by Greg Milner | Sep 1, 2009 | The Smell of Success
Funny title, serious message for business owners
Salon Web Template: Do You Insist The World is Flat?
If you own your own business, this is for you.
Every so often, we get a complaint from a Member, like this one: “We have purchased all of your marketing material about one month and a half ago. We are NOT HAPPY….(I just wanted to) let you know of my disappointment with the marketing so far…”
These do become tiring, particularly in light of overwhelming evidence from literally hundreds of salons & spas all over the world who are using the very same marketing system, and achieving documented – and in many cases, truly spectacular – results.
To verify this, you need only browse around this website. Go look under Salon Superstars. These are real owners of real salons & spas, all over the world, all of them using the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® containing exactly the same Direct Response marketing and advertising templates for flyers, letters and ads, and the ‘sales thinking’ that goes behind them.
Dan Kennedy – brutal, but accurate
So what is the difference? Idly, I was reading through a little booklet by Dan Kennedy. It’s called
“Why Do I Always Have to Sit Next to the Farting Cat”
but the whimsical title is just an eye-catching headline for a very serious, hard-nosed and instructive essay on why a few people achieve success when the vast majority don’t.
So I quote Kennedy here, as answer at least in part to the complainers:
“If you own your own business, there’s a pretty good chance you also own some of my marketing courses, and/or own a marketing system put out by someone I’ve influenced.
If you own a Marketing System specific to an inudstry, odds are it’s been put into your hands by somebody who I work with. I’m familiar withi the system you have. And I have something important to tell you about it.
The first thing you should know – “it” works. Each of these industry advisors have thousands of business owners who can testify to that. Questioning the efficacy of these Systems is like insisting the world is flat. The time for such an argument has long since passed. These leaders and their Systems are proven.
So the second thing to know is – it’s about you, not ‘it’.
I remember being at one of Joe Polish’s boot camps for carpet cleaners, and listening as a carpet cleaner went on and on about how nothing of Joe’s he tried worked because all his customers were cheapskates and everybody in his town bought only based on the cheapest price. Finally, I stopped him. I asked if there was a shopping mall in town. When he said yes, I wondered out loud how that could be.
If everybody there only bought by cheapest price, the only store there would be a Wal-Mart. You see, insisting that everybody buys by the cheapest price is stupid. (And, incidentally, fewer than 10% of customers buy that way, unless offered no other basis for making a decision.) Then I pointed out to him: he chose his customers. He did certain things to attract them. If they were all cheapskates, his fault.
I find a lot of people fail to get the results they should, that others get, for one or more of these reasons. One, they don’t actually use the Systems as instructed. They fool around with it, use pieces of it, change it.
Two, other aspects of their businesses are so screwed up, marketing that brings more customers in the door is futile.
Three, they are self-defeating whiners and complainers. There is an intangible to business, and that is attitude.
Fourth, they never do much of anything. If they start, they don’t follow through.
So I want to tell you again, questioning the efficacy of these Systems is like insisting the world is flat. The time for such argument has long since passed.”
There’s a saying. A poor carpenter blames his tools. I’m here to tell you, you own extraordinary tools.”
Amen. And by the way, I’ve just ordered a whole truckload of those little books from Dan’s printer in the States. Our Inner Circle members will each get a copy, free.
If you are NOT yet an Inner Circle member, you do NOT yet have the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit®, you are fighting a lonely battle devoid of the right knowledge, useful tools, with both arms tied behind your back, re-inventing the wheel every day, probably doing it the same way you’ve always done it, probably getting the same lackluster results you’ve always got.
You CAN change this, by applying for a 30-day Test Drive of the toolkit and the entire Inner Circle marketing & mentoring system.
by Greg Milner | Aug 27, 2009 | Increasing Retail Sales
Salon Business Plan Template: Salon Marketing Increases Sales by 25% in One Month
Here at WSM, we love celebrating YOUR success – which is why I always look forward to our monthly group coaching call. Not only do we get to talk to members who have gotten it spectacularly right, but these inspirational stories also help other members to grow their own businesses. As the old adage goes, success breeds success, and I hope Rachel Howe’s terrific achievements motivates you on your own journey.
All the way up north from gorgeous and sunny Brisbane, QLD (yes, we’re jealous!), Rachel is a young sole operator who has had some amazing results since joining us a mere 6 weeks ago. Implementing just a handful of powerful strategies contained in the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit®, her sales has jumped from around $8,000 –$ 9,000 per month to $12,400 – a massive 25% increase! Product sales have been even more impressive, almost doubling from $2,500 to $4,600.
But Rachel proves that not only is it possible to grow your business substantially using the Toolkit®, she also tells us how easy it was, and spills the secret on her phenomenal retail sales:
However, the most amazing part is that she managed to do all of this simply by mailing 200 existing clients on her database a seasonal offer, directly from the Toolkit®, booking in 19 clients. These sales added up to over $2,000, proving that you don’t always need to go trawling the streets for new business when you’ve got a gold mine filed away in your salon computer hard drive. And even better than that – there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. If a template directly from the Toolkit™ can help Rachel achieve these results, they can do the same for you and your salon.
Being a sole operator, the road to success can seem especially daunting – no moral support from a co-owner, no staff in the salon to help out when things get hectic. Being a member of the Worldwide Salon Marketing Inner Circle not only offers you support through coaching and meeting up with other salon owners, but also takes the stress of marketing your business off your shoulders. Everything is literally done for you – just add your salon details, and watch the money roll in…
by Greg Milner | Aug 26, 2009 | Marketing Superstars, New Zealand
Salon Template Superstars – Inner Circle Member of the Week, Jaye Clark – New Zealand
The Mailbox drop that cost $161 and brought in $8811 in service plus retail
Jaye Clark from Synergy Vitality Spa in Tauranga joined the Inner Circle program in June 2009 and has hit the ground running. Jaye has owned her already successful salon for 7 years now and like many salon owners when they first join our program she was a bit skeptical as she had used other programs in the past that hadn’t worked. Needless to say, after using the tools and techniques in the Essential Salon Owners Marketing Toolkit™, Jaye is a Worldwide Salon Marketing convert…
“I joined Worldwide Salon Marketing mid June 2009. The support and mentoring has been wonderful.
I believed I was pretty organized with my marketing, but the 100’s of marketing strategies and templates available through Worldwide Salon Marketing has been inspirational. The regular email contact and reminders just keeps me motivated.
The Inner Circle membership allows me to see and hear other Salons ideas and great outcomes, once again, really inspirational.
I am getting great results, an example being the $99 facial packages. We have put out 250 flyers per week for six weeks with the great offer and booked 89 packages from it, producing $8811.00 plus retail sales. I printed 2500 flyers for $161.00. 1500 flyers have been delivered.”
When I first spoke with Jaye, she was very clear about what her goals were. She knew how much she wanted her average client spend up, she knew exactly how many new clients she wanted and within what time frame she wanted all this to happen. This goal setting is part of the key to her success. Instead of saying, ‘I want more clients and I want more money’ she has actually put specific figures on these goals so she can visualise it, measure it and achieve it. We’re thrilled to report that she is well on her way to surpassing these goals, so soon we can re-assess and make new goals.
Congratulations Jaye on being our Worldwide Salon Marketing New Zealand member of the week!
by Greg Milner | Aug 19, 2009 | Blog, Marketing Superstars
Salon Template Salon Superstars – Inner Circle Member of the Week, Susan Vincent – USA
If more so-called ‘business leaders’ took some lessons from fleet-footed business owners at the small end of town, like Inner Circle member Susan Vincent of Body & Soul Day Spa in Staunton, Virginia, the US might not be wallowing in its own economic misery.
Unlike the CEOs of big, fat companies bailed out by the taxpayer, Susan didn’t ‘know it all’ – she sought – and found – the money-making templates and tools in Worldwide Salon Marketing’s My Social Salon system, including the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® and USED them:
“As of June 2009, with the recession in full force, we are still experiencing a 20% growth rate – we couldn’t be happier!”
Susan joined WSM and got her Toolkit nearly two years ago, and immediately embraced its no-nonsense style of direct marketing, advertising, salon/spa marketing plans and sales strategies. But importantly, she did it with a pulse, and used it as a spur to seek more knowledge about the whole world of direct response.
“Although the recession hasn’t hit us like it has in some parts of the US, the community here has embraced that (recession) mindset.
“This has created a very difficult environment for such a small spa. A couple of years ago, a Dan Kennedy mentor of mine recommended that I start a print newsletter. He knew I was a writer and encouraged me to write about my life in the newsletter. I really thought he was nuts. After all, email was the rage.
“Why would anyone want to read a print newsletter? But more to the point, why would anyone want to read about my boring life? Turns out, he was spot on.
“A year after the newsletter’s debut, we grew 35%. Our clients raved about it. They loved the funny, inspirational stories I wrote, much to my surprise. But it wasn’t just that.
“I combined the newsletter stories with great offers. Worldwide Salon Marketing helped me to understand how to craft an offer and combine a killer guarantee to increase sales.”
In fact, so successful has Susan’s monthly newsletter proven to be for her spa, she’s about to launch a ‘done-for-you’ newsletter service for other beauty businesses. She’ll do almost all the writing for you, with a couple of gaps to use for your own offers, and all you’ll have to do is get it printed and mailed.
The fine details are being ironed out over the next few weeks. We’ll let you know when it’s ready to go.
by Greg Milner | Aug 12, 2009 | Salon Advertising Tips
Salon owner Jemima Richards used a series of linked sales letters straight from the Toolkit to triple her marketing response
Salon Website Template: The ONE Marketing Strategy That Will Triple ANY Salon’s Direct Mail Response
Call me old-fashioned – somebody did once, and I said ‘fiddlesticks’ – but it’s a mystery to me why so many salon owners (even some Inner Circle members, who should know better) just do NOT get one of the simplest, easy-to-implement salon & spa marketing strategies I have ever taught.
Well, from Jemima Richards of Sync Detoxify Nourish Regenerate yet more proof – if any more were needed – that this strategy DOES work, works brilliantly, and all you have to do is implement it.
Says Jemima:
“Had to just let you know that we have been laughing a lot around here because I am an idiot! The reason for the laughter is the amount of return we are getting (using your strategy) and how many more bookings we are getting from the 2nd and 3rd letter.
“You always said it, and not that I didn’t believe you…if only I had been doing this all along…!”
What Jemima is talking about is the proven direct mail strategy of a linked series of letters to a list of customers or qualified prospects. Most businesses send one letter, and no matter what response they get, presume the rest are simply not interested, and give up.
It is a fatal marketing mistake. You leave untold amounts of money uncollected, sitting on the table.
Hear this: if you are tempted to do a one-shot mailing and stop there, save your money. They don’t even feel the breeze.
As Jemima says – and we have proven over and over and over again – you’ll often get a BIGGER response off letters #2 and #3 than you will off the first letter.
It is precisely why the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit™ is FULL of these linked, sequential letters, for a multitude of purposes and events, e.g.,
- The ‘Raise the Dead’ letters for getting ‘lost’ clients back. Written specifically for this purpose, with fun, from Rupert the Dog.
- The New Client re-booking letters, a series of three.
- The change of season letters to existing clients
..and a ton of other letters for every imaginable purpose.
“Oh, I couldn’t do that, my clients would think I’m pestering them.”
No, they won’t. Here’s the truth: clients leave you because of neglect, not because you’re sending them nice letters.
(And if ONE client complains, are you going to use that as a pathetic excuse to ignore the rest of your client base?)
