by Greg Milner | May 23, 2013 | Blog, New Zealand, Salon Events
The ‘You Beauty Salon Tour’ is underway and the first date at Gloss Beauty Boutique in Matamata was a HUGE success!
The VIP night saw customers of Gloss Beauty be entertained with live music (from me), makeup demos from Rachael D’Aguiar and they had the opportunity to purchase one-night only special offers.
Click here to check out a video of the night
Gloss Beauty took in over $3500 sales for the night, and we raised around $500 for Look Good Feel Better women’s cancer charity. A great result all round!
And to add to that the event got some great FREE media coverage for Gloss Beauty in the regional paper the Waikato Times and also a more local paper called the Matamata Chronicle….Priceless!
Click this link to the Waikato Times article
And if that wasn’t enough, at least half a dozen customers of Gloss Beauty gave a glowing video testimonial, all raving about how amazing the salon is!!! Check out some of them below…
Gloss Beauty Testimonial 1
Gloss Beauty Testimonial 2
Gloss Beauty Testimonial 3
The You Beauty Salon Tour is about to get rolling again with dates this week in Auckland and Tauranga so be sure to check back later in the week for an update.
Or follow the Tour on Facebook or Twitter (links below)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/chrissandersmusic/
https://twitter.com/@salonapps
And if you want to be involved and help raise some money for Look Good Feel Better then simply download my debut EP from iTunes with all proceeds going to Look Good Feel Better throughout May.
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/home-away-from-home-ep/id274794920
Auckland and Tauranga here we come!
by Greg Milner | Jan 25, 2010 | New Zealand
Hair Salon Website Template Free For NZ Salon Superstar of the Week – Lynda Moodley of Lynnel’s Hair Studio, Manukau
This week I got a very excited phone call from one of our Inner Circle members, Lynda Moodley of Lynnel’s Hair Studio in Manukau. Lynda placed an advertorial in her local Manukau Courier and the phone has been ringing red hot ever since!
Prior to being an Inner Circle member Lynda was your typical salon owner, chasing a dream to have a salon bustling with customers and money flooding out of the till, whereas in reality her dream was dragging her down and the only thing flooding in, were bills, bills and more bills.
And as I say to new inner circle members, joining the program doesn’t instantly qualify you for a salon full of customers and bags and bags of cash. No, you still actually have to put the work in to make that happen, which is exactly what Lynda has been doing day after day, week after week, month after month. And it is this MASSIVE ACTION that has seen her salon grow consistently each month, employ her first staff members and become the leading retailer in South Auckland for her product range.
Lynda Moodley Owner of Lynnel’s Hair Studio, Manukau
Since joining the Inner Circle program in 2009 she has seen her rate of new clients increase each month. In October she had 35 new clients, in November she had 46 new clients and in December she had 47 new clients. And I think it is fair to say that with her advertorial in January she will be breaking some more records this month….
Editorials and adverts (advertorials) are a fantastic way to promote your salon and more often than not will result in a much higher response rate than just an advert alone. It is a way to tell people a bit more about your salon and make them feel like they already know and trust you before they walk through your doors or call you.
If you are thinking about advertising in your local paper it pays to ask them (especially if you are a new advertiser) if you can have some editorial with your advert. Sometimes they will give you this for free in the hope of you advertising more with them in the future. Alternatively some papers will want you to lock in to a contract for x amount of adverts before they give you editorial space.
Lynda ran a 10 week advertising campaign with the paper. The first 9 adverts did not include editorial and the response rate was 2 – 3 bookings per ad. The advertorial in week 10 generated 27 phone enquiries, 15 bookings (12 of which were new clients) and an immediate income of $896.
Each new client would be worth on average $1000 per annum to Lynda, so the advertorial has potentially increased her annual turnover by $12,000.
Needless to say Lynda has found out what works best for her salon and will continue to run an advertorial column each month.
Members, click here to see Lynda’s editorial
And here’s what Lynda has to say about being an Inner Circle member…
“On many occasions I would sit in my quiet salon and think what on earth am I doing chasing a dream but there’s so much stress. I needed to be able to talk to others that are in my industry and understand exactly where I’m coming from and yes the inner circle program provides just that and definitely much much more.
Being a member of the inner circle program has decreased the stress level in my life in terms of marketing, gone are those days of sitting hours and hours in front of the computer screen and trying to figure out where to start with an advert. By being a member of the program we as a salon on average are doing 20-25 new clients in a month. October this year we did a record of 35 new clients and we have just broken that record again with 46 new clients in November.
My coaching calls are definitely my favourite. I am always excited to talk to Chris because I know even if I have had a low month he’s always there to encourage me and get me motivated. The other aspect of the program that I enjoy is the fact that everything is done for me all I have to do is just change my details and off goes the marketing.
Our most successful campaign that seems to work for us is the Hollywood Woman’s Hair Package. Every month we put out at least 2000 flyers and on average we get a return of 15-20 new clients taking up this offer and definitely topping that with retail sales.
According to my supplier Lynnels retails more products that any other salon that they supply in South Auckland
I spend at least 5-7 hours if not more on marketing each week. Just about every chance I get I’m in front of my computer going through the kit and getting an advert sorted.”
And all of Lynda’s hard work hasn’t gone un-noticed by her husband too….
“Well, my precious husband sees all hard work I have been putting into my business as well as still being a mummy and a wife so he decided to honour me and buy me my dream car. I drive it very proudly with my salon magnets on both sides of my car which includes a $99 offer and frequently I notice people at the lights or round abouts reading my magnet.
Check out Lynda’s new BMW!!!
My goal is to be DEBT FREE, to be full time off the floor and definitely expansion in terms of employing staff. We have just employed another hairdresser because I cannot carry the work load on my own.
And my advice to people who are thinking about joining the Inner Circle program is ‘DON’T HESITATE. You have nothing to lose. If you are looking at closing the doors to your business don’t do it the inner circle program has the answers you are looking for and the mentors are amazing. If you shut the doors to your business you probably will lose the very thing that can catapult you right into your financial freedom. Give the program a try, you have everything to gain.”
Well done Lynda, you really deserve these fantastic results from all the hard work you are putting in….keep it up!!
by Greg Milner | Nov 25, 2009 | Marketing Superstars, New Zealand
Hair Salon Template Superstar of the Week – Lucyanne Tipoki of Xpertise Hairdressers, Kaikohe, NZ
The Promotion that brought in $2,200 in 3 days for Xpertise Hairdressers in Kaikohe.
Every week I have dozens of phone calls from salon owners asking about our Inner Circle program and more often than not I hear that old chestnut…”but I am in the wrong area of town, it won’t work for me, there’s not enough people in my area, it’s the wrong demographic….blah, blah, blah”.
I feel like saying to them “try telling that to Lucyanne Tipoki!!!” Lucyanne, owner of Xpertise Hairdressers, is in the small sunny Northland town of Kaikohe where there is a population of ONLY 3000, and she is letting NOTHING stand in her way!
Lucyanne Tipoki from Xpertise Hairdressers in Kaikohe, NZ
In fact, Lucyanne says that she often gets visits from other salon owners in her town trying to find out what she is doing and why she is always so busy, while they are twiddling their thumbs in utter boredom.
Lucyanne had been in business for almost 20 years, doing pretty well but in the last couple of years she was starting to see a huge decline in business and the stress was mounting.
“Things were getting stale, no excitement was happening and I think my clients were feeling it too. I was almost ready to close my doors”
Fortunately Lucyanne made the decision to turn her business around. She joined the Inner Circle program in May this year and got her own copy of the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit®. And the rest shall we say, is history! Here’s what Lucyanne has to say about the Inner Circle program and how it has changed her life massively in just SIX months….
“I MUST SAY I LOVE BEING IN THE INNER CIRCLE PROGRAM!!!
I received a flyer in the mail and what caught my eye were the words, SECRET TO SUCESS AND ROADS TO RICHES on the flyer. But I put the flyer down and completely forgot about it until the next flyer came in the mail 2 weeks later. I re-read the flyer again and I took action and joined the Inner Circle program.
I had attended the seminar in Auckland last year and I was very impressed and learnt a lot in that short amount of time. I didn’t join that day because I had been in over draft and out of credit for a few years. I knew I was going to join somehow. It took me almost another 6 months since seeing the program to join and I must confess I was trying to come up with my own ways of writing ads and letters but after hours and hours of working it out, I just gave up and thought blow it, I am just going to join, (knowing that worldwide marketing has already done the written work for all their members).
So since I’ve joined the IC program it has added a whole new outlook on how to run a more exciting, fun, stress free, business. It has changed my life. It almost feels like I’ve just opened up a brand new business and it feels like I’ll do 100% plus better than the last 20 years.
It’s great receiving heaps and heaps of already proven ads or ideas from other members. I love it as it’s almost like everyone is about helping each other out.
My most successful campaign so far was the Unlimited Free Foils deal. I put the ad in our local Northern News and it cost $200. Within 3 days I had sold 25 unlimited foils packages and made $2,200 extra in turnover. 10 out of those 25 clients were upgrades too so I increased my average client spend and 15 of these people have become regular clients.
The people in the far north thought I had won lotto. To give a way something for free in the far north is very rare. People thought I was crazy. (It has been a big eye opener to potential clients offering value for money in my ads because it has hardly been done in the hair and beauty industry). But hey, they took the offer and it has been an amazing response.
The phone kept ringing for weeks and still does. I am known now for ‘Hey, are you the salon that always offers amazing packages’. It’s cool and I am happy to say ‘YES I’ve always got something free to give away’.”
*And it’s important to note here that with every promotion Lucyanne does, she gets it out there in as many ways as she can to maximise her response. It’s on her answer machine, in her shop window, in her monthly newsletter, it’s posted to her existing client base, dropped in letterboxes and much more. She takes MASSIVE action!
“I now spend about one to two hours a day on marketing as it keeps me all hyped up and excited ready for the next promotion. I plan to triple my turn over and work more on the business than in the business. I could do marketing full time. I love it.”
by Greg Milner | Aug 11, 2009 | New Zealand
Salon Templates Make Salon Superstars – Inner Circle Member of the Week: Linda Gordon
The salon ad campaign that brought in 56 new clients in 5 days: “We placed the ad in the New Zealand Herald and Aucklander on Thursday and again in the Herald on Sunday. The total cost for the 3 ads was $1760, and by Monday afternoon we had 56 bookings…and the phone is still ringing!”
One of the most commonly asked questions I get from new Inner Circle members is ‘What happens if a salon down the road joins the program and is doing similar marketing?” …to which my answer is normally something along the lines of, “Well firstly, you are better to be in the program than not as you will have such a huge upper hand over the salons that are not members.”
Secondly, what makes your salon different from the salon down the road? By this I mean ‘what is your unique selling point or USP, that would make me choose you over the other salon regardless of whether they are an Inner Circle member or not.
And thirdly, do you really care what the salon down the road is doing?
Linda Gordon, owner of Arya Day Spa in Auckland
I had an interesting conversation with Linda Gordon of Arya Day Spa about a month or so ago which was very similar to this.
Linda joined the Inner Circle program at the Auckland Road to Riches Seminar and during our first coaching call she asked why we would sign up her salon, which is only about 2km down the road from our salon.
My answer, well it went like what I have written above. And if I believed for one minute that joining salons to our Inner Circle program in the local area was going to be to the detriment of our salon, then I wouldn’t do it.
But I like to walk to talk, so there are at least 2 salons within the vicinity of our salon that are in the program. All these salons are experiencing massive results. Paul Davis of ‘The Pureskin Clinic’ down the road in Ponsonby has seen his Salon grow 20% per month since joining the program 5 months ago, and now Linda Gordon is getting these exceptional results from her marketing. Both these salons give the customers completely different messages from each other, and from our salon. That’s what makes them stand out.
So you can imagine, when Linda emailed me this week to tell me about the ads she had run in the New Zealand Herald had brought in a total of 56 new clients in just a couple of days, I was over the moon for her.
“We placed the ad in the New Zealand Herald and Aucklander on Thursday and again in the Herald on Sunday. The total cost for the 3 adverts was $1760, and by Monday afternoon we had 56 bookings…and the phone is still ringing!”
So this campaign has brought in to date $5544 and if only 50% of these clients become regular customers worth around $1500 per year to Linda, then this campaign has just increased her annual turnover by $42,000.
You see our real competition is not the salon down the road but in fact it is the Supermarkets and Chemists that sell all the cheap cosmetic and hair products to ‘our’ clients.
I had one of those stomach turning conversations with Julieanne Narbey of ‘Hair @ Yours Mobile Salon’. Julieanne used to work for one of those competitors (something a bit like ‘Shampoo n things’).
In her own words she said, “I was amazed at how many people would come into our shop having just had their hair done literally 10 minutes earlier and would buy the product they needed for their hair. I asked why they hadn’t just bought it from the salon and their response was almost always that the hairdresser hadn’t told them about the products or attempted to sell them anything.” Is this going on in your salon on a daily basis and costing you serious amounts of money?
But back to Linda, congratulations on being our Salon of the week and long may I keep hearing these success stories from you!!!
by Greg Milner | Jul 20, 2009 | Advertising Tips
Salon Marketing Ideas: Salon Owners Fall for the Myth of Repetitive Advertising
Here’s a common nonsense spread by the likes of Yellow Pages and newspaper ad sales reps:
“You have to run your ad at least 6 times to know if it’s going to work.”
Ah, if only I had a buck for every salon owner who’s been fooled by that old chestnut. It’s a good ploy for the sales rep, for sure. As long as you believe that line, you’ll keep spending money on ad space in the vain hope he’s right. That eventually, the ad will work.
In the interests of Accurate Thinking, I’ll use an analogy to demonstrate the foolishness of this money-wasting myth.
If your ad doesn’t work the very first time, it’s never going to work.
Imagine for a moment that instead of selling beauty treatments or haircuts, you sell car tyres.
And in your city or area on any given day, there’ll be a number of people who, on that very day, have noticed their car’s tyres are getting a little ratty, a touch on the er…smooth side…and they need to replace ‘em quick before the cops pull them over and slap a work order on the car.
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| Typical salon ad you’ll see in the Yellow Pages or the newspaper. You could run this ad a bazillion times and you’d be lucky to get a phone call. |
And let’s assume that of all those people, half of them read the local newspaper.
So you place an ad for your tyre shop in that newspaper.
Nobody calls. Zero, nada. Zip.
You call the newspaper rep and he tells you brightly “oh, you need to run your ad at least 6 times before it gets noticed.”
So you keep shelling out cash for this ad, week after week. Still no calls. By now, you’re beginning to blame the media for your lack of advertising success.
The truth is a little harder to bear. It’s not the media at all. It’s your lousy ad.
Let’s assume half of all the people who woke up that morning and decided they needed new tyres then opened the newspaper and saw your ad the first time it ran.
If the ad was any good, some of them would have called.
Here’s the real truth: the reason your ad didn’t work the sixth time you ran it is the same reason it didn’t work the first time you ran it – it was a lousy ad.
If it had been any good in the first place, a percentage of all those people looking for new tyres for their car on that very day would have called you.
It comes back to the Big Rules of an effective marketing strategy for a salon:
1) Make the right offer,
2) to the right market,
3) in the right media,
4) at the right time.
Clearly, in this make-believe scenario, it was the right market, in the right media, at the right time. Equally clearly, if those last three pins were lined up and you didn’t get calls, logically it was the first pin that was out of line.
So the next time an ad sales rep tries to sell you the Myth of Repetition, don’t fall for it. Either cancel the ad space, or change your ad so it answers the question at the top of mind of every prospect:
“What’s in it for me, right here and now?”
SALON OWNER ADVERTISING LIFELINE: If you want to know how to use advertising more effectively, the very best way you can do this is join the Inner Circle Marketing & Mentoring program, and get the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit with your Membership. Here’s where you go to find out more….
