Your Clients Are Buying Online Anyway, Here's How to Get Paid with Victoria Domazet

[00:00:00] Hey Jason, all the products you use on my hair, will you pile it up on your station so I can take a picture of it and buy it online? What do you think you're gonna find that fucking cheaper than I can sell it for, bitch? Get out of here, you twat.

[00:00:25] Real hairdressers telling real stories about their experiences from behind the salon chair. And we are now saying the quiet parts out loud. This is Sh!t I Told My Hairdresser. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Shit I Told My Hairdresser. We got Paula. Paula, how you doing? I'm doing great, Jason. It's the end of the evening and I'm really looking forward to this.

[00:00:53] Yeah, this is gonna be shit after dark, isn't it? Is it shit after dark for us? This is the shit that happens when it's like 8 o'clock at night because we have someone in Australia. It's the next day over there. So she's speaking to us from the future. It's Wednesday over there, it's Tuesday here. So I know. If you guys know how time zones work, it's like, you know, there's a whole 24 hours. Never mind. Anyhow, some people don't know sea level, right? We've talked about that in the past.

[00:01:22] Some people don't know time zones or how they work. But navigating this one with Australia was a bit tough, but we're up late tonight. We want to share some stuff with you guys. In the meantime, if you guys can go through, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Look us up on TikTok. Share us with your friends. Share us with your mom. Share us with your dad, cousins, sisters, whatever. Because we're a word of mouth, just like how we are in the hairdressing industry.

[00:01:50] This podcast is word of mouth. Share us with everybody you can. And if you want to get on the podcast, send us an email. Get on our website at shititoldmyhairdrift.com or hit us up on TikTok and tell us your best fucking story. Because we definitely want to hear it because we're saying the quiet parts out loud and we're sharing the best bits with you guys. So having said that, we have something to go through and share with you guys. We have our friend Victoria Domazet, who I actually found on Instagram.

[00:02:18] And she's all the way over in Australia, like I was saying. And she is going through and helping people make more money. And she's going around the way that this is the thing that always gets me is when clients, and I've talked about this before. And it's one of my biggest pet peeves. And I think Victoria is going to go through and solve this for us.

[00:02:44] So when clients go through and they take a picture of all the products that you use to go through and find them online because they think they're going to find it cheaper. But what they're doing is they're finding counterfeit shit or shit that's like 15 years old. And that's getting sent to their house and they're getting pissed off about it. So Victoria, tell us a little bit about you and how you got started with this. Thank you so much. Hello. And thank you for staying up late. I really appreciate it, especially after our day in the salon.

[00:03:12] It does get to this time of night and it's on. This is important. This is important. I think it's very important to a lot of people. Yeah, I think so too. I'm really grateful to be here because I use affiliate codes to recommend and sell hair care to my clients. And I've done this now. I sort of discovered this was a thing that we were able to do in 2020 where I live here in Australia. We were the most locked down city in the world.

[00:03:40] So Salons here was shut for, I lost count, like nine months. It was such a long. Yeah. It was some sort of, like I said, I think I've blocked that. The amount of days that it was shut down. And during that time, I also became a mother. So it was like 2020 was a big time for me. I became the dad in 2020, March. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, stop. In March. Oh, that's so nice. Right at the beginning of COVID.

[00:04:08] How fun is this age? Side note. How fun is this age? I'm having such a time. You fucking came to me as a nightmare. But I love him. Oh, stop. Really? Holy fuck, man. If I knew it was going to be like this. That's when I get ice. Age seven. I love him. I love him. Anyhow. Get in the map of class. I'm like, go to bed, you fucking dick. Go to bed. I'm not kidding. I love you. I love you. Oh, you can't sleep. No, I did say sleep. Like, no. Yeah, right. Yeah. No, I'm sweating.

[00:04:39] Yeah. Exactly. Just so I go crazy. But yes, so that was that time. I was home and I work from a small home salon. I've been an independent hair educator for over a decade. I've taught hairstyling for over a decade. And while I was home in that time, you know, especially being a hairdresser, it was like, I must create. You know, we must do something. And I created some online hairstyling education.

[00:05:05] And through that, I've always used every different brand under the sun that I like. And I wanted to start using affiliate links within my content. And I was like, I don't know how to do this. I don't know what it means. And during that time, one of the brands that I have an account with here in Australia, they allowed hairstylists to use their affiliate program to recommend themselves their retail to help support them while they couldn't open their doors.

[00:05:32] And I found it all so confusing just because I'd never heard of it. I didn't know how any of it worked. How am I sending my clients to the website? Like, you know, I had no idea. And I think, honestly, I don't remember it that well, but I believe I sent an affiliate link at night when I was feeding and just completely forgot about it. And the next time I went to do an order from this brand, I had credit on my account.

[00:05:59] And I was like, sorry, I think I paid the bill twice. Like, I don't know what's happening. I'm at home with my baby. I don't know what's happening. And it was a credit. It was a credit for the commission for the product, the hairdryer I had sold. It was a credit on my account. And it completely blew my mind because I was like, I literally do not remember doing this. I don't know how I did it. I'm home. I'm not working. The doors are shut and I have money. Like, what is this?

[00:06:28] And that sort of led me on this path now to combine like my love of educating hairstylists and my knowledge about using affiliate links as a hairstylist to just let hairstyles everyone know this is a possibility for us. This is something that you can use to earn income when you cannot work behind the chair. And this is something that you can use to help support your clients better in the way that they shop now. And I think that you touched on. That's a big thing right there is how we shop now.

[00:06:58] And that's the thing is that people, for some reason, they don't want to buy something inside the salon. You know what I mean? Maybe they hate the person that works at the front desk because they gave her a weird fucking look or when they walked through the door or they just rather not carry it home and just order it, have it delivered to their house. I don't know. I don't know. But or people think I can get it cheaper. That's my clients. They take pictures of it and they're like, oh, I can find this online for cheaper than what you sell it for.

[00:07:26] And I hand it to him in a cute little bag. And here you go. Put a bow on it. A little piece of eucalyptus in it. Here you go. And they're like, hmm, I think I can find this online for cheaper. I'm all go for it. I mean, because I, yeah, I had one client come in years ago and she's all, I bought this Lanza online. I'm all, okay, great. She's all, but I don't know. It doesn't make sense because I keep on using it and my scalp is breaking out. And I said, bring it in to me. Let me read the ingredient list. Okay. I look at the back of the thing.

[00:07:56] There's no ingredients on it. Same packaging on the front saying Lanza, but there's no ingredient list on the shampoo or conditioner. I open up, I smell it. Smells like old fashioned 80s prel. I said, you didn't, you didn't get Lanza. You got something else. And see, that's the thing. They can get something better. Is that what people don't know is that a lot of the times are either buying fake because Amazon has littered with a bunch of fakes. That's for sure.

[00:08:25] A lot of counterfeit stuff. Or you have a distributor who hasn't sold anything in 10 years or they're trying to get rid of their back stock from 10 years ago and they're putting it there. So, and they, I, cause I had this, we did an episode about this where I had a client go through and buy her stuff. And then she like basically brings it into me. It's just like, this is the shit you told me to buy. It doesn't work. And I'm like, well, did you buy it from the manufacturer? Did you buy it from the salon?

[00:08:54] No, I bought it online at this thing. And it's like, yeah. I'm like, look at what you bought it from. I'm like, who knows what the fuck this website is or who's selling it? You know what I mean? Is some guy in the back of like, you know, some tow truck company selling it to you from his warehouse? I don't know. You know, so does your stuff come from the manufacturer? That is, that's, is that how you're doing your affiliate links through this? Yes, definitely. Cause that's something obviously the guest is so important that it is an official stockist of the product.

[00:09:24] And I know it's, it's quite different in the U S compared to the States because as in the U S, sorry, compared to Australia. Because when I started this, I think I shared this with you both when we first talked is that I thought this was uniquely an Australian problem, which sounds ridiculous now. No, totally not. It, it, it just, I never realized that hairdressers had the same problem.

[00:09:46] And as soon as I launched, um, as soon as I started talking about this special line, that was the influx was from styles from the U S, styles from Europe, you know, styles all over being like, we're saying exactly the same things. I was like, wow. Okay. Um, I, okay. I can do this in Australia. Can we do it everywhere? And the reality is most brands have an affiliate program, full stop. Most brands, any brand you can think of, you know, I always say from like Lego to Lulu Lemon from Eddie had airways through to Lanza.

[00:10:16] Like they have a program. It's just not being applicable to hairstylists. It's aimed at influencers and people that are doing affiliate marketing. It's just, it's the, the infrastructure is there with official companies. It's just, we didn't know, like I didn't know. And it's not targeted or marketed or educated, um, for us because we buy the stock.

[00:10:37] So you can't really say, Hey, instead of doing that $8,000 opening order, what you should do is just use the link and then we'll pay you commissions on everything that you buy without having to invest. So that sort of disconnect between what's happening, but definitely official stockers. So here in Australia, um, Amazon, don't get wrong. Amazon is big. I'm not saying it's not big, but definitely. I don't find that's where most of my clients are buying things from.

[00:11:02] There's a couple of retailers that are really huge here that have like really express shipping and they have sales all the time. So it's a lot of it's through those retailers that are official stockers of the products as well. So, um, that's how I do it here is usually through the major retailers to utilize their fast shipping and their sales and all of those kinds of things. But the reality is it's almost every brand has it directly as well. So depending on what you want to do, how much you want to get paid, um, there's so many different ways to do it. Okay.

[00:11:31] So then how do you do it? Do you go through and you go direct to them and then ask them, can you kind of walk us through what, how, how you do it? Connected dots for sure. Yeah. Can you explain it to our audience on how, how you approach this or how they should approach it? Sure. So if you're a hairstylist, like listening to this right now, because it is so individualized, this is a thing where all individuals with our own businesses now, and especially working independently, you need to approach it individually. I feel.

[00:11:58] So if you're a hairstylist now and you're listening and you want to start doing this, first thing I would look at is where are your clients already shopping? Because it's much easier to go in line with customer behavior than it is to change customer behavior. So if your clients are all saying that they're buying through Amazon or they're all saying they're buying through Sephora, you know, to utilize their points or wherever they're buying, take that information first. Then you also want to have the information, what products do you love?

[00:12:24] You know, what products do you use and recommend and you talk about and you, you know, you use them everyone and, and take that information as well. And then the easiest way to get started in the States, if you're listening to the States, there's two hairdressing specific programs there at the time of this. There's Selen Interactive and there's Selen HQ. So I don't know if you've heard of or used those. No, I haven't. So what they do. And they're here in the United States. Yeah. Yeah. They're States only. Okay. So I'll put that in the show notes, guys.

[00:12:54] So that way we have links in the show notes. Okay, guys. Yeah. I've done Selen Interactive before, but I had no idea exactly what it was. So you're breaking down in detail what it is and how, thank you for that, by the way. Oh, no, of course. Well, that's why I think, to be honest, and this is no shade on anyone, is just educating to stylists. And I'm sure you guys know this as educators, educating to stylists is its own skill set. So it's like, you need that as well.

[00:13:20] You can have great information, but if you can't educate to stylists, then it doesn't matter how good what you've got is. It matters that we know about it and we can use it. So both of those programs are free. They have a free option. And you can get started with that today just by being a hairstylist and having, like, your tax information and things like that. So that is the easiest way to get bang. You've got access to links.

[00:13:44] It will depend on what state you're in because in the U.S., I didn't know this before, that it's so different depending on which state you're in and, like, which distributor it is. And all of this stuff, like I said, it's very different here in Australia. But either of those programs you can get started with. It doesn't matter if you have a following on socials. It doesn't matter any of that. That's the place to start for free to get access to some links to products.

[00:14:12] Then if you're like, okay, I want to do this. I want to link to more brands. I want to link to my favorite brands. I want to be able to connect this with my socials. You want to take it to the next level of it. You really need to have – you don't need to be a social media influencer. You do not. I am not. I was not. You don't need to be. But you do need to have around 1,000 followers and you need to be creating content about products. So pretty – I said very accessible level. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:14:41] Very accessible. Educators, we did that all the time. It was constant. But it was person to person. That was before, you know, everything went online. And it was even before Facebook and Instagram. So, yeah. So it can be a simple puller as well of, like, you just take a photo of the product you're using and you post it on your socials and say why you like it. Like, it is – like, when I say you don't need to be an influencer, you do not. But you need to be showing what we do behind the chair digitally. That's it.

[00:15:09] All the stuff you're already doing, you're talking about products, everything's the same. You just have to have it in a way that brands can see it digitally so that you can get access. So at around 1,000 followers, that's a real unlock for a lot of different brands. So at 1,000 followers, yeah, you get access to Sephora, Ulta, you know, lots of Lanzas on there. Like, there's so many different brands. But that's really the threshold that – obviously, this is no guarantee of acceptance or anything like that.

[00:15:37] But that's when I've done my research and working with stylists. That is the level that you need to break through to be able to get access to almost any brand. Wow. Okay. Okay. You make it sound super simple. It's very achievable. Yeah. So you make it sound super – it's just dedicating your time and doing the research. So – and having the patience. Yeah. Right. But you want to – but here's the thing is that you're getting the money, though. The money that the clients are going to spend somewhere else, you're going through and basically train them to spend it on you, you know?

[00:16:03] So if they're going to spend the money, they might as well be with you, you know? And I always tell the clients as well, though, too, and I'm like, you know what? I am a small business. You're paying for my kids, like, you know, soccer jerseys and cleats and baseball bats and things like that. Or you're going to help someone buy their third house in the Bahamas that you're not invited to, you know? Because they're the big conglomerates, you know what I mean? So who would you rather support? At least I'd rather get a little bit of that. You know what I mean?

[00:16:29] So these are people working inside salons that can actually go through and do this, right? Now, are these just for independents or, like, commission people? Because what would be the strategy on that when it's like, hey, I have a salon owner going like, hey, I got shit on the shelves over here that you're not fucking selling. Get the fucking selling this shit because I'm not buying this if you're not going to sell.

[00:16:55] So can we do, can this be, how do you bypass, is it bypassing the owner or is the owner involved and they can do a QR code to give it to the rest of the staff? So the staff need to commission that way. Does it work that way? That's a lot of competition right there. And that's a lot of hands in the cookie jar, honey. Lots of hands in the cookie jar. And it's a really great question. It's a really important question. I don't know, what's the split as far as the percentage of, like, hairdressers that are working independently there versus in, like, traditional salons?

[00:17:24] You want to want, it's like, kind of, what would you say, Paul, like 50-50 almost? You know what I mean? There's a lot of independent. It goes anywhere from 35% to 55% depending on the salon. Depending on how your clientele is, where your numbers are. Most salons, though, only give you 10% commission on all the sales. Correct. 10% is a bottom line. And sometimes they'll do a little bit of a sliding scale because if you get up into the thousands and thousands, yeah, maybe they'll bump it up to 12%.

[00:17:52] But really, it's spit. It's seriously spit. 10%. Yeah. It's not a lot. No, it's not. Yeah. And they push the sales and push the sales because the salons, the commission salons are making a ton of money. And so, yeah, it's really complicated here. And I'm booth rent. I was at one salon where I was nails doing booth rent and then hair doing commission. And then I was also educating for bedhead and had the cosmetics. And I was selling the cosmetics.

[00:18:18] And I was also selling nail polishes and nail product. And the owner of the salon was pissed off that I was selling makeup because he said, you make the money on the makeup. I said, I know. He said, I don't make any money on the makeup. I said, no, but I rent this space so I can sell the makeup. He says, I want your client spending money on my hair product, not on your makeup. It was an eight-year competition with him and it was stressful because it was hard for me. I had to leave eventually.

[00:18:48] So he started nickel and diming everything. So with that, I don't see where commission salons would be that generous with their employees. Yeah. And that sounds really hard. I think the last thing I ever want to do is undermine an employer. That's what I say. If someone's employing you, you know, like I don't want to undermine anyone ever like that because they're giving someone a job. Here, I'm an independent here. So I work from home, have my home salon.

[00:19:15] And the current figures are that 70% of hairdressers in Australia are independents. And so stocking retail the traditional way, like, you know, the wholesale way, doesn't work. It doesn't functionally work. So that's where I, it is doable for, I believe, for a salon. I deal with independents. That's what I say. Like, I deal with independent stylists.

[00:19:44] It can work for salons. But I think so many points that you both had there, it really goes deeper for me. And I know I mentioned this to you both when we first started talking because it's a whole mindset shift around it. Because we, like you said, with the brands, it has been that the brand is the gatekeeper. You know, the brand decides if we are acceptable to be stockists. The brand decides how much they charge us. You know, we promote the brand.

[00:20:12] We build, you know, we build the brand identity. We are such a huge part of their plan. And then we do not have an option to sell outside of them. You know, we don't have that available. And the fact is we actually, now we do. We do have the option. So myself, I don't have to do, I have no stock. I don't have the room, number one. Like, I don't have the physical space in my space. And I don't want to outlay that money.

[00:20:39] I don't want to invest my money in what I feel is a bad investment because the exact same product is available to people online. Like, it is. It's the exact same. You know, like, I'm not talking about counterfeit. I'm not talking about, you know, but, and I just found that for so long, for so long in my career, I hated retail because that really conflicted with the relationship that I had with my clients.

[00:21:01] So on one hand, I'm talking, you know, they're trusting me to shave their head because they're going through treatment and, you know, they're talking to me about their divorce and we're talking, you know, we've gone through life together. We've had clients for 20 years. We've gone through life together, you know, and to, to lean into like, I want you to buy this from me for a couple of extra bucks. It just never sat right with me. Like, I just, I just, the friction of that really stopped me from selling.

[00:21:27] And that's the part that I think in all of the retail training that I have done within salons, you know, it's nothing addresses that. It's all about like, if you do the customer journey properly, they will buy. If you do your job properly, they will buy. If you, you know, and none of it addresses the fact that like, it doesn't feel right. That never felt right. So that's where I feel like now to be able to like, even if I use what you were talking about, Paula, where you're an independent, you know,

[00:21:57] if you're an independent in your own space and you want to, um, you're doing nails, you're doing hair, you're doing makeup, you can connect all of that with affiliate links. You can have your online store that has all of your nail polishes that you want, all of your skincare, all of the makeup. You can send all of your clients individualized plans with all of your recommendations and you never have to spend a cent to do that. And then you can look after that customer. That customer is completely, you know, the trust is intact.

[00:22:24] That customer, you know, like the customer knows that you know them and will connect them. And that's, that's the part, like, yes, you can make money, but that's the part that it's about for me really. Like, is that. So basically the only thing that's costing you is your time. Yeah. Which is. That you're already spending. Like you said, that you're already doing. That's fantastic. To tell you the truth too, is that even instead of the salons, when I'm watching, I'm looking at the retail shelves, literally 90% of it sits there. Only 10% of it's sold.

[00:22:52] So when you kind of think about it, it's like what? Three, 4% of what the salon's bringing in is retail. Maybe, maybe, you know, so we got to hit these people where they're shopping and it's definitely online. And if you're a salon owner, maybe you stock less inside the salon and start working with your, you know, affiliate marketing links to go through and give it to your staff. And it's going to track who's been selling what.

[00:23:18] And then you can go through and give that person, you know, the money, but you might as well get a piece of that pie. That's for sure. Because otherwise you're definitely missing out, you know, because one of the biggest places here, sorry, I'm going to, I'm going to, one of the biggest places here. That you can actually go through and get products like any, almost any product line you want is from Nordstrom's. They allow you to buy now. Yeah. They give you the massive Nordstrom sale.

[00:23:48] You know what I mean? Now here it's Ulta. Yeah. Ulta. But here's Nordstrom has like the Orbe and all the big lines that, you know, the high ticket sales. How do you compete with that? Victoria? How do you, how do you compete with that stuff? That's where I really feel it's not a competition anymore. I think like if we treat it like a competition. Okay. Yeah. They've won. They've won. Like, can you deliver the same product cheaper in a day to their house?

[00:24:17] Like, that's what we're talking about. Like, if we're talking about like just logistical competitiveness. Like, I, I, I think that, you know, we are a service business and retail is there to support our service business. So if we can connect in a way that is easier, that costs less, and that still does the same part of that job. Like, that's what using affiliate links is to me. Like, I can still do all the things and I will, I know I did this when I was on the phone with you guys.

[00:24:45] So Nordstrom, like it's going to take me now about five seconds to bring up my link to Nordstrom. So if this was a client that was talking about this and saying that they would like to buy it, there it is. It's 7% at Nordstrom. So I could just copy, I can search the Nordstrom website. This is through the shop, my app. So this is what I talk about being accessible once you have gotten, you have to be approved by them,

[00:25:13] which includes the thousand followers and the product content. So, but once you've done that, here we go. I can go through the entire Nordstrom website and I can just create a link to any single product that's on there. And then I can text that link to my client or I can share that on my social media and then they will pay me the 7%. What? Oh, shit. So let's just say like, hey, you, you bought something in Nordstrom or they carry something that you like and you tell your client like,

[00:25:43] hey, by the way, I got this top here. And by the way, they also carry the shampoo. You might as well get it all done at once. You get 7% of everything that they buy with your link. Yes. So it has to be applicable purchases. Yes. So that's obviously for demonstration purposes. So it depends on, it depends on a few factors of like how it's tracked and all of those things. But essentially, yes, that is how affiliate linking works. So it has to be, sometimes they'll have exceptions to a link.

[00:26:11] Like there's a program here in Australia where they will pay out a 0% commission on hairstyling tools. They don't have any commissions on hairstyling tools. So I don't link to them. I linked someone else for my hairstyling tools. So that's what I mean about, I want to be very transparent about what it is, is that, but once you, but at the same time, once you know this is available to you, it's like, yes, it's, it's, it's deeper for me in that way.

[00:26:36] And I believe for all of us is that in this time of AI, in this time of, you know, everyone's doing things digitally. I'm really doubling down on in-person and being the expert for my clients. Like, yes, we've hairdressers are the OG influencers. We have always known the best restaurants. We've always known the best tops to buy. We've always, you know, we, we are the people. It's just, this is a way that clients can support us and we can meet them where they are.

[00:27:05] So my clients love it. Like, they're like, do you have a link for this place? I'm going to buy, you know, I'm looking at buying this thing. Do you have a link? Like it's, it opens that conversation. You know, about that, that you're helping them. It's so true because where they come to for like, Hey, I need a blow dryer. What are you using? You might as well have an affiliate late to your favorite one or whatnot. Curling irons. You know what I mean? I can't tell you how many people they come to me for like, they love those, those lived in curls. You know what I mean? And I'm the only one around area that kind of does it that way.

[00:27:35] What kind of curling iron are you using? You know what I mean? Curling irons I've sold for other people and didn't get the 10%. Really? I'm feeling. Yeah. Because I'm going, Hey, buy this one. They look it up online. They buy it. Because this is what I use. I don't sell curling irons out of the salon. You know what I mean? I don't sell curling irons. No, because it's so expensive. Like to have the, you know, to have 50 million different, they bring in a new color every week. You know, it's the new launch. It's all the things. It's like, you can't, you couldn't.

[00:28:05] Like, it just costs so much money and be not viable. You have a whole case of 20 sitting there, right? And as soon as you buy the 20, they sit there for an entire fucking year and you sell one. You know what I mean? If you bought one, everyone wanted the 20 that you had. You know what I mean? So it's just, you're like, fuck. It's universal. It's universal, right? Why am I carrying electricals? Why am I carrying electricals? I'm not going to carry them anymore. You know? So it's like, no, not doing this shit, you know?

[00:28:31] But that's the thing is if you have the affiliate link, it lives on your social media. So that way people, you just tell people, look at my social. It's on there. Click the link. You'll maybe get a discount or whatever it is. Yes. You know? Yes. And even, and actually, yeah. Oh, sorry. I'm going to cut you off. Oh, no, no. But then, then also if they buy it through there, then they have the receipt. Something goes wrong. They return it to them, not to you. Yeah. See?

[00:28:57] And there's the things I can't remember how we had a brand that had a problem with a shipment they had in from China, whatever came from, you know what I mean? Whatever. Maybe it was probably made in the United States now, you know what I mean? It's all of our stuff. It's like, eh. But anyhow, they had this huge problem with the massive order. And I had, out of 20 of a case, 17 came back. And that meant that I had to take it back to the store.

[00:29:27] And it wasn't all 17 at once, right? It was like... Oh, how frustrating. One month here. Another... This one had like... This month had three. And I'm like, oh my God. You're... It just burnt out. Yeah. You know? So this way, it kind of cuts out. You're just basically the middle person with the link. I mean, they buy it from them. So if they need to return it, they return it to where they bought it from. Oh, yes. So see? There we go. That cuts out a huge problem for us. That's for sure. Yes. You're not shipping anything.

[00:29:56] Like, say all of that. Like, I don't want to do any of that. Like, I talk to a lot of stylists that what they're doing with their retail, because they want to look after their clients, they're going and purchasing it and matching the price that it is online. You know? Because they're like, I want my client to use this. I want to make it easy for them. Like, it comes from such a caring place that we have. Like, it's like, I'll just hook you. I'm going to the supplier. I'll buy it. And, you know, you just have it. A lot of work. I get that. But if that's work that you're not paying, you're not charging for, the driving and the

[00:30:26] buying and that, and you can just make it easier. It's easier. You just send them a link. It's easier. And then you're not, you're probably going to make the same in commission by the time that you discount it, you know, without causing yourself the more stress and the, and the picking up. But what I wanted to say, so that sort of, what I want to say about in the chair, because you mentioned Jason, like this is, you have it on your social media and yes, social media is fantastic for sharing links and creating, you can get paid to, you know, through your

[00:30:54] content, you can create videos about products and then people purchase through the links and then you make money. Great. But one way that I really love for hairstylists and myself included is having it within your salon space because getting out your phone, I don't know if you've ever tried to do that. Like when you're with a client, you try to get out your phone and you know, you're trying to send them something and they're trying to get it. And it's like their foils need to come off and you know, it's just, it's a hot mess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Getting out your phone, you know, like it's, it's, it's hard and got gloves on, like the whole thing.

[00:31:21] So the way I do it in a salon space and the way I teach hairstyles how to do it in the salon space is to take that affiliate code. So I could take my Nordstrom link or my, you know, my K18 link, I've got K18 here, for example. So I could take my K18 link and I print it as a QR code. So there it is on the K18. Ah, right. Yeah. So when the client picks up the product to take the photo, instead of the photo, it will bring up the place that I have recommended to buy it.

[00:31:50] So we'll talk about working within how people shop. It's like they take, they pick it up, oh, they pick it up and go to take a photo of where it is. And because I've got the link over the top. QR code on the, yeah. Yeah, the QR code. And that, all that is, is the connection. And of course it's not working now. Of course, yeah. Thanks for not showing us. It takes them to where I have, get paid for commission.

[00:32:15] So between that and I have this in my salon space, this is much easier than having a giant retail shelf. I have this. So this QR code connects to my online store. So for anyone who's just listening. You have a sign with a QR code. So that way everyone just kind of clicks on that and then straight over to your store. Yep. So that just brings up my shop. Do you have your own website with all of your links and things like that on it or no? You don't need to have a website because even that's too much work for me.

[00:32:44] I feel like that's, you know, like having a website. No, that brings us to my free link tree that has all of my products that I recommend. So you pay everything on your link tree. Okay. Wow. So then clients, while they're sitting in the chair, it has, you know, tap to shop. They can just tap or, you know, scan the code. And then while they're sitting there processing, they can be looking at all the products. And I choose to direct everyone to where they will get the best deal.

[00:33:12] So even if they Googling it after, they're looking for it. It's the same place. I'm telling them the same place. Right. So it will bring them up to an official stockist and they can add to cart and shop while their color's processing without me having to get out my phone and send them a link or like make it clunk. Nice. Nice. Yeah. Because people throw them out.

[00:33:39] I don't hand anybody a business card anymore because they don't. Business cards are like a day of the past, you know? So I actually have on my phone a QR code. That's my business card. And people just uploads it right to your phone. You know what I mean? Because when's the last time you actually took a business card and actually kept it? My Rolodex is full and in the trash bin. Okay. I don't have a Rolodex anymore.

[00:34:07] So your phone is your new Rolodex and you upload everything on there, you know? So I would even do like a QR code and it's so easy now. You just go through and create it and keep it on your phone even, you know? So if you are selling stuff, you know what I mean? Tell a client like, oh, here's my, and they can just, because they have their phone in their hand while they're getting their hair done. And anyhow, they might as well be shopping and making you money, generating you money out there, you know, in your chair as you're talking about the tools that you're using on their hair. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:34:37] And the same with makeup artists, Paula. Like I was a makeup artist for a long time and clients would always ask, you know, what's this foundation that you're using on me? You know, can I see it? Same thing. If you're a working artist, you can have the shade connected to the QR code. So your customers can just scan that, add to cart, you know? Like you can help, same with like sending people their bridal recommendations. Like there's so many things, right? You can do with QR codes and links is like, yeah, it's like instead of having that many

[00:35:06] SKUs in makeup and cosmetics, I mean, you're dealing with thousands of SKUs, thousands and thousands. And so to have that space in a salon and the storage space for all the SKUs is so difficult. I mean, I've gone through three different cosmetic lines and I'm all, I just, I can't do that anymore. And then everybody can just run over to Ulta and I can say, okay, now go to Ulta and get this and this and this and this. And they, they do. But it'd be nice to make money off of that because I'm missing out, honey. Oof.

[00:35:33] I just say if you're a salon owner, don't get pissed off at the fucking information we're giving people. What you should be doing is tearing down your fucking retail wall and putting up a QR code and put in an extra station. Maybe two extra stations at that fucking point, right? That way you're generating more money per square foot inside your fucking business. And that way you're not carrying retail where people are just going to buy it online anyhow. You know? So they're, yeah. Don't get undercut. Go take the cut. Yeah.

[00:36:04] Go get that cut. Yeah. Yeah. And I think as well, like that's it. This is not, if retail, if salon retail works for you, I want that for you. Great. Awesome. Cool. Yeah. How about you? I'm not here to, you know, to slash that if it's working. Like sometimes people are like, I sell head through it. I'm like, amazing. I want you hairdressers to make money. That's all I want. So this is, this does not have to be a one or the other situation.

[00:36:29] So to the salon owner or to someone who does have a shelf full of stock that is like, this works for me. I would love you to, to open your mind, to think about every time your client is not within your salon space. So yes, they might buy from you in the salon space, but you are giving up every opportunity to support them and sell them recommendations when they're not in your chair, because you have no way to market to them towards in email. You have no way to sell your retail online.

[00:36:58] You have, you know, like there, it doesn't have to be one or the other. You can do both. You can do either, you could do whatever you want. I just want people to, hairdressers to know this is a possibility. And if you have an account with a big brand, just look up if they have an affiliate account direct with them. And why aren't you being offered it? And can you use that in conjunction with the retail on your shelf? Can that give you an opportunity to sell your retail through your content? You know, like this is the questions and the opportunities.

[00:37:26] I just think in 2026, like we can use our expertise in so many different ways and especially digitally. That's yeah, there's so many opportunities, but I'm not bashing anything like go. You know what I'm saying? If you're selling like 10 grand a week, you know what I mean? Or whatever it is in retail inside your salon and that works for you. Fucking do it, man. That's amazing. Go on. You know what it's saying? Hey, you have to be doing this. But here's the thing though.

[00:37:50] People still buy online because I used to sell a shit ton and then COVID hit and it changed fucking everything. Everything changed. You know what I mean? But not only that, but what also happened was that these distributors and these product companies went, started going direct to the consumer because they lost so much money during that time and they needed to recoup it. And they did not want to share it with a lot of the hairstylists.

[00:38:17] You know, as I remember with me, when they were asking me when I was doing education, if I would do it for a cheaper price and I'm like, nope. Like, well, we lost a lot of money during COVID. I'm like, so did I, dude. No, if you want a majority of money, the cost. Okay. When, when those, when the, when the products were coming over from China and they were out in the ocean and the shipping containers for like a year and they were sitting there in the heat boiling, well, eventually I got my product line in and they said, okay, we finally got it in.

[00:38:47] I got so many products that were sludge because they sat there on the heat and I tried to return it to my beauty supply houses and they're all, no, we're not taking returns. I lost thousands. Yeah. So that's, that's the thing that, I mean, it changed the way people purchase things. You know what I mean? It changed even now, I mean, people that would not go through and talk on FaceTime now talk on FaceTime.

[00:39:13] Now they're all like this in front of their goddamn phones because they wouldn't do that before. You know what I mean? So it, it's a whole cultural shift and either you got to get with it, you know what I mean? Because it will pass you up and other people will go through and take advantage of this and you will lose out if you're not doing it. So if you're selling the 10 grand a week or something like that inside your shop, great. Like get an affiliate link on top of it and see how much more money you can actually possibly make on top of that. Yes. Because you never know. Yes, that make the content around it. Yeah.

[00:39:43] And I think you're so right. Even with customer behavior, I know myself, it's, you know, if you get your hair done or if you get something done that costs, you know, a few hundred dollars, if you purchase your shampoo and your treatment like three days later, it's not as expensive because you didn't do it the same day. Like that's just like girl math. Like there's things like that where like, oh, I just want to, you know, lay in bed and just shop. Like it's, like you said, it's, it's so different now than what it was.

[00:40:13] I think it's not like clients aren't doing it to us on purpose. You know, it's just how we shop is different and how we think about shopping is different and how we calculate money feels different. Like retail therapy is different. You know what I mean? Now you do it from your couch, you know, it's like. So yes. So you should have a dog in the fight. That's what I think. It's like, yeah, it's like, are you going to compete on the, are you, if we're competing when your client is on the couch, scrolling their phone to buy, are you there?

[00:40:41] And for the answer for most hairstylists is no. You are expecting them to wait to see that viral TikTok that sells the, you know, that sells the shit out of that product. And they're expecting them to go, no, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait until my appointment in six weeks and I'm going to go between the hours of nine and five and I'm going to buy that. Like, it's just an unrealistic expectation. It's not going to happen. You need to be there. No, no. A lot of my clients, they forget, they forget to buy inside the salon.

[00:41:10] They, they're at home in their bathroom or in the shower. They realize I don't have this anymore. And I just went to the hairdresser literally yesterday and I forgot to buy it. What do they do? Boom, boom, boom. They start buying it online and it's at their house within like what? Now, even here, especially because I'm in the land of Amazon in Seattle, you know what I mean? It could be your house in an hour. Or Amazon Prime can get anything to your house in an hour. In an hour. You pay a couple extra bucks and you'll have, you'll have shampoo in an hour. Yeah. So yeah, you're right. That's another opportunity.

[00:41:40] That's another opportunity. That's, I'm going all day. I love this so much, but that's where instead of, you know, you think, give clients samples of the shampoo that you're using, print your QR code and put it on the sample and say, go home, you know, wash your hair in four days when you wash it and realize it is the shampoo that is making your hair so amazing. Scan that code and buy it. Like, ah, nice. Wow. So you're hitting, you know, from a sales point of view, you're hitting the customer at the point of, um, like when they don't have access, you know, when you leave the salon and your

[00:42:08] hair is perfect, it's like, you might not understand, you know, you're not deprived. That's what I'm trying to say. You're not deprived. You're not hitting them at that moment of being deprived. Whereas when they're, they're going, oh my God, I've got none of that. And I want more. It's like, we need to be there for that moment. And that moment isn't happening within the salon anymore. It's, you know, you're just satisfied. Adopication is all you're doing. Yeah. That's when they buy it. Like right then, you know? So, so get a link tree going, get a thousand followers. I'm going to go through guys.

[00:42:36] I'm going to put all this stuff inside the show notes. Okay. Cause when this first started, I didn't know shit about fuck. And now I know shit about fuck. It's going to be the hard part for me. I am so tech, not savvy. Oh my gosh. It's a difficult world. You gotta get on board. We have to get on board now. I mean, otherwise you're going to get left behind. You know what I mean? And this is your money. And one small step at a time. That's what I say. It can feel very overwhelming. It's like, I'm a millennial.

[00:43:06] I'm a millennial at a home salon. I'm not like, you know, a tech savvy, you know, 20 year old. Like it's not like that. I also have a free seminar that has exactly it broken down. It's 15 minutes. I made sure there was no fluff because, you know, hairdressers, we don't want to hear it. It's like, it's 15 minutes. It explains exactly the things that we've covered and how it works and all the places in the world that you can get started with this. So where are you doing this? When do you do this? Online. I'll send it to you guys. I'll send it to you guys.

[00:43:35] It's free, free, no obligation, free seminar just to help everyone get up to that. Like, okay, I can get a link from somewhere and I can start seeing how I can use this within my business. That's my commitment. I want to get every single hairdresser started with this. All right. Well, send me the link. I'm going to put everything in the show notes, you guys. So that way everyone has it. That way we, Paul and I have it. So we can go through and use it as well though too. Victoria, thank you so much for sharing all this information with us. We really appreciate it. Yes. Thank you. Yeah.

[00:44:05] All right. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much. Follow Victoria, you guys. I'm going to go through and have her socials in the show notes. We're going to go through and pop it. We're going to all week long after this episode of Ayers, we'll be going through and having her as a collaborator. So please follow her, go to her seminar and check out all the affiliate links as well as to yourself. All right. Thank you. Thank you for the past to the future. Thank you. Woo.

[00:44:39] Let's keep the shit rolling with shitology. Hey, Jason, if you up your sales, I will pay you. You get paid 10%. And it's 10% not just investing in yourself, into your clients and building the trust and the rapport. And it's worth it. Don't you think 10% is worth that kind of effort with your clients? 10% of what? Of your sales. That's it? Oh no, that's fantastic. Fuck that. I'm going to fill you.

[00:45:09] Yeah. With that, stay shitty. And see you next time. I'm going to shoot you in the dick. Hey, listener persons. If you're enjoying this podcast, please give us a rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or Amazon Prime Podcasts or wherever you get your favorite shit. It definitely helps out our algorithm. Also, check out our shitty posts on Instagram at ShitIToldMyHairDresser. Where you can give us a follow and like some of our content.

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