by Greg Milner | May 19, 2013 | Featured, Salon Advertising Tips
“Why it’s Good to be Bold in your Salon Marketing” There is truth in advertising after all. Most business owners are too timid in their marketing. Unwilling to stand out from the crowd, they therefore blend in with it – and make the BIG mistake of failing to get attention.
No chance of that here. Instead of the usual wishy-washy reasons business owners use when they put on a ‘sale’, this guy tells it like it is. There’s nothing timid about it, he gives his customers the real reason he wants their money. There is great value in being straight. (“I have a HUGE tax bill to pay, so here’s how you can help…”)
But it never ceases to amaze me how dumb the so-called experts in the ‘business press’ can be. Mr Toksana’s bold marketing strategy was criticized for it’s ‘tackiness’ by the brilliant minds at the Business Scotsman website. Check it out here.
Why it’s Good to be Bold in your Salon Marketing
Boldness counts. Especially when it skirts close to the edge of acceptibility, like this out-there ad for a furnture company in Northampton, UK. The test is this: push the envelope far enough to upset a FEW people, and you’ll know your marketing message is getting attention. Annoy everybody, and you’ve gone too far.
Why it’s Good to be Bold in your Salon Marketing
by Greg Milner | May 14, 2013 | Featured, Salon Advertising Tips
Many times every week, we interview salon owners and almost invariably, to the question ‘what kind of marketing are you doing right now, or have done in the past?’ we get an answer like this:
“Oh, I’ve tried mailbox flyers/direct mail/newspaper ads/Yellow Pages/radio…(take your pick)…and IT doesn’t work/it’s a waste of money/it never got any results….” Blah blah blah.
And it always amuses me. What they’re actually saying is
“I couldn’t make it work…for me.”
If mailbox flyers ‘don’t work’, then why do ya reckon that every night when you go home, your mailbox is overflowing with ‘junk’ mail from every kind of real estate business under the sun? Would they keep doing it, week after week, month after month, year after year, if IT wasn’t working? No company has a bottomless pit of money.
If newspaper advertising was a complete waste of money, it would seem to me that almost every company on the planet is staffed with
The Dumbest People in Dumb Town
Because you’ve gotta ask yourself, surely they wouldn’t keep shelling out year after year if the thing didn’t produce a result?
If newspaper advertising was nothing more than a black hole that sucks down money like a vortex and never spits anything back out again, newspapers would a) never have got off the ground in the first place, or b) would long ago have gone out of business, their only source of oxygen cut off en masse.
But it’s pretty typical. Salon owners – most owners of small businesses, in fact – blame the media when their marketing doesn’t work. It ain’t the fault of the media. It’s yours, for lack of clear thinking.
Most business owners get the process all backwards. They book space in the newspaper then they think about what to put in the ad. And because they’ve done the last thing first, with no ‘sales thinking’ the ad usually ends up looking like nothing more appetizing than a business card.
Here’s the process:
1) Marketing message. What are you going to say to your target market that is compelling, that cannot be ignored, that is unique, that must be responded to?
2) But the best marketing message on the planet is no better than the worst marketing message on the planet if it falls on deaf ears. Who are you going to say it to – and by deliberate strategy, who are you NOT going to say it to? Are you specific with your preferred target market, or are you just going to throw mud at all of ‘em and hope some of it sticks?
3) Finally, when you’ve figured out what compelling message you’re going to deliver, and who you’re going to deliver it to, the media pretty much chooses itself. (Hint: you’re hardly going to create a great offer appealing to debutantes/young brides-to-be, then book a full page in ‘Seniors Week’, are you??)
Be intelligent with your marketing. Do the ‘sales thinking’ process in the right order. Identify your target market. Create a compelling message/offer just for them. Only then do you choose the media you’re going to use to deliver that message to that market.
Once you get the process right, you’ll find that in fact, with better Direct Response methods applied to the copy, whichever media you choose is going to work a whole lot better for you. And that applies to online – websites, apps, social media – just as much as it does to hard copy.
Want salon & spa marketing that’s actually proven to work? The famous Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® is FULL of done-for-you marketing templates used successfully by thousands of salons all over the world – and it’s just a small part of the entire My Social Salon marketing & mentoring program, including website SEO, your own customized Smart Salon Mobile App, member forums, unlimited tech support, access to the entire Members Only ‘sealed section’ website and template library, and much more.
by Greg Milner | May 12, 2013 | Blog
Groundhog Day – waking up to the same/same every day
Yesterday was Groundhog Day for me, right down to looking in the mirror and, if I squinted, Bill Murray was looking back at me.
The catalyst for this hallucination was (yet another) conversation with a salon owner terrified of putting her prices up. As she talked, I could feel the anxiety oozing down the phone.
“I can’t put my prices up,” she wailed. “I only put them up six months ago, my customers would leave in droves if I did it again…”
Well, what did they do the last time you put your prices up…did they leave in droves then?
“Well, no…but I just think I’d be too expensive…”
Oh dear.
Entire theses have been written about pricing, there are squadrons of professors who do nothing else but talk about it, analyze it, agonize over it.
But I’ll keep this simple, and put it in terms that any salon owner can understand. This is not about academic study, it’s about what works. So roll up your sleeves, and start thinking. Because buying product at wholesale, adding a margin, and using that as your only guide to pricing ain’t no salon marketing plan.
Stay with me here.
First, there is more misunderstanding, dis-information and plain hogwash written and taught about pricing than almost any other subject under the broad umbrella of ‘business’.
Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding is the difference between value, price and cost – that is, the vast gulf between the value a customer or prospect perceives, the actual price charged, and the real cost to the business owner to deliver that product or service.
And part of the problem for many salon owners is, frankly, the low esteem in which they hold themselves, their ability, professionalism and standing.
It’s why most salon owners reading this would fail the ‘Picasso Test’.
Pablo Picasso
Picasso was sitting at a café in Paris, idly sketching. A woman walked by, recognized him and stopped to ask if he would be so kind as to sketch her, and charge whatever he thought was appropriate.
Picasso obliged, and three minutes later, there it was – an original Picasso.
“That will be 5,000 francs,” Picasso said.
“But it only took you three minutes!” she exclaimed in shock.
“No,” he said calmly, “it took me all my life.”
Of course, had Picasso simply charged for his time on that particular task, he would have had a difficult job justifying the price.
You see, the big mistake most business owners make when figuring out how to price a product or service, is doing it based on what it actually costs them. E.g., they’ll say to themselves, ‘this widget cost me $X to make/buy in/provide, so I’ll ad an 80% markup’.
It is a blinkered, nay, blindfolded way to price anything, because it completely ignores
a) The value that product or service might have in the eyes of the customer (perceived value)
b) How it’s price might be lifted considerably by adding more perceived value with low or no-cost items/treatments/services (eg free samples you got from a supplier)
c) Any other value you can add to it through the messages/stories/testimonials/personal qualifications in all your advertising and promotional messages/flyers/letters…
Price and value are entirely different things, and value is in the eye of the beholder. It has nothing to do with price.
To me, spending $3,000 to live on a boat for a week with friends, miles out to sea – no shops, bars, restaurants, movies – it’s great value. But there are thousands who wouldn’t do that if they were paid to do it.
To my wife, a week in Bali for $1,000 including air fares is great value. Me? I’d rather gouge my own eyes out with a sharp spoon than spend a thousand bucks to meander endlessly around market stalls shopping for cheap sarongs.
All of which brings me to another point about price and value.
The more narrowly you identify your target market, the more precisely you craft your message to match exactly the wants of that target market, the less and less important the issue of price becomes.
Golfers will pay anything to get that perfect swing.
Anglers will move heaven and earth – or pay someone to do it for them – to catch that prize fish.
For example, say you sell cellulite treatments. Which do you think is going to create more value, a headline which says
“Anti-Cellulite Treatments from $495”
Or a headline that says
“For Young Mothers who are Embarrassed About Their Unsightly Cellulite – At LAST, The Zero-Pain, Breakthrough New Treatment That Melts Cellulite and Gives You Back Those Smooth Youthful Thighs! WARNING: Men might look at you – and wish.”
In fact, the second headline is deliberately designed to create desire, offer a painless solution to an identifiable problem, and specifically include (young mothers) only those prospects wanted, while deliberately excluding unwanted prospects.
Furthermore, it doesn’t even talk about price, which would only be addressed in terms of value in the body of the piece, backed up of course by all of the components of a good emotional direct response ad – a strong guarantee, scarcity, before and after photos, testimonials etc.
(All of the elements you’ll find in the templates in the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit™)
The last point I want to make about price is this: the purpose of re-inventing what you sell, of creating packages, is to blur the lines of distinction between your business and that of your rival salons, to create for yourself a distinct difference, so that prospects and customers simply cannot compare you with the opposition on price alone.
The better you get at this, the more you tip the playing field in your favour. Business is NOT about playing on a level field. It’s about giving yourself an unfair advantage. Unfair to your competitors, that is.
And reducing the issue of price to the point where it’s a non-issue.
by Greg Milner | May 1, 2013 | Featured
Getting your salon marketing message out to your customers, clients and prospects used to be relatively simple – because you had very little choice when it came to which ‘media’ to use.
You had word of mouth of course – always the best kind of advertising. You had one-on-one, face to face marketing. Maybe some direct mail and the occasional ad in the local newspaper. And if you were really adventurous, some radio and possibly TV. Now? Well, the range of online and offline media is enough to make the mind boggle.
And then again….
Why are apps becoming so important for small businesses like salons & spas? Because your clients and prospects are starting into them – and using them – all day, every day.
There’s ONE form of media that almost every single one of your clients and prospective clients is carrying with them, pretty much 24 hours a day. Their smart phone. And they’re staring into those little screens, for hours and hours. When they’re at work. When they’re watching TV. On the train or bus. When they’re in your salon. Which is why more and more smart salon owners are opting for a ‘smart salon app’ as a key plank in their marketing armoury.
For Baltimore salon owner and Worldwide Salon Marketing member Jill Turnbull, having her clients download the app WSM built for her salon has brought in an extra ten new clients per week….and that’s just from the referral tab within the app!
[cf]Jill Turnbull[/cf]
Our technical department here at WSM has built dozens and dozens of apps for salons & spas, and they’re starting to have a big impact. If you want to see what a your own salon or spa app might look like, grab your own smart phone, go to the App Store or Google Play store and download one or two of these recent examples:
For a Cosmetic Clinic: |
For a Hair Salon: |
For a Beauty Salon: |
by Greg Milner | May 1, 2013 | Featured, Online Marketing
Okay, you’ve got a website for your salon or spa business. Excellent. Can’t be in business these days without at least one. But maintaining a website, keeping it updated with fresh content, keeping it on Google’s radar so it gets to the top of search rankings and stays there…well, that’s a whole different story.
Unless you’re easily found in local searches for your products and/or services, your website may as well be sitting in the middle of the Simpson Desert. And one of the most crucial ingredients for lifting a website up the rankings is….new and frequently updated content. But for the average salon or spa owner, maintaining and updating a website with fresh content is beyond them.
You’re not trained as a writer. You don’t have the technical skills. And more than anything, you don’t have the time.
So, what to do? At Worldwide Salon Marketing, we’ve come up with a solution that not only keeps your website updated regularly with fresh, readable, relevant content, it does your social media updating for you as well.
Watch this brief video as our Director of Online, George Slater explains what happens:
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Says Sydney salon owner and long-term WSM Member Lesley Morgan-Wesson:
“THIS IS AMAZING! Thank you all so much for being innovative, forward-thinking and excellent at your jobs… in a world of mediocrity, spin and under-performance you guys ROCK! Kind regards, Lesley.”
The website/social media updating system detailed by George in this video is now an integral part of our complete online and offline marketing program for salons & spas, My Social Salon.
CHECK OUT ‘MY SOCIAL SALON’ HERE – and if you’re sick and tired of trying to do everything, all by yourself, apply for a No Contracts WSM membership, and watch your sales climb steadily upwards!
