Ready? Set? Show!

     Have you ever gotten back from a trade show only to realize you didn’t see half the people you wanted to see, didn’t stop at all the booths you wanted to and bought duplicate gel colors?

If this is too much of your story you need a show plan. Shows are too costly anymore to not take full advantage with a plan of attack to get the most bang for your show buck. I know it’s kind of dorky but put together a show notebook and your inner nerd will thank me when you get home.

Go online right now, ok later tonight or tomorrow morning and download a show brochure, a hard copy. Show brochure When you get your brochure don’t read it, study it. Choose your classes first. Don’t fill your whole day up. Make sure you have enough time to visit the vendors too.

Map out the best plan of action for seeing all the booths you want to see. Find the booth number on the show map and organize them by number so you are not jumping all over the place. Of course there’s always the start at one end and go to the other but with Premiere having so much great education and being so large, it is like trying to see the Mall of America in one day. Plan smart and get all the vendors you want to see on your list, if you have time left over you can back track and look at the new or smaller vendors.
You can also follow on twitter PremiereOrlando @premiereshows

Map out a plan for who you want to network with and find out where they will be. I am going to plug Deb’s Networking event. A ticket to the BBQ is a great way to network with the Nail industry movers and shakers. All the top techs in one place at the same time, a great use of your time and money. The goodie bag you get has tons of coupon savings so make sure to do your shopping after the barbeque and take advantage of all the offers Deb has meticulously gathered just for the event. Go to beautytech.com the shoppe section in the events. Also don't miss the Nail Talk Radio Live viewing party. Live and blog talk and on Ustream.

 

     Take some time before you go to do a quick inventory of what you already have and take your list with you. There is nothing worse than coming home from the show with duplicates.

Set yourself a budget. You should invest maybe 30% of what you bring on an average month for new show items. Make sure you get any promotional or marketing pieces with the items so you can fully market these new items when you get home.

Last but certainly not least I have put together notebook templates plus a Free press release you can download and customize to send out to your local media contacts to get yourself some press and continue to brand yourself as the go to nail guru in town.
Show Notes

And Our Special Guest Is...

 

          It was great being a guest on Nail Talk Radio this past Monday. It's hard to believe it's coming on its three year anniversary. I was a fan early on, an early adapter of this new technology. A Radio show? About Nails? Really? How is this ever going to work? Well three years later, with hundreds of guests and thousands of dollars in prizes given away Nail Talk Radio is just beginning to hit full stride. I remember how nervous I was the first time on as a guest. I thought I might pass out from hyperventilating. Even now, I still get a twinge of stage fright just before the show. Part of that's due to some crazy event that happens with less than a minute to air. If you could only peek behind the scenes.. Last week we were all set to go and Athena lost the feed from Skype. Not sure anyone noticed but I actually opened the show. When I heard radio silence I knew I had to go for it. The show's producer Braden and I joke about having the weekly heart attack. It is, after all, LIVE radio. If it can go wrong, sometimes it does. Callers get dropped, recorded audio is garbled, background noise creeps in, guests forget to call in or get their times mixed up. We are on an international platform. But all in all it has been an amazing experience. We have all grown so much as radio personalities. A title I never imagined I would have. On my guest appearance show, I shared my background and what drives my passion to give up my Sunday evenings to be a part of this groundbreaking show. We went through the usual, how did you get your start to what drives your passions about advanced education and then something amazing happened. Athena, the show's host cut into one of my answers and told me there were live callers that wanted to ask me questions. How cool is that? It was funny because many times I provide questions for the guest and this night would be no different. I emailed my list of questions and prepared a few notes to try and stay on track. We do work off a script, even though it may not sound like it all the time. It can be challenging to have so many people on the air and not talk over each other. We usually have headsets on and can see each other most of the time.

  Just another Sunday night :)

 

      We also use the private chat feature in the chat room to communicate behind the scenes directions and timing. So back to my live callers. I knew there would be a few people but I was overwhelmed at the amount of callers that wanted my advice. There were also a slew of questions in the chat room. It was hard keeping up with them all. I hope I provided good information and encouragement. I know this last guest appearance has provided encouragement for me. Even I, the marketing guru, have my days where I wonder if it's all worth it. The tremendous amount of time I put into my blog posts, books, speaking and consulting gigs is no small feat. But with the amazing feedback I get from listeners and guests, I am hooked on helping. I know sometimes we all just need that push in the right direction, that support when we feel like quitting. So I thank Nail Talk Radio and all my listeners for their continued support to allow me to invade their world for a few minutes a week. It is an honor and a privilege and one I do not take lightly.
Listen to the show here

Top Ten Things Your Clients Want

       Speaking to a colleague the other day I shared with her the fact that I had never been a beauty consumer. Well never spent my own, grown up money on beauty. Getting into this business so young it was hard for me to understand the value in what we do and to understand what drives beauty consumers in their choices. Then I saw this article in Inc magazine about a week ago that had some interesting thoughts I wanted to share. Before you market to your clients you really need to figure out what it is they want, not what you want to sell them. Coming at your marketing from the perspective of filling a need or want makes a whole lot of sense. I've taken what Inc says, and applied it to beauty world.

1. Bring New Perspectives and Ideas. If clients could do their own, hair, skin and nails as well as we do, we would be quite simply, be out of business. We must consistently seek out new solutions to beauty challenges in the form of new services and cutting edge products. Stay ahead of the beauty curve.
2 Be Willing to Collaborate. No matter how much expertise and skill you have clients do not want to be SOLD, even if it's fabulous. Today clients want to be part of the process. A partner in their own success. Be a good listener and responsive in your approach.
3 Have Confidence in Your Ability to Achieve Success. In other words, be awesome and believe in yourself and the products you use and sell. Clients can see right through skepticism and doubt and will lose faith in a hurry. Confidence in your ability and passionabout your products is contagious.

 

4. Listen, Really Listen to the Customer. How many times do you notice that someone in a sales or service transaction has listened only long enough to find a break in the conversation only to launch into their sales pitch. No regard for what it is you have said. Annoying isn't it? Don't do it to your clients. Be patient, forget about your goals and listen to what the customer's needs are because after all, isn't it really about them?
5. Understand ALL the Customers' Needs. Connect the dots between what you offer and the end result. It's not a pedicure, It's an I'm taking the time to relax and rejuvenate my soul and do something just for me because I'm worth it statement. Get to the emotional connection, the personal need being fulfilled.
6. Help the Customer Avoid Potential Pitfalls. With all the media attention focused on nail world understand clients are more aware than ever of risks. Don't avoid this area, be on the offensive explaining your expert knowledge of risks and offering what solutions you have in place to make sure these don't happen.
7. Craft a Compelling Solution. It is not enough to have the product or the service you must create a compelling reason why you have the best solution for them. Competition is tough, make sure you can explain, in detail why your solution to their beauty challenge is better.
8. Communicate the Purchasing Process. Don't dance around issues like price, availability, discounts and the like. Clients want straight talk, not smoke and mirrors, no surprises, no last minute additional costs.

9. Connect Personally with the Customer. Clients want to do business with someone they have a connection with and someone they trust. There is a direct correlation with amount of money they spend and their trust in you.
10. Provide Value that's Superior to Other Options. Last, at the bottom of the list, literally is price comparison. If you can't prove to the customer that spending money with you is the best business decision they should rightfully buy from someone else.
Look deeper into your client relations and selling process. Adding a few of these ideas will most certainly increase your bottom line and make you a better marketer.
Click here for the full article Ten things every customer wants

Thoughts and Teaching into Action

 

     Many times we read scripture, or positive writings only to fail when it comes to implementing these practices in our daily lives. Positivity is like a muscle, it only gets stronger when consistently used. I have been working on this in my life for several years. It is human nature to view incidents in our world from the negative perspective and fail to see anything positive. However with intentional, purposeful practice this bad habit can  be changed. My morning reading today was from the Your Best Life Now Journal by Joel Osteen. Step Three, Discovering the power of your thoughts and words Day 1 is called Digging a new river. It talks about your thoughts being like a river and running in the same direction for years. Your thoughts, much like a river tend to only go in one direction, the deeper the thoughts of pessimism, the deeper the river bed, accelerating the flow. But you CAN dig a new river, going in a positive direction. Ah... easy to say, not so easy to do. Over time it gets easier and this weekend was proof positive for me. Travelling as much as I do I joke that I never look at my itinerary until the day before. I ended up glancing at my hotel reservations and not double checking them, I ended up in a shuttle, I had to pay for, that took me to the wrong hotel. After waiting in line about 15 minutes the front desk informed me that in fact I was at the wrong hotel. Yup..so I spent a moment kicking myself, then quickly got a taxi to the correct hotel. Remaining calm I though about the driver, most likely with a family to support and figured, maybe I am supposed to be a blessing to him today. My cab fare was not the usual 10-20 dollar fare. No, it was 38 and I tipped him on top of that. Quickly recognizing my error may have been a blessing I was able to turn a negative into a positive within minutes. I also forgot a ring I had just purchased in Miami a few weeks ago. It was not expensive, rather it was a 3 dollar ring I purchased at a church gift shop. It had the Lord's prayer written around it in Spanish. As I took a moment feeling sad, I immediately thought, there must be a housekeeper that needs this ring more than I do. Another possible blessing. So with practice I have become lightening fast at letting go of the negative,  pity party and joined the positivity tribe. With consistent, faithful practice it becomes a way of life :)

International Congress of Esthetics, Dallas 2013

Millie and Laura

     Back from the show earlier today and of course went straight to work..cause that's how I roll. A big thank you to Denise Fuller and Laura Bazo for inviting me to speak. Since adding nails to Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa they have made great efforts to include nail education. My class on building a celebrity clientele was well attended..even if it was the last presentation on main stage :-) I had a chance to walk the show floor and found a few interesting items for my nail junkies. Farmhouse Fresh Goods had a beautiful booth that smelled divine. I could not help stopping by with the amazing aromas at this booth. Maisie Dunbar Salon carries this exclusive line and it has become a spa favorite! She is in good company with Ritz-Carlton, Golden Doors, Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria and the like that also carry this 90-99% natural, paraben/sulphate free, vegan and gluten free brand.
 

 

 

 "FarmHouse Fresh products are formulated with just the right blend of fresh, natural and organic ingredients to exfoliate, nourish, firm and moisturize skin." With products like Honey Magnolia Soak, Agave Nectar Oil, Nectar Bath Soak, Bourbon Bubbler Scrub (smells good enough to eat) and Sundae Best Chocolate Mud Mask to name a few this line has taken the spa industry by storm. Even celebrities are flocking to these tantalizing treatment products. Check out their site here

FarmHouse Fresh Products

  

 

     I spent some time at the  Bio Seaweed Gel booth checking out this new product out of Toronto.

Helen Luu was busy all day showing off this impressive new system. "These fresh and innovative products are dedicated to the professionals and clients who want a healthy and trusted cosmetic that delivers beautiful, dependable results." Check out their website here Bio Seeweed Gel

 

Bio Seeweed Gel Nail Art

 

 

 

The booth was packed all day

 

 

My presentation on the Jumbo-Tron :)

 

 Met up with the President of Custom Nail Solutions, Katie Saxton...stay tuned

Custom Nail Solutions

 

  Here is my haul from the show :)

     

     It was a great show and I'm looking forward to working with them on future shows. Look for more educational events coming soon!

Define Your Own Success

 

      I want to share a bit of reflection from last week's nail artist retreat. I have to admit one of the reasons I signed up was to be in the same company of top nail educators. We are who we surround ourselves with and this was an opportunity to soak up some amazing inspiration. Both Paula and Adriana are amazing techs with outstanding techniques to share. Julie's presentation was so inspiring. She shared how she achieved her goal of moving to New York to become a celebrity manicurist and all the struggles along the way. But something Maisie said during her entrepreneur presentation really hit home with me. She asked attendees to define what success looks like to them. What does you success look like, feel like? So often we compare ourselves and our success to others. But our success is truly only defined by ourselves. It's so easy to compare these days when there is a constant feed online through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I have to admit I follow a few high profile techs and I think sometimes their world looks so much more exciting than mine. But Maisie so eloquently stated don't chase after another's successes. She said, "I'm not supposed to be doing what Julie is doing or what Millie is doing. I am here to be Maisie and follow my God given gifts and be true to my dreams. "

      I struggle with this myself. I would see what someone else was doing and think, gee I would like to do that. I might even spend a few months caught up in researching it, daydreaming about it. But I have my own unique gifts that may not be suited to that specific work. At these times I dig deep, go back to earlier days and remember what brought me joy? what did I love to do? What were people always encouraging me toward? I had a 4th grade teacher tell me to never stop writing. She Also nicknamed me Motor-mouth Morgan, a title that took years to embrace the positive spin. Now I'm happy to say people fly me all over the country to hear me speak.

 

 

      I was always a self help junkie too. From Napoleon Hills Think and Grow Rich to Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People I am always reading about improving myself. I just read a really great book called The Gift of Imperfection. A great read for A+ type personalities, but that's another topic for another time. I am just beginning, at over 50 to understand and embrace my true talents and gifts. I guess I'm just a slow learner, or discoverer. After reading all the how tos I guess I needed to add life experience to give my knowledge authenticity. I'm not sure I needed quite as many lessons as I was given, but I did go through some really challenging times and discovered I am stronger than I ever imagined. This I now know. I am at my best self when helping others, motivating and encouraging their spirit. Sharing some of my failures to help another understand we have all been there. I heard a great story about a woman that fell in a hole. Many people passed by her not able to help her. Finally another woman passing by jumped in the hole. Taken by surprise the woman in the hole said Oh my goodness, why did you do that? She simply answered I have been here before, I know the way out. So I encourage each of you to put your blinders on, focus on your true gifts and talents. You will never be better than when you are in this zone, embracing what it is that brings you joy. Once you discover your gifts, sharing and giving back will open new pathways to success. If you are alive on this earth right now there is something only you can do, that no one else can do. Find what that is, and market the heck out of it.