Have you ever wanted to hone your management skills? Or maybe learn what makes a beautiful portrait photograph? These days you can go online and learn pretty much any skill or occupation at your convenience, and from the comfort of your home. The main issue is knowing which course to take. So we decided to scour the world wide web and find 10 alternative online salon courses that could benefit you and your business.
Related | What Happens When You Invest In Salon Staff Training
Alternative Online Salon Courses
1. “Writing That Sells”: Effective Messages To Promote Your Brand And Products
You already have a fantastic service, and you sell great products. You know as much as that, but for some reason, you’re still getting fewer sales than competitors? Check out these Skillshare & Udemy courses that can help you tell your product’s story and draw more customers to your door. And, worry not! Don’t expect the leading salesy statements here!
Courses: Copywriting Masterclass – Writing that Sells (Skillshare) or Copywriting: How To Be A Crazy Good Copywriter (Udemy)
Additional Reading: David Barnett’s Proven To Work 3-Step Retail Selling Technique
2. Creating A Business Plan For Your Salon or Spa
Like any other business, your salon or spa needs a well-crafted business plan. If you want to apply for a bank loan or you’re trying to get an investment from a new business partner, or even thinking about opening your second salon, these two courses are super handy to get the basics down.
Courses: Create a Damn Good Business Plan!? (Udemy) or How To Write A Business Plan (Treehouse)
Additional Readings: Top Insights For Salon Success From The Phorest Salon Owners Summit 2018, Expanding With A Second Location: Is Your Salon Truly Ready?
3. Accounting 101
You may not manage your accounts, but these online courses will help you get a better understanding of what your accountant does – meaning you know if the advice they are giving you is legit and helps you best manage your business.
Courses: Introduction to Financial Accounting (Coursera) or Financial Accounting Fundamentals (Coursera)
Additional Reading: The True Costs Of Opening A Salon That Will Thrive
Facebook Group: Knowing Your Numbers (Gloria Murray)
4. Public Speaking
Having an open day at the salon? Talking to your team to motivate them? Making a presentation to a bank or at an industry event? With these courses, you’ll feel like you suddenly have your personal public speaking coach at home!
Courses: Introduction to Public Speaking (Coursera) or The Complete Presentation and Public Speaking/Speech Course
Additional Reading: How Salon Meetings Can Truly Help Motivate Your Team
5. Inspirational Leadership
As a salon owner, leadership skills are crucial to the success of your business. However, it is not something that many people go out of their way to develop. Today, one of the main questions a manager or an owner should ask themselves is: “How can we bridge the gap between generations and create the one business everyone wants to work for?”
This course is designed to help you develop ‘a genuine, generous, and generative approach to leadership, focusing on qualities such as self-awareness, confidence, empathy, resilience, and responsibility.’
Course: Inspirational Leadership: Leading with Sense Specialization (Coursera)
Additional Readings: David Barnett On Inspired Leadership And Shaping The Dream Workplace (Podcast), How To Build Trust As A Leader In The Salon And Spa Industry, 6 Management Styles And How They Apply To Salons And Spas, When The “Fingers Crossed” Salon Management Style Isn’t Suitable
Click the image to save your seat on Valerie Delforge last installment of the Salon Management series (April 11th, 2018, 2:00 pm GMT)!
6. HR/ Recruitment
If you’re not careful, sourcing, interviewing and hiring employees can take up way too much time, resources and efforts. A good hiring process, in turn, avoids common pitfalls, saves money and hires the best person for the job. Doesn’t that sound like the dream?
Course: Recruiter Training – Hire Top Employees in 30 days (Udemy)
Additional Readings: Sam Pearce On The Current Recruitment Crisis In The Hair And Beauty Industry (Podcast), Saad Aslam On Strategies For Retaining Employees And Minimising Turnover, 7 Concrete Salon Interview Techniques To Ensure You Hire The Best-Of-The-Best, Keeping Staff Engagement High In An Operational Industry, Hiring Great Salon Staff: Why You Shouldn’t Call A Reference
7. Social Psychology
This isn’t marketing. This course is all about understanding the motivations and behavior of people in groups, society and at work. Topics include decision making, persuasion, group behaviour, personal attraction, and factors that promote health and well-being.
Course: Psychology at Work (Coursera)
Additional Readings: 5 Expert Tips For Improving Salon Team Morale And Overall Business, 7 Daily Habits Of Happy And Successful Salon Owners
8. Mobile Photography Course
Photos and graphics are incredibly important aspects of your business’s marketing these days. But not all of us has the money or the time to dedicate to buying a professional camera and learning how to operate it. Learn the basics of photography from smartphone to DSLR! Or, take a portrait photography course and learn how to take amazing photographs of your clients when they are looking & feeling their absolute best. In fact, you could even set-up a little area with some lights and a backdrop to enhance their “look good feel great” feeling.
These courses will not only help you take quality photos on your smartphone or camera, but will also show you how to edit them to achieve the very best results!
Courses: Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR Specialization (Coursera), Fundamentals of Digital Image and Video Processing (Coursera), Photography Composition & Portrait Photography Masterclass (Udemy), Portrait Photography Masterclass, All About Headshots (Udemy)
Additional Readings: Phorest’s Guide To Taking The Perfect Salon Photos, Salon Marketing Strategies: Phorest Launches Before & After Photos!, 3 Photography Lighting Styles For Stunning Salon Portraits
9. Graphic Design
Graphic design is everywhere, every day. We see it both on screen and in print because it’s one of the best ways to communicate a message to an audience. Sometimes it’s just an image, and other times, there is typography involved. Whatever it is, there’s a science behind it. Sounds interesting? Check out this Coursera program on graphic design and start making all things visual in your salon or spa!
Course: Graphic Design Specialization (Coursera)
Additional Readings: Top 2017 Design Trends And Inspiration For Your Salon Logo, Designing The Best Logo For Your Salon Style
10. Interior Design
It can be tricky to create a cohesive look that is representative of your style, but when it comes down to your salon or spa’s success, some things just have to be done. Most would simply hire an interior designer, but if it’s something you’re into, why not take a course and do up your business yourself? Imagine the feeling of accomplishment after something like that!
Course: How to Work with Interior Design Styles Like a Pro, How to Design a Room in 10 Easy Steps
Additional Readings: Top Salon Lighting Tips To Complement Your Interior Design, 7 Salon Decor Tricks To Make Your Reception Feel Spacious, Display Your Salon Personality With Outdoor Signs
And there you have it! Ten alternative salon courses that can help you develop the skills that your competitors don’t even know they’re missing! Oh and speaking of salon courses, don’t forget that as a Phorest Salon Software client, you can always book yourself into one of our Phorest Training classes to ensure that you get the very best out of your software; email <[email protected]>!
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Thanks for reading! #LetsGrow
