Life Hacks: SOCIAL MEDIA Branding and Networking

Hey everyone, it is TT Dazzle back with another video, and this is a highly requested video. First of all, yes, I'm still in Seattle and I finally got my hair done. So unlike my last video with my hair all over my head, I got it done. Um, her name is Q. She is in Tacoma, Washington and Seattle, Washington, and when I tell y'all she is cold, she's tedious. She's neat. Everything is on point. Love it. Um, I got them done yesterday, which was Sunday, at 9 AM. It took her about 5 hours, which I don't think that's the norm for her. We did a lot of talking and chit-chatting and having a good time. So yeah, but shout out to you, Q. Thank you. Let's talk about building clientele and networking and branding yourself and getting exposure. One thing I don't like about stylists trying to sell information as far as becoming a, becoming a popular stylist or gaining subscribers or gaining followers is because when we did it, it was a different time. Let's just say, for example, lace frontals did not come out recently. Frontals have been around for a very long time. So if I started my YouTube channel off of really, really exposing every detail of how I install a frontal when they were first introduced to everyone, then I would be super, super popular because I was the first to do it. Now, if you try it a year later after I have 100,000 subscribers and followers and stuff, it's not going to give you the same effect because there are already gurus in that area. Now, some people, if you come up with something new and fresh that has not been seen or has has not really been tapped into much, then you could possibly, you know, have the same experience. But when I started promoting myself on Instagram, I started basically like spamming everyone's walls and on Facebook and everyone's timelines on Instagram, and I was just posting a lot of my work. Instagram was introduced initially for art, you know, it was for photographers and things like that. So I'm like, If your work is your photography of pictures of whatever, then my work is hair. So why don't I put that on my Instagram? And that's exactly what I did. And it got me a lot of exposure. You really have to optimize all forms of social media. For instance, hashtags. I'm in Seattle, and when I got here, I met a girl at a bar. She was black, and I asked her, where's the urban hair store? She told me where an urban hair store is, and at the urban hair store, I saw somebody looking at braiding hair, and I'm like, she's black, she's looking at braiding hair, let me talk to her. So I'm asking her basically because I really want to get my hair done. As you all know, a couple days ago, I had a sew-in. I wanted that sew-in taken taken out, and I wanted someone to wash my hair and take it out, and I also wanted someone to do my braids. So I talked to her, she showed me a few people, even Q, who did my hair on Instagram, and you know, I showed her my Instagram and told her, hey, I'm not like a crazy person, I do hair too, like I'm not just a random, I'm just not from here. And I ended up doing her sister's hair, her mom's hair, she referred me to a few more people, or referred a few more people to me. One piece of advice I would give anyone who wants to start doing hair or build their clientele is to never be afraid to introduce yourself to someone. I am somewhat shy. I know you would not think that, but I am. People who really know me, they know that a lot of times I'm shy. We could be at the mall and they could be like, "Oh my God, her hair looks a mess. Give her a card." No, she— what if she's like, my cousin do hair, I'm going to get my hair done tonight, you know? Like, I don't want to come off rude to people, so I, I don't know, I'm like hesitant in that area, just like probably half of you are who are watching this video. But, um, I mean, no one knows me here, no one. I mean, I wasn't even asking her about her hair, I just showed her my work. If she liked it, she liked it. If she didn't, she didn't. I think having pictures of your work, for me personally, if I was someone looking for someone to do my hair, if you don't have pictures, I'm not coming. So getting pictures, getting social media, just upload, upload as much as you can, upload as often as you can, because even if your work is not good today, practice makes perfect, and 2 weeks from now, those people, even if it's just your family, they're going to realize you're getting better and better. They're going to show their coworkers. Their church friends, their extended family, like everyone. Like, you, you will get exposure as long as you keep practicing and as long as you get better and better and learn from your mistakes. And that's really the way to get better. As far as branding, a lot of people have asked me about help branding themselves. I started out putting watermarks on my videos so that— or on my pictures so that they weren't stolen. And also about using watermarks and a transparent logo for your pictures. When people screenshot that and share it, it automatically shows your name. So that's another benefit of using a watermark or your logo over your pictures. You want your exposure when someone shares and likes your work, you want them to see your name on it. And I used Hair by Titi. Now, as I progressed, I wanted something more official. I wanted something, an LLC, limited liability company. I just wanted something more official, something more legal. So that's where TT Does It All LLC came from. I actually went to an accountant. She set up my LLC for me, got everything in order for me. So I started out with KansasCitySewing.com. And that will now forward you to TTdoesitall.com because that's me. That's the name that people remember, so that is what I wanted it to go to. Whereas Kansas City Sew-In was something that people were searching for hairstylist or sew-ins in Kansas City, so when you search that, my website will be the first thing to pop up because it's Kansas City Sew-In. Um, but now that I am no longer living in Kansas City, and now that I am traveling, TT Does It All is a better thing for me to brand myself. But if you have the funds, if you're working full-time, save enough money to, to set up a website on GoDaddy.com. That's where I set up my domain, and I'm actually really into technology, so my first website I set up myself. TT Does It All, I paid someone to set it up, but I revamped it myself. So, um, there's— and I'll, I'll put down below who did my logo for me, who is that first person who did my TT Does It All website. I will put, um, my photographers actually helped me come up with the hair— or not Hair in Kansas City, but KansasCitySewing.com. So they were kind of like, hey, I think you should really look into that because Kansas City Sewing is 'highly searched and it's not a domain, so you should make that your website.' And I'm like, 'Let's go.' So I really did it. When someone brings an idea to me, even if I don't feel like it's a good idea at the time, I still keep it in the back of my head and I still think about it and I still look into it. Even if it's typing a note in your phone or something, or a reminder to come back to in the future. And listen, keep your ears open at all times. I mean, I look at YouTube, I look at other stylists' videos, I look at TV, and I'm even— I mean, you may watch some show, let's take Love Hip Hop for example, and you may see someone's hairstyle and it may start trending on social media. Try to replicate that hairstyle, you know, like there's so many ways to brand yourself and get exposure for yourself. And hashtags on Instagram is one way. And what I would— the whole reason why I got into the Seattle thing is when I came to Seattle and did that, that girl that I met at the hair store, when I did her sister and her mom's hair, I posted those pictures and videos on Instagram and I hashtagged Seattle hairstylist so that other people in Seattle could come to me. Because when I searched Seattle hairstylist, there was very few, and even if there were a lot, there weren't a lot doing African American hair. Hashtags on Instagram really, really work. I'm from Kansas City, so a Kansas City person will be like, "Oh my God, you've only been in Seattle for a couple days. How can you be a Seattle hairstylist?" It's really not to expose myself as a Seattle hairstylist. It's to get exposure in Seattle while I'm here. Pictures are number one thing. Getting a logo for yourself is number two, and getting something catchy, "TeeCee Does My Hair" or "TeeCee Does It All." It's just something that's really, really catchy. When I first started even selling extensions, I was going to poetry nights, I was going to events, I was going to the clubs, I was handing out flyers, I was putting flyers on people's cars for my launch party. I did so much in like of making sure that people knew who I was. So that was out of my comfort zone as well.. But just stay motivated. Even if one person sees your information last year, I've had clients who have come to me this year, but they've known me since I was a child at church, and they're just coming to me. So regardless of when they come, just getting your exposure out there and getting your work out there, it goes a long way. Work when you're tired. And I don't mean— I mean, I don't know, you kind of have to listen to people. I used to get different stories of people who were, hey, someone canceled on me, it's my birthday weekend, can you please get me in? If I woke up a little bit earlier, I could get her in. So I got her in. This girl was my assistant. She's helped me as far as cosmetology school. She has like really been a good person in my life. Like you just never know what customer you meet or who you're saying yes to or who you're giving a good deal to that can really help you in the long run or become a really good networking experience for you. Even like the girl who braided my hair, Q, like when I come back to Seattle, I'm like, hey, we can work together, we can do this together. She's in cosmetology school as we speak, so there's a lot of things that we can help each other with.. So never be afraid to network. If you all have questions about my YouTube, my YouTube I opened in 2006 when I went to college. And I actually uploaded my first video from my roommate's computer. And my roommate used to let me use her computer all the time. And I recorded it on her computer and just uploaded it to YouTube. YouTube was starting out then. So I think YouTube was established in like '05, '06. But, um, just imagine if what I'm doing now I did back then. It's ridiculous. But, um, I uploaded the video. I didn't really take it serious, you know. YouTube was just starting out, so I kind of just took a hiatus and focused on work and school. And then, um, now I'm back. But, um, I'm still using the same YouTube page and everything, so you can still see my video from 2006 today. Um, but that YouTube video got me a lot of exposure. A lot of people looked at that video and found me because they found my YouTube. So even in 2006, I had people coming from different parts of the state to get their hair done by me, to get micro braids by me, which I don't offer anymore. One difference in me is I stopped focusing on local stylists or local talent I wanted to be better. You know, you want to be better than what people around you are seeing every day. You, you want more for yourself. Um, if everyone in your circle is doing the same level as you, something's wrong. Like, you have to surround yourself sometimes with people who are doing better than you so that you can expand your mind. You learn so much from people. So, you know, having different, different minds around you, different levels around you, and, and being a sponge to the information that they can be to you is a very good thing. Now please don't get it wrong, having someone in your circle of all levels is perfect because you want to teach others and you also want to learn from others. So I'm not saying use people and only have people of a higher level around you, but I'm saying expand your mind. There's a girl on Instagram and her name is Ashley Does My Hair, and she was very popular when I started using TT Does My Hair. And, um, I mean, that sounds cool to me. Like, she was huge. I think she was in Atlanta, and TT Does My Hair— I'm all the way in Kansas City, Missouri. Why not? I mean, TT Does My Hair, Ashley does it. You have to ask me more specific questions on branding because There's so many sides of it. I'll show you the camera I use for my YouTube. I'll show you what else. I use Final Cut Pro as the editing software. And even as far as that, like in college, I took a lot of Microsoft classes like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel. And I love gadgets and technology. So once it, once it came to editing my videos, like I am learning even today, like I'm still learning how to do so many things. So if you watch my older videos, my newer videos are just getting so much more technical and different effects on them because I'm learning as I'm doing it more often. So, you know, just kind of teaching yourself and YouTube is such an awesome tool. Like you can literally search anything. I searched my camera on YouTube because I wanted to learn how to use the special effects of it. And of course it comes with a manual, but who wants to sit there and read a manual? It's the day of the visual right now. So I literally YouTube how to use all the features on my camera, all the features on my lens. Um, you can YouTube so many things. So even YouTubing specific things that you want to do in your editing software, you can find it on YouTube. So you guys really have to utilize YouTube when it comes to just getting information. It's all about the wording that you search for and being specific. I've answered a lot of things that you all have asked me. Um, my hometown is Kansas City, Missouri. I moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and I travel a lot to Seattle and, and I'll soon be traveling a lot to Charlotte. So, um, I get a lot of questions asking where am I located, and hopefully that answers your question because I travel to all 4 of those places. If you found this video useful, make sure you thumbs up this video, add a comment below if you have a question or if there's something I didn't touch on, and I will definitely do an updated video just like I did for the tools that I use for styling. Um, and thank you guys so much for the support again. I really do appreciate it. And I hope you guys like my hair. And it is such a, such a come up from how I was. But I'm clearly— I'm not afraid to go up with no makeup and no hair because I did that. But, um, I love my braids. I didn't think I was like— I haven't worn just like braids like French braids in a long time. So yeah, I like them, I really like them. I just feel like I have— there's freedom for my face, but I still need my SSS back, you know, my swoop. So I got some hair to do a review on, which that link is in the description, and maybe that'll be my next SSS. Maybe I'll do me a deep sexy part, so who knows. But anyway, you guys, I've rambled long enough. I hope you all enjoyed this video, and I will see you soon. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe. Don't forget to comment, rate, and share this video with fellow stylists or clients that you want to see my work.