

Jennifer Sakowski:
“So how can this Jennifer, I don’t have a website where do I send them?” So do you know that on Facebook and on Instagram you can do long form posts? So you can write essentially a blog, a how to, a tutorial. You can write that out and it be lengthy. You can do that on LinkedIn. And I’m going to go there because I think it’s important that everybody understand a little nugget. LinkedIn, if you post articles on LinkedIn that’s like having a blog because of the reach that it gets, the searchability that LinkedIn has right now. And I’ve seen a lot of growth where people get found because when somebody searches the business or the name you’ll see maybe their website comes up and if you don’t have a website once again it’s okay but you’ll see those social media profiles popping up. And what I’ve noticed is LinkedIn is usually up there on top if they have an active LinkedIn presence. It’s like what we’ve seen in Facebook years ago.

Jennifer Sakowski:
So, I want to encourage you don’t be afraid to go and try new social media networks and start putting out information, start optimizing those posts, meaning LinkedIn talk about from a business perspective just talk to the people who come in your chair that are business people that are needing to still get together themselves for Zoom meetings online. Maybe it’s a quick tutorial on, “Hey, I just shared a Insta-story about how I put together makeup in under five minutes for a Zoom call you weren’t expecting.” Things like that where you can drive people to your other networks where you’re most comfortable at. So you share on LinkedIn but you link, you put that URL link when you copy and paste back to Instagram. So you’re still showing up, you’re still creating content, but you’re strategically posting them where you’re most comfortable at.

Jennifer Sakowski:
And the same thing with Pinterest. Ladies and gentlemen Pinterest it is still a very active, very thriving search engine. So, if you are one that you love styling your hair or there’s some at home things that you can do with your fashion, your style, whatever it may be. But I really encourage you whether it’s on Instagram, once again you have a long form, you have a nice slide show, you can go over to Pinterest, create a pin, use… And we’re not trying to be perfect here we’re just trying to post so don’t worry about making your graphic perfect just do it. Grab the image and utilize that link and send it back to Instagram. So once again, show it up on a new profile, a very powerful search engine, and you’re driving them to where your sweet spot is.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Same thing on Twitter. Twitter, you should just be posting that stuff right and left sending them back to your old posts. So, those are some I call them quick wins, some easy action that you can take to strategically continue to push your name out there. So, where does it all start? You have to show up. You’ve got to get over your self and know that you have something to offer. Because you wouldn’t have people sitting in your chair if you didn’t. So harness that, show up, create the post, create the content and then share it strategically. That’s what I have to leave today.

Kristen Rowley:
I feel like I could just sit here and ask you because you know you and I talk the time and I feel like this just brought up so many questions for me. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I need to get to work.” But so, so much information, so valuable, thank you so much for sharing that. I think you already answered this question. If somebody watches this back and they say, “Oh my gosh,” if they feel that overwhelm like, “Oh my gosh, what do I do next?” What would be just the most important thing or the first step that you feel like they should do?

Jennifer Sakowski:
Absolutely. I want you to write down what your target is. It’s so much easier to post strategically if you know who you’re talking to, if you know that one person that you’re going to hit. And most people, and I hear this often will be like, “Well Jen, there’s so many people that’s going to see it and I’m only speaking to one person.” You’re speaking to the one person that matters that’s going to come into your chair over and over and over again and there are a lot of them. So, I would focus on that because even if you share to just that one person it’s still going to show up, you’re still going to create buzz for yourself, you’re still going to still look for the authority. But I just want you to focus in on who you want in your chair right now because if you nail this right now while you’re not in the salon when you walk into those doors you’re going to be further ahead because you’re going to be already powered by the person who you want to sit in that chair. I don’t know, that’s where I would focus.

Jennifer Sakowski:
I mean that one nugget alone if somebody watches this back walking away with that one nugget can totally change the game because social media is not a popularity contest. It’s nice to have likes and tons of followers but if those people are not converting to paying clients in your chair you’re just wasting your time. You have a hobby that takes up a whole lot of time. So, everything that you shared was just so valuable. And I love that piece and that’s such a great takeaway if somebody just takes one thing and can be very clear on who their target market, their target client, their ideal person is, that’s going to be incredibly helpful for them gaining content, showing up and everything like that so.

Jennifer Sakowski:
And I want to add one little nugget because sometimes we, because you’re experts, because you know what you’re doing behind the chair, sometimes we forget this and I do this the same thing on all accounts is that people don’t know. You have to break it down. So don’t be afraid to bring it down. When you come at and you’re talking at a high level like you’re talking one on one with Kristen I know you’re using different terms, I know you’re talking about products in a different way and how you hold certain things, if you know your target you’ve got to remember to talk them. You’re not talking to yourself you’re talking to them at their level. So, that’s another nugget when you go along to focusing on your target. You’ve got to picture like you’re talking from them one-on-one because you have to change the way you speak to get their attention.

Jennifer Sakowski:
I won’t be talking about analytics and SEO and those things to you right now no I’m breaking it down into where I know you can grab it and run with it. It’s the same thing in your industry. So, I just want to make sure because sometimes we get so quick to jump and do the thing but we have to remember who’s listening because you’ve harnessed that person and then alter the language that you present it in a way that they can just grab it. It’s like you make it easy for them. You just, I hate to say dumb it down and that’s what keeps coming to mind and I’m sorry for that. But you’ve got to bring it down to that level now.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Yeah, no, that’s a great point to end on honestly. It’s just so good. Again, I just think you’re such a wealth of knowledge. I’m so very cool that you in the midst of your own business, growing your brand and having two babies downstairs right now with your husband taking this time to just share with us. So before we jump off where can people find you? If they want to know more about you, your brands, what you do, where can they find you?

Jennifer Sakowski:
Hopefully when you put up web designer in [inaudible 00:28:09] no. But you can find… Raney Day Design comes up. So, you can find me behind with my team we have an awesome business Raney Day Design, it’s R-A-N-E-Y daydesign.com. And anywhere you Google we’ll come up. I worked real hard for that. But we have a Facebook groups o and I’ve reignited this Facebook group it’s called Raney Day Talks Biz. I have a podcast and I’ve been dropping some of those bosses in there to just try to get with them one-on-one and to really cultivate how do we leverage the internet to grow our businesses?

Jennifer Sakowski:
On the other side, if you are a lady who’s trying to grow a business or trying to figure it out and just need some loving, some encouragement, maybe a kick in the pants, and maybe you have kids at home and you’re trying to figure it all out head over to jennifersakowski.com and the Facebook group, it’s hashtag give yourself some grace. So I talk a little bit about faith. I talk a little bit about how we show up behind the scenes. I might even sprinkle in some marriage stuff, it’s all over there. So, that’s where you can find me behind the business.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Awesome. Well, thank you so much Jen. I had so much fun today.

Jennifer Sakowski:
Thank you so much and best of luck and I cannot wait to hear how this has impacted the Facebook group.

Kristen Rowley:
Awesome. Thank you.