Client Retention Guidebook
Everything you need to know about client retention as a salon owner.
This Stylist is Bringing Affiliate Marketing to Pro Beauty
When she opened her salon five months ago, Michele Pritchard knew she wasn't going to stock her shelves with retail. Instead, she wanted to utilize affiliate codes so guests could shop for their own product directly from beauty brands--and she could make commission.
April 9, 2020
4 min to read
Michele Pritchard has been part of the beauty industry for 17 years, but now she is shaking things up with a new way of retailing.
Five months ago, she opened up my own boutique salon and I had an idea very different than that of what we’re used to in salons—she wouldn’t stock shelves with retail. Instead she would adopt an idea from consumer beauty and other industries to sell product: utilize affiliate marketing.
“My hope was to share products I was using on my clients and create a custom at home regimen but with a very different buying option: online,” Pritchard says.
According to Forbes: “When you sell anything for anyone else and you receive a commission for it, you're marketing as an affiliate. You're not just a salesperson working for that company. You're independent and on your own. There are no thresholds that need to be met. But the more you sell, the more you earn.”
In other words, a brand will issue a unique code for your clients to shop with, allowing you to sell products directly through them, but make part of the commission. That commission typically ranges anywhere from 10%-40%.
Right away, Pritchard was able to partner with two brands already doing affiliate marketing. She continued to message and reach out to brands asking them to follow suit and create an option for hairstylists for online sales direct from their own warehouses.
THE BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
“I’m on a mission to enable any hairdresser to create codes with salon professional product companies to make money,” Pritchard says. “This benefits both the client and the stylist. By using codes, we (the hairstylist) get credit, the brand saves, and it’s easy as it ships straight from the company, which will help put a stop to diversion!”
Preventing diversion.Diversion is when beauty products are sold at non-verified vendors. The problem is that once it does finally show up on the shelves of such vendors, it’s either old or tampered with. This goes for online merchants as well; the only way you can guarantee your products are quality is by buying direct from your salon, the company website itself or a verified store.
Profit. “By the time you stock, sale then restock where is the actual profit?” Pritchard says. “With online sales that all gets simplified, and you have no overhead.”
GETTING STARTED
To get started with affiliate marketing, know who you are and what voice you want to have, which goes back to authentic selling. Focus in on what you love, your current demographic, and mediate on what you want to offer—what you want to sell and why.
Prichard recommends to first focus on one or two brands you already love and create content to support that.
“When choosing brands to work with it’s important to understand who you are, what you love and why you love it,” Pritchard says. “This is your moment to work with brands that you already are sharing with your clients. Authentic selling is when you simply share what’s best for your client, and their routine using products you LOVE!”
Once you’ve nailed that down, simply visit a brand’s website, click pro account or become an ambassador, and sign up and wait for an email to confirm you are approved.
Then, Pritchard recommends four secrets to success when utilizing affiliate marketing codes: creating a landing page, producing content with the products, creating a marketing plan, and cross promoting on various platforms (social media, email, website) to share your content.
This content creation, too, has helped get other brands on board, she says.
MOVING FORWARD
In the weeks since, the list of pro-brands utilizing affiliate codes now includes 15—and is growing. That list includes:
Amika
Virtue
IGK
Fanola
Design Me
Unite
Olaplex
Beachwaver
incommon
Pureology
Art of Business
Salon only: Aveda, Oribe, R+Co
Pritchard believes the growth is based of stylists and their guests being at home because of the COVID-19 crisis, and her persistence.
“People have great ideas all the time, but now we have the time to go forward and make those ideas happen,” she says. “We see this change that is going to create better lives for stylists who are already the experts. We have been saying we need more options, and this is going to make things that much more beneficial to our clients.
“I am a big believer in options, and I think if the model is working but it can always be better. We are seeing so many independents pop up and they want a bigger piece of the pie. And I think they deserve that. When we grow better, we can grow those brands better. I want to enable stylists to get better and to live our best lives.”
Find Pritchard’s complete guide to affiliate marketing for stylists here.
There are other ways you can get involved in affiliate sales. Click here to learn more.
Topics:digital marketingretail and merchandisingretailInstagramSalon ManagementRetailingMarketing & Advertising
Originally posted on Modern Salon
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
More Salon Management
Success Grown from Within
Owner Shelby Bills says her general manager, Sydney Osborne, reminds her of the power of leading with heart. Find out how Osborne became a great leader in our lastest installment of Meet the Manager.
by Stacey Soble
How Salon Leaders Can Process the Pain and Lead Forward When a Team Members Leaves Unethically
In her latest blog, Kati Whitledge identifies the five stages salon owners go through when a team member leaves the salon unethically, offering advice for each stage.
How AI Is Closing Revenue Gaps for Salons and Spas
The beauty and wellness businesses pulling ahead aren’t just working harder—they’re using AI to capture demand, personalize pricing, and convert more of every guest interaction into revenue. Here’s what the benchmark data reveals about the growing gap between AI adopters and everyone else.
Sponsored by Zenoti
The Premium Talent Magnet: The Modern Salon Playbook for Attracting Six-Figure Stylists
Stop chasing recruitment ghosts on generic job boards and start curating an elite team. Discover the framework that top-tier salons use to bypass phone tag, automate visual portfolio vetting, and attract high-earning, culture-first beauty professionals directly through real-time messaging. Turn your recruitment process into an exclusive brand invitation that keeps your highest-ticket chairs permanently filled.
Sponsored by Beautista
Five Revenue Leaks Hiding in Your Salon
Your calendar looks full, but is all of that demand actually converting to revenue? From phantom rebookings to underpriced peak hours, the 2026 Benchmark Report exposes five revenue leaks that most beauty and wellness businesses don’t even know they have.
Sponsored by Zenoti
The Heartbeat of Zandi K's Success
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
by Stacey Soble
Rethinking Retail in the Era of E-Commerce
In a world dominated by e-commerce, salon owners push back with proven strategies to increase retail sales while motivating team members to educate their clientele and delighting clients with retail-themed events and clever merchandising displays.
by Stacey Soble
The Harper Ellis Hair Co. Certification Program Teaches Stylists a Smarter, Safer Way to Install Extensions
The company's Concealed Bead Method is raising the bar for what professional extension education can deliver.
by Staff
The Micro-Salon Blueprint: How Kat Scott Quadrupled Income by Maximizing Her Suite
Scott maximized her micro-salon by transitioning from stylist to strategic owner, focusing on recruiting and station-sharing. By prioritizing her ownership role over behind-the-chair work, she grew her team to six stylists within the two-chair, 150-square-foot space before eventually moving to a larger facility.
by Staff
Competing for Revenue: Veteran Business Owner Shares a Framework for Growth
The former CFO of Perdue Farms and owner of Hardy Seafood, Terry Owens delivers a wealth of wisdom and strategies for entrepreneurs in his new book, "Business is Simple."
by Staff
Built to Sell: How One Owner Turned Zero Salon Experience into a Multimillion-Dollar Exit
After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Shedding Light on Solar Tax Credits for Your Beauty Business
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
The Salon Ghost Report: Stop Wasting Hours Chasing Unqualified Applicants
Up to 40% of hair stylists ghost the salon interview stage, leaving owners trapped playing endless phone tag with uncommitted applicants. This data-driven report breaks down why traditional job boards create recruitment friction and reveals the modern messaging strategies high-growth salons use to get pre-qualified talent to actually show up. Learn how to transition from cold calling to high-conversion conversations that protect your time and fill your chairs.
Sponsored by Beautista
When the Client ISN'T Right!
Spit fests, hostile threats, and even an overachieving matchmaker--SALON TODAY readers share their craziest client tales and how their team handled these tough situations with professionalism and grace.
by Stacey Soble
2026 Beauty & Wellness Summer Marketing Calendar
Keeping your appointment book full when clients are in vacation mode takes more than a good Instagram post. It takes a plan. The 2026 Summer Marketing Calendar from Meevo gives salon, spa & med spa owners a month-by-month roadmap with sharp themes, key opportunity dates, and campaign ideas specifically designed for the beauty & wellness industry. Here’s to your summer season working as hard as you do!
Sponsored by Millennium Systems International
AI in Beauty: What It Means for Your Team, Your Clients, and Your Business
AI is transforming the beauty and wellness industry, and the future is about empowering people, not replacing them. Discover how Phorest AI helps salons, spas, and med spas across North America respond faster, personalize every visit, and keep human connection at the heart of the client experience.
Sponsored by Phorest