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Hey Reader,

Welcome back to a new mini series called 'From the Barber Shop to the Board Room.' I'm going to pull the curtain back and break down lessons I've learned over the last few years of my creator career.

Let's take a closer look at my educator journey.

Find a Niche

Fun fact, education is where it started for me. I always knew the barber exam pass rate was bad, but I never actually took the time to do thorough research until 2020. Low and behold, the pass rate in California was 50% and in my research, I noticed no one was talking about this topic and so I did.

In the creator economy, you'll see many people encourage you to find your 'niche'. For me, my niche was helping barbers pass the barber exam.

Get Your Portfolio Ready

Your Instagram is your portfolio. When you follow someone, they will likely go to your profile to see what you're about. Before you start following your target audience, get your portfolio ready.

I updated my bio and posted content on how to pass the barber exam and pinned the post, so when my target audience visited my profile they could see what I'm about.

Follow Your Audience

I went on California's state board website and found the list of approved barber schools. I followed as many as I could find on Instagram, hoping it would lead to a follow for follow. Fortunately, some of them did.

Tag Your Audience

I noticed which barber schools followed me back. My next post I announced I was going to do an Instagram Live about 'How to pass the barber exam' and tagged the schools that had followed me. I figured they were 'warm' leads who would likely tune in.

Prepare a Class Description

Within 24 hours of my post, one of the schools I tagged messaged me and asked for my availability to teach a workshop. It was time to come up with a description for the class that I would teach. (I had never taught a class, but it seemed like I had. Wild, I know.) I scheduled a phone call with their Director of Education and booked my first class.

This all happened in less than a week.

The Power of Niche

I have less 1,500 followers. I don't have a huge following, but I do have a niche. You don't have to be a mega-influencer with 100k followers to become an educator. You just need to identify an unsaturated topic that you are passionate about. What could yours be?

If you are interested in learning how to book your first class, please reply to this email. I'd love to help you think through a strategy to help you identify a niche topic that could lead to your first class.

Alright, finished with No.66. See you next week!

Written by: Matthew Mendoza​
Edited by: Kelly Mendoza​
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