I took a training class with my Matrix team online and have been pressed upon to create "content". I have some feeling regarding this and my job and I am going to try to sort through it in the following few paragraphs.
Firstly, let me say that I have nothing negative to say about other stylists and content creators. They are wonderful and I respect that they are taking the time to be relevant online. I just don't feel like it is for me. My Instagram account (@coiffeuseextraordinaire) is for my part a way to have an online portfolio. It is nothing flashy, I don't do what is "trendy" or try to keep up with the algorithm. I don't want to.
I am perfectly satisfied to show what I do in a relatively "unexciting" kind of way. Maybe I should try to create more dynamic pictures to showcase my work. I am not as interested in becoming a photographer. I am a hairstylist, I think that my work should speak for itself. However, that does also mean that I am not flashy or doing anything that is particularly attention grabbing. Am I just "too old" and set in my ways of being? Maybe. I also think that I do enough work just in my daily life. I am very content to be sent clients by word of mouth. I know that I am talented enough to do that. My clients appreciate my skills and that is what I strive for.
Now to the downside of my decisions regarding social media. It was mentioned that if I want to be considered for more education opportunities, then I need to have more "current" social media presence. Making dynamic images, adding text, doing Reels or Tiktoks, hosting lives, being all kinds of out there. And who is my audience? Fellow hairdressers? Potential clients? Both? None of the above? That is also a situation, since I don't have any defined audience that I am trying to connect with.
So, with my choice to not participate in all the nonsense, I may be limiting my chances to do the education part. I will still share my work and when I am going to classes and teaching, but I don't want to make a "side hustle" out of social media. I think it is far too saturated to even make a dent. Maybe this is a little "sour grapes", but I am just a simple hairdresser that wants to do good work and make my clients happy.
How do I go about creating a balance? I am not willing to put in the effort to create videos, at this moment. I think I will work to improve my pictures to something a bit more dynamic and less stationary(back, side, front). I feel this is a good compromise for the social media machine. But I will focus on my clients first and foremost.
