by Greg Milner | Sep 7, 2010 | New Zealand, Salon Seminars
New Zealand salon owner Tania McGonacle, one of twelve new salons to join the WSM Inner Circle marketing & mentoring program and receive her own copy of the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit, plus coaching, at this week’s Salon Profit Secrets seminar in Auckland
I’m going to keep my travel arrangements secret in the future. Back in April, Michelle and I arrived in the UK the day the Icelandic volcano erupted and shut down Europe’s airspace for weeks. On Saturday, we landed in New Zealand on the day the Shaky Isles experienced their worst earthquake in decades.
No doubt emergency services all over the world are now nervous about us visiting fire and pestilence on them too.
There was no nervousness among New Zealand’s salon owners however. Despite – or perhaps because of – the less than robust economy in the land of the Kiwi, we welcomed a dozen new members to the Inner Circle Premium marketing & mentoring program during yesterday’s Salon Profit Secrets seminar at the harbourside Hilton Hotel in Auckland.
New Zealanders are an almost universally optimistic people. Of more than 100 salon owners and staff in the room, there was none of the ‘woe-is-me’ attitude common among small business owners of say, the USA.
When I urged the Kiwis to ‘go out and sell something, your country needs the business’, it was met with nodding agreement and enthusiasm.
Our New Zealand distributors, Chris & Rachael D’Aguiar-Sanders did a great job of attracting salon owners to fly in to Auckland from all over the country for this event, including at least 15 of our existing members whom I’d never previously met.
Among them, IC member Paul Davis of Pureskin Clinic in Ponsonby could barely wipe the smile from his face as he told the audience his salon had just enjoyed its best July in five years.
Phil Newman and partner Nikki Smith only joined the program and got their Toolkit in July, just as they started their hair salon in distant Wanaka, in the southern alps near Queenstown.
“It’s amazing,” says Phil. “We just followed the program exactly, and our sales immediately tripled. I’m a numbers kind of guy, and I’ve worked out that for every $1 we spend on ‘Toolkit-style’ marketing, we get no less than $12 back.”
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.
by Greg Milner | Aug 5, 2010 | Canada, The Smell of Success
Talk about MASSIVE ACTION. This couple win the prize!
Andy and Silvia, of AVANTI HAIR STUDIO, in Surrey BC (Canada), were one of the first Canadian salons to enroll in the Inner Circle Premium program and get their marketing Toolkit when our Canadian office opened on July 1, and wasted no time putting it to work for them.
Within the first 10 days, they had implemented a mini membership campaign (straight out of the Toolkit) and brought in over $9,000!!!! Needless to say they were astounded, and have thrown themselves into action!
A Hollywood makeover flyer is ready to go to press as well as a Window poster to attract first time clients, and all this from a guy who just learned computers. According to Andy,
” If I can do it, anybody can do this”.
Andy has committed to spending dedicated time every week working on his marketing. Results speak for themselves.
by Greg Milner | May 28, 2010 | Australia, Marketing Superstars, The Smell of Success
Hair Salon Marketing Template Superstar: Message from a Doting Grandmother!
Now we’re being credited with creating babies!
At Worldwide Salon Marketing we’re dedicated to creating wealth and financial freedom for salon and spa owners. But we never thought we’d be thanked for making babies as well.
As Maureen Hardman writes, daughter and long-term Inner Circle member Cherie Underwood has been able to get married, start a family and work from home thanks to the success of direct response salon marketing she discovered in the WSM Inner Circle Marketing & Mentoring Program.
“When we purchased the salon nearly 3 years ago the old salon owner had implemented some of your strategies as she had hard copies of some of your marketing material, so at some stage she must have been a member.
“We know she had increased the business by about 25% in two years prior to her selling, due to an increase in her marketing strategies. Since joining WSM we have further increased our sales by at least another 25% by following your most recent ideas etc.
When we first purchased the business there were 2 additional full time staff (plus the owner) who had been there for a total of 9 years. They both left within 6 months, one opening up at home and taking about a quarter of the clients. (She left when Cherie returned from her honeymoon). Soon after this, with the help of the marketing templates in the Toolkit, birthday vouchers and fabulous offers, seen many of those clients return.
“We now also have someone on reception as inspired by WSM so we do not miss any calls, walk-ins etc (this is a must). The ex-employee is now working in a bar down the road (bitter sweet!). Because of this increase in sales we have put on an additional full time beauty therapist and Cherie has been able to start a family without any hesitation and will now predominantly work from home. Your stuff works and without it I may not have been blessed with a beautiful grandaughter!”
by Greg Milner | May 13, 2010 | Ads that Have Worked, Marketing Superstars, New Zealand, The Right Mindset
Hair Salon Template: NZ Salon Marketing Superstar, Toni Cunningham’s Autumn Mailbox Drop Reaps Fantastic Rewards!
If there is a common theme amongst our successful My Social Salon members it’s that they ALL take massive action to get the results they want for their business. And Toni Cunningham of Decadence Salon in Palmerston North, New Zealand is one of those MASSIVE ACTION taking salon owners.
Toni Cunningham, Owner of Decadence Salon in Palmerston North, NZ
Toni joined the program back in December 2009 and has seen her salon’s weekly turnover increase by significant 20% in that time. And the great thing about Toni is that she doesn’t get deflated or defeated when she does a campaign and doesn’t quite get the results she wanted, because she has so many other successful salon marketing campaigns on the go that she is always getting great results from different areas.
When I get calls from ‘non inner circle members’ telling me that their marketing isn’t working, I normally ask them what marketing they have done, to which the response is something like,
“Well I delivered 37 flyers into mailboxes 8 weeks ago and I haven’t heard back from anyone yet…”
It is simply not enough, and the results will show that.
Many Salon owners have been slaves to their business and staff, not paying themselves a wage for 1, 2, 10 even 20 years and most of these people have the perception that marketing is a waste of time and has to be expensive, but it isn’t. There are so many low cost strategies if not FREE ways you can market your salon.
Read on below to see how a low cost mailbox drop brought in $4158 for Toni Cunningham in the month of April…
“Hi Chris
Just wanted to let you know that April was our best month (even bet Christmas) it’s fantastic to see the salon growing continuously every month. I have to say couldn’t have done it without WSM.
I have to say it’s really rewarding after my husband and I have dropped 500 flyers to go into the salon and see 10 messages on the phone and then the calendar just fills up, its great.
The team gets such a kick out of seeing the calendar fill quite rapidly.
I have only been in the program since December and have seen some great results, have made a part timer full time ,and we are in the process of hiring another stylist.
If this is what we have achieved in the last 6 months I say bring on the next 6 months.
Last month we took massive action, we did our monthly newsletter, Kids Free Hair Cuts Flyer (in school holidays), Autumn Flyer, along with all the New client letters, birthday letters, Raise the dead letters.
By far the Autumn package was the most successful, we are dropping 500 every week and getting amazing results. It cost $45 for flyers and envelopes and we booked 42 packages at $99 and what is even better, is 34 were new clients.”
And from chatting with Toni recently she dropped another 500 flyers around the neighbourhood in the first week of May and got another 9 bookings (49 in total so far). And of course these results do not include all the new and existing clients she got from her other marketing campaigns.
So Let’s break things down.
500 Flyers plus envelopes cost Toni $45.
She delivered 2000 flyers over 4 weeks in April, so the total cost for the flyers and envelopes was $180.
Each of those 42 clients spent $99, so an immediate income of $4158 (this does not include any retail sold).
Let’s say on average each new client is worth $1000 per year to Toni and that half of the 34 new clients became regular clients. That would be an increase in annual turnover of $17,000.
Not a bad return for a $180 investment.
Well done Toni and keep up the excellent work!
