For a salon, the relationship you have with your clients is crucially important – if your client genuinely likes your establishment, including it’s ambiance and the attitude of your staff, and if your client is satisfied with the level and quality of the work you do, then the chances are that they’ll keep coming back, week after week and year after year.

Side Bar: Get good cheap salon thank you cards (folded or flat here). We buy all our business cards and thank you cards here now. You should to.

It’s all about building up that relationship, about keeping your old customers happy even as you make new ones, and to thus ensure that you have a customer base that not only remains stable but even grows. And it’s the little things that count when you try to build up your relationship with your customer. The smile with which your receptionist greets your clients, the refreshments they’re offered while they wait. Even something as simple as a salon thank you card that you give them as they leave is important and worth paying attention to.

It’s the little details that count, because the little details demonstrate your attention to detail, and show just how much you care about your customers and their relationship with you. And demonstrating that is really the key to building up that relationship.

Creativity and originality are really important when you create salon thank you cards. You have to create something that won’t be a mere formality, but which will catch the customer’s interest and, if possible, touch his or her heart.

The first thing is catching a customer’s interest. One does this by being original – avoid at any cost the usual rectangular shape. It’s too simple, to ordinary, and far too forgettable.

How about making your salon thank you cards out of molded plastic – perhaps in the shape of an elegant doll, with a little magnet on the back so that a customer can stick it to his or her fridge as a decoration. If you make it beautiful and elegant enough, your client will use it in his or her home, and it will always be associated in his or her mind with you and your salon. If you create a thank you card in the shape of anything that could be uses as a decoration, remember to put the words on the back.

If you don’t want to spend too much, something as simple as a book mark is excellent. If this is what you give, make it exquisitely ornate and beautiful, printed in the best possible quality, and with lovely ornamentation. Make your thank-you book mark something so utterly beautiful that your client WILL keep it and use it for a book mark and could not possibly bear to throw it away. Don’t make it something cheap and flashy that a client will put into the dustbin without a second’s thought.

As a matter of fact these are excellent rules to follow. If you spend to make your thank you card something that a client can actually use as a decoration, then place the words unobtrusively. If you can’t afford that level of card or gift, and have to print a thank you card, make it something a client can still use, like a book mark.

Or how about a small but elegant appointment book – it’s something a client will use all the time. A simpler and less expensive version of this idea is to have a beautiful ‘thank you’ note on the front of the card, and an appointment card on the back. This is something that will not only tell your customer that you care, but remind them to come back again. Include all the necessary details that your client will need to keep his or her next appointment, and so ensure that the next appointment is with you and not with the salon down the road.

Or include a special offer right along with the salon thank you cards. Think about how ‘present this card on your next visit and win a 20% rebate’ sounds. This is a multi-pronged marketing strategy – it shows your customer that you care, and builds up your relationship with him or her, it also ensures that your customer will visit again, AND it ensures that your customer will spend more on the next visit, since he or she is getting a rebate on all services.

You see, the possibilities are endless for salon thank you cards. The more care you put into your salon and spa thank you cards, the more touched your clients will be and the greater the chances that they will come back to you again and again, and never even consider visiting any salon but yours.

Hair styling and beauty is really an artistic profession, as much so as that of a painter or sculptor. And that said, your clients really expect you to have an innate sense of style and good taste. There can be nothing more disastrous, for example, than for a hairstylist to hand out salon business cards that are printed in black and white, stark, dreary, and looking like something a lawyer’s office would throw away. It would be a complete disaster.

Side Bar: Best place to get good cheap business cards for your salon or spa (up to 80% off!)
Remember, a salon business card is a very real symbol of the work you do - of yourself. It needs to possess a spirit of freshness and to put across to a client just how good you are at what you do. Remember that you probably hand out a card BEFORE a client has used your services, so you really have to put across with your card how good you are.

And after a client uses your services, a good business card still stands as a reminder to them of the kind of work you did and the satisfaction you delivered.

The first thing you have to do when designing your salon business card is to work out your target audience. Is is a younger or a more mature crowd. It’s possible to make a business card VERY original, depending on the kind of service you supply.

If you work with a younger set of people, perhaps your clientèle comes to you mainly to get the highlights in their hair done. Well then, how about a card in the shape of a sketched head, with a swatch of dyed hair incorporated into it, and done in fresh, glowing color. The entire salon business card can be an image, and you can put all the necessary information on the back, or it could be a folding card with the information on the inside. It’s the kind of thing that will really appeal to a younger set of people.

On the other hand, if you cater instead to older people who come to you to work on coloring their gray hair, you need an entirely different salon business cards. Here you’ll need a card that reflects a more mature and sophisticated work place, as well as reflecting the kind of work that you do. Most of all, your card needs to be more reserved - to give this sort of clientèle the kind of card that would appeal to the more ‘hip’ crowd would be professional disaster.

What you need is a card where a sophisticated shade of gray blends over the card into black - the card starts out gray at the top and fades to black at the bottom. And some lovely little elegant sketch on it in silver, with the words on it in the same color. This sort of card will be a business statement of elegance and grace.

I’m sure that this makes all sorts of ideas come to mind. Remember to focus on your audience, on your clientèle, and to tailor any card to suit them. This is crucially important. And it’s also equally important to consider the use you’re going to put the card to. For example, you can have a different card to hand out to people you’ve just met who are potential clients - and another one to hand out to people just leaving your establishment after using your services.

The latter could have an invitation to come again, and even an appointment card on the back - or have a free sachet of shampoo or lotion attached. Pamper the client, make them feel special,  but most of all, make them feel that you are the last word in style, elegance and good taste. Because your success depends on their opinion.

You can do all of this for very little money and very little time here.

In the 4 Mini Marketing Systems article I revealed the 4 mini systems that are responsible for more than doubling our sales in the first year.

None of them have to do with advertising for new clients. It’s all about increasing the lifetime value of a client…if you are not familiar with that term or what my 4 mini marketing systems are please go back and watch the video now. You’ll be glad you did.

OK. Are you finished with the video? Now take action on each of them and watch as your profits and referrals increase over the coming months and years.

With these crucial systems in place your average new customer that you generate from your marketing efforts will spend more money and refer more business, and be enthusiastic about it.

More and more people are using the Internet and their mobile phones to find local businesses. And if you are not taking advantage of this you are missing out on lots of potential new business.

Although the Yellow Pages, coupon advertising, and other offline marketing mediums are still a viable source of new business, the Internet and mobile phone opportunities are a place to focus a lot of energy on because that is where people are starting their search for local businesses.

SIDE BAR: In A few weeks I’ll cover the Offline Marketing Opportunities You Should Be Using — At Least Half You Haven’t Heard Of or Tried! And I’ll Show You Had To Succeed With Each And Every One Of Them!

We have seen a large increase in mobile phone web browsing traffic to our site alone. And web traffic is increasing as well. With that said, we have been and continue to be on the cutting edge of these advertising opportunities.

The first tool I am not going to count in the ‘6 mini systems’ because it’s a total no-brainer at this point: A website (optimized for local and national search results, both paid and free) that is totally geared toward getting a prospective client to call, come to the salon, or sign up for a free widget: a coupon, report, gift etc.

A mobile version of your website: All regular websites look terrible on a mobile phone. And since this is become THE way to find local businesses you can’t afford not to have a mobile version of your website. And Google is spending Billions in the mobile search arena. They are building a mobile phone search engine. So if your site is not ready to ride that wave you are going to miss the boat. We can create one for just $217 plus $14.97 per month hosting…

Facebook Fan Page: Facebook has over 300 Million users. You must have a Fan Page and you must be active on Facebook so that prospective clients find you through their friends and get on your list or buy stuff from your salon. Once you have a Fan Page you need to get at least 25 Fans (in other words get 25 people to ‘Like’ your Fan Page) so that you can get a Unique Facebook Fan Page URL.

So instead of using this as a link:

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/Wholesome-Baby-Foodcom-Fan-Page/300954305978?ref=ts

You Get This:

http://www.facebook.com/Wholesome-Baby-Food

Attention: This is not how you should name your unique url for your Fan Page. I am only using this as an example.

Facebook Advertising: You can place ad on Facebook that targets people that have interests in the
services of your salon and spa. It’s is effective. Test directing the traffic to your Fan Page as well as a link to your Website.

Google Local Business Center: Make sure you business is properly optimized and confirmed in the Google Local Business Center. Upload pictures and video, and list everything you offer. The more details you put in their the better you’ll rank in the Google Local listings (and it’s the best real estate on the page).

Google Adwords: Google’s pay per click program is a must since over 80% of all searches come from Google. Even if you are listed in the Google Local Business Center, you need to advertise on Google
Adwords locally as well. You need to maximize your exposure in order to get that ‘click’.

Email List Building Software: Your list is where you make your money. Every Mini System above should be geared around building your email list, text message marketing list, and your direct mail list. Send out special offers to your list regularly. If you don’t have an email list you absolutely must start now. It’s low cost and the return on profits is exceptional.

For example, if someone lands on your Facebook Fan Page you should make it very obvious that you want them on your list, and that you will reward them for doing so. If you have a Fan Page built properly you can
have a welcome page set up that does this for you.

All you need is a list building software program like this one…

Those are 6 mini online local internet marketing systems you should have in place. Get them up and running, and build your list. Your list is where the money is made. And the 4 Mini Marketing Systems you put in place will turn regular clients into enthusiastic check writing, credit card charging, referral crazy FANS of your business!

Need help with any of this? Let us know.

Copyright Brian Maroevich All Rights Reserved.

I have just bought your mini marketing letters. I am reading through all the information. How do I systematize the actual sending of some of these salon letters?

With the new client thank you letters I find that the first letter would be easy to send because the new client arrives and leaves - you pick up a thank you postcard, put their name and address on it and put it in the “to post” pile.  But after that it gets difficult I have all my clients on computer but how do I then time it right to send postcards every 2 -4 weeks and how do I find the clients?? Obviously it has to be done right and consistently.  Do you do a big mail out every week?

The letters are great - but how do you physically send the 2nd and third letters? Especially when there are so many clients? And by that time it will be time to send the next lot of letters - can you see what I mean? It looks like confusing work - who has already had a card sent and who hasn’t!!? It sounds like I’m really blond but this is the problems I’ve had with being consistent with letters.

Thanks
Rebekah P.

My Response:

Thanks for your email.

It’s better to do it manually at first. Just make up file folders for each batch of clients/customers:

Week 1: Thank You

Week 2: Letter 1

Week 3: Letter 2
Etc.

After you send the list of thank you letters take those names and put them into the week 2 folder. After the week 2 names are mailed put them into week 3.

Do not do it yourself. Get an employee to do it. Also, wait until you have 10-40 names or so before starting the first group of mailings. The thank you cards should go out right away.

Also, you can use postcards instead of letters.

Let us know if you have any further questions.

By the way, it seems like a lot of work but it isn’t really. Once you get it systematized you are golden.

You can get software to automate everything but it’s a little expensive. It’s worth it though.

Thanks

Brian Maroevich

Google is investing billions into mobile website search and mobile advertising. And they are going to be the dominant force in the mobile phone web browsing arena. Apple is already there. What does this mean for you?

And when Google makes moves such as this you should pay close attention. So what I did was use Google Analytics (a free software program that gives you detailed information on who is visiting your website), and discovered that a good percentage of visitors came from mobile search!

Mobile website search for local salons and local businesses is growing exponentially. My own test results are proving it.

The problem is that most websites look horrible on mobile phones. And that means small businesses…salon owners like yourself are losing big money.

Get your own mobile phone website now because people are searching for your salon or for salon services and your competition doesn’t know this yet. Capitalize on it now.

Did you know that Facebook has more active members than the entire population of the United States?

If you are not familiar with Facebook and the other popular social networking sites like Twitter and Linkdin, then now is the time to get started.

Your customers are on social media sites. They are on Facebook and they are very active.

Facebook is not just for kids anymore. The fastest growing segment is the 55 and older demographic. But that’s not to say the 30-50 age demographic is not there…they are a growing segment as well. They have money, and they spend money.

Using social media marketing strategies is proving to be a winning proposition for small and large businesses. And the playing field is wide open…for the time being.

You can do simple social media marketing promotions using Facebook alone and get new customers in the door. But you have to do it right.

Facebook Social Media Marketing Basics:

• Get a personal profile if you don’t already have one.
• Create a business page in connection with your personal profile.
• Use social media marketing ‘apps’ to generate a welcome page that is designed to get people to either: ‘Fan’ or ‘Friend’ your business page or get on your mailing list.

Once you get 25 fans you can now get a custom URL for your business page. This is very important. But you don’t want to choose your business name! This is where the game gets a little tricky and many businesses fail.

If you want a fan page (business page) on Facebook built properly for you please contact us today. We can build it the correct way so that you maximize your Facebook client acquisition marketing efforts.

If you already have a fan page and want to improve your visibility and make more money from Facebook and social media marketing, let us know and we can discuss your goals and see if there is a fit in our program.

Before I give you a few promotional ideas to consider I have some advice for you:

Use multiple media and take massive action!

Multiple media means that your salon promotional ideas should NOT be based upon one or two media. For example, lets say you have a Halloween promotion. Most salons would have an in house flyer, and then get their employees to either put flyers on cars or go around the neighborhood with them. Maybe they will even have a coupon distributed in a the local coupon book, Val Pak, or Money Mailer.

Massive Action means to go out and use as many free and paid channels to get your offer out to.

• In house flyers and point of sale selling.
• Postcard or sales letter to client base.
• Coupon distribution.
• Internet marketing: email your list, conduct a social media marketing campaign, pay per click.
• Press Release to the local newspaper, newsletters, radio stations, local websites, and magazines.
• Contest: Best costume?
• Joint Venture: bring in other businesses and have them do the marketing for you and then return the favor for them later on or do a joint promotion.
• Banner in front of salon and/or in the parking lot.
• Radio
• Theme: make sure you tie your theme or themes into your salon promotion ideas. For example…

For more salon promotional ideas get our free mini salon and spa marketing course and we will present a ton of salon marketing tips and ideas that will attract new clients like mad!

Internet marketing has now become more important than offline direct mail, newspaper, yellow page, and coupon advertising. Though it’s important to keep those marketing channels on (and others as well) because they are still very effective and will be for many years to come. I digress…

Salon internet marketing should be one of your main focuses because that is where people are looking for salon services (mobile as well, but that’s for a future article). So if you are not testing or implementing a salon marketing internet strategy, even a simple one, then you are leaving money on the table.

A basic salon internet marketing strategy is as follows:

• Make sure your listed and optimized in the Google Local listings. (don’t just list basic information. Have a webmaster, smart employee, or do it yourself. Use lots of content, pictures, and video. The more you list and optimize the better you’ll rank in the Google local directory. And the local listings are free and they are prime real estate on the page.
• Get a Google Adwords account set up and set up several Google ads. Direct traffic to your website. But direct them to a specific page. For example, set up one ad group for the specific services you offer. Then direct them to that specific listing. For example:

Spray Tanning: research keywords you want to pay for. Put them into this spray tanning ad group. Direct them to your spray tanning landing page.

• Provide an offer for each of your services. For each landing page either link to a coupon page, or have the coupon available on that page. Not everyone will take you up on the coupon. So measure response and tweak your page until you get the better response rate (people who use the coupon).
• Collect email addresses and contact information. Either require people to give you their contact information in exchange for the coupon offer, or have an optin form on each page or a link to an optin form for your offer or other offers. This way you can build your list. Play around with this until you get a good response rate. Here is an example:
• Include a printable coupon on the page or a link to your coupon page. Include an opt in form for those that want to be updated on current and future deals in addition to the coupon.
Or…
• Require people to give you their contact information for the coupon. Test each one until you get the best response.
• Start a Social Media Marketing campaign using FaceBook.com, and Twitter.com. Social Media is the hottest and fasted growing segment of the internet. Woman aged 55 and older were the fastest growing segment of Facebook.com in 2009 and it’s still growing, so Social Media is not for kids anymore. Not at all.

The good news is that once you get some of these salon marketing internet strategies in place, you can have them systematized using some very powerful and low cost tools.

An auto responder is an absolute must. It collects your prospective clients contact information and sends out your pre written information and marketing messages at pre determined times, 24/7. It does all the selling for you!

For example, lets say a customer types in their name and email address into your form (which they must full out to get your coupon). The auto responder automatically sends them your first pre written email (a thank you email), and in that email you thank them and send them a link to your coupon page. And then every 3-10 days (or any number of days you want), another pre-written email is sent. You can send as many as you want for as long as you want until they unsubscribe.

That is just one way to use an auto responder.

There are other tools and techniques, but this is one of the very first salon internet marketing tools you should get up and running on your site.

For a Social Media Marketing campaign discovery session, or to get your salon website up on Google Local, or to get it up and running efficiently and attracting new clients like clockwork, contact us: avalanche [AT] gmail dot com.

We generate more leads that we can handle online, and get dozens of clients from our offline salon marketing and coupons.

One day a new client was talking with me about marketing…

He was wealthy. And had strong opinions. But what was amusing to me was the what he said in regards to my advertising: “I don’t respond to those kinds of advertisements”.

He’s talking about the ads that sometimes look more like articles. You know, the ones that have a headline, compelling copy, and good offer and call to action…

But as he was telling me this, he was giving me his credit card!

This was not the first time this has come up.

I have dozens of stories like that. But I also get lots of compliments as well. Those are few and far between, and they are nice. But it’s results that matter…not opinions. Not even what clients, friends, and family ‘tell’ you.

So lets get back to the subject line of my email…

Do your wealthy clients use coupons?

Yes?

No?

When I asked this question of several business owners their answer was 90% ‘No’. “They don’t need to, they have money and they like to spend it” they said. But they are dead wrong…

The answer is ‘Yes’. They do, and they are doing it more than ever. Even the wealthy don’t want to pass up on a good deal or let money burn in their pocket…

This is nothing new to those of us who study direct response marketing and online marketing.

But the bottom line here is you can’t let your or your friends opinions get in the way of finding the truth and using the truth to get results.

I also found this article on starting an airbrush tanning business. I think you’ll find them helpful from how to choose airbrush tanning equipment to how to market your business more effectively.

One of the things that many salon owners overlook is quality spray tan training. Training yourself and your employees will provide a better experience for your customer, therefore increasing your referrals. And referrals are the best clients to get into your salon, right?