by Greg Milner | Jan 25, 2012 | Ads that Have Worked, Australia, New Zealand
STOP PRESS: We’ve just opened the NEW Salon Advertising Templates Webstore here!
If you are a Worldwide Salon Marketing Inner Circle member you will know what an amazing marketing tool and integral part of the program the members only website is. Many members tell me how they often spend hours browsing around all the different templates and marketing ideas and solutions.
And each and every year the website grows as more material is added and the archive gets bigger. In fact there is over 6 years worth of archived material on the website now. It’s easy for some of the older archives to be lost in depths of the website.
And it’s safe to say that if you were to employ a design firm or an ad agency to create the material on the members website and give you multiple options for designs, template sizes and concepts, you would be looking at spending into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the other side of the coin, if you were to try and design all this material yourself, well firstly you’d probably need a degree in copy writing, graphic design and a heck of a lot of time on your hands!!!
So, in this new feature I intend to delve deep into the archives, blow the dust and cob webs away and unearth some of the hidden gems that perhaps you have never come across before.
In this first feature I am going to look at a clever little flyer that was actually created by a Pizza Shop.
This was actually one of the very first promotions we use for our salon D’Aguiar: hair.skin.nails after joining the Inner Circle Program back in 2007 and it was a huge succuss. Our version was slightly different and at the top said ‘FREE $20 Voucher – No Strings Attached’ We then looped a piece of string through the flyer and hung it on peoples door knobs around our neighbourhood. We consistently got 10 bookings from every 100 door flyers delivered and we had so many people saying they LOVED the out of the box marketing!
We still have dozens of clients that come to our salon today who originally came from this flyer. So when you think for the cost of a $20 service, we have made upwards of $4 – 5K from EACH of those clients since then, it’s a pretty good return on investment!
Here’s a link to find this template in the members only sealed section.
http://www.worldwidesalonmarketing.com/members/salon-marketing-ideas/ideas-to-steal/a-different-kind-of-mailbox-flyer-try-this/
If you are a WSM Member and want to share a success story from another members only website ‘hidden gem’ then drop me an email chris@worldwidesalonmarketing.com and I’ll be sure to feature it in an up and coming article!
If you are NOT a WSM Member and are sick and tired of sitting in front of a computer screen trying to come up with designs and copy for flyers and ads, if technology bamboozles you, click here to watch the video and Request a FREE live demo of the My Social Salon program.
by Greg Milner | Oct 28, 2010 | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The Right Mindset, UK, US
If you’ve ever felt down about your salon business, if you’ve reached the end of your tether, on the brink of failure, the bailiff knocking at the door, the bills piling up so high you can’t see over them….
You need to read this.
If you’re in up to your ears, like this WSM member, you’ll probably find it uncomfortable. I make no apology for that. Sometimes, I’m regarded as a bit of an ogre. I make no apology for that either.
“Woe is me…”
Last week, the following pathetic email arrived in my in-box, from a long-term Inner Circle member. I won’t identify her (I’m not that cruel) but she’ll recognize this story. In fact, she gave me permission to publish it. I’ve edited the letter for clarity.
“Hi Greg,
I am in dire straits. I owe the taxman money, suppliers, super, rent and many more.
I have even picked up a 2nd job to start helping me pay back debt.
I now work all day in the salon, get home at around 6pm or later make dinner for my little girl and then leave the house to get to my second job at 8.30pm to start at 9pm and finish at 2am, then get home sleep for about 2hours and then up again to start all over again, just going through the motion as a zombie.
I no longer see my 4 year old, have no zest for life due to being so exhausted day in day out. So I guess this email is a cry for help.
I want to have a successful business. I want to be a successful woman so I can have my daughter look up to me and say, ‘wow my mummy is such a successful person.’ Not to say ‘my mother lives day by day or even worse, has become ill from exhaustion.
I am even considering selling the business to try and cut the debt, but I have two young girls who work for me and depend on me, and I love my salon (even though its in need of a face-lift). I love being a member of the community. I love my work; it’s the only thing I can do well.
I even bought tickets to come to the (Salon Profit Secrets) seminar in Sydney, but my mother got ill and I was then unable to attend.
So I guess I am asking, what steps I should take in my marketing to become the business/role model woman I want to be.
Please, I am so dedicated to change my life. I just need you to be my light.
I have been a member of your (Inner Circle) program for around 2 years. The tool kit has sat on the shelf collecting dust, and I have forgotten about it.
Kind regards, Mary…”
After I regained my breath, and retrieved my dropped jaw from the floor, I wrote back to her. I could have written some molly-coddling crap, soothed her troubled brow and told her everything would be okay. But frankly, I was too bloody annoyed.
“Good grief.
You admit ‘the tool kit has sat on the shelf collecting dust, and I have forgotten about it‘….
What??? If all you did was get off your backside, take the thing off the shelf and USE IT, you wouldn’t be in the situation you are now in.
If you won’t take action to help yourself, with the tools you ALREADY HAVE, then what on earth do you expect us to do? Drag you kicking and screaming to the success trough? Show me you are prepared to do something, then do it, and then I’ll help.
Take the Toolkit down, start using it. Get onto the members site, start using what’s in there. But don’t just expect somebody to wave a magic wand and ‘fix everything’ for you, without you lifting a finger!”
Now, I fully expected this member to immediately collapse in a flood of tears, instantly resign her membership of the Inner Circle program and flounce off into a self-righteous cloud of failure, forever more blaming everyone and everything but herself.
But no. She thought about it for a couple of days, and wrote back thus:
“Hi Greg,
I want to thank you for your quick response back to my email, I know you are a very busy man.
All I can say is that you hit the nail on the head with your comments about me.
I have spent the last couple of days reading the emails WSM has sent and using the members site and taking marketing ideas from the site and other salon owners.
Your email back has made me think of my past actions and also I took a step back and thought ‘what can I lose if I work the program, seeing you have made many people successful (they have also wanted it too).
So I have turned a new leaf so to speak. I have designed up a newsletter to send out to my guests with my ideas, and also ideas I got from the Members Only site.
Your response was truthful, which made the tears flow. I am now taking control of my life, business and family, and so want very hard to succeed to be a role model in the industry and for my daughter.
And I have not only taken the Toolkit off the shelf and dusted it down, I’ve opened it and used templates for future marketing.
Fingers crossed for me, and hopefully I will be one of your guest speakers one day, that came out of financial despair to running a chain of salons. I thank you again….”
It could have gone either way. Mary could have just as easily rolled over and curled up in a corner, hoping the world would go away. It took bravery to do what she did.
Too many business owners go under because they fail to take control, and therefore responsibility. The two are inextricably linked.
To quote Dan Kennedy, ‘being broke is just a temporary circumstance. Being poor is a state of mind’.
Are you a poor salon owner, or merely broke? If you’re poor, there’s not much I or anybody else can do for you. If you’re merely broke – like Mary – then you know what to do. Get off your butt, and take action.
And one day, soon, I expect we’ll hear more from Mary. She’ll be on this website, proudly telling the story of how she dragged herself from the depths of depression, resignation, despair….to success. I’ll be the first to applaud.
by Greg Milner | Sep 28, 2010 | Australia, The Right Mindset, The Smell of Success
Inner Circle member Amy Mitchell with baby Macy – a sudden rush of new clients thanks to ‘niche’ marketing
Old marketing saying: “There are riches in niches.”
Too many business owners try to be all things to all people, and end up in the to-be-avoided ‘middle ground’, effectively becoming nothing to nobody. What you really want to do is focus on a small target market that’s an inch wide and a mile deep, like Inner Circle member Amy Mitchell (1 year member).
Amy owns a business focusing on massage. Read on to see how business took off when she took my advice and focused on a small, well-defined niche market; mothers-to-be.
Inner Circle member Amy Mitchell ‘gets’ it – and is reaping the benefits.
“I’m just really excited and wanted to share some positive feedback with you in regards to the system. When I signed up I definitely was umming and ahhhhing about the system because I was only doing just straight massage. I have been a member for about 8 or 9 months now and have tried to do what I can to use the system to value add where I can and it has brought some success- nothing sensational- UNTIL NOW!
When I FIRST spoke to you, you suggested going hard in the pregnancy market. So I did.
I’ve opened my doors two weeks ago with Australia’s first pregnancy day spa. I’m nearly falling over because I popped a crappy A-Frame sign out the front with a cheap laminated sign I can use a white board marker on to change daily which cost me a total of $80- popped on a teaser variation of the Hollywood Woman Package and I have just sold $1000 of vouchers in last few hours alone. That’s 10 new clients within a matter of hours….. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!
I also tried the Buy 1 Get 1 Free Gift Voucher Offer which produced a minimum of 55 new clients and just over $12,000 income that I otherwise would not have received upfront. Definitely helpful in beginning stages of business.
I am so happy now because I can fully utilise the system now and value add the hell out of everything.
I’ve got another coaching call with Annette which is great because honestly my marketing effort prior to open day was piss poor (due to seriously tight time restraints) but I’m hoping I can with Annette’s help create a huge buzz for an Open Day or something similar.
Anyway- thank you for what I’ve had in the last 9 months which has been good… but now THANK YOU for what I can use now which is nothing short of GREAT!!!!
Amy Mitchell, Panache Massage
PS: Just thought I’d let you know- another 24 hour period in which I spent two hours doing a couple of marketing activities and another $6500 to the bank account. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet, and it’s paying big time… so excited I can’t sleep.
Check out Amy’s website here: http://www.pregnancydayspa.com.au/
by Greg Milner | Sep 2, 2010 | Australia, Newsletter marketing
IC Member (since February 2010) Sandra Chiarella of Get Nailed – a brilliant newsletter writer
I’ve written long and loud about the business value of a regular monthly hard-copy newsletter, so I’m not going to bang on about it again here.
Most owners of small businesses grumble and gripe about doing it, but those who make the effort reap immense rewards.
Take Sandra Chiarella of Get Nailed in Altona, Victoria. Sandra ‘gets it’. Newsletters are supposed to be personal, like sitting down and having a good chat. And Sandra has pulled it off pitch-perfect with these examples she’s generously shared with other Members.
Here’s how Sandra describes how she puts these together:
Hey Greg,
Thanks for the positive feedback, I actually love doing the newsletter, and I never have a shortage of ideas or stories to write.
We send out 400 handwritten envelopes each month. I know how valuable it is for me to be in my clients’ homes and hopefully attached to my clients fridge….(ooh maybe an idea: get some magnets made that say ” this magnet is only to hold Get Nailed’s monthly newsletter!!! …and pop it in with my next newletter!)
I am happy for you to display my newsletters on the (members only) site. I also can share my tips for them. I have a little plastic A4 file with NEWSLETTERS written on the front. In it I keep a hard copy of every month’s newsletter so I can refer to them at a glance and also see what I wrote previously if I want to keep talking about that topic etc, and I have blank white pages in them with all the months of the year written on the top.
Every time I get an idea for something to feature/write for any month of the year, I pop it on a sticky note, bit of paper, back of a receipt, bit of toilet paper (clean of course!) and pop it on the appropriate month- even my staff know this drill and they are getting into the habit of doing this as well.
So when it comes to writing the newsletter, I dont have to try and remember all the good ideas I had, and stories to tell.
Another idea is for all those who have a laptop or like me an iphone , when even I know I am going anywhere that I will have to wait and pass valuable time like doctors and dentist appointments, kids events, even traffic jams (I dictate to my daughters in the back seat!), I sit and I write my ideas in a word document, or in my drafts in my email, so when it comes to formatting the newsletter I can simply cut and paste. Well I have to admit my husband, Fil does.
But it saves so much time. There are so many ways to utilize time to do the little jobs that you don’t want staff doing when they could be using that time to make money. My mum and daughters help out with folding the newsletters, even clients don’t mind helping sometimes if you know them well enough, and what kid doesn’t like sticking stamps on envelopes? Delegate delegate! Think smarter, not harder!
I’m sure these ideas might help some of my fellow members.
Regards
Sandra Chiarella
An example of Sandra’s terrific (and profitable) salon newsletters. Inner Circle members can log into the Members ONly area and download full copies in .pdf format for study
The point about Sandra’s newsletters is that they ARE very personal. She talks to her clients about a staff member who got engaged on a visit to the Empire State Building…about her dad and how he loves doing odd jobs around the salon…about her daughters…
A newsletter has several important jobs:
1) to act as a Trojan Horse, turning you into a Welcome Guest marketer instead of an Unwelcome Pest, always trying to pitch something
2) it acknowledges that your clients have a life outside your salon…in fact almost ALL of a client’s life is outside of your salon. So a good newsletter attempts to engage on that level, by bringing the client into your outside-work life.
3) it puts an ‘iron cage’ around your clients. If you’re getting a good newsletter regularly from somebody you do business with, wouldn’t YOU feel guilty about going anywhere else?
These examples are yet another lesson in just how to do it. Nothing flash, nothing ‘professional’, just good honest stuff that appeals to human beings, rather than mere buyers.
by Greg Milner | Aug 30, 2010 | Australia, The Smell of Success
IC member and salon owner Leah Bobridge of Fresh Hair & Body in South Australia – at just 21, a new house and a new Mercedes thanks to the Inner Circle program. Leah becomes one of our first Ambassadors, starting in 2011
Salon Client Information Sheet Template: Smell the Leather! Salon marketing the WSM way brings this 21-year-old salon owner a new house, a new Mercedes…
“I am writing to thank you for the opportunity to be part of Worldwide Salon Marketing.
I have learned a great deal since joining the WSM Inner Circle marketing & mentoring program and will continue to use your marketing material along with my own touches. However, I wanted to inform you on a little bit about me.
I bought my salon “Fresh” in August 2008 at 19 years old. I received a lot of negativity from many people, but strived to become one of the best/most successful hair salons in South Australia. I joined the Inner Circle program not because we weren’t doing well, but to learn new ways of marketing and to get to know business owners in my industry.
In the 1st 3-4months of joining the program I was listed as Member of the Month which was quite pleasing, I have to say. Since then we have only continued to get better. I started off with 1 staff member and I now have 5. Even though sometimes staff can be difficult, I thoroughly enjoy their company and without them my business would not have grown to the capacity it has today.
(Thanks to WSM) my fiance Daniel and I have been able to buy an 1880 cottage in one of Adelaide’s most prestigious areas, plus we have just ordered a brand new 2010 C250 Mercedes Benz! I would never in my wildest dreams think that at 21 I would be able to not only buy my dream house but my dream car, too.
Success in marketing her salon has allowed Leah and her fiance Daniel to order a brand new Mercedes C250 saloon
April this year, I decided to put my marketing to the test and open up a Day Spa in the Adelaide Hills. From scratch I opened the doors starting with 1 full time therapist and myself only being able to work 2 days. It’s been 4 Months and we now have 2 Therapists and a Massage therapist and reaching high sales and retail sales. On the way to success already.
Almost every day I get business owners calling me up asking me how I did it, did I win the lottery? Can I help them? Along with recommendation of joining WSM I help them along and encourage them as much as possible.
I have lots of people asking me if I would be their business coach. Which got me thinking one night; I love helping people, I always have. I love training my staff and I love that they look up to me. I want to be a business coach/Lifestyle leader.
I know that most business coaches have had years of experience. But have they really? Were they once young and lost? Do they know how tough it really is out there? Or did they just do a University Degree in Business, get offered a job and took it!
From my experience, in my short amount of years of business, coaches need to have worked in the industry and know what results salon owners want!
So my question to you, Greg, is can you help me? I do believe that I owe it to WSM after helping me. This is where I want to go and this is where I am headed.”
Kindest Regards,
Leah Bobridge,
Fresh Hair & Body,
Salisbury, South Australia
by Greg Milner | Aug 10, 2010 | Australia, Canada, Salon Seminars, The Smell of Success
Ahmet and Selma Sadi of Answers4 Hair & Beauty in Narre Warren, Victoria…one of the first of 15 new salons to join the Inner Circle marketing & mentoring program and get their new Toolkit at the Salon Profit Secrets seminar at the Sofitel on Collins this week…
Hair Salon Marketing Strategy: Have these salon owners gone MAD…or do they know something about salon marketing that you don’t???
There’s always one in every crowd. In fact I’d be surprised, if not disappointed, if there wasn’t at least one stand-out, Olympic-standard, world-champion naysayer in every marketing seminar I run for salon & spa owners.
This week in Melbourne, as I demonstrated the differences between typical ‘pretty’, branding-style marketing that most salons & spas are told to use, and ‘my’ kind of Emotional Direct Response marketing, I put two ads on the screen side by side.
One was a typical, wasteful salon ad that failed every test in the Direct Response Marketing 101 handbook, and deservedly didn’t draw a single booking. The other was a typical ‘copy-intensive’ ad our Inner Circle members are familiar with – this one brought in 35 new clients in a single week.
But there was one in the crowd who wanted to argue.
“But your kind of marketing doesn’t look professional enough for my salon. I just couldn’t show that to my clients…”
Deanna Ristevski and Debbie Wardle of Maestro Hair in Point Cook
At least she spoke up. There were bound to be other doubters not game enough to show their hand. So I did my best under time pressures to explain why this salon owner’s opinion about her marketing just doesn’t matter. The only opinions that matter are those of the customers…and they vote with their credit cards.
The ONLY valid test of any ad or flyer is the return on investment it generates – not what it looks like, how well it strokes your ego, or how many glowing comments you get from friends or family.
That is NOT to say that all Direct Response marketing must, by its very nature, be ‘ugly’, copy-intensive, bereft of pictures, with no appealing visual features. Quite the opposite. Well-used photos or graphics can often increase an ad’s pulling power. But they must earn their right to occupy valuable and expensive advertising real estate. They must sell. Using pretty pictures or graphics for their own sake is an almost criminal waste of money.
Trish Rochetich and son Kristian of Take Off Waxing in Melbourne
I was wasting my breath – the naysayer in the room didn’t get it. Needless to say, she did not join the Inner Circle coaching program and leave with her Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit tucked under her arm.
But 15 other Victorian salons did get it, especially when Inner Circle members like Mark Gibbs of Shellmark Hair Shack (18 months) and Kirsty Cuthbertson & Jasmine Dwyer of Adore Skin & Body Therapy (6 months) got up to do a ‘show and tell’ on their experiences.
Mark Gibbs reported his and wife Shelley’s salon had doubled their turnover in the past 18 months. Kirsty Cuthbertson reported her little two-person beauty salon’s takings for June 2010 were up by $15,000 over June the previous year.
Lina Rossi and Rebecca Naple of Vive La Belle Beauty in East Kew
Among the salons to join the program at the seminar…
Kristy Timms of Ren Skin Health in Geelong
Anita Kaine of Michindis in Mansfield
Kelly Inglis of Pure Skin Clinic in Belmont
Christine Palumbo of Take Off Waxing in North Melbourne
Debbie Wardle of Maestro Hair in Point Cook
Elva Vodanovich of Bio-Ger in St Kilda
Lina Rossi of Vive La Belle Beauty in East Kew
Selma Sadi of Answer 4 Hair & Beauty in Narre Warren
Andrea Martin of Lust for Hair in Forest Hill
Michelle Quarrell of Vanilah in Ballarat
Jacqui Chew of JC Unique in Mitcham
Deanna Hewitt of Academy Studio in Camberwell
Leanne Christie of Gossip Lane Hair Design in Park Orchards
Hair Salon Marketing Strategy: Have these salon owners gone MAD…or do they know something about salon marketing that you don’t???
There’s been flood of new members from all over the world in the past few weeks. In addition to this week’s Melbourne enrollments, we’ve welcomed from Canada:
Kirsty Cuthbertson and Jasmine Dwyer from Adore Skin & Body Therapy in Colac, Victoria. Members since February 2010, they’ve increase their takings 40% over 2009 since joining the Inner Circle marketing & mentoring program
Glennys Shouldice from Pure Hair Studio, Rita Singh of Ossia Salon & Spa, Nadine Bastien of Aphrodite’s Sanctuary, Vanessa Pagano of Mellennia Aesthetics Institute in Ontario, Dawn Fraser of Studio 324 Hair Salon, Janice Carr of Kismet Hair and Body and Andy Palitti of Avanti Hair Studio in British Columbia, as well as Deb McMillan from City Looks and Angela Ruiz of Lash Love / Love Nail Bar in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
From New Zealand we’d like to welcome Nicola Smith of NV Hair in Wanaka, Tania Dench of Wish Hair & Beauty in Papanui, Lauren Meacheam of Chillout Face and Body in Auckland, Kelley Leonard of Inspired By You in Whakatane, Monique Bright of Beauty Matters in Hamilton, Robyn Franich of Hair @ Matakana, and Charlotte Wenslick of Reaveal Beauty Therapy in Warkworth.
Costa Rica? Sure, Marc Langwieser of Arco Azul Salon & Spa in San Jose decided if ‘it’ works for the English speaking world, Spanish speakers might well respond to the same marketing stimuli too! His spa becomes our first member in Latin America.
All up since the beginning of the new financial year we’ve accepted 45 new salons in to the Inner Circle program.
