Spa Clientele Marketing Tips

June 28: Grab a Facebook URL for your spa or massage business

2009-06-20T17:45:16-07:00

Within 15 minutes on June 12, 500,000 Facebook users created user names which now allow them to have an easy to remember web address. An example is the Facebook Fan Page for Day Spa magazine: www.facebook.com/dayspa. This options was (and still is) a first-come-first-serve registration for a web page address that could lead to your personal or business web page. If you have a Fan Page already set up on Facebook for your spa business, you are already ahead of the game. However, if you have less than 1000 fans, you may have been frustrated by the rules that prevented you from claiming a vanity URL for your Fan Page.

Well here's some good news! June 28 you can get one no matter how many fans. Mark your calendars.

Not sure what I'm talking about? That's okay, here's the what you need to know:

Facebook Fan Pages--sometimes referred to as Product Pages, Company Pages or Business Pages--are the only way to promote your business on that site. Creating and promoting Fan Pages can put you miles ahead of your competitors who don't know about these powerful tools.

Because Facebook doesn't limit the number of Fans you can attract, but limits you to 5,000 Friends, you'd be crazy not to create a Fan Page for your business.

It is also important to note that Google indexes these pages, so they can show up in the organic search results on the left side of the screen when somebody searches Google for keywords like "day spa" and your local city or zip code. So be sure to include relevant keywords when you create the name of your Fan Page. This may mean the title of your Fan Page is a bit longer than you might think is natural, but having a long title helps folks see your page and is not going to prevent anyone from scheduling an appointment. If your business name is Chrysalis Salon and Spa in Oswego, IL your fan page user name could be "chrysalis" or "chrysalissalonandspa" and the name you enter when you first create the page could be "Chysalis Salon and Day Spa serving Oswego and Montgomery."

Some quick links for you to get started now:

Create a username for your personal page (which may be your business on Facebook right now): www.facebook.com/username.
Create a Fan Page
FAQ about Facebook Fan Pages

So get a head start today on creating your fan page so you will be ready on June 28th to grap your own Facebook URL!

And by the way...facebook.com/spa and facebook.com/massage are suprisingly not reserved yet!

Day Spa Summit: A FREE virtual spa conference

2009-04-15T23:54:24-07:00

Staying fresh with ideas and strategies for growing your spa business can be challenging. And if you are not able to budget for trips to the big spa shows this year, feeling isolated and stale in running things is not uncommon.

Yet it is so very important to continue to learn and train on new strategies in order to motivate your staff and inspire clientele. I'm happy to share that there is a great Day Spa Summit available online -- and it's both jam packed with industry experts and it is free!

One of my colleagues, and recently crowned Day Spa Association Spa Person of the Year for 2009, Felicia Brown is one of the 12 experts featured at the Summit.

Click here to sign up before it fills up

The Summit will feature two videos per week for size weeks with the following topics:

Compensation Disasters in this Economy with Skip Williams
The Client Experience with Felicia Brown
Front Desk Blunders/Engaging Your Clients (or risk losing them) with Maryellen Ferring
Become a "PR Powerhouse" with Nancy Trent
"Purpose, Vision & the Experience" in Spa Design with Sam Margulies
Six Profitability Numbers with Monte Zwang & Mark Machlis
The Marketing Mindset with Andrew Finkelstein
PowerBooking! with Ellen L. McGinnis
Inspire Yourself! with Lauren Gartland
Educational Marketing with Patti Biro
Three Reasons Why Business Fail with Kenneth Cassidy
Put on Your Owner's Shoes with Zhenya & Christopher Brazy

The host, DaySpaOwner.com has also thrown in some great bonuses, so there really is nothing to lose. The only catch is that you need to participate!

Sign-up now by clicking here or visiting this link and you'll be emailed instructions on how to access these videos each week. I really hope you'll take advantage of this great offer for FREE education and ideas on how to improve every aspect of your business.

Space is limited. Please sign up today.

How planning an exit strategy can make your business more successful today

2009-02-10T11:58:00-08:00

Just like a pre-nuptial agreement, a well defined exit strategy for any business is both uncomfortable to plan and appreciated only after-the-fact. But unlike a pre-nup, having a plan for what will happen to your business when you are no longer the one running it can make a huge difference how you run it in the meantime.

Many business owners and entrepreneurs are so focused on the here and now that they postpone thinking about how the business (a.k.a. their baby) may end. Yet, just like most things in life, when you have a goal or end-point in mind, it makes getting there easier. While selling your business may be the assumed nirvana, the reality is that most spas and salons are simply closed without a buyer. In today's economy, that is is easily understandable. However, two or even five years ago, it was still challenging to find a buyer for spas. Those skincare, massage or spa businesses that do find buyers have a few things in common:

Profitability. This really is the number one thing buyers consider and the sale price is based upon. A very simple, very generic asking price of most businesses for sale (regardless of industry) is annual profits times two. If the business is not profitable, it will be challenging to set a high sales price that buyers will be interested in.
Standard operating procedures. Do all your employees have an employee manual that lists procedures for every aspect of the business? From morning open and evening close, to how the phone should be answered, to signature technique and touches in the treatment room, everything about your business should be documented. Michael Gerber's book, E-Myth Revisited:Why Small Businesses Fail, does a fabulous job at explaining why and how to start documenting roles, job descriptions and operating procedures.
Loyal and long time clients. While this may seem to be an obvious need when selling a business, proof of loyalty is important. What percentage of your clients return on a regular schedule (monthly or every six weeks)? How many new referrals have you received from clients? How often do you reach out to promote new services, employees, or special offers? Well kept client records can provide insights on the performance of the business that nothing else can. Don't wait to calculate how frequently clients on average visit for skincare until you are ready to retire. Find out now and then brainstorm a way to reduce the average from 7.8 weeks to 4 now so you can reap the rewards.

Even if the thought of closing up shop, retiring or selling is very far off, adopt the mindset of running the business as if you were preparing to sell it tomorrow. This shift will uncover ways to be more efficient, expose opportunities to be more consistent in handling clients and help focus the direction of the business. Perhaps it will lead to other strategies like opening more locations or reducing the number of services you offer.

Having a plan for transitioning your business into one you are no longer running, will shine new light on ways to be more successful today.

New Year, new ideas to fill up your schedule with clients

2009-01-05T21:54:36-08:00

"Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

Personally, I find the first few days of the new year usually brings me new ideas and hopes for what the next twelve months can bring. This can be both energizing and overwhelming at the same time: what should I start, stop or change? Often the process of deciding what to do differently to 'get it right' takes a while, but in the end I feel great about the two or three main things I will focus on this year.

For many of the spa owners that I talk to, many are simply hoping to stay open in a tough economy this year. And many of you are looking at new areas in their business to focus on as well. With so many options, it is hard to know what would work for you or not. Unfortunately, spending time and money on 'experiments' these days is not recommended, but I wanted to review some tried-and-true ideas you may or may not have considered before.

Start a membership program. Membership spas are growing, especially for the franchise brands, but offering a membership option for your clients doesn't need to be super low-cost or require changing your staff compensation model. The best thing about monthly memberships is that it creates a special community of clients that you'll see regularly -- even more regularly than you might if they were not members. However, it does require additional work to plan, create and market your new program and membership "perks" so you'll want to be sure to stay committed as you start it up. Related Article: "How to create your own country club"
Get involved in your community. There are so many non-profit organizations out that that need help and would be eager to work with businesses like yours to encouraged focused giving. If you have a passion for a specific charitable cause, consider adopting one with your business. In addition to helping out others, it is also a good way to get some free publicity by reaching out to local reporters to cover an event or effort you planned. Related Article: "Be the talk of the town"
Stay connected to your clients. If you don't already have a regular habit of communicating with clients who you have already seen, the time is now to get started. Monthly email newsletters sprinkled with quarterly postcards and a few 'check in' phone calls throughout the year will be sure to make you stand out from the competition. Regular communications to previous clients is much more effective in filling up your schedule than a print ad. Related Articles: "Your fortune is in the followup"; "The 3 worst things to put in your email newsletter"; "Automate your client communications"; "Direct mail postcards made easy"
Create your promotions plan for the year now. While you are planning this years budget, why not also plan out what promotions you'll be doing each month? Making this effort now can save lot of time and last minute scrambling to plan an event or publicity opportunity. I recommend having six main promotions for the year (each one lasting at least two months) but you could also do even less where they last three months at a time. Longer promotions may get tired for you or your staff to talk about, but don't forget that your clients do not see or read every piece of your marketing...repetition is a good thing here. My Smart Spa Marketing online course is a great jumpstart for your new year marketing plan. For the remainder of January 31st, 2009 you can receive $30 off the cost of the online course. Just enter "NEWYEAR" during checkout to pay only $99 this month for Smart Spa Marketing.

The world around us is changing. Changes like one or more of these above can help how spa businesses can attract more clients in spite of the slowing economy.

Get ready with your New Year's Outcomes!

2008-12-26T08:29:00-08:00

Right about now everyone starts thinking about next year. What will it bring? What changes will happen? What is my plan? There are those things we just can't control (like the crummy economy) and there are many things within our control (like how we invest our time and money). Sometimes we call it "new year resolutions" but I like to think of our hopes and goals for next year as "new year outcomes." It's a subtle difference but more powerful to plan for the outcome you'd like to realize, than to simply resolve what you are going to do.

Whether it they are personal or business related, the process of defining what outcomes you will focus on next year is the same. I learned this process from attending Anthony Robbins seminars and tapes and have adapted and summarized it here. I find it useful to do this process twice -- once for business and once for my personal goals. Here's few quick steps to take when creating your new year outcomes:

1) Visualize this time next year. Visualizing success without knowing what exactly you will do to attain it is a very helpful way to zero in on the bigger picture. How will you feel about your business? What will you be able to do? How will others around you feel? What will your clients feel after a service at your spa? It takes less than two minutes to just relax and visualize what having a great year feels like.

2) List your accomplishments from last year. Write down your top 10 -- or even top 5 -- accomplishments of 2008. What did you create, complete and conquer? This is the time to crow about how great you are. To celebrate all that you have accomplished -- much of which was just an idea before you started it. [I personally find this is the hardest step, but once I push through my resistance I realize how much I really did do and then I have to force myself to stop at 10.]

3) Define your outcomes for next year. What to you what the final outcomes to be in 2009? How many clients do you want per month? How much profit will you have earned? How many articles will be written about your business in the local paper? What skills or training will you have learned? I find it helpful to write everything down in quick burst and then go back later to whittle them down and better define them. In the end, you should have a manageable list of outcomes..less than 10. Keep in mind that they are not tasks or a to-do list, but may actually have several actions that are need to accomplish any given outcome. Don't worry about those smaller actions yet, stay focused on the bigger outcomes you want to achieve.

4) Schedule it. So often we end our goal planning once we have set the goal. But taking action on that goal greatly increases your chances of success. Take that extra step now to schedule the month or even day that your outcome will be realized. For each of your top three to five outcomes, sketch out what needs to be done and in what general time line. The idea here is to put time around your outcomes, even specify a month if that is possible. Some outcomes are based in your day -- and these are your daily outcomes for habits you want to happen each day. Some outcomes will require you to do research or take a class. If that is that case, include those in your plan.

This process can also be quickly applied to weekly and monthly planning. In fact, it can make your day-to-day activities easier when you know, in advance, what you need to get done that month or week.

If your New Year's Outcomes include having a marketing plan to attract and retain loyal clients, you don't need to start from scratch. Smart Spa Marketing is a detailed online class with ready-to-use brand and promotional planning templates. This self-paced course will speed up the way you create your marketing plan -- using ideas you may not have already considered. In less than a week -- or as long as a month -- you can create your personalized and smart spa marketing plan that doesn't require any high-cost advertising to attract clients.

Best wishes to all for happy holidays and a prosperous new year!

Starting fresh with smart marketing

2008-11-14T16:43:11-08:00

Regularly answering your email questions! Just click banner above, or to the right to submit your questions!

Hi Heather,

I am a solo esthetician that moved into a new city and started with no clients.

Now, I have 10 clients. Not nearly enough to keep me busy. As we are approaching the holiday season, is it prudent to offer gift cards? (I am an esthetician in a beauty supply store with three hair stations. I am not in a fancy day spa.)

Also, I have a very strong retail sales ability but the traffic in my place is slow. Should I even buy some small gift sets for my clients to buy?

The owner has no problem with me selling anything as long as he and I are not selling the same items.

What is your input?

Thank you,

Christy

Thanks for your questions Christy. My quick answer to your first question of offering gift cards or certificates is: yes, absolutely! Gift certificates allow your clients -- or the clients who get their hair done at the store -- to purchase your services as a gift to another. It is an easy incentive to offer a bonus with the purchase of a gift certificate. Some ideas include a second $10 off certificate with the purchase of a $100 or a free product to be given with the certificate. [If you already have gift certificates, then no -- adding plastic gift cards are not needed in my opinion. Keep it simple with paper certificates for you.] Be sure to post a small flyer at each of the hair stations and the check out area about the gift certificates.

In terms of gift items in a low traffic location, I would advise you to not purchase anything that does not directly relate to your services. Any retail inventory should be something you can demonstrate, educate and talk about in your session. This includes retail sizes -- or sample sizes that you sell -- of the skincare products you actively use with your clients. Leave holiday gift items -- and the risk that comes with the possibility that they will not move -- to your beauty store owner.

And now for some unsolicited advice...your ability to market your business as a stand alone business will be very important to increase your number of clients. Things like having your own website and reaching out to businesses beyond the beauty store are needed to add to what ever the beauty store owner is (or isn't) doing to market and advertise. I have linked a few related articles below that can provide some more information that I hope help you get your business off the ground.

Best of luck!

Related Articles:

Saving money while still marketing to attract new clients

2008-10-17T18:58:00-07:00

Managing the cash flow for your business these days is tough, and spending any money at all on marketing can be a tough decision. Yet without new and return clients... that cash in-flow won't happen, so it is critical to continue to market to your target audience. Smart spa marketers do not simply increase their marketing spend in to bring clients in. By following an annual marketing plan, they know not to throw money into advertising when it is not part of their master plan.

However, having a well-thought out marketing plan is just one strategy in staying smart about marketing spend. Saving money by cutting costs is also very important. I recently read an article that had 78 ways to save money and several of them were related to marketing. Here are my favorites with my comments.

Create an e-newsletter. It's much cheaper to market to previously acquired customers than creating new direct-marketing collateral. Smart Spa Marketing Tip (SSMT): E-newsletter providers like VerticalResponse and Constant Contact are easy to use and grow your e-mail list.
Use YouTube. SSMT: YouTube is a great free way for you to allow new clients a peek into your spa without visiting. While the video should be of good sound and visual quality, it does not need to be TV news professional. Using a digital camera, extra room lighting and a good microphone can produce a great tour of your spa.
Place an ad on local television stations. If you're not into YouTube, or want to reach additional audiences, local shows are amazingly easy venue to access. Advertising rates for local TV stations are much more negotiable than what you'd expect. Some local TV shows will trade coupons or gift certificates for payment. SSMT: If you go with this option be absolutely sure to get a copy of the ad or show with the rights to play or post on your website. And reference "as seen on Channel 7" in all your marketing materials.
Start a blog. You can advertise, review your offerings and give free tips as often as you’d like without worrying about running up your budget. SSMT: Blogs are great for attracting online browsers, but if you do not enjoy writing or are not committed to regular postings this may not be the most effective method of marketing for you.
Get your clients to advertise for you. Ask them to write a testimonial on your Web site or tell their colleagues about your products or services. SSMT: This really is one of the MOST powerful marketing tools you can use on your website and marketing materials. Don't be shy in asking your clients to tell others about you if they are pleased with your work -- they usually don't think about it unless you bring it up.

Read more money saving tips in the complete article:
>> 78 Ways for Your Small Business To Save Money in this Economy

Other related articles:

Do you really need to advertise to bring in new business?

2008-09-26T16:12:50-07:00

Do you really need to advertise to bring in new business?

It would be easier if it was a simple "yes" or "no," but as in life, things are not always so black and white. However, I will say that there are many examples of successful spas, solo estheticians, salons and massage therapists out there that have never run a print ad and are happily booked up.

What's their secret? Well for one, success isn't a secret...but it there is no one magic answer either. But success does require some planning -- we've all heard this before. A business plan. A personnel plan. A marketing plan. And so on.

Very often the marketing plan does not get finished ... or even started ... prior to opening the doors on that first day. This is not uncommon, but it could also be a costly mistake. Without a marketing plan, spending and activities are reactive and are not as effective as when operating from a well thought out plan.

I know it can be overwhelming to know where to start...and sometimes this prevents us from starting at all. But trust me when I say that having a month-by-month marketing plan will save you money and bring in more clients than not having one.

To get past that stage of not knowing where to start, I created a four-hour course on creating your annual marketing plan called Smart Spa Marketing. Spread over three to four weeks, this self-paced course will take you step-by-step in the creating a marketing plan for the next twelve months. And then you can simply make small updates for the next year, and the next.

To learn more about this unique and powerful course, visit www.smartspamarketing.com

Related Articles:

Five reasons why you need a marketing plan for your salon or spa

Slot machine marketing

Must-do marketing for solos

Tougher times require more creative marketing

2008-09-15T16:27:59-07:00

As the economic trends continue to toughen, it is important to continue to focus on your existing core base of customers. Getting creative in how you reach to them may be needed to keep your appointment books full. Here's some ideas to help you along...

Be frugal. This is all about finding ways to meet the same objectives, but for less money. Frugality is often confused with being "cheap" -- but it is important to remember that you can still bring in clients and spread the word about your fabulous services without paying through the nose. Can you use less expensive ways to communicate to your clients? Instead of glossy postcards...going pre-printed? Or instead of mailers, increasing your e-mail newsletter? How about the old fashioned phone call? While using the phone can be more time-consuming for you, it is far more personable AND less expensive than a mass-mailing.

Be flexible. Your clients may be busier and more stressed out than ever. Being open longer so they don't have to adjust their schedule shows your flexibility. While extending business hours may not seem very frugal, it can reach those clients who are now working longer hours to make ends meet. While competitors tighten and avoid any additional costs, simply offering to be open two hours before or after your normal business hours...by appointment only...can make the difference between clients selecting you over your them. Your staff may not mind that much either, but do include them in the decision to avoid scheduling rebellion.

Be fun. Nothing is more attractive than zany, fun and positive energy! [Just thinking about the word "zany" put me in better mood.] Sure, the traditional spa experience is all about serenity and relaxation, but serene and relaxing marketing is boring to read and highly likely to be overlooked. Think about creating fun promotions that are easy to remember. For example, a local spa is running a "20% discount to pairs of clients who come in together." That is a nice strategy..but calling it a "Two-fer Twenty" or another similar play on words increases interest and intrigue. You clients should call their friends and say "so do you want to get a "Two-fer Twenty" at the local spa?"

I know staying positive can be hard sometimes. Yet it is often the return to basic ideas in life where hope and dreams stay alive. Remember to treasure what you have -- such as your clients -- and make sure you are doing all you can to demonstrate this to them.

12 spa business owners will improve their business this year

2008-08-03T14:40:25-07:00

Does this sound familiar?

It’s early morning and the alarm clock screams to life, jolting you awake. You really need more sleep, but the spa or salon is waiting, so you quickly shower, grab a bite to eat and a strong cup of coffee. You head to the office hoping to finally catch up on some of the never-ending paperwork before the phones start ringing or people start interrupting you.

A moment of peace…until the day goes haywire.

Customers. Emergencies. Sick employees. Contractor out of town. Vendor out of stock. Phone goes unanswered. Meetings and more meetings. Sales calls. Lawyers, accountants and bankers. Need more sales! How can we make more sales? Quick lunch. Feeling run down. More problems, phone calls and requests on your time. Pay the bills. Pay the bills. Can we cover the bills? Phone still ringing. Voice mail. Email. Information Overload. What was I doing? Oh yeah, now I remember. Back to work. Interruption. Details, always more details! Taxes, Paperwork. Ideas, more ideas and more ideas cramming through my brain.

Will I ever get this To-Do list DONE? Interrupted again. Maybe if I just get more education. What am I doing wrong – running a business was supposed to be liberating? Why do I feel like I’m in a cage – a slave to my business? Interrupted again. Now my family needs something – will this ever end?

Three days in Santa Fe, New Mexico can change all this for 12 spa owners!

Of course you want more sales in your business, more money in your pocket and more free time to spend doing the things you love. You’ve tried time and time again to hire the right people, delegate, systematize and free up your time.

You’ve read books, attended seminars, consulted with experts and you just don’t know who or what to believe anymore, so you finally throw up your hands in defeat, adopting the famously simple, profit-killing sentence: "Just Forget it, I’ll Do It Myself"

So let’s get real. You’re a business owner by choice, right? And now here you are, working 18 hour days (or more), feeling more like an employee than a freedom-loving business owner and no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, it’s just not working out. I understand completely.

You can find all sorts of places to help you write a business plan and get money, but nobody is teaching you what to do to truly manage your business in a way that supports the most important person in the organization – YOU! So while it’s not your fault, it IS your responsibility to decide whether you are going to be a statistic, or a success.

You pick. The decision is completely yours.

October 26 - 28, 2008 could be the opportunity for you to transform your business at the Business Enrichment Intensive seminar in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The class will be taught by Keith West-Harrison of Business Enrichment Strategies.

Keith was not always been a successful spa guru. In fact, he spent years struggling to figure it all out. He wishes he had known 20 years ago what he knows today about building better spa businesses…but you can benefit from his mistakes and literally cut through whatever is holding you back in a fraction of the time.

NOW, you can take this opportunity to step up to the plate and take control of your success.

...Or you can continue to struggle and work really hard, live in frustration and overwhelm and keep paddling under water like the stressed-out duck trying to cross the pond. You can also choose to move forward with ease and grace, like the powerful swan who crosses the pond with two simple kicks of a leg.

Click here to learn more about this unique and powerful opportunity.

I have worked along side and learned much from Keith. He is an entertaining, compassionate and experienced instructor who as "been there done that" and really does want to help spa owners gain the success they dream of.