Most salon, clinic and spa owners understand that bad economy means cutting expenses…

You see your competitors falling all around you. You know and understand that you need to lower your cost and lower your budget in order to stay afloat. However, the first mistake in keeping a business alive during tough economic times and global financial crisis is cutting your marketing budget.

Big businesses separate their expenses into those they can control and those that are a necessity. Controllable expenses can include everything from the brand of coffee served in the office to the brand of toilet paper in your restroom. Necessary expenses, well, those they can not be cut in any way. And if you want your business to get through the recession, that includes marketing.

Cutting out your marketing budget is one of the most dangerous things you can do for your business. If you don’t market to the clients that are out there those clients are not going to know the products and services you have to provide to them as a consumer. While the news screams recession not every consumer is without money.

Marketing is the only way you were going to get new clients and keep your profits coming in.

So how do you market in a failing economy? Great question! Marketing in a failing economy where you need to cut expenses simply means marketing harder and marketing smarter.

Old marketing style - sending out mailers (cost $200)
New marketing style -emailing clients (cost $0)

Old marketing style -sending out postcards (cost $100)
New marketing style - phoning your clients (cost $0)

Use low cost options like following up with clients on the phone. Or completely free options like emailing your clients about an offer rather than posting a mail out. Using low-cost or free marketing means you stay afloat because you can reduce your expenses while still keeping clients coming in. Plus if do it well enough, you’ll not just ’stay afloat’, you’ll grow and thrive.

Times of financial struggle are not the proper times to put your business at risk by ceasing all marketing campaigns. These times require innovative thought and ingenuity. You can continue to build your business even if you do not have the marketing budget you use that have. All you need to do is concentrate on low cost and free marketing techniques and you can build your client base despite the news reports of a global financial crisis.

Look around you, are your competitors failing? Maybe they chose their marketing budget as the first place to cut costs! Don’t allow a dip in the economy to cause your business to go under. Perseverance is the key and low cost or free marketing can make it all work.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Our world is in financial turmoil and businesses small and large are going crazy. More and more people are feeling that the faster the economy declines the harder it is to keep their business afloat. Unfortunately for the small business owner, some of them will fail during these economic tops.

However, some businesses will find the silver lining in the cloud and they will fly.

The businesses that will survive during tough economic times are the ones who employ a successful, ‘get smart’ marketing campaign. These businesses will look at what they are doing everyday, analyze which marketing techniques work and which don’t. Then focus on the marketing techniques that will bring in the profits and those only.

The key to this style of marketing is to not get greedy. Let us say for instance your business does a marketing campaign which includes mailers or flyers. The marketing campaign costs $200 and returned $500 in sales. The total profit for this marketing campaign is $300.

Many businesses may look at this and think ‘gosh, I don’t want to spend the money it will cost me just in case’, or ‘gosh, that isn’t much return’. But the smart ones, look at that profit exponentially.

For example, if you walked into a business and that business owner offered you a tree for $200 but that tree had five hundred $1 bills on it, how many would you buy? Any sane person would buy every tree in the store because with every purchase there is an instant $300 profit.

This is the same way you should look at a marketing campaign that makes you money for your clinic, salon, spa or therapy practice. Though $300 in profit may seem small, if that marketing technique works over and over again those profits will add up.

Now let’s take the same idea and make a bigger…

Your $200 mailing provided $300 in profit. What if you took that mailing an expanded the number of people who received that marketing information? You can focus and even streamline your marketing techniques by sector of the population, age, and economic background.

Sending out the same $200 worth of mailers to a young population with a really good introductory offer for your hair, beauty or alterative health or therapy services will provide your business with $300 in profit. And then you could send out the same set of mailers to an older population with a certain offer discount aiming in that mailer toward the needs they have and again you’ll see $300 in profit.

Do you see the pattern here? The more mailers you send out that make a profit, the more money you’ll have in your bank account and the less you will feel the global financial crisis.

If you want your health or beauty business to succeed in tough economic times, then focus more on what you can do and the profits you can make and less on what the media are saying. This will keep your business alive while others are failing.

With words flying around the well-being business community like ‘global financial crisis’, ‘recession’, and ‘bad economy’ your clinic or practice needs to find a marketing and advertising campaign that fits within your budget and still provides a substantial profit.

Whether you do beauty, therapy, homeopathy, life coaching, hairdressing, or any other any holistic or complementary therapies, you can profit by simply changing your thinking. By thinking that every dollar of revenue above and beyond that which you spend, is a worthy profit. Even smaller profits repeated over and over are nonetheless profits.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Most people feel a buzz of exciting and a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when all the lights, tinsel, and gaily decorated trees come out in the stores, on the streets and in our homes. Bringing that excitement and celebration of Christmas to your business will definitely give both your clients and your income a boost.

Of all the industries out there, the health, hair and beauty industry has the most to gain from the festivities in their salons and clinics. When a beauty therapy salon decks their customer service area out with lights and balls and tinsel and gift bags, it is a real draw to bring business through their doors. Then when hair salons, masseuses and hypnotherapists offer real live gift bags with products that relate to their services, their revenue also increases.

In short, no matter what specific business you have within the industry, the glitz of Christmas will not only bring customers in your door, but it can be the beginning of a long-term relationship in the future.

Christmas brings a sense of excitement and you can play off that to attract more patrons and increase both your service and retail or product revenue. Christmas is a fun time and that is what has to be portrayed to the customer. People like glitter. People like to feel good about where they are. When customers come into a facility that sports hairdressing, tanning, or spa rooms, they come to relax and feel good about the experience. The glitter of Christmas decorations will enhance that experience.

So without consciously even thinking about it, your clients then start wondering if their aunt, or brother or sister might like the gifts you’ve got out on display. And then once they’re in the swing of shopping, they buy more products because it feels good.

Almost anything can be a potential gift but putting items together into gift bags are a fantastic draw to bring in new clients and to increase revenue. Group them together as “his” or “her” products, pop them in a nice bag or box and you’ve got a ready made gift.

Plus if you make sure your label is on everything and if you group together items like a bottle of shampoo, or some beauty cream for the face which the potential gift-receiver might use regularly, they can get hooked on that product and want to return to “buy” the next bottle of shampoo or container of beauty cream themselves later

Celebrate Christmas with all the glitz, glamor and excitement of Christmas decorations. Enjoy the influx of clients and patrons and give away as much as you can to lend yourself as much as possible to the season. Play off it and let the tinsel blow in the wind and the dollar bills flow in.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

As a salon, spa or clinic owner, would you like to increase revenue while having fun? If so, why not plan a Christmas party? By following a few simple steps you will have the potential to let more people know who you are, increase your product sales, and grow your business.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure your health, hair or therapy business’s Christmas party is a success…

Firstly, showcase you best selling treatments and services. Set up a testing station to encourage guests to sample your most popular products. Make sure there is someone available to answer questions and to demonstrate how to use various items. Give away small favor bags containing samples of some of your lesser-known products to help your customers become familiar with them.

Introduce potential new clients to your staff by holding a clinic allowing guests to experience some of the hair dressing and/or spa treatments you offer, especially those unique to your establishment.

The second thing you can do to make sure your party is a success is to maximise sales opportunities. Anything that can be given as a gift needs to be available for purchase. Be sure that your inventory is well stocked in advance so that guests can buy everything they sample. Invent creative ways to make your products and services attractive as Christmas gifts. You could also have pre-made gift baskets, decorated with holiday ribbon available for quick and easy gift buying, and set up a gift certificate center with a list of services you offer that can be purchased for that special someone.

Thirdly, make sure to keep it fun. Create a holiday atmosphere with festive decorations, Christmas music, and light refreshments. You want to offer established clients a fresh experience, while making potential clients feel at home as soon as they walk in the door. Plan some simple games and giveaways throughout the evening to keep the energy level up and to encourage positive interaction between customers and employees.

And lastly, get your clients really excited about your Christmas Party. In the weeks leading up to the big event, let everyone who enters your salon/practice/clinic, and those in your community know about your party!

Advertise with posters, flyers, and any other means available. Have your staff personally invite their clients, friends, family, and neighbors. Create a bigger buzz by organizing a door prize as a further incentive for clients to attend. Offer a large prize such as an entire day of treatments or services, and the title of “Queen or King For a Day”.

High revenue and profit in the health, beauty and well-being industry is based on great client relationships and continual sales. A Christmas party is a fantastic (and festive!) way to make progress in both of these areas.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Marketing ideas are adjustable and changeable no matter the sector off business you are aimed toward. The inspiration for a new marketing plan can be derived from just about any business out there that shows they have the resolve to make it in the business world. All it takes is a keen eye and a bit of imagination.

Some of the best businesses to mimic in your marketing choices are the biggest and the brightest. These businesses pay marketers hundreds of thousands of dollars to plan a marketing campaign. These same ideas can be scaled and customized to suit your business and your clientele. This method not only saves you time, but allows you to work with a proven campaign.

If you have ever heard someone singing the McDonald’s song about the Big Mac, you understand how well marketing can be infused into the minds of the consumer. Just because you do not have a Big Mac does not mean you cannot take a theme and lay it to music for your marketing slogan. “I’m Lovin’ It!” for instance was and still is a huge marketing choice for McDonald’s. You just need to choose that slogan that has your customers singing, “I’m Lovin’ It!” too!

In salons, clinics and spas, the well-being of the consumer rests in the services you provide. You need to offer the consumer something more than just a great product however. Today, the flash associated with marketing has reached epic proportions and many small businesses just cannot afford to render a huge marketing ploy the way the larger business can. This is where ingenuity comes into play.

There are three major points to rebirthing a marketing idea from another company. Quickly and easily you can:

1. Assure the results of the marketing campaign
2. Save a massive amount of research time
3. Stop yourself from reinventing something that is clearly already invented

Marketing might not necessarily come naturally to every holistic or care provider, but to achieve high revenues and success, marketing does need to be a big part of your business.

When you market, you take your service to the streets and when you put a tried and true marketing choice in front of them, they will see what you have to offer and come back for more again and again. In order to gain a following you need to assure that customer you are going to take care of them and provide them the health and well-being services your potential clients both want and need.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? It might be weeks away but if you want to really use the flurry of present buying to your advantage, you’ve simpley GOT to think ahead.

For large clinics and salons, the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas usually bring in over 50% of their ENTIRE years retail product and gift voucher sales.

That’s something to think about! Imagine if you could generate 50% of your annual income in just 6 weeks…

Now you may or may not have a team of people to help you. You may or may not have a large line of retail items to sell. But regardless of your situation, with some advance planning you CAN get in on this.

In fact, even if you don’t have any retail products or items at all you, you can still generate lots of extra income through gift vouchers. You just need to create gift vouchers for your treatments or services, package them up nicely and start talking about them to clients.

If you are short on ideas, my favourite way of packaging vouchers is to

• Get an A4 piece of coloured cardboard
• Pop a slightly larger piece of tissue paper on it
• Put the gift voucher on top of this
• Roll it up
• Tie it with ribbon so it looks like a scroll

I used to use pretty red and gold coloured card and tissue at Christmas time and even used to sprinkle little gold stars into the scroll before rolling it up. Makes for a gorgeous gift that your clients will LOVE to give to friends. And a few of these pre-made on display by the counter, with some Christmas cards surrounding them, makes for a really cheap yet completely effective display!

It might be a bit early yet to be putting your displays up but this ‘calm before the storm’ period is a great one to get prepared…

• Do you have gift vouchers?
• If yes, do you have enough? If no, can you make some?
• Do you have gift packs or baskets of items that go with your services that you can sell at Xmas to clients?
• If no, can you go to the dollar/pound store and get a few baskets & make some?
• Is there somewhere you can create displays of all your Christmas goodies?
• If no or if you travel a lot, can you create a display at home, take a photo and put it on an A3 board to show to clients?

Get thinking early and reap the benefits. Leave it to the last minute and you’ll only get last minute sales.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

In the world of business there are those who naturally know how to market and those who find themselves learning the trade over time by trial and error. If you are in business you need make money, or you won’t still be in business 5 years from now. Which means you need to know the heart of matter inside out; the marketing!

How Does Marketing Work? - Marketing is a relatively simple concept. A product or service is created and a business aims to offer that product to the consumer. In order for the consumer to even know the product is available, that product needs to be introduced to the consumer; this is marketing.

While many people who work within the health, beauty and well-being sector of the business world believe their product is THE best one on the market, the consumer still needs to be convinced of that fact.

So while you’ve done all the therapy training, all the stylist courses, all the specialist health and well-being studies… your clients haven’t. They don’t know what you know about it all. They don’t know how your salon or clinic’s treatments, services and products can benefit them.

Bringing your product to the consumer, showing them the ways your product can better their lives or make their lives easier will convince them to choose that product and thus the sale is won.

The art of marketing is all about giving the consumer the information they need in order to trust in your salon or clinic’s product on the same level as you trust the product. They may never have the connection you have to the business, but they need to have the same, in depth information that convinced you to endorse the product.

Moving Them From the Street to You

When contemplating the marketing aspect of your business, you are essentially trying to make money. The customers you need to buy your product or service are out there, on the street, ready to hear what you have to offer. You need to go out there and get them.

Waiting in the background believing they will find you and your salon or clininc is simply not going to get you’re the success you want or the client you need in order to make your business into the money making machine it can eventually become.

Market, market, market and you will become the top-of-the-line, health, beauty and well-being product and service provider in your sector of the business world.

You can make the money and create the lifestyle you set out to have, you just have to go out there and get it!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

I had the rather interesting experience of buying a new telly yesterday.

The salesman was great, he let us do our browsing and then when we looked like we were ready to get serious and pick which TV we wanted, he just appeared quietly in the background so he could answer any questions we had. Fantastic… so far…

Then the salesman asked us:
… Do we need insurance? - A good question but no thank you.
… And did we have a stand to put it on? - Yes thanks, we’ll use the one we’ve got from our old telly.
… Do you have a DVD player to go with it? - No, that’s alright thanks, we just want the TV.
… Well, no TV is complete without a surround sound system? - Honestly, we’re quite happy with just the TV thanks.
… And were you requiring a games console? - No, just the TV please.

Believe it or not the conversation carried on for about 5 more questions (I had no idea how much stuff you could get to go with your telly!) until I politely said, “Thank you ever so much for your help however we just want the TV today. Are we able to pay for it now?”

The lesson in all of this is that an excellent sales process can turn sour very quickly by not listening to the client.

The first two questions were perfectly reasonable and in fact, quite helpful. If we didn’t already have home & contents insurance, we would almost certainly have purchased the TV insurance from him. And if we’d got home and realised we didn’t have a TV stand we would have had to go all the way back to the store to get one which would have been quite a pain.

So those first two questions were the mark of a great salesman who was paying attention and who clearly cared about us and our purchase. But the rest of it was him not listening and not paying attention to what we really wanted (which was just the TV).

Offering clients in your salon one or two additional items that you know they might need is really GREAT. In fact, its excellent service. But continuing to offer items that they don’t need is NOT.

Tip for this week is to take half an hour to look at what treatments or services you offer in your hair or beauty salon and think about what your clients might need or appreciate at home afterwards.

But when you come to offer them to them, LISTEN. Ask them questions to find out what they need. Listen to what they are saying and then only offer them solutions that are going to be genuinely beneficial.

Doing this will ultimately improve sales in your hair or beauty salon.  They’ll thank you for caring and will come back time and time again in the future.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

It is one thing to learn everything there is to know about the health or wellbeing career you have chosen. Attending classes on new therapy techniques, sharpening your cutting skills or picking up that knowledge needed to become a better masseuse is a fantastic idea in a world where the best make the money and the rest fall behind.

But, when it comes to running your own personal business, you need to know more than just the best techniques. You need to know the business tactics used by big companies, the marketing aims successful to the most attention grabbing salespeople and the accounting skills of the IRS. You need to be the best not only in your trade, but in business.

Business training may be the last thing on your mind when you start out to run your own therapy salon or practice. The sales and marketing aspect are not at the forefront until you begin to see a decline in business or no incline at all.

You must remember business is just that, business. People are only going to see what you have to offer if you put it out there, in their face with creative marketing and sales plans.

No matter how much of an expert you are in beauty, massage, hair or whatever your chosen specialty is, your talents WILL go unnoticed if you do not provide the consumer with a reason to choose you over the competition.

There is hope though; there are lots of training school classes available to boost your business knowledge. Some of them are even specific to the health, beauty, therapy and hair industry. Even if you have never had a knack for business, there is truly no way to get around learning the tricks of the trade.

In today’s society, it is very unfortunate that the consumer often chooses the most popular over the best. They only know what they see and while you may have the talent to make them happier, calmer and more comfortable, there is no way for them to know your treatments or services are even there if you do not tell them (and tell them often).

Now lets talk about money… money can be the reason many people who run their own therapy salon do not market more or learn more about marketing. Let’s face it, business education is expensive and then actually implementing your marketing costs even more. DO not despair. The local Chamber of Commerce and local businesses will often hold classes or courses that allow you to apprentice for a short while in order to learn the marketing tactics needed to drive that next sale, the business savvy required to push your product and the accounting education to keep track of those increased sales.

Your talent is at the heart of your business, in the specific treatments and services you offer. But without the right business knowledge you will blend in to the crowd and no one will be able to take advantage of all the hard work and dedication you have given to your field.

Shout your talent from the rooftops and they will come flocking to your door.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Isn’t it amazing that it’s July already? The year is just flying by. Which means that it’s time to take stock and make sure things are heading where you want them to be.

Something pretty big to check is whether you’ve organised yourself any other businesses in your local area that you work with to send each other clients? They are called Alliances or Host Beneficiaries and can be amaaaaaazing!

Basically Alliances are other businesses that serve your ideal clientele but whose businesses aren’t competitive. So if you have a Hair Salon, you might want to work with a shoe store but you wouldn’t want to team up with a Barber. Or if you offer specialist waxing, you might want to team up with the lovely restaurant on the corner but probably not the local laser hair removal clinic.

If you can find a business that can refer to you just ONE new client a week, it could make a WORLD of difference to your revenue (and to theirs if you also refer one client a week back to them!)

Let’s do the maths… If on average your clients come in once every 4 weeks and on average they spend $50 on each visit… that means that over a period of a year, your clients are each likely to spend $600 with you.

And if your Alliance Business sends you just ONE new client like that every week, then you will add $31,200 to your revenue (52 weeks in the year x $600 average yearly value of each new client).

Let’s do another example… Lets say you do more intensive therapy and you see your clients once a week for about 12 weeks, then they are cured. Well, if that’s the case and your clients are spending lets say $70 on each visit with you, then the lifetime value of each client is $840.

And if with this scenario you had 2 Alliance businesses each sending you 2 new clients a month, then you’d be getting 48 new clients a year at a total value of $40,320.

Isn’t that crazy! Imagine if you even had 3 or 4 businesses that you worked with? You could be booked solid within a few months.

Sooo… Take a look and see whether you are working with an Alliance business in your local area yet. If yes, what can you do to help them refer clients to you (ie give them some introductory vouchers to give to their best clients as gifts). If no, make it your mission to scout the local area and then pop in and introduce yourself somewhere.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freedownload.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter? This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.