by Greg Milner | May 11, 2010 | Increasing Retail Sales, The Smell of Success
Marketing Your Salon Business – How to Think Outside the Box; includes example
Most owners of small businesses get that ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ feeling from time to time. I’m no different, so I know that when you’re wearing the blinkers, it’s hard to recognize opportunities even when they hit you over the head.
Mark & Shelly Gibbs owned a struggling hair salon in Melbourne, Victoria….Inner Circle membership and the Toolkit not only gave them the tools to get their salon pumping, it gave them the confidence to look ‘outside the box’ and branch out into other money-making ventures – like motorbikes for junior clients to sit on!
Not so for Mark and Shelly Gibbs, Inner Circle Premium members of Shellmark Hair Shack in Kilsyth South, Victoria (Australia).
As Mark says,
“When we joined WSM 12 months ago, we were in deep s**t, I couldn’t pay the bills or the rent, and the computer was in ‘sleep’ mode most of the time.”
How things can so quickly change. A year on, Mark and Shelly have not just one, but THREE successful businesses – the salon itself, an associated business selling kids’ cutting chairs in the shape of mini-motorcycles (see downloadable pdf) and a car washing business!
“You saved our salon,” says Mark.
To merely accept Mark’s plaudits with gratitude would be telling only part of the story. What Mark fails to acknowledge is the fact that all we at WSM did was give him and Shelley the tools; they provided the motivation, drive, enthusiasm and persistence.
It’s worked, brilliantly; for example, when they put the motorbike ‘chair’ in the front of the shop, their takings for kids’ haircuts soared by 84%.
Mark & Shelly did a JV deal with their software supplier, in an editorial-style iinsert in a big trade magazine, promoting both the software AND their new kids’ chair business. Right click on the picture and ‘save as…’ to download the complete story in pdf format.
And check this out: Mark and Shelly bought some software to help run their salon more efficiently – and then did a Joint Venture deal with the software manufacturer to promote the software – and the kids’ hair chairs – via a special double-page spread in a major trade magazine.
That’s doing some serious ‘outside-the-square’ thinking. (Right-click on the pic and download the full magazine feature story.)
by Greg Milner | May 4, 2010 | Marketing Superstars, The Smell of Success
Inner Circle Premium member Sarkis Akle of Hair by Phd – dramatic increase in sales and new clients since upgrading from Lite
Salon Appointment Book Template Hair Salon Marketer of the Month: Check out these brilliant results
Sarkis Akle, owner of Hair by Phd in Parramatta, Sydney, only upgraded to the Premium program from Lite in February this year. The effects on his salon’s sales has been dramatic.
It’s a testament to the power of good salon marketing copy… and implementation.
Here’s what Sarkis says:
Got some figures that I would like to share with you guys.
These are based on a comparison between April 09 and April 10, keeping in mind in 09 we had record turnover for our business and we are not working off a small base.
1. Turn over up 16.5% from $62,926 to $73,346
2. Rebooking up 19.5%
3. New clients up 104%v – 95 new clients this April.
4. Total clients up 11.9%
5. Retail up 8%
6. My personal takings are down. All the growth has been with the staff.
7. Avg client sale is only up by $3.50, however with the amount of free services we have done it’s still pretty good.
8. We sold 25 of the $99 Mother’s day packages last week, just through in salon promotion.
Thanks to you guys, I am so pumped about my business. My dream is to pay all my debts off and finally be able to buy a home for my family.
Thanks Guys!
Hearing from salon owners like Sarkis is what makes my job the best in the world – giving people the tools, and the knowledge, to make more money for themselves.
Congratulations Sarkis. You’ve won a special WSM prize, it’s in the mail!
by Greg Milner | Mar 3, 2010 | Marketing Superstars, The Right Mindset, The Smell of Success
Inner Circle member Lisa Zwart of Honey Body in Manly, Sydney.
Salon Web Template: From Struggle Street to Stardom – Lisa’s Story
South African-born Lisa Zwart was like most salon owners; struggling to keep the business afloat while she was drowning in the pressure of work. Lisa bought her Honey Body Salon in the northern Sydney beachside suburb of Manly 15 months ago. But it wasn’t until she attended a Worldwide Salon Marketing seminar in September 2009 that the ‘lights went on’ – and her life took a dramatic turn for the better.
Two months later, she was standing in front of 700 guests to receive the local Manly Business Achievers award!
“This is my first business I’ve been running by myself and I bought it and obviously it was a growing concern. It wasn’t doing really well, which is why I had to go get clients, and I’ve just literally had to build it up. I felt like I was building it up from scratch and I think we’ve just done really well. I’ve put in a lot of time and a lot of effort and now I’m putting in a lot more smart time…So, yeah, this is my success story.
Lisa and her team, picking up their freshly-minted Business Award
I never used to give myself time to market the salon business, until I went to my Worldwide Salon Marketing seminar. On my first coaching call, my coach told me just to shut the door. You get told to shut the door and literally sit down and do your budgeting and marketing plans. Because I really wasn’t making any time before that. So, now I’m more conscious of the time, forced now to leave my business to have good marketing strategies in place.
I’ve taken a lot of the guidelines that have kind of been given to us, like the ad guidelines, how to set about doing an ad, and what not to do in an ad, and what to do in an ad, and how to make things eye-catching. Obviously, taking tips from other people. If something didn’t work for them, I can say, “Okay, well it didn’t work for them”. They’re about the same as me. I’m not going to try anything like that. I’ll try something which has worked for them, or I like to see what everyone else is kind of doing and pick up ideas. Not necessarily copying them, but definitely taking ideas off what they’ve done and trying to use the guidelines that have been shown to us.
Also, I’ve been reading a lot about the hiring staff and I’ve taken that onboard. Because that was one of my biggest issues before I just wasn’t getting quality staff. Now I’m at a really good point where I’ve got great staff and I think it’s thanks to looking at those guidelines. Also, retailing and all of the tips and guidelines. There’s just so much information in that kit. I can pick it up today and I will read something that I didn’t read two months ago.
Lisa’s hard work has obviously been working.
“I took my whole family on safari to South Africa in December!”
by Greg Milner | Jan 28, 2010 | The Right Mindset, The Smell of Success
Salon Price List Template Free – Turning A Disadvantage Into A Raging Advantage
I’ll often hear salon & spa business owners saying “my salon has no passing traffic so it’s harder for me”, or “we’re in a poor area, I can’t raise my prices”, or “…there are roadworks outside my salon, and my business is dying…”.
If you spend enough time thinking about it, you can write a long list of reasons why others are successful and you’re not, why others seem to have an ‘easier’ time in business than you do, why the competition appears to be doing better than you are.
In fact, it’s deceptively easy to find reasons for failure, but they are, in the main, mere excuses. Barring cataclysmic events – like an earthquake in Haiti – there are almost no circumstances where not even a sliver of silver lining can be found in the cloud.
(Even in Haiti, I’ll bet there are some enterprising souls capitalizing on the devastation, and I don’t mean pure looting. In the West Australian goldrush of the 1890s around Kalgoorlie, the people who made the big money weren’t the prospectors, they were the people selling water and beer TO the prospectors.)
All of which is a round-a-bout way of introducing Cheryl Bown, one of our Inner Circle Premium members from a salon called Imagine in Tea Tree Gully, South Australia.
Inner Circle member Cheryl Bown of Imagine in South Australia – ‘outside the box’ thinking produced a brilliant result
During a recent heatwave, where the temperature topped 40C (about 105F in the old money) for days on end, Cheryl was faced with a real business challenge.
Her salon’s air conditioning died.
Many would simply use it as excuse to give up, close the doors, go home and wait for the repair man. Not Cheryl. Typically, she found a brilliant, innovative and simple way to turn disadvantage into advantage.
Here’s what Cheryl wrote to me this week.
“I now only work 3 days a week, amazingly the turnover has not dropped, we have had 317 new clients join us since beginning of July’09, and a consistent TO of $6,110 a week for the past 20 weeks.
“In the last 6 months of the business growing, I also sold my house and moved. I was presented at the North East Business Awards with an AWARD for ” BEST NEW ENTERPRISE” – I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited, on the way back it was a stop at the liquor store and back to the salon where the girls were still working, to celebrate with the team and clients.
“I have just introduced Birthday Letters, and the very next day we had 3 clients in delighted with their Birthday Gift. I have only touched the surface with a lot of the opportunities that are available to me, I started to delegate work, eg. I have now hired an ironing lady and house cleaner, I’m so proud of myself:-) I’m on the road to my 6 series convertible BMW. I used to aim small, not any more.”
So, what would YOU do if faced with a heatwave of epic proportions, no air-conditioning, an unbearably hot salon, terrified clients would take one step inside and bolt?
by Greg Milner | Jan 27, 2010 | Marketing Superstars, The Smell of Success
Free Salon Price List Template Marketing Superstar of the Week – a 312% increase in sales for Inner Circle members Peter & Amanda Rickman’s Hair Salon
“Hi Greg, what a year we’ve had at Making Waves Hair Design.
Thanks to you & your team’s ideas, the continued support and the information within the Inner Circle membership that we can access, we took massive action, coupled with staff teamwork and a whole new aspect on how we should run and work on building a profitable salon business.
Between Dec ’08 & Dec ’09 we have had a massive 312% increase in profit, all because we took action by joining WSM and getting our Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® in Oct 08, listening & learning to what has been successful to others in the circle.
As for “what a month”, this past December has been extraordinary! Gone from $13,500 in ’08 to $21,799 in ’09. The voucher sales in 08 = $0, in ’09 = $2500 which was mainly due to our Dec newsletter and great work & salesmanship of our dedicated staff.
Not only that, the New Year has started off with a BANG, already we have a 21% increase in revenue from the same period last year, and this increase does not include the $3500 worth of vouchers & gift cards redeemed by our clients so far.
We are looking forward to a MAMMOTH year and especially the upcoming academy events.
Looking forward to more success…
Peter & Amanda
Making Waves Hair Design”
by Greg Milner | Jan 14, 2010 | The Smell of Success
Hair Salon Flyers Template And The Salon Business – it’s not ALL about making money
I absolutely LOVE doing deals and creating value. Value = making money. After all, there’s zero point to being in business and making no profit. And I’ll happily admit that financially, this business has been very lucrative.
I often wake early, and lie there for a few minutes, thinking about business and all the wonderful benefits it’s brought me. A substantial income, for sure. Equity in an increasingly-valuable business asset, no doubt. And within the constraints of the law, almost complete freedom to do as I please, when I please. And – as far as I can ascertain – a reputation for decent human values, honesty in business, and being a straight-shooter.
Sure, there’s been grief along the way. Snot-‘n-tears here and there. Frustration, yes. (I’ve never been known for unlimited patience.) By and large though, getting into business after 25 years of mostly working for other people has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Even if I was well past 40 when I finally made it.
But I often lie there in the small hours, convinced that the very BIGGEST benefit I enjoy as a result of success is… the frequent, unsolicited, heartfelt ‘THANKS’ from salon & spa business owners all over the world.
They come from surprising places. We have salon & spa members of the Inner Circle program in all sorts of places…. the backblocks of the USA, outback Australia, little towns in Ireland, windswept southern New Zealand, and BIG cities like Tokyo, Sydney, London and New York.
But…Samoa? From this tiny speck in the Pacific Ocean, a delightful email this week from Inner Circle member Hellen Lavale, owner of Nezian Hair Design:
Samoan salon owner Hellen Levale reveals how ‘my’ style of marketing works just the same on a tiny Pacific Island as it does in London, Sydney or New York.
“Hi Greg,
Hellen here in Samoa.
Well, I have started on the Toolkit (Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit®) and it is exciting…I had to go away during the first week of Xmas to Sydney and had 2 new staff members start who had been away in other countries on training. The salon HAD TO MAKE MONEY while I was away and it did.. So I took massive action and ran a TV ad, a radio ad and sent flyers to 50 random selected PO BOX numbers (in Samoa there are no physical letter boxes…this little exercise cost 2463. tala ( approx $AUD1200).
We had awesome response with staff working 10-12 hours per day, and sold 50 packages at 99.00 tala for services worth 250.00. The best part of this was it created confidence on my part that my salon could generate cash while I was away. I have stopped them but the whole exercise has given the salon name a great exposure. Clients have been given the Happy Form (from the kit) also and our membership form which is free right now…..Staff members have been given excellent with every tick …..great for me knowing clients are happy…..
This week I have had a floor manager start our email listing so that we can send out our newsletter and our monthly offers and our birthday gift vouchers. We also start the New Clients re booking letter system as well this week.
We did a $16,400 month in December 2008 and December 2009 was almost $20,000!”
From time to time, doubters question me on whether ‘my kind of salon marketing’ would ‘work in my town/city/country’…. well, I can’t tell you. But it works in…Samoa!
