Tuesday, November 26, 2019

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.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

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.