 Hello, good morning, welcome back to another vlog. So I did a Q and A video last week. I had multiple questions that were asking me about how I get content and like as a hairstylist, you know, how do I get content of my clients? How do I come up with ideas for content and what equipment do I use and that kind of stuff. And I was gonna do like a separate sit-down video and share all that, but I was like, you know, it would probably be more interesting and more helpful for me to actually just show you rather than tell you. But today's kind of a perfect day for content because I don't have to go to the salon until noon. So if it was in plenty of time in the morning to take my time getting ready so that I can record content as I go. Cause obviously if it's a day where I am pressed for time, I can't be bothered like setting up the camera and moving it around and getting all these artsy shots and whatnot. So when I'm getting content for my YouTube channel, I do use an actual camera. You can see yourself right there. And I always have everything that I use is always linked in the description of every video. So this particular camera, it's a Canon EOS something. When I'm vlogging, I just use the standard lens that comes with the camera for sit-down videos. Sometimes I'll swap it out for a nicer lens so that it looks crisper. And the background is like a little more blurred, but I'll share that later because I am going to be recording a sit-down YouTube video possibly later today. We'll see and I'll show you my setup for that when the time comes. But as far as getting my content for Instagram and or TikTok, I get all of that kind of content with my phone. I just use the back camera on my phone. I think this is like a 12 max pro. It's not the newest model by any means. This tripod is from Amazon. I have quite a few different tripods. This one's nice because you can put your phone or a camera on it. I have one that is just a phone tripod, which I keep in my car. And that's the one that I'll bring to the salon with me. I like to have this one at home because I can, depending on what I'm doing, I can put my camera on it, I can put my phone on it. And I have the versatility. But yeah, I will link this specific one down below because it can get very compact. So you can even use it as like a selfie stick type situation or you can put it on like your countertop. So yeah, I was just recording some like morning routine, get ready with me clips. I think I'm gonna do like a get ready to go to the salon with me video. I like getting those little B roll clips. Like I took a clip of me opening up the curtains and me walking into the bathroom and then brushing my teeth. And once I have all of the clips for that get ready with me video, you know, I'll put those together, I'll make my reel out of that. But then I'll keep all of the raw footage of those individual clips because then I can reuse that in some other way. So it's really good. I have found the best way to be able to get as much content as possible and consistently have stuff to post on a regular basis is just get as much B roll footage as you can. So even if it's just a clip of you like spring perfume on yourself or like curling your hair or something like that, you can then use that kind of footage, throw some music over top of it, throw some text, you know what I mean? Like if you ever scroll through and you see those reels where it's like it's just some random clip but there's like engaging text over top of it. It's like it doesn't really matter what the video is of necessarily. You just need to use something as kind of like your background template. For example, this is one of my best performing reels on Instagram. I just recorded a clip of me washing my face and just use that as like my background footage through some text over top and some music and boom, easy. And then what's nice is like as I'm scrolling through my Instagram feed, if I see something that inspires me and gives me an idea, like, oh, that's a really cool prompt for a reel or that's a cool audio or whatever, I already have all this video footage to choose from so I don't have to be like, crap, now I have to get up, get ready so that I can film a clip for this video. I already have all this footage that I can choose from saved on my phone. And like you can reuse stuff. No one is gonna notice. No one's gonna care. I mean, obviously you don't wanna just like keep reposting the same exact thing over and over and over but like you can use the same like stock footage and just change the music, change the text, stuff like that. Cause if I had to be like recording fresh video footage every single time I was posting an Instagram reel, I would only be posting like maybe once a week, you know? But I try to post almost every day or like as often as many times throughout the week as I can. But now what I'm gonna do is get a clip of me walking into my closet and looking for an outfit to wear. So I'm gonna set up my phone, make sure I'm recording with the back camera. You can use the front camera, sometimes I'll do that if I really need to see what I'm recording but the back camera is always going to be higher quality. Okay, that's recording. Okay, now I'm gonna take the phone and I don't always do stuff with like this much detail. Don't feel like you have to do that. But this for me is fun, like it's creative and obviously I'm not doing this every single day that I'm getting ready for work because there's some days where I just can't be bothered but sometimes there's days like today where I'm just really in the mood to do it and I have the extra time and it's fun for me. So, you know, get creative and if there's people that you follow online, I don't ever encourage to just like completely rip someone else off obviously but get inspired by other people that you follow and content that you're seeing. And when I see something that is cool or that I wanna like recreate in a way, put my own spin on it, I will save it and I have so many notes in my phone when I get an idea because that's the thing like with creative stuff like that, if you get an idea for something, if you're not executing it right there and then at least for me, if I'm waiting to like the next day or something, I will completely forget. So I try to make as many detailed notes as I can, screenshot stuff, save stuff. Okay, so now I'm going to just hold my phone and I'm gonna get a clip like sorting through my clothes and pulling out what I'm gonna be wearing. Now I'm gonna get a clip. I'm gonna like toss each item onto the bed. Okay, now I gotta kind of hurry up because I didn't take into account that I was gonna be vlogging as well. Now I have like 20-ish minutes to finish getting ready. So I'm just gonna set up my phone. I'm just gonna hit record on my phone. That way it can be recording and I'm obviously editing this down so I'll just get little clips of me like applying each step and I'll talk to you in the meantime and just make sure that I have a couple seconds of silence in between. But anyway, today should be a very easy, relatively quick day. I have a new client coming in who reached out to me on Instagram. That's the thing. I'll talk about that a little bit more later on but I know it can be overwhelming, feeling like great. Now not only do I have to be like good at doing hair, gotta get my two seconds of quiet. But now it's like there's all this pressure to get content, grow your social media following and whatever. Instagram followers do not equal clients. Just because you have a lot of followers on social media doesn't mean that you're gonna be booked and busy. It might look good, like ooh, look at the numbers. This person has a lot of followers. They must be really successful and hard to get in with and whatever, like I guess if you're more concerned about your image, sure. But the reality is when people follow you on Instagram they can be from all over the planet. There's a good chance that a lot of those people are never going to meet you in real life and are never going to be a client of yours. So unless you're trying to become an influencer don't worry about followers. So if you wanna hop on the trends cause you think it'll be fun, go for it. But don't overwhelm yourself and stress yourself out. And you're like oh my god I have to keep up with all these trends and I need to worry about trending audio and all that kind of stuff. Just think about like your ideal clientele. What would they be interested in seeing? And I'll always think about conversations, like real life conversations that I have at the salon with clients. What kind of stuff are they asking me? Like what hair questions do they have for me? Make a post out of that, you know? They're like oh why do you need to use a toner? What does a toner do? Boom, there's a post idea for you. What's toner? How long does it last? How does it work? Show up before and after? Or a big one that I love to do is showing how the hair can look so different, how it looks so dark when it's wet and freshly toned versus then when you dry it a few minutes later. Cause that's a big one that happens in the salon a lot too, you know? You have a client, you bring them back to the chair after you just toned them and they're like kind of panicked a little bit and they start like oh my God why does my hair look so dark? And you're like don't worry just wait till I dry it. You dry it, they're like oh my God it looks great I love it, it's perfect. That's something that happens pretty often, right? Boom, there's another post. So what I like to post and what I have found is I like to have conversations with my clients when people come in and they're like oh yeah I found you from Instagram, I'm like oh what post? How'd you originally find me and then what was it that really sealed the deal for you that you ended up booking an appointment? Survey your clients. So that way you know exactly what is actually working for you. But what clients have told me is they love the educational stuff that I post because it really shows that I know what I'm talking about and it makes them feel like they can trust me, makes them feel like they can be relaxed. And I think sharing some personal stuff about yourself people wanna see what you look like. Before they book an appointment, like especially if you're gonna be doing a service where they're gonna be sitting in your chair for a few hours they wanna know who they're gonna be sitting with. And I think it's helpful when there's a face behind the profile. So if you have been stuck in this rut of just constantly posting hair like before and afters that's good too obviously. I mean people wanna be able to see your work and know like okay you know what you're doing. But they also wanna know who you are. They wanna feel connected to you. And that can be the determining factor. Like if there's you know three different stylists that they're looking at in the area and all three of you have amazing work but there's something that they can relate to you on like you're a mom and so are they. Maybe the other stylists aren't. Maybe that's something that they feel a connection to you over. And that might end up being the determining factor. Or in my case I live in North Carolina but I'm originally from the Northeast. I've had a lot of clients that are new to the area looking for a stylist and they end up booking with me and feel comfortable with me because we're from the same area. Or like my curly hair clients that book with me because I have curly hair myself. So that's why I also like to share the like get ready with me type stuff. Things that aren't always necessarily hair related or related to the work that I do. But they show a little bit of like my own personal style, my personality. But that's gonna work in your favor too because that's how you're gonna draw in clients that have a similar vibe to you and that you're gonna really click well with. And people that are gonna be more likely to stay loyal clients to you. It just makes it more personal. I think I'm just gonna do a little side part and call it a day. My hair looks a little bit crazy because I washed it yesterday and then I brushed it out but I didn't put any curl products in it or anything and then I slept on it. So the curls are not really as coiled. I'm gonna get dressed really quick. I'll be right back. Okay, I am ready. I got all of my clips. Here's my outfit. Don't mind the random clothes hanging up. I did laundry last night so certain things I needed to hang dry. So the dress and the leather jacket are very old and they're both from H&M. These boots are new. I got them recently from Target but I am gonna head out of here. I will see you at the salon. So this is what my client's hair looked like before. She was normally going in every six weeks to get a permanent color on her roots to cover the grays and then highlights in between. We talked about trying to transition to something a little bit more low maintenance because she doesn't really have a lot of gray. So I was like, if you don't really want to have to be coming in every six weeks, you don't have to. So yeah, I did some highlights with some low lights, mixed it up so that I could kind of blend out that harsh line of demarcation and then I did a root smudge with an all over toner and all of these clips, I tried to get clips throughout the entire process and these are all clips I can use for future reels but this was her finished hair. But my client was super, super nice and it was nice because since I only had her, I didn't have to rush or worry about running behind so I was able to get lots of content. So I got clips of her hair before, obviously. I got some clips with my, you know, I said at my tripod, I got some clips of her head so you can see me foiling and doing the low lights. Then I got clips, I turned the phone to face me so I could have some clips of me working. That's gonna be really good, like B roll footage that I can use for multiple different reels in the future. I didn't do it today, but I also will get clips, like I'll film in the back when I'm mixing the color, I'll get clips of me mixing up the color. I will get clips of me pulling out the foils, shampooing, like every little step of the process, blow drying, curling, and I'll change it up. Sometimes I will point the camera at the client and just get clips of the hair and what I'm doing and then other times, like I said, I'll turn it and face me and get clips of me working as I'm doing everything. And if the client feels weird or uncomfortable, you can position your phone, like I turn them and I'll just record what I'm doing in the back or something like that. So that way their face isn't in it, they don't have to feel awkward or uncomfortable, like they're being put on social media. And depending on the day, like some days the salon is so packed full with people, it's super busy, so I just don't feel comfortable having my tripod out because I'm scared it's gonna get in the way or make other people feel uncomfortable if they're afraid they're gonna be in the background or something like that. So not every day is ideal for getting content when you work in a busy salon, but when I know it's gonna be a day where it's a little slower, I make sure that I take advantage of that and I get as much bulk content as possible. And if you're just starting out and you don't have a full book of clients, that's fine. You can literally make a hundred reels just from one day and one appointment, one client because of all the things that I showed you, like getting ready in the morning, you can do a video of like what I wore to work, how you style your hair, what are your favorite products to use at the salon? What's your hair care routine? What do you recommend? Like, oh, here, you know, my favorite products, if your hair's bleached, here's my favorite products, if you have curly hair, you can do stuff like that. You don't even need to actually have a client in your video. I have clips saved in my phone for months ago that I will still reuse. So yeah, that was my day. I am gonna heat up these leftovers. I thought I was gonna maybe film that sit-down video today, but honestly, I'm just tired of talking. I'm gonna save that for tomorrow because I'm gonna be home all day tomorrow. I'm just gonna take it easy the rest of the day. I'm gonna sort through that content on my phone, put together a reel or two, maybe edit some stuff and like save some audios, get some ideas for the rest of it. I will see you in the morning. It's the next day I look crazy, but this is realistically how I look on the days when I am just home doing like admin behind the scenes type stuff. Right now my schedule has been pretty steady for a while there. It really fluctuated and I didn't have a super set strict schedule. So each week would look different, but lately I take clients up as long on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Sunday, Monday are my days off. That is my weekend. And then Wednesday, Thursday and like sometimes Friday morning, depending on how busy of a week it is and how much I was able to get done Wednesday and Thursday will be my admin days where I like edit videos, film sit down videos if I'm doing that, plan out content for the week. And then, you know, I still, it's hard when you like work for yourself and you have a creative job. It's hard to be like, yep, my working hours are this time to this time these days because I feel like my brain is constantly working. So even though I say like, oh, Sunday and Mondays are my days off. It's my weekend. I usually will still end up answering emails or you know, I'm still posting reels on Instagram. I'm still responding to comments. I'm still thinking of ideas. I feel like it never fully turns off, but because I love what I do and I'm passionate about it, it doesn't necessarily feel like I'm working. It, to me, it feels like I barely work, but realistically, if you add it up, all of the like minutes and hours that I spend doing things that are technically for my business, it's probably well over 40 hours a week easily. But it doesn't feel like it to me. Oh my God, my client from yesterday just texted me and she said that she's very happy with her hair and she's been getting lots of compliments. That's so nice. Anyway, I'm gonna go shower and get ready and I'll be right back. I'm ready. Of course, by the time, you know, I shower, put on makeup, blow-dried my hair, all that kind of stuff, it got really cloudy again. So we don't have the best natural light, but we're gonna make it work. I do have artificial lights, so I'm gonna set everything up, see how it looks, and then if I feel like I need a little additional lighting to help with the quality, I might have to throw on an artificial light or two, but I am just getting my area set up. I've been filming in the guest bedroom, which this is gonna be also my office at some point. I just have not set it up yet. Since the windows are over here, I can use the natural light, so I usually sit around here and then that is what's in the background behind me. So I need to figure out how I want to decorate that eventually, but for now I've just been taking that faux olive leaf arrangement that I keep on the dining room table, and I've just been putting it in here just to add a little something, taking one of the dining chairs, and that is what I'm gonna sit on. And then I'm gonna pop on this lens. This is a Sigma 30 millimeter. I got it on Amazon. I will link it down below. This lens is super good quality, and it makes the background really blurry. So I like to use this one for sit-down videos. And then I also have an external microphone, also from Amazon, literally all the equipment I use is from Amazon. And this is just like a makeshift mic stand, basically. This is, it's actually for a light, but I mean you can use it for whatever. So I kinda just rigged this a little bit. A distance. This is a little bit too bright, and it's creating a shadow. So I'm gonna throw, I don't have like a proper light cover. I'm just gonna throw a pillowcase over it to diffuse it. Yeah, that just makes it less harsh. So I want it to just kind of look like natural daylight. And he's so good. He's so used to me filming and recording and stuff. So whenever I'm doing that, he just lays down quietly, lets me work. This is what my filming setup looks like. I'm gonna film now and I'll see you when I'm done. I just finished recording my video. It went very well. By the time I'm watching this vlog, it'll already be up. It is my tips for new hairstylist video. And I feel like I'm getting my spark back and I'm falling back in love with everything. Like with doing hair and making content. I don't know, this is like the same feeling I had back in like 2020 and 2021. I was like really, really passionate. I just had all these ideas. And I went through like a weird funk, I guess, with a lot of things changing in my life and figuring out where I wanted to live and personal relationships and whatnot. And I feel like I'm back at a place where I'm feeling settled. And I think being in this apartment too and just having the space again to make content, I'm getting excited again, which feels really good. Definitely let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see in the future. Any video topics you want me to do? I am currently working on a few different things. So eventually, like I said, I do want to get that second bedroom set up to be an office so I can work in there and have like a dedicated workspace. But lately I have just been working at the dining room table, which I mean, it works for now. These chairs are actually really comfortable and I have a lot of space to spread out, which is nice. So what I'm doing today, I have a few different things. Number one, I have a YouTube video, the video actually that I filmed yesterday. I need to edit it and upload it at some point today. I also, I was checking my emails and I had a new form submission. I have an appointment form. I reached out to her, we've been texting back and forth so I am getting her booked. And then the last thing that I'm gonna be doing today is I wanna post another Instagram reel and I thought that I would just screen record as I'm doing it so I can also just show you the process because we've talked about how I come up with ideas for the content, how I get the content. Now I wanna show you what I do with it. So let me record my screen. Okay, so like I said, I save audios. So if you go to your saved folder, you can see all the audios that you saved. So as I will just be scrolling, I will literally just go through all my reels and if I see an audio that I like or I've been getting served a lot of social media marketing people that are like, here are the trending audios or audios that I predict are going to be trending. So if I see something that I'm like, oh, okay, that's interesting. I would click on the audio that's at the bottom of that video. If I see that an audio is trending, but it also has like less than 10,000 reels that have used that, then usually I'm like, ooh, okay, that's good, I definitely wanna save that. So I'll click that little flag in the top corner. I'll go to my saved folder, pull up my audios, see which ones I have, what I wanna use. I know what reel I wanna post right now, like what I want it to look like and what I want it to say. So I just need to find good audio for it. Yeah, this is perfect. So that's like very bivy and chill. I'm gonna go into, I'm gonna pull up the footage when I was doing my client the other day. I'm gonna use footage of me working because this reel is gonna be about me and not necessarily about hair. So I wanna make sure you can see my face cause it's gonna be a more personal type of post. And I'm gonna find a good clip. When I'm working and I'm like in the zone, sometimes I get resting bitch face. So I wanna make sure it's a clip where like, I look like I'm smiling and I look like I actually like what I'm doing. I'm just gonna cut that down to like, you know, a few seconds or whatever. I'm gonna save it as a new clip. That way I still have like the original full audio. And then I'm going to bump down the exposure a little bit. And I'm also gonna put the saturation down a little bit. Yeah, perfect. Okay. So now I have this clip that I'm gonna use as my background. Go back to Instagram. I have my audio already pulled up. This is what I'm using. Nice and chill. And it's a trending one and it doesn't have, like hasn't been used that many times yet. So that's perfect. Select my clip. Oh, and I just realized actually, I had this one planned out and I wrote down the text that I wanted to use as an overlay like on the actual video but I didn't type up the caption yet. So normally like I said, I will have the captions pre-made in my notes app. And then I'll just copy and paste. But this time I'm gonna have to write it from scratch. Let's cut this down because I also don't want this to be like crazy long. I'm just gonna cut that down to 10 seconds. And then I'm gonna add my text overlay. After taking a break from hair, I had to start over from scratch. Here's what I'm doing to rebuild my clientele. Read the caption. Give me a second to think of my caption. Then I'll post it. Okay, I finally finished typing out my caption and I posted it. So it's up. If you are following me on Instagram, you probably have already seen it. But that just kind of shows you a little bit about like the process of how I actually make my Instagram reels. And honestly, that's all I've been posting. I haven't been posting any photos on my actual page because I've been finding personally, when I do, it doesn't seem like people are seeing them or engaging with it as much. Like reels really, like it's all just about the short form videos. This is like something that God, I could just talk about forever because there's so much that goes into it. It's a lot and it's constantly changing too. That's the part of it that like gets a little overwhelming. But don't overthink it. Just have fun with it. And the more you start doing it, the more it'll click and the easier it'll get and the more ideas will just come to you. That's what I do and how I do it. So behind the scenes of a work week in my life. I'm gonna end this video here though because I need to get back to doing my work. But thank you guys so much for watching. I hope that this video was helpful. Let me know if you like this and if you wanna see more behind the scenes type stuff or if there's anything that you have questions on or anything that you guys wanna see. Let me know and I'll see you in my next video. Bye.