Ken picton shares the power of the written word

As the owner of a multi-million-pound business destination salon and winner of a string of prestigious awards, Ken Picton's hairdressing achievements go beyond the wildest dreams of most hairdressers. He believes that a large proportion of his success has come not just from talent and the courage to follow his dreams (he started out with three bank loans and a loan from his mum!), but from the route of positive PR. "I learned really early on about the power of the written word," he told the Business Extra  audience at Salon International. Presenting alongside his PR, Sally Learmouth of Gloss Communications, Ken recalled a time in the early days of his career when his salon was starting to take off and his column was booked up for the next 13 weeks leading up to Christmas. At the time one of the local papers ran a feature on people's Christmas wish-lists that year. At number three was a cut with Ken along with an explanation that this wouldn't be possible as he was fully booked. Within days, Ken had a waiting-list taking him through to the following March and an invaluable lesson had been learned. These days, Ken and Sally still dedicate time and effort to communicating with the press and appearing in publications, but the advent of social media means they also have another mouth-piece that  allows them to speak directly to their clients. "Social media is about sharing the message online, but more importantly it's a way to communicate with my clients and the people I want to drive to the salon. "It's about quality rather than quantity, though. I don't care about having a huge following in some obscure country, I want to speak to clients and potential clients," he added. As well as using Twitter and Facebook to share their messages, the pair have created a social media hub that sits on his own website and encourages clients to engage with the salon in its own environment. But it isn't just Ken who converses with clients on behalf of the salon. The 'our people' page is the most visited page on the site and therefore the whole team is encouraged to blog and build a dialogue with their clients. While Ken and his team are embracing the new opportunities that social media offers, Sally is tasked with getting the salon into local and national publications. "My job is made easier because of all of the awards Ken has a habit of picking up!" she explained, before offering hairdressers some practical solutions for getting into the press. "Collections and awards are always the best way to get coverage," she added. "And if you don't win awards, you can always host your own. "Before you send things get to know the angle that publication is looking for and tailor your release specifically. Once you've  submitted something make sure you follow it up with a phone call but be careful to start the call by asking if they are on press day so you don't start the conversation on the wrong foot." Finally she drew attention to the 'media value' that some of Ken's editorial coverage would have cost if it was paid for as advertising and Ken concluded: "Advertising generates interest; PR generates customers."