Season’s Greetings

Once again the Holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is always the appropriate time to count our blessings and offer messages of thanks and good will to our friends, relatives, our staff, and valued customers.

As President and founder of Hairdresser Career Development Systems I personally want to thank each of you for your support and interest towards my educational programs. My business goal is to reach higher levels of educational excellence in meeting and exceeding your high expectations.

I am committed to helping you and your families raise your standard of living and improve the quality of your lives.

As we prepare to enter a new year, I will continue to work hard at making Hairdresser Career Development Systems, a truly educational company you can trust and count on by providing quality education and information that will help you meet and overcome the many challenges of building a successful hairdressing career and business.

It is my sincere wish that you and your family enjoy a Very Happy Thanksgiving.

Tips on Giving Thanks

FAMILY AND LOVED ONES: Give thanks for sharing your life with the people you love. Some people measure happiness by money, which does provide some sense of happiness, but I always measured success and happiness by having a loving family. There is a time for hard work, but also a time for family, your challenge is to balance both.

GOOD HEALTH: Always count your blessings for being in good health – if you were wealthy and have all the money you want and was told due to poor health you only had two months to live, but a poor man had excellent health, and the rich man offered to trade places, who is really the rich man. If you are fortunate to be in good health, count your blessings, if not you can improve your health by exercise, eating right, and live a healthy life style.

FREEDOM: Be thankful we are fortunate to live in the greatest country in the world where we have the freedom to explore and make our dreams possible. Our country offers us the freedom to explore and maximize our full learning and earning potential. Sometimes we as Americans take our freedom for granted.

GIVE THANKS TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS: They represent our livelihoods, without customers we have no jobs. Our customers give us the opportunity to earn a living and live our dreams as well as provide financially for our families. In addition to being loyal customers we also have the opportunity to build lasting friendships. Always show appreciation by always showing a sincere and caring attitude about people, and showing your appreciation by working hard to exceed their expectations, perhaps a little thanksgiving note or card.

BE THANKFUL WE HAVE JOBS: In today’s tough economy we should give thanks where by we have the opportunity to express our artistic talents and provide a living for ourselves and our families. With so many people struggling to earn a decent living in other professions we do have the opportunity to earn as much as we want once we create a demand for our services. A good hairdresser will never be unemployed.

EDUCATORS: Give thanks to all the educators in the beauty profession who are willing to share their vast experiences and talents to others. Education is the key to expanding your full learning and earning potential. Many of these educators are also salon owners who are willing to not only provide you with job opportunities but also provide you with ongoing support, mentoring, and education.

OUR STAFF: Sometimes we fail to give our staff the support and praise for a job well done. We must recognize as salon owners we have a morale responsibility to help our hard working hairdressers achieve success and happiness. We can give thanks to our staff by working hard as salon owners to provide incentives, a positive and professional work enviornment, busy salon, job security, and help our staff achieve success and happiness-personally, professionally, and financially.

OPPORTUNITY: Let us give thanks for the many opportunities a hairdressing career offers. There is no limit to reaching higher levels of excellence in the beauty profession for those who truly want to maximize their full learning and earning potential. This is one of the few professions where by you can get all the overtime you want once you create a demand for your services. The sky is the limit.

ARMED FORCES: Let us give thanks for the men and women and their families who are making the sacrifices that protect our freedoms and our families. We as Americans owe them a great debt of gratitude for their sacrifices in defending our country. Let us all keep them in our thoughts and prayers as we celebrate thanks giving.

Web Site Resources

Success Tips for Hairdressers

  • Work hard to develop powerful public speaking skills that will allow you to stand above the crows. A wonderful organization is www.toastmastersinternational.org
  • Send a thank you note to your loyal clients from time to time letting them know you appreciate their loyalty and referrals.
  • Lack of communication is one of the greatest causes of customer loss. Remember the stylist’s three steps to understanding and exceeding client expectations — listen, restate, and communicate.
  • Keep in mind that a happy and pleased customer will be a goodwill ambassador for you your salon, and your fellow workers. Positive word of mouth will referrals will always be your cheapest and most powerful form of advertising. A client’s good or bad experience will be a reflection on you, your salon and other staff members.
  • Show your client’s that you really value and appreciate their business by your actions and behavior. Taking your client’s patronage for granted, especially your loyal client’s is a big mistake.

Business Tips for Salon Owners

  1. As a salon owner if you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the many challenges of salon ownership, seek out help from educators who have not only faced the same challenges but were able to overcome these obstacles. There are many very experienced educators that can help you. Hairdresser Career Development systems is one of them.
  2. As our government agencies continue to expand the rights of employees, you must protect yourself and your business by making sure you develop an employee handbook. How can your team succeed if they do not know your expectations and how your expectations will be measured? Your employee hand book should serve as a foundation to employee training. Refer to my book Creating Your Salon on how to write an employee handbook.
  3. For those with small advertising budgets there are many ways to get free publicity at virtually no cost. Your local newspaper would be a great place to start.
  4. Sponsoring an event such as a cut-a-thon for your favorite charity would be a good start. Make sure you write a good press release and send to a local newspaper, making sure you get to know the editor. Writing a beauty column in the women’s section of the newspaper would also be beneficial. For more information on increasing salon traffic, review my book Growing Your Business.
  5. Make sure you target your market before you send out any advertisements. A mailing list broker can help you identify and target the type of customer you want to attract to your salon. Make sure you measure the results my simply stating how did you find out about us on your client information card.


Quotes to Live by

Positive thoughts make you feel not only happier, but help you live longer.  –M.K Soni

Life is a gift we’re given each day. Dream about tomorrow, but live for today.

The only limit to our realization will be our doubts of today.

– Franklin Roosevelt

We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can you bargain with it. – Buddha

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows daily. –Dale Carnegie


2011 Show Schedule

Long Beach ISSE Show January 29-31 Long Beach, California

I.B.S New York Show March 6-7 New York

Allied Beauty Show March 27-28 Toronto, Canada

Allied Beauty Show April 17-18 Vancouver, Canada

Allied Beauty Show May 1-2 Edmonton, Canada

Premiere Show June 5-6 Orlando, Florida

I.B.S. Las Vegas June 12-13 Las Vegas, Nevada

Allied Beauty Show October 2-3 Calgary, Canada

Last call for Jon’s all day intensive Business Management Seminar

For Salon Owners and Managers at the Crown Plaza Hotel Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey on Monday November 15. Click here for complete information.


Networking Tips

1 Get involved —-Network with business groups, chamber of commerce, women,s groups in your area

2        Define Your Goals — focus your goals on making business contacts relating to your business.

3        Women’s groups — network with women;s groups in your area.

4        Social network — drive contacts to your business fan page , and web site

5        Contact Information — make sure you include your contact information including your email address, web site, face book, LinkedIn, and other information on your business cards and business literature.

6        Offer Your Services — as an expert that offers resources and information that may be beneficial to your network contacts. Perhaps write your own blog offering beauty tips.

7        Prepare — be able to clearly define your key company’s benefits within 30 seconds.

8        Follow through — all your contacts by sending a simple note expressing your thanks and enjoyment in meeting them. Ask if you could meet with them and share ideas.

For more information on the benefits of networking, go to google.com and type in networking groups in your area.