You are not only in the "Beauty" business...

When I started out doing hair I had one interest in mind - creating art with hair. While that has it's tremendous merits, as a plan for building one's business, it falls flat. In earnest, we are servants, the most honorable and satisfying endeavor...ever.

This is a personality driven business, so much so it's almost unlike any other.

I have worked with and employed stylists who possessed little skill at hairstyling yet attracted huge, adoring clienteles.

"Why?", you may ask, because they gave their clients something more... hope, encouragement, attention, care, insight, affection, and entertainment! Coupled with a moment of listening.

This is an intimate relationship that has strong results, if done well or badly...as I always say "If your hair doesn't look good, nothing else matters."

So, first, seek out what your community wants, needs and desires. Poll them, survey them...ask them what they want, after you serve them, ask for their opinion. Back off of your "idea" or "model" your ego and let the people (they are you and me) tell you what they need and want and give it to them. Your business will soar, and if you have the heart of a servant, so will your heart.

Cater to building these relationships for the long-run and you will have a beautiful life full of beautiful memories because of your beautiful creations...because you cared for more than hair, you cared for people as you would want to be cared for, yes?

PS: If you want to experiment and create art with hair, there are plenty of models who are eager to work with you here: http://www.modelmayhem.com/56840

Mythology as Brand

L. Frank Baum's heirs have no copyright protection on The Wizard of Oz. As a result, there are Broadway musicals, concordances, prequels, sequels and more. All of which creates a rich, emotional universe (and makes the copyrighted movie even more valuable).

Most of us remember the mythology stories they taught us in school (Zeus and Thor and the rest of the comic-like heroes.) Myths allow us to project ourselves into their stories, to imagine interactions that never took place, to take what's important to us and live it out through the myth.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of entertainment mythological brands. James Bond and Barbie, for example.

But it goes far beyond that.

There's clearly a Google mythology and a Starbucks one was well. We feel differently about brands like these than we do about, say Maxwell House or Random House.

Why do Santa and Ronald McDonald have a mythology but not Dave at Wendy's or the Burger King?

Let's try the Wikipedia: Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings, arranged in a coherent system, passed down traditionally, and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community, endorsed by rulers or priests.

So, if I were trying to invent a mythic brand, I'd want to be sure that there was a story, not just a product or a pile of facts. That story would promise (and deliver) a heroic outcome. And, also, there needs to be growth and mystery as well, so the user can fill in their own blanks. Endorsement by a respected ruler or priest helps as well.

The key word, I think, is spiritual. Mythological brands make a spiritual connection with the user, delivering something that we can't find on our own... or, at the very least, giving us a slate we can use to write our own spirituality on.

People use a Dell. They are an Apple.

This can happen accidentally, but it often occurs on purpose. A brand can be deliberately mythological, created to intentionally deliver the benefits of myth. Casinos in Las Vegas have been trying to do this for decades (and usually failing). But talk to a Vegas cab driver about Steve Wynn and you can see that it's been done at least once.

There's a mythology about Digg and about Wikipedia, but not about about.com. The mysterious nature of rankings and scores and community ensures that, combined with the fact that the first two have public figures at the helm... heroes.

It's easy to confuse publicity with mythology, but it doesn't work that way... there's no Zune mythology, for example. It's also easy to assume that mythology will guarantee financial success, but it didn't work for General Magic, a company which successfully leveraged the heroic reputations of its founders, created a very hot IPO but failed to match the needs of the larger market.

Can you think of a mythological fashion, salon or spa brand?

Not many...Vidal Sassoon (poor, cockney kids rises to the top and revolutionizes hairstyling), Coco Chanel (similar story). Let me know if you can think of any others, remember, this requires a story that inspires and sticks with people over time.

Hard to explain, difficult to bottle, probably worth the effort to pursue.

Some of my work...Gwen, Rachel and Fashion Week

What the heck is Hair Riot?

I've been in the hair, beauty and fashion businesses for over three decades. As a stylist, platform artist, salon owner, corporate slave, author and photographer. Additionally, I've been successful in creating and launching both old and new tech marketing tools and plans.

I have a broader based view and set of skills than many in these fields of business and I want to share them with you. So Hair Riot will be about the purely creative, the business structure, people skills and marketing.

Please find out more about why you may be interested into tapping my brain here:The creative and fashion and Biz & Marketing

Cheers,

David