There are so many new things that I’ll be doing this year. Here are a few:

1. Re-Launching the Insider’s Club (HUGE deal!)
2. Cut & Color DVDs
3. Marquetta Breslin Signature Salon
4. Launch a CD course called “6-Figure Stylist”

And the list goes on. One of the things that my husband Ricky and I do every year is plan out our year and create our marketing calendars and set our goals for the year.

That’s what we’ll be doing this weekend to ensure we bring you the best products and services. And I’d highly recommend you plan your year also, it’s a game changer.

We always have a list of questions we ask ourselves to help with out planning process. This is the most important part of our year and it determines how successful we will be in the coming year.

So what are your goals this year? Do you have questions about services you want to offer this year? Are you trying to step your marketing game up? Are you tired of your career and want to pursue your passion but have no idea where or how to get started?

If you answered yes to ANY of the questions above, or if you have your own question that you’d like to add to that list, then on January 5th at 5pm EST you need to be at first ever Live Chat for sure.

I’ll be chatting it up with you from my Salon talking about what’s trending in our industry and a whole lot more.

But most importantly I’ll be answering YOUR most pressing questions!

I’ll be broadcasting for 1 hour and will not be holding anything back. If you want 2012 to be your best year ever, do not miss this.

So, just to recap, the Live Chat will be on January 5th at 5:00pm EST. The best part is… it’s only FREE! Who does that? I want EVERYONE to be able to attend.

So, let’s recap one last time:

The Live Chat will be held on January 5th, 2012 at 5:00pm EST for FREE!

That’s it, it’s that simple. I’ll see you Next Year!

Be blessed!
Marquetta Breslin

P.S. Don’t miss this event, it’s FREE and it’s going to be me and you live!
Let’sdo this…

This has been a controversy for a while now and once this started becoming an issue companies stopped saying there was formaldehyde in their products and started saying their products were formaldehyde free. But some of these products also claimed to contain aldehyde which is a form of formaldehyde.

If you’re not familiar with what formaldehyde is it’s best known as a carcinogen (can cause cancer), and an allergen. You may also be surprised to know that there’s also formaldehyde in nail polish and some other commonly used cosmetics.

Formaldehyde is known for causing extreme eye irritation, as well as nose and throat irritation in low concentrations. There’s been quite a few complaints of customers complaining about their eyes burning, and there has also been some stylists complaining about nose bleeds too!

I’ve done a few keratin treatments and have experienced the eyes burning. Sounds pretty interesting huh?

Well it’s not only the formaldehyde that’s in the product that’s dangerous, with the formaldehyde being the active ingredient in the keratin treatment, once the hair is heated the vapors from the formaldehyde are released into the hair and breathed in by all that are present.

Since doing some research over the past few months, I’ve found out that some keratin treatments have as much as 10% formaldehyde in their product! I’m personally certified to use Keratin Complex by Coppola, as well as Brizilian Blowout (Original & Zero).

This past Monday I was in the training class obtaining my certification for the Brizilian Blowout and of course the question came up about this whole controversy. The stylist informed us that OSHA tested incorrectly. After being asked what they did wrong, she told us that OSHA thought Brizillian Blowout was a method of doing the treatments, not a brand, so when they tested, they tested different brands and put them under the “Brizilian Blowout” name.

Later after getting to the bottom of it, according to the stylist that was there, Brizilian Blowout is the only safe Keratin Treatment on the market, and it’s also the only one approved by OSHA in Canada where it was once banned.

She also stated that a lot of this is coming from people using too much product on the clients hair, which in turn released more vapors into the air. While I was watching the demo for my certification, I can honestly say that I smelled no vapors, my eyes didn’t burn, and I felt fine. I sat on the front row and was maybe 2 feet from the client and stylist.

To be honest, I was very impressed with the Brizilian Blowout Zero product and the results. It takes 90 minutes to complete the service, and it can be applied directly after color and relaxers. There’s no line of demarcation, and they have some pretty amazing after care products.

I’m still doing my research, but I’m interested in hearing what you have to say. Have you encountered anything with these keratin treatments?

Be blessed!
Marquetta Breslin

Let me first start by saying I’d love to be chatting with you via video right now, but I’ve had a huge mishap with my hair, and it was all my fault! So, the next time you see me via video which will be next week, I will be back in braids for only 3 months or so. It’s a long story that I cant wait to share with you!

Now, on to the topic at hand. The other day I was doing some research for the brand new Insider’s Club, and came across a website offering $50 Weaves.

“Really, this is not real,” I thought. Indeed it was! I was actually shocked to see such discounted services and wanted to know details. So, I did some extensive research and found some very interesting information.

Some shops have something like stations that you go to for each step. There’s someone that just does cornrows for the base of the weave, someone sewing in the weave, and someone to cut and style the weave (this sometimes costs extra).

There are also the shops that start at $45 with a quick weave service and goes up to as much as $85 for a more extensive sew in weave.

I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews on these salons. Some people love them, and some prefer to not deal with them at all. I’ve never personally had any experience, but I’m wondering if you have.

Have you visited a $50 Weave salon to get your hair done? If so, how was it? Share your information with the rest of us and let us know what you thought. We’d love to hear what you have to say! Post your comments below.

Marquetta Breslin
Owner, Braids By Breslin

P.S. My next Lace Wig Training Seminar is happening on June 25-26th and I’d love for you to be there! Click Here for all the details.

I’ve been sitting downstairs on my couch thinking, and I’m really starting to think I’m addicted to hair shows!

That can be a good thing or a bad thing, but for me it’s great! In the past 3 weeks I’ve hit two hair shows and have at least two more coming up that I’d like to attend. While at the last two I was so inspired by how many stylist were there.

Being the social butterfly that I am I met several stylists, and because I was interested I asked the question, “Why’d you come to the show?”

The answer that almost every stylist gave me was almost exactly the same. They were there to hit up every class possible to stay up on the latest techniques and trends.

That is so inspiring… I am HUGE on continuing education and I constantly educate myself on the latest trends and techniques in the industry.

This is how I stay on top of my game and how I’m always able to deliver great content and education to you!

One of the stylist mentioned to me that she came to hair shows because she was afraid of becoming a cookie-cutter stylist.

She wanted to be a trendy stylist that didn’t have a shelf life, so she comes to the hair shows to learn more, and increase her revenue.

And that she did. She shared with me that after attending one of the hands-on seminars at the show, she was able to increase her revenue $1500 per month.

Talk about Return on Investment!

Don’t be a cookie-cutter stylist, go to some hair shows, take some classes, hit up some seminars. Do what you can to stay on the cutting edge and ahead of your competition.

Don’t know where to start? I have two hands-on seminars that I’d love to see you at! Check out the links below for more information.

–> Lace Wig Mastery Seminar

–> Braiding & Weaving Mastery Seminar

Whether you come to one of my seminars or go somewhere else, it doesn’t matter. Just ALWAYS make sure to learn new things and educate yourself. You’ll never go wrong if you do this.

P.S. I enjoyed the show in Ohio so much I made a short video for you. Check it out! Sorry about the lighting, it wasn’t the greatest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I don’t know what possessed me to do this because in South Carolina there are a million  bugs, and I’m VERY afraid of bugs!

But after about 30 seconds after I sat down I was attacked by a fire ant!

LOL Ok, ok I know that sounds funny because it was an ant, but if you’ve never been bitten by a fire ant those bites HURT!

Just when I got bitten I asked myself “Why do bugs bite?”

Here’s my answer… bugs are a lot like us, they live their lives to eat. Their sole purposeis to keep themselves strong and provide food for either themselves or their families until they can survive on their own.

So why do they bite? Well, mainly they eat to stay strong and fuel their bodies.

But, they also see something appealing, something they just cant resist, something that have just GOT to have…

So I started really thinking about this and how it relates to getting clients.

If you offer a service to your client that is irresistible, appealing, something they just can NOT resist, something they’ve GOT to have, they ARE going to bite just like that ant bit me!

I know what you’re asking, “Marquetta that’s easier said than done! How do I do this?!”

Here’s an example of what you do…

Let’s say you offer Lace Wigs as seen here:

-> http://www.lacewigtrainingcenter.com/lacewigtraining.php

Most of the people who go through my system charge between $500 – $5,000 for Lace Wigs and Lace Frontals.

Well, in your salon or place of business you can offer to maintain the unit for your client at no cost for the first 6 months.

You’d let them know that if ANYTHING ever happens to their Lace Wig to come back to you and see you and you’ll take care of it quickly and at no cost. Just make sure you put a value on this service and make sure they know how much they’re saving with this add-on service.

Basically, you need to make it a no brainer to do business with you.

Lace Wigs is THE hottest trend right now!

-> http://www.lacewigtrainingcenter.com/lacewigtraining.php

But don’t stop there, you can do this for ANYTHING you offer.

So what does all this mean at the end of the day? There are a LOT of bugs that are ready to bite .

You just have to be ready to take advantage!

Be blessed!
Marquetta

Step 1: Sell something people want. Business is and always has been all about finding a need or a want in a market and filling it with a product or service. So why are you spending six months trying to come up with a perfect idea? Go out there, research a market, come up with something good to offer the market and sell it.

Step 2: Get your website designed. Use a good graphic designer or go somewhere like 99Designs.com and have them provide you with a layered Photoshop file for your coder. Have the designer create a “Home” page, which is the first page your customers see, and an “Inner” page, where you will sell your products or provide more information, with a left or right bar. If you want a different look for a landing page have them create this also.

Step 3: Take your layered Photoshop file and give it to your coder, which is someone who can make the file internet-ready. This usually costs between $100-$200 for a high quality person to slice the PSD file into well-coded CSS/HTML. If you don’t want to go through this you can go the free route and simply use WordPress. But no matter what, you’ll want to integrate WordPress into your website design for your blogging needs.

Step 4: Use a quality host that handles all your internet traffic. No traffic = no sales! I personally recommend Servint. I have a dedicated server but if you don’t need a dedicated server, just get their $49 Essential VPS hosting.

Step 5: Sign up for an e-mail provider. I use Aweber for all of my e-mail list management. Their delivery is great and I’ve never had a problem in over seven years.

Step 6: Add a shopping cart. If you plan on selling ANYTHING you’ll need a high quality shopping cart. The shopping cart makes it easy for people to buy your product. I recommend 1ShoppingCart. I’ve used self hosted shopping carts in the past but it was VERY annoying because of the SSL certificates, technical issues, things breaking, etc. With 1ShoppingCart you pay a low monthly fee and can set it and forget it!

Step 7: Get a gateway and a merchant account. We use Authorize.net for our Gateway and have a Merchant Account through Bank of America. When someone makes a purchase on your website, the money goes through the shopping cart. Then it goes to your gateway, and then from your gateway to your merchant account. Once your merchant account batches your account daily, it deposits the money into your bank account. It’s a very simple process.

Step 8: Create your product or service. You can either create your own product or you can have it created for you. Now, this could be a product or it could be a service such as offering Lace Wigs or Cornrows. Just remember step one: it should be something people want. You just need something to sell.

Step 9: Generate traffic. By now you have a website, you have an e-mail management system, you have a shopping cart, and you have a product. Now you need traffic. In this step, you simply want to be wherever your market is at! The first thing I recommend you do is buy some traffic. You can buy ads on Facebook, Google Adwords, and other websites and blogs. You can buy banner ads, text links, etc.

And that’s it. In 9 easy steps you created your own online business. You have a website, you can accept money, you’re offering a product or a service, and you’re ready to roll! If you really want to make money you’re going to have to hustle and work hard. There’s no magic to it. But I can promise, if you work it, you can achieve anything you want!