ABS 2009

SHEER GENIUS Anthony Morrison

Back already from Chicago, the weekend went too fast! America's Beauty Show is such a great place to meet up with old friends and make new! Saturday we hit the show floor around noon. The new venue at McCormick place is still unfamiliar especially since they changed the show to the new West building. It's going to take a few more years to get my bearings, especially since the show was at Rosemont for so long. Having worked at the show as a manufacturers educator helped know the ins and outs as well as "behind the scenes". This year was all about bling nails and add on hair. There were also a few more "natural" manufacturers to get in on the natural trend. Brows are a category that is getting a lot more attention and minerals are hotter than ever. Young Nails, and Light Elegance were rockin nails with bling fingers and toes. The glitter sensation is gaining traction and my new friend Athena reported that she had an eighty six year old journalist come into her salon in Houston to get these "Rock star" toe nails. Bling is all the rage for the 80 somethings! Never too old to rock! We spent time with the girls from "Top Secret" hair extensions. Stylist to the stars, Denise Rossouw developed this revolutionary light weight add on system takes you from flat to flirty in seconds. Driven by the demand of celebrity clients she developed add on pieces to create a new "wardrobe" for your hair. Add one, two or three pieces depending on your mood or your event and look like a million bucks. Not just for celebrity's anymore. The VIP event was fantastic. A give back event from BSG the group inspired a standing room only crowd with hair legends and up an comers. I hope to get a few videos loaded up soon. In the meantime, just wanted to get a quick update posted before the week gets away from me. Stay tuned for more photos and videos! Busy with SHS production of Music Man. Come and see it if you are in the area!

Dallas

Whew what a whirlwind weekend. Thanks so much for the warm southern welcome from my friends at Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa and Dermascope magazine. How wonderful it was to see a packed trade show brimming with so many educational opportunities. I was invited to speak on publicity offering Publicity 101 to the many hundreds in attendance. Publisher Will Strunk gave me a wonderful introduction endorsing how underrated and malnourished this area of most Spas and Salons. Once presentation number one was finished it was a quick run back to the hotel where I was speaking at the Permanent Hair Removal Conference in the afternoon. Just enough time to find a vegan lunch, yummy grilled veggies on Texas toast (of course). Knowing I would be attending the Texas BBQ later that evening (and probably not eating a whole bunch) I took advantage of all the fries too. The PHRC was also sponsored by Les Nouvelles and Dermascope as well and I had the opportunity to speak with Saundra Brown, Managing editor of Dermascope. She is based in the DFW(that’s Dallas Fort Worth for you non Texans) area and it is booming! On the local news Sunday morning I heard it is the fastest growing community in the US right now. Well that’s positive news to start out the presentation! The group was very receptive and loved the information. I headed back up to the room, resisting the temptation to head back to the show floor with all the toys, yes I actually did resist LOL. I decided to work on an article due next week for Les Nouvelles and since America’s beauty show is this weekend I will not have another Monday to get it done! After researching on the Internet and some facebook catching up I headed down to the complimentary Texas BBQ. Man if I was a meat eater……..it all smelled so good. Instead I opted for the beans, Cole slaw and potato salad, I know …..mayo…..I tried. There was a band for kicking up your heals and learning the latest dance craze……….make sure to check out the video...coming soon. As much fun as it was this group rolled up the dance floor around 10, just as well. My 5am pick up on the supershuttle will come soon enough so contrary to my sisters advice to check out the hotel bar, I headed up for the night and YES the supershuttle was there before I got turned around. I’m writing this from O’Hare waiting on my connection to Cleveland so I’ll be home for supper, vegan supper<3

Dear PR Diary

Answer: Persistence, Persistence and Persistence. Question: What three things does it take to have a successful PR relationship. While I have had much success with the press in beauty industry trade publications the "media at large" have been a bit tougher to crack. I had a great connection a few years back at a local magazine. The editor was looking for a new salon and happened to see my menu sitting on someones desk from a leftover press release, no doubt. She called for an appointment and we developed a wonderful relationship. I even wrote a few articles for her. I still send out press releases on a quarterly basis at least. I also include events now and again. So while receiving nice notices I had never reeled in the big fish, until yesterday. Kim Crow Style editor from the Plain Dealer came in for one of my treatment services. I felt honored to find that I was also the start of her birthday celebration. I felt as nervous as a first date. Made sure everything was neat and tidy, got in early with plenty of time to pace, wander around forgetting what I was doing, the usual. What a refreshing delight she is! Very warm, I liked her instantly and noticed a very down to earth, hard working gal. I was immediately at ease and all my nerves were truly unwarranted. We chatted about everything from office quirks to social networking challenges, to airport security mishaps. I know I had a lovely time, I sure hope Kim did! We laughed and forgot about the cares of the world for 90minutes. She couldn't have been nicer or a more pleasant client. We talked about beauty, style and the press of course so watch for those updates to come. What is the moral of the story? Don't be afraid of the press, nurture relationships so that when the timing finally happens and the universe aligns you are prepared to enjoy it! Click the link here to read our press. http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2009/03/spa_treatments_pamper_the_body.html

Dear PR Diary

So who ever said that PR was easy again??? Oh that's right me (o0). Ok so it's not always nice and tidy. Sent a press release last week to Kim Crow, Cleveland Plain Dealer (Style Guru) about the new CocoLime services at Natural Beauty Salon & Spa. BINGO! Timing is everything. Kim e-mails me back that they are doing a a feature on Spring spa services, she would love to include the "CocoMojiToes" pedicure. Awesome, she would also like to come in and GET a CocoMojiToes pedicure. Even MORE awesome! Well scheduling what it is..........editor meetings.........speaking engagements.......We just couldn't get together last week. Not to worry with deadline approaching I will send her the newsletter with all the juicy details. The next best thing to being there is a newsletter. TechTard moment........she doesn't get the newsletter. Oh No up against deadline now....Resend Newsletter with all the juicy details........Too late, she has already written the copy. But wait........she still wants to come for the pedicure this week. Back to awesome. What have we learned? Following up is worth the risk of being bothersome!! Stay tuned for Kim gets a CocoMojitoes Pedicure..........

What to do in challenging times??

I am so fortunate/thankful to be busy. Many people complain, whine, yet do nothing about their condition. So......... with so many people wondering how I stay busy, I thought I might add my 5 cents. Inflation being what it is 2 cents won't cover it!

1st cent. It will NOT go away if you ignore it. Pulling the sheets back over your head and sleeping in is not a strategy it is a white flag. Never give up, never surrender, as they say in Galaxy Quest! As defeated as you might feel at times, take action. That is the only thing that can change anything. Learn a new technique, read trade magazines, watch tutorials, research how others have become successful. Add some of these new things to your business to shake things up a bit.

2nd cent. Do not read/watch the news. My husband was home in the morning, back to 1st shift for a few days and had the news on in the morning. Oh Nooooooooo, I do not watch the news in the morning or at night. It is the worst thing to start and end your day with. So many of us can get our news feeds online during our FB/Yahoo/Aol/Google/Utube time. (which is a whole other blog post!) So with these updates why do I need to fill my head and my psyche with hour after hour of negativity. Not gonna do it, can't make me!

3rd cent. There still are people/businesses doing well. My 22 year old nephew just bought a house, just as nice as mine!!! How?? College education, worked hard, played, not as hard, put thought and effort into his career path, got a great job with a highly respected software co in town, was fortunate to have parents that helped him with college, no debt, saved living at home for the last 6 months and viola. A young adult that actually listens, priceless. I also have clients that are doing well in business and still need to look good doing it. If you don't have clients in businesses that are stable seek them out!

4th cent. Offer incentives. I know I get a lot of criticism on this one but........I have clients that have supported me through some pretty tough times, both professionally and personally and now is the time to pay back these loyal clients. Just the other day, instead of taking off a clients nails when she said she would have to cut back I offered to do her fills for the price of a manicure instead. She was so thrilled and I was thrilled to not loose a client. We will revisit in a few months to adjust, but in the meantime, 1/2 of something is always better than 100 percent of nothing! Go through your database and send out a "Beauty Stimulus" post card offering a discount, make it enough to matter, and get some of those clients back that you haven't seen in a while. Do whatever it takes to keep the ship afloat! The seas will calm, they always do.

5th cent. Work on low/no cost strategies. Partner with other businesses, create an exciting Spring promotion and send a press release to the local papers. If time is what you have more of than money right now, make that down time as productive as you can. Spend time on things that will MAKE you money. My to do list every day starts with the things that will generate income. If it doesn't generate $$, it's not in the top 5 on my list. If it's not in the top 5 on my list, it doesn't always get done. I learned many years ago to get your toughest, most dreaded task finished first, and the rest is easy!

It's not all rose petals and sunshine out there but being proactive in keeping your salon and yourself busy will pay off BIG!