Top Techie Tips Part 2

This week we continue top techie tips from Mari Smiths Facebook webinar. Every time there is a Facebook change she recommends, instead of whining... learning what's new, what the rules are so you can think creatively and start bending those rules.
6. Optimize your app thumbnails. Your fan page has app thumbnails to the right under your cover picture. These thumbnails each have their own unique URL so you can drive traffic there, say from blogger or twitter and you can also drive traffic out, like to your website or twitter or blog. You can't move the photos, but you can rearrange and optimize the rest of the 16 thumbnails allowed per page. Mari suggests not taking up valuable web estate with your likes. Place more important things there like contests and events.

7. Monitor your insights. Facebook makes this truly easy and before you roll your eyes and say who has time, remember you can't move forward if you don't know what 's working and what isn't. You need to figure out your engagement rate by taking the number of people talking about your page by the number of fans. The average page is 2%. Mari shares a fan page by Lennar company that has 9% engagement. Check out their page and see for yourself how much activity this page gets with their beautiful photos, contests and engaging questions. When you see a page that's working well study it. You also want to look at your engaged users, these are your true fans. See what's working or not working with them. You can scroll through your posts and click to find out how your users engaged with your post. Remember comments are more valuable than likes.

8. Respond to your comments. This should be a no brainer, but when I was looking at my fan page for this segment I noticed a comment that was unanswered. Respond to everything. She quotes a study done by Simplyzesty.com last year. When people in your network get a response 80% of them go on to make a purchase. 28% will make a purchase when companies proactively reach out and engage with their customers. Pretty compelling stats. We tend to overcomplicate technology, Humanize it, engage with it, listen to it, respond to it, use peoples first names.

9. Check your notifications. You may need to keep a second browser open just to not miss these notifications, you can also make your settings notify you of any activity on your wall or pages. There is also a company called HyperAlerts.no. You can get alerted when anyone writes on your wall. It doesn't have to be your own page, you can get alerted when your competition gets posts too.

10. Make use of interest lists. I just created an interest group of all of my marketing pages I usually have to scroll through to find. Remember the more friends you have the greater chance you might miss something BIG. I went down my home page to interests click add interest and created my own group. I just posted it to my wall and encouraged people to subscribe. Of course I added myself to the list. What would a marketing list be without me on it? Create your own list and encourage your fans to follow you. Maybe you create your own go to fashion page with you as the nail star. One thing I know for sure Facebook isn't going away anytime soon. You have to understand the new ROI, not the return on the investment but the Risk of Ignoring. Take small steps weekly to build a page that engages new fans and builds your business.

Techie Tips for Facebook Marketing

      I sign up for webinars all the time. Unfortunately, things pop up, interrupt, or override that time segment I have set aside. Ok honestly, I rarely listen real time. I have signed up for enough of these I know most of them will provide a link to their download. So first tip of the week is, sign up anyway for those webinars you might not think you can attend and just listen to them on your own time frame.
      With the IPO of Facebook last week the social network has been spending the last few years monetizing the site. Hence the many changes both liked and disliked. Seems like its many users however have not kept up with these changes. So I signed up for 10 Essential Facebook money making "techie" tips. I signed up and just got around to listening today. This webinar was jam packed with insider "techie" tips on marketing your business on Facebook, things the average user would never know. There really was too much to cover in one segment so I'm going to go over 5 tonight and 5 next week.

1 Understand Edgerank It is a complex algorithm that Facebook created to determine the visibility of your content. Facebook predetermines who will see what in their newsfeed. Only 16% of your fans see your content. On their own Marketing page Facebook recommends “To make sure that your fans see your stories, sponsor your post to increase the reach of your content.” In other words, place an ad, and it is more likely to show up. If you are like GM and don't want to spend money on ads that aren't necessarily resulting in more sales, try these tips. To get more visibility think like Edgerank thinks. Three things that make up Edgerank are Affinity. Having a relationship with your audience and interacting with them on a regular basis. Weight. A post that is shared and has more comments than likes has much more weight and will appear in more news feeds. And last the time decay factor, or the amount of time that has passed between posts. You need to keep your posts current. Mari claims you can get good interaction with just two posts a day. Just remember the reason people hide your feed is posting too often and non relevant content. so Facebook is the content police and has done its best to make your news feed socially relevant to you and your interests.
2 Include photos or videos. Mari recommends posting 90% of your posts with pictures. Links have the lowest engagement. A hot tip is to ask a question. Like Modern Salons Facebook page and see how much engagement they have going on. They really do a great job. Also, keep your posts under 160 characters , twitter style.

3 Don't post links via third party apps. Prescheduling posts is a great idea, for the most part. but when you post a link Facebooks programming interface doesn't include the Facebook "share" button. But when you include a photo, it includes the share button. You really want to post manually as often as possible.
4 Change your cover image regularly. Again this is about the photo relevance for Edgerank. Also you can add descriptions to your cover photo. Facebook does not allow blatent advertising like linking it to your website or contact into. You can however link it to a blog post, or cover album that your fans can look through.
5 Use pin to the top This is an amazing feature. Every post you make on your page, which has to be in the timeline format for this feature, can be repinned to the top. Choose the content you want to rotate, hover over the edit button to the right of your post and click on the pencil. Pin to top will be one of your choices and you can recycle fresh content for new visitors to your site.

Copy cat

I saw this look and loved it. Decided to try and copy it on my own nails. Come to find out it is a friends design. LOL Go Naja. This is my version of paint splattered look.

Welcome To Our World

      Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Welcome to Our World event on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. First off I have to send a shout out to Maisie Dunbar who has been involved in the event since its inception 12 years ago. She was kind enough to escort us into the city, made sure we had everything we needed, fed us and housed us overnight and gave us a fabulous tour of her beautiful spa on Thursday morning. So thanks again to Maisie, I really could not have done it without her generous hospitality. According to the Professional Beauty Federation website. " Welcome to Our World is one of Capitol Hill's most popular learning events, and features complimentary salon services along with hors d'oeuvres, beverages and a sampling bag for every attendee. Plus, learn about the professional beauty industry's key issues, including access to cosmetology education, consumer protection, equitable taxation, fairness in financial aid for our students, and small business support. Invited are Members of Congress, staff, and those interested in learning more about a committed group of individuals representing a dynamic industry. " Eric Schwartz, COO of OPI and President of the Professional Beauty Federation gave us a briefing of what to expect and what we might want to mention during these complimentary services. He mentioned we are a $60 billion business– a business that touches more than 400 million people a year. Eric encouraged us to share a little about ourselves and about our own beauty employment history and to just relax. Reading up on the issues before hand I decided to focus on education and representation through state boards. Being a nail tech, the conversation just evolves naturally. The beauty industry does not have paid lobbyists, so this is as close as we get to our issues being heard. After initial introductions and a mini consultation I did go on my soapbox about keeping our education standards and hours high to protect the integrity of this business. I also asked them to safeguard our state boards that are an important part of our governing agencies and not let them get lumped in with other boards to save money. We are a thriving industry that needs to take its rightful place as millions of small business owners, manufacturers and entrepreneurs and tax payers I might add.

      OPI was also the nail sponsor and we had laid out stations to work our magic. Everything totally donated and we got to keep all the product plus we got a killer goodie bag with donated products from the sponsors. There were also hairstylists, shout out to my copilot and travelling DC buddy LaDosha Wright that signed on before she even knew what she was in for. Make-up artists rounded out the beauty experience with Aveda sponsoring. The event was really impressive with an open bar, and a beautiful food spread of vegetables, fruit, chicken sliders, assorted cheeses, and desserts, which I only heard about unfortunately they were all gone by the time I came up for air. There were about 20 nail techs there and while I tried to introduce myself to everyone we got so busy so fast I know I missed a few so I do apologize if I missed you to say hello. Once they opened the doors to our awaiting guests, the event was sold out by the way, I know I never popped my head up till about 7:45, fifteen minutes before closing. What an impressive group of professionals volunteering their own time and talent for such a worthy cause. The time flew by, much like a busy work day, but nothing like a work day. I was so honored to have this opportunity to represent our industry, to put names with faces and faces with issues. We are so blessed to be in an industry that is only limited by our own restrictions. I mentioned you never hear about ten thousand hairdressers laid off. We are a strong, intelligent, powerful segment of the economy that I am proud to represent.

                                     Millie Haynam Maisie Dunbar LADosha Wright

Magnetic Marketing

        This week's segment comes from Success magazine and cd. Many of you know I am a Success junkie and the good news is, so many of what I bring you each week is confirmed in many of the strategies and tools Success shares every month with their readers and listeners. The publisher, Darren Hardy interviewed marketing strategist, consultant and author Dan Kennedy. His article this month is called Marketing by Magnetic attraction. This is relatively new term also know as pull marketing as opposed to push marketing. With all the available resources there is no place for push exclusive marketing. Push marketing is as simple as a salon teaser that is sent from your computer program that a 1:00 appointment is available today. Pull or magnetic marketing is a bit craftier, more thought out and diligently planned. For every push message you need to have four or five pull messages. A pull message would be maybe a link to an article about the safety of UV lights, or a link to an article what to look for in a salon, or photos of our work. Pull messages engage the reader, get them thinking about themselves, not you, and what they need, not what you need to sell.
Magnetic marketing flips the switch from what do I have to sell and what is the cheapest way to sell it.. to quote" How can I set up a system of attraction that brings a steady, reliable stream of ideal potential customers or clients to me, asking for my advice or assistance as a trusted authority or provider in their category of interest." in other words, How do I connect as the best resource with clients that are already seeking my services?
      For this Kennedy shares a 3 point system, message, marketing and media. I really want to focus tonight on the message. Three key ingredients for a great marketing message include the following three things. 1. Being Unique, which we have talked about several times on this segment. 2. Offer information instead of pushing services or product and 3 market yourself as the go to person. These last two points are something you will hear more and more of as social media sites surge as marketing tools. Interestingly enough they also chatted in the interview about raising prices and the fear associated with it, so there is a bit of relief here knowing this fear is as universal to the president of a major company as it is to us. It is more an indication of the persons own esteem, both personal and business that feeds this fear. Most importantly Kennedy believes that the service or product should not control price. It should be controlled by the hidden psychological reasons for buying these products or services. The value of those desires is much higher than the value of the service or object you are selling.
      OK real talk. People don't buy our services they buy the experience, how they felt, the fact that they can afford to have a "nail girl", the convenience of not having to worry about their nails day to day in their busy hectic life, being on trend or fashion forward or wearing the same thing Beyonce wears, being envied by their friends. This is what has the value, the emotional payoff for the client. I had a client that had to attend a family wedding where her ex would also be in attendance. What did we do? Revenge hair and nails. She looked stunning.
     Kennedy also talks about marketing yourself as the go to person and the price hierarchy pyramid of income and power. Imagine the pyramid like this. Generalists are at the bottom, next tier Specialists, next Certified Specialists , Certified Specialist that is an expert and authority maybe an educator for a manufacturer, highest level is a Certified expert, authority and celebrity like Angel Williams. She is the sole operator of Nature's Intent Hand and Foot Spa, she is a brand ambassador for leading nail companies, freelance artist participating in Fashion Week and nail blogger. So, the higher up the income pyramid you go people are paid more for who they are in the market place than what they do or what they sell. So if you are struggling with raising your prices, raise your level. Take that master class, put a shoot together and start your portfolio, offer to submit an article on spring trend to your local paper. When I post the link for the show on my page I always post Listen Up, because I know listeners will move up when they listen up. That's the beauty of becoming a go to expert. Clients seek you and your authority out. And that's got pull.

Calling All Moms!!

                  
                     Mothers day should represent the second highest spike in your gift certificate sales since the holidays. One thing for certain, everyone in your chair has a mother. They may not be a mother but at one point they've had or still have a mother. Start first things first. Chat about the upcoming holiday. "What are you doing for mother's day?" Have you gotten something for your mother yet? Please be sensitive if you do not know your client well enough to know if their mom is still alive, you don't need to create an awkward moment. Let your guest take the lead in the conversation initially before you recommend anything. One thing I know most moms will say is they never get what they really want or how about when you haven't seen your client for a few appointments only to find out their family bought them a gift card at a salon down the street or across town. Why did their family  not know where to purchase a gift card? Whose fault is that? Well might I suggest, ask for the sale. It goes something like this. We have downloadable gift cards on line. Why not forward the website to your kids/spouse so they get the hint. When I sent a monthly newsletter I printed a coupon on the back flap so the moms could simply fill out the coupon with the desired services, cut it out and tape it to the fridge, or the mirror in the bathroom or their husbands forehead. Whatever works I say. Print up a downloadable QR code for Gift Card opportunities and paste it on your Facebook page, twitter, place it on signage out front of your salon or in the window.

Do you have signage in your salon? On your table? Wear a button? Mirror talkers for the bathroom. Got Mom covered? Offers can be fun, like adding a small gift card like 15-20 dollars for the purchase of a larger one say 100 dollars. Create Mother/ daughter services for some salon/bonding time. DO you have a school or local university in your area? Why not post a small student discount for mother's day purchases. Make sure to offer to personalize the gift card. Mention to the purchaser the services their mom usually gets and the gift becomes a much more thought out and appreciated purchase. Look at partnering with other businesses. Local restaurants can include a discount code with your gift cards offering a deal on Moms meal. Local day care centers are a great place to post your specials and flyers. Many facilities will stuff their mailboxes with your mother's day offer. Have your flyers about mother's day specials at local florists, tanning salons and fitness facilities. Put together a Moms night out where moms can get together with their friends for some much needed pamper/social time. You might even offer again restaurant discounts or local pizza delivery so dinner is taken care of as well. Make sure to put your best marketer forward offering mom much needed packages or express services. Maybe you have a facility that can coordinate a dual manicure pedicure for those moms with a limited time schedule.

 
                    Be creative and think about what would be valued and time saving. Be informative, offer top trends and useful hints and tips on your website or Facebook pages to draw moms to your salon. Contests are wonderful. Send out a contest through your Facebook page, twitter, and your email list that you are having a contest to give away a mani pedi or whatever to a deserving mom. It's a great way to reward hard working moms that need a break from their kids. I just found the winning essay from one of the many years contests and forwarded the note. She was so touched to have that note, especially now that daughter is a teenager. Make sure to have your moms check in to your salon for their moms night out to make their friends curious enough to book their own night out. Take advantage of these social networks and the potential clients they can reach. Remember a large percentage of potential guests purchase due to an online, social media recommendation. Don't miss out on this huge opportunity.