There are many reasons why people don't pursue their dream of becoming a personal stylist, but the reason I hear the most is "I live in a small town, and there's really no need for personal stylists. You really need to live in a big city to become a personal stylist." Sound familiar? Maybe you live in a small town and it's something that goes through your mind when you think about following your dream. I know it's something that almost prevented me from starting my career as a stylist while living in a small town in the USA. But here I am over a decade later, a successful personal stylist, and I'm going to share the secrets to starting your own successful personal styling business, even if you do live in a small town.
Change Your Mindset
Before you start your career as a personal stylist, you really need to clear your mind of all the reasons you think your business won't be successful in a small town. Stop telling yourself there's no demand for personal styling services and start thinking about how you can create that demand. Remember the movie Field Of Dreams with Kevin Costner? "If you build it they will come." The same applies to your personal styling business. Your future clients may not realize yet that they need your services, but if you approach it the right way, they'll soon be wondering how they ever survived without you.
Identify Your Potential Clients
You'll want to be very clear about who will benefit from your personal styling services. Spend time getting to know people in your community and figure out how your services can help them. By identifying your target clients you can then develop a clear strategy about how to connect with them. Create your client avatars and get very specific. Marketing to everyone is not going to work, you need to take a targeted approach.
Use The Right Marketing Strategies
Once you know who your potential styling clients are then you can develop your marketing strategies. Your strategies when working in a small town will be different from big-city personal stylists. Think about the places in your town where your future clients spend their time, hairdressers, small clothing boutiques, or maybe the gym, and use these locations to promote your personal styling services. When I first started my business, I went to my hair salon and asked the owner if I could leave some brochures. She was more than happy to let me and even began telling her clients about my personal styling business when they were in her chair. This was actually the way I got my first client, and then word-of-mouth marketing became the most valuable tool. It may seem like an "old-school" approach to finding clients in the age of social media, but it continues to be one of the most effective tools to use.
Become Part of Your Community
Becoming a successful personal stylist in your community will actually depend on you becoming active in your community too. Look at every town event as a promotional opportunity. Local charity and volunteer events are great from a PR perspective, and it's also a great way to give back to your community. When I was just starting my personal styling business I held a charity fashion show along with my hair salon and a local clothing boutique. We raised a lot of money for a great cause, and we generated publicity for our own businesses, simply by donating our time and resources. The more active you become in your community, the more opportunities you'll have for sharing what you do. Word-of-mouth marketing is crucial in a small town so don't be shy about sharing what you do, even if it's at the dog park or at your kid's soccer game.
Find Local Resources
Does your town have its own newspaper or internet channel? If so, then reach out to them and offer to write a style column or do a vlog. In small towns, the local newspaper is still where most people turn to find their community news so you'll be able to reach potential clients by connecting with yours. Your town may even have a Facebook group that you can join and share the word about your personal styling services.
Take Your Services Online
One of the best things you can do to guarantee the success of your personal styling business if you live in a small town is to take your styling services online. By offering virtual personal styling you can remove the geographical limitations that you may be experiencing and open up more opportunities to find clients for your personal styling business. Online personal styling means you can work with clients all around your country, and all around the world. All you need is a computer and the right virtual styling systems in place and you can become an international success.
By using the right tools, creating the right partnerships, sending the right messages, and having the right mindset, you can be a successful personal stylist no matter how small the town you live in. So what are you waiting for? It's time to follow your dream and become a personal stylist!
Happy Styling!
Louisa 💕
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