170. Marketing Strategies for Barbers

Barber College Success

About the Guest:
Joe McKenna: Joe McKenna is the founder of Cloudwise Academy, a platform that specializes in teaching marketing and AI skills to local businesses. He is also the creator of Crushingit AI, a program designed to empower small businesses to excel in marketing using artificial intelligence. Joe has over 15 years of experience in the digital marketing space and is passionate about making modern marketing techniques accessible and effective for everyone.
Episode Summary:
In this illuminating episode of Barber College Success, host Craig Charles is joined by Joe McKenna, founder of Cloudwise Academy, and barbers Ammi Fields and Jordan Barr. The discussion centers on innovative marketing strategies for barbers, the transformative power of AI in business, and practical steps to build a sustainable brand from scratch.
The episode opens with Craig Charles emphasizing the importance of efficient marketing for barbers and the challenges faced in creating and managing content. Joe McKenna introduces Cloudwise Academy and Crushingit AI, detailing how AI can revolutionize marketing strategies for local businesses. The conversation transitions to practical marketing tips, including the critical first steps of setting up a Google Business profile and developing a website. Ammi and Jordan share their personal experiences, highlighting the importance of branding and consistency in the barbering industry.
The latter part of the episode delves into the nitty-gritty of leveraging AI to simplify and enhance content creation. Joe explains how AI can reduce the time and energy spent on marketing tasks from 427 hours to just 5 hours. The guests also explore how starting early in one's career to build a personal and business brand can lead to long-term success. The episode concludes with a discussion on future projects between Cloudwise Academy and Crown Cuts Academy, aiming to offer even more tailored solutions for barbers.
Key Takeaways:

The Importance of Google Business Profile: Setting up and actively managing a Google Business Profile can significantly enhance your visibility and credibility in local searches.
Leveraging AI in Marketing: AI tools can streamline content creation, making it faster and more efficient, thus allowing barbers to focus more on their craft.
Start Early with Branding: Building a personal brand from the beginning of your career can set a strong foundation for future business endeavors.
Daily Content Creation: Consistently posting content on social media platforms can increase your engagement and impressions, driving more customers to your business.
Customer Engagement: Responding to customer reviews and inquiries not only builds trust but also improves your ranking on search engines.

Notable Quotes:

"If you're not creating content for these platforms, then you're not known. You're not being seen." - Joe McKenna
"The more you do that, more 200, 100, 100 and 5300 people see it because these platforms are trying to test your content to see if people like it." - Joe McKenna
"You can do it in 30 minutes a day or less. The tools, the AI, the steps to take, it's all doable now." - Joe McKenna
"It's not really an issue of time. People say I have time. It's not time, it's energy." - Ammi Fields
"Start with whatever you can on that homepage from a template, putting your information, putting your pictures. And by the way, most website developers use templates to build your website." - Joe McKenna

Resources:

Cloudwise Academy
Crushingit AI

Tune in to this episode to discover the transformative power of AI in marketing for barbers, learn actionable steps to kickstart your digital presence, and get inspired to elevate your brand. Stay tuned for more enlightening content from Barber College Success!