From Burnt-Out To Booked-Out: Finding Your Niche
From the early stages of my cosmetology career, I always had people telling me,
"Be good at everything and take every client in order to make more and expand your clientele faster…”
When I would hear this, I would always get so stressed and question if this was the right path for me. Ever since I started, I had a passion for color services — specifically lived-in and low-maintenance color. I’ve never been interested in doing pixie cuts, mens cuts, or fashion colored hair (there is nothing wrong with these services, they are just not my mojo!). I truly believe, and this is the heart of this post, if you love what you do — it will never feel like work…so, why settle for services you are not passionate about, just for a buck, if you don’t have to? This is why finding your niche is SO important in the beauty industry or any service-based, creative industry!
Five Easy Steps To Finding Your Niche —
01. YOUR PASSION IS YOUR COMPASS
Ask yourself, “When it comes to hair, what do I love doing the most?”
Do you enjoy creating stunning updos, working with natural curls, or mastering the art of color? Your passion is your compass… Whatever your the most excited to see on your books, expand on those clients. How? well, just keep reading. (hehe)
02. LOOK AROUND YOU —
When you look at your industry, what is missing? Is there a demand?…is there a gap in the market?… When I was just starting out, there was not a lot of people that focused on investing their education into balayage and lived-in color, thus, not many stylists were specializing in it. It definitely has taken over the beauty industry due to trends, but not in 2019.
03. BECOME AN INDUSTRY LEADER —
Once you find those services that fuel you with passion and make you leap out of bed in the morning, take time to really fine-tune those skills! Take courses, attend classes, and practice, practice, practice your skills regularly. The better you become, the more valuable your niche will be. The more you invest into your niche, the easier it is for you to stand out in the industry!
04. FLEXIBILITY KEEPS YOU RELEVANT —
Just like any job or industry, it is going to evolve due to trends — so, be ready to adapt when necessary. Your niche may need adjustments, but the point is you have a solid foundation and trust built up with your clientele, that it’s safe to step out when needed! The key here is that flexibility keeps you relevant.
05. POST FOR THE JOB YOU WANT —
If your niche is hair extensions, post an abundance of extension content. It’s hard to trust someone you’ve never seen their work before. I like to call my instagram my online portfolio — because it is! If you take a look at my instagram, you will quickly see that my specialty is maintenance blonding, luxury brunettes, and natural colors, thus, getting me more clients in need on those services!
(okay one more hehe) FIND THE OVERLAP —
Okay, let’s say you have found that extensions are your passion, and you have found that not many salons in your area offer hand-tied extension services… hello niche! Now, let’s invest in courses and classes to really hone in this skill-set in order to build confidence for your craft! Next, invest in a great social media source to push your extension content in a magnetic way to your area — you will go from burnt-out to booked-out!