week 13: Online advertising

As I was scrolling through social media (I personally only use Instagram occasionally) and looking for great examples of advertising that caught my eye, I started to notice a trend. The ads that caught my eye the most seemed to have some bright colors, a strong focus point and a title of some sort. simple but also eye catching. I also noticed that generally a video would often catch my eye but it seemed more so that the fast paced videos that changed scene and focus very quickly caught my eye more. I think i've somewhat trained myself to ignore most advertising for the most part but I would have to say ads that are very catchy but don't exactly relate to anything or show what they're advertising are the most annoying. It is a little pointless to have a quality ad and then leave people questioning what you're advertising.
As I was looking for similar businesses (barbershops) I noticed that there wasn't much for advertising from the local businesses. I think that is because owning a barbershop in the oceanside area or next to any military base, really, is a unique situation. The few barbershops that i could find some advertisements were more of a higher end barbershop that didn't necessarily cater to the built in clientele of the military base. 
I think the most effective advertising for a barbershop would most likely be social media. A well targeted ad on instagram would definitely be very effective since barbering is a very visual business and now customers can easily be drawn in by quality of work. Radio advertising could also be effective but the younger generation (if thats your target area) is starting to stray away from radio and using streaming audio. A slightly larger investment that would be very effective would definitely be a billboard. From a few quick searches of the San Diego area, billboards range from $2000-$5000 but can bring in an additional $5000 and up of revenue each month.

Week 12: Project research

I was having a little trouble finding additional tools that are related to barbering and owning a barber shop and then it occurred to me; i was currently using a great tool to search for many networking options.... Google! Google isn't exactly a tool like the others listed but i did use it to search for local networking social events, barber expos and local barbering courses. As a barber, it crucial that you stay up to date on your skills and the current trends in order to provide the best service for your customers and all that can be found on google.
Another interesting tool could definitely be a podcast. It has become very trendy to have a barbershop that is kind of manly and part of that atmosphere is great stories. A pod cast is a great way to share your barbershop stories and possibly attract new customers that like the style of the podcast.

Week 12: Using other online tools

As a barber and a barbershop owner, I feel yelp is a very useful tool that many people utilize when looking for a service based business. Ive fortunately had good luck with yelp at the barber shops i have worked at have received many great reviews but it is also very common for yelp to break new businesses just based off of a couple fluke bad interactions. As a barber shop owner and service provider, i will most definitely be utilizing yelp and will encourage my customers to leave yelp reviews.
Another great tool that I personally use is google business. I think recently I have been using it just as often as i use yelp to help me find a new business for my specific needs. Its very convenient because you can get the location, reviews and available services all in one.
I believe yelp and google business would probably be the most valuable but there may also be some value in a podcast or at the very least, be featured on a local podcast to help spread the word of available services and the potential benefits of them.

Week 9: Twitter

This was a difficult one for me because I have never used twitter and I do not foresee myself using twitter in the future but it was interesting to see how to navigate the new platform. As I was searching for relevant pages, I noticed that many of the pages i followed on facebook and instagram weren't on twitter and the few that were on there had much less followers and activity. I ended up following a few familiar brands and used their actual names to search for them directly as well as some random barbershops that I found by just searching the word "barbershop."
One of the pages i followed was 360 Jeezy. He is very well known for his how to videos on youtube as well as some funny videos that he makes. He has a massive following and is very helpful to follow as a barber. I also followed Wahl USA because most of my equipment is Wahl and i like to keep up with the latest barbering equipment on the market.
I also followed Elegance and they are somewhat of an industry leader in style and styling products and employ some of the best barbers at their studio.
I added a few of these pages to my lists as well as Reuzel USA as they are my favorite company for styling products. Having the lists makes it convenient to be able to organize your followers into groups and see exactly what you want to see whether it be new industry equipment or maybe what your local competition is up to and currently posting.

Week eight: Get Visual

Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Pinterest fall into the top of the visual social media platforms. Of those four, I believe that Instagram would be the most beneficial to my business. Barbering is something that is very easy to display in a photo and instagram allows you to target your market while also displaying your work. Although it takes much more time, skills and effort, another great platform for barbers is YouTube. Many very successful barbers host how to channels that have hundreds of thousands of followers. Personally, I don't every plan to make my own YouTube channel but it is still a very effective outlet. With over 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, it is a very good social media platform to display visual media.

Week Seven: Scheduled posts

For some scheduled content on my business page, I chose to go with some posts to promote our grand opening. I included a photo with each post to help catch the attention of my followers. I also added some promotions and a special event to help boost interest in the business. My last post was to remind my customers that we do appointments and that spots do fill up quickly so be sure to make them ahead of time to look good for the weekend!

Week Seven: Engaging your customers

The businesses I chose to follow on my page were Knuckleheads barbershop, Hairstyles for men, Men's hairstyle trends, Barbers only magazine, Elegance USA, National Barbers Association, Barber clips and Wahl grooming. Many of the pages I chose to follow were to maintain my personal growth as a barber like the Men's hairstyle trends page. Its very important for myself or any other business that is involved with trends and styles to be current and know what their customers might like. I also chose to follow a few local businesses to show some support while also being able to see what they are (or are not) doing with their social media accounts. Lastly, I followed some of the big companies in the industry that are making the top equipment and grooming products to be able to provide my clients with the best and current products.
By following the pages, I can keep my business and personal work relevant and up to date and provide the best possible customer service and experience to every one of my clients.