To begin Tiffany did something very cool. She had us pair off with someone we did not know and ask them a few questions, five or so things they wanted people to know about themselves and they did the same for us. She then had us introduce our new friend and share this information with the group. It was a great way to get to know a bit more about each person.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
NailtechsUnite!
To begin Tiffany did something very cool. She had us pair off with someone we did not know and ask them a few questions, five or so things they wanted people to know about themselves and they did the same for us. She then had us introduce our new friend and share this information with the group. It was a great way to get to know a bit more about each person.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tips for Building an Online Presence
Today's tip comes from Jeff walker. 16 years ago Jeff went from Mr. mom with no job and no resume to running a million dollar Internet company. Jeff shared his marketing tips for building this amazing Internet business. Here are a few I want to share. To see the full list visit success.com.
- Always be building your list and your relationship with your list. Your list is an import asset to your business. Make sure your guard this list and your relationship. Don't sell the list or abuse the privilege of it by overusing it.
- Only sell what your market wants. Watch which promotions and services get the most interest and trust your instincts and what your clients and not what you want to offer.
- Take the long view. Dont chase today's dollar too hard without long term thinking.
- Don't depend on a single source of traffic. Consider joint ventures, Facebook, twitter, you tube, google+ and pinterest. Seo, press releases, blogs, articles. Online advertising.
- Get out of your salon and go to live events. Donate your time and talents to fund raisers, community events etc. If you can't attend offer to send a goodie bag with info about your salon, special offers, free samples.
- The purpose of a sale is to create a raving fan. Make sure to deliver a great service great products and a great experience. Then let your customers become your evangelist in the socially connected world. X
- Create value. The path to long term success offline is to make sure you're creating massive value that your clients determine, not you.
- The power of the mastermind is huge. If you dont have a mastermind group get in one or create your own. Putting enough entrepreneur s in one place will always be a wealth of information. The format is to put a business challenge out there and brainstorm about the solutions. After all it's much more fun to solve someone else's challenges that your own.
- Sell with the human touch, steer clear of sounding too corporate. People want todo business with people not a company.
6. It's all about the baby steps. Your first website might stink, your first newsletter might be
awful, just keep moving forward with your ideas. One foot in front of another. No one starts a million dollar company overnight. Focusing your plan and keep putting one foot in front of the other and it will happen .
Getting back to the mastermind group concept, I'm actually driving back from Wisconsin tonight from my good friend Gina Malson,s open house. I met Gina and Chelly Eric and Carol Ervin as educators almost twenty years ago and we have been brainstorming ever since. We surprised Gina and showed up for her open house tonight. If you don't have a nail tech mastermind group, there is not one other thing you can do that will be more valuable to you and your business.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Power in an Outside Voice
So how do you get this valuable feedback? Obviously approaching first time clients may throw them off. You might want to wait till they have visited a few times, timing is everything. You can solicit feedback via verbal comments, emails, thank you notes and customer surveys. When you are nurturing these valuable client relationships by offering outstanding service most customers would be thrilled to give you a glowing report if you asked. Here are a few things to consider to get the most benefit from these raving fans. Always get their permission before using any one's words. Never rewrite their testimonial without their approval. Include their name, job title and company, even a picture helps. You can get different types of testimonials like written, audio or video. While written are the most frequently used audio and video testimonials have proven to be more effective. Not everyone is a great writer. You can coach them, especially if they say they don't know what to say! Offer a few examples of others you have gotten to help get positive results. Make sure they are specific. Yes they had a nice service but what specifically made it really special? Steamed towels? Custom blend colors? Fast efficient service with no waiting? Think about what other clients might find attractive about your business that meets their needs, or solves their problems. Some recommend at least 12 business testimonials so be proactive. As an example I'll include one of my unsolicited testimonials from a fan.
Hi, Millie!
I ordered your new marketing book a few weeks ago and I have not been able to put it down! I am enjoying all of the great ideas and am ready to kick things up a notch or two. I just wanted to say thanks for all that you do and for sharing and giving such inspiration. I also appreciated the little handwritten note that you added to the first page of the book I ordered. Nobody I know does that, but it was a great surprise and made my day! Thanks again!
Carrie Sanders
Topeka, KS
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Give Back=Get Back
Call your local Cancer center or the National Breast Cancer Foundation and they will send you a ton of marketing materials like self exam postcards, pink ribbon reminders and more literature than you could imagine. They are more than willing to send as much as they can for free to help support your event. Make sure to get postcards in the mail, put an event up on Facebook or in Eventbrite even on Yelp and twitter. Remember on social media especially twitter to send this out several times a week to make sure you get as much exposure as you can.
Partner with a local med center or cancer center. Ask to speak with the office manager and offer a certain percentage off any service for every woman that gets a mammogram in October, or put together a free gift like a sample hand cream, mini pink polish, pink emery board and sample nail oil. Have the literature up on mirrors, in the bathroom, at the front desk and at your nail table to spread the word and encourage women to get this often times life saving procedure. Offer a free gift or free upgrade to any client that gets a mammogram in October. Offer a contest in your salon for a pamper day to a breast cancer survivor. Encourage your clients to nominate a survivor by sending their story in by email or snail mail. The year we did this we were so touched by the many stories of amazing bravery and courage that we ended up sending each one a $15.00 gift card. They were so appreciative and our client who nominated them was so proud to share this opportunity including bragging rights that her salon values the health and well being of women in the community and isn't holding back but giving back. The good will generated by an all out Breast Cancer month is priceless. Make sure you are writing press releases about your specials and events and invite the local news anchors to your salon to experience it firsthand.
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