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.

When practicing in therapeutics, many homeopaths, nutritionists, and holistic therapists aim to provide the best experience for their clients through the addition of alternative home care products to their therapeutic lines. These retail products can be used to support the given therapies to complete the regime of well being care. If you aren’t currently stocking alternative therapy retail products now might be time to consider how beneficial it can be for both your clients as well as the bottom line!

With the media frenzy in the world today, CDs, DVDs, eBooks and audio books in MP3 format are all fantastic possibilities as alternative therapy retail products choices.  Facial creams and shampoos needn’t be the only option for adding to your sales.  Through audio and video care, the therapy given to a patient or client can extend far beyond the office setting. Collaborative care has been shown to be the best choice for patients in a therapeutic setting and these medias will help to create a combination setting for the best possible end results.

Aromatherapy is yet another alternative to the traditional facial products most therapists stock. Selling holistic therapy products such as scented oils, candles, and home and body sprays can help to ease tension and stress.

By the way… if this isn’t something you are familiar with, aromatherapy is the art of using the 90 essential oils as a part of calming therapies. These 90 essential oils are not the same as the fragrant oils sold on the market today, so marketing a true essential oil will require a bit of research before applying the name “aromatherapy” to your product!  Once again, knowing your product is essential.

Another idea to think about is products books and printed supplements… When a therapist combines verbal therapy with printed therapy it gives the patient or client the opportunity to continue therapy at their own pace after leaving the office or practice. This form of self controlled therapy when combined with in person therapy can reap large rewards for the patient.

The books chosen can be written either by yourself or by others in the same field of care. When choosing the books to offer to your patients, it is best to choose an author that feels the same way about holistic and alternative therapies as you feel. This will boost the patient along the paths you are setting as a care giver.

The key to marketing alternative home care products is to think of angles to complete your current therapeutic choices with your patients and clients. Whole forms of therapy are idealistic in that they provide continuous support for the patient or client at a self guided pace. Books, eBooks, audio books, essential oils, candles, nutritional supplements, home sprays and body sprays are just a few of the alternative home care products available to supplement your current patient offerings.

Have a think about what you can be offering your clients that will both add to the results they see after their appointment with you and that will also benefit your business financially.  There are literally hundreds of options.  The key to success is to ensure it’s a win-win scenario.  For the highest sales whatever you stock needs to be of benefit to your clients as well as being something that you are enthusiastic about and that will add profit to your bottom line.
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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.

If there is one constant in the world of beauty, it is that the consumer knows what they want and expects to receive just that. But, what do you do in the health and beauty business when a new product comes around and you want to market that health product to your customer base? You learn everything there is to learn about the product and you convince your customer that this home car product is the BEST product for them.

Understanding Ingredients

It is important to start with the base of the product. When learning about beauty solutions, the ingredient list will be the heart of your marketing. Clients and consumers are more educated than ever before and they know which ingredients they want to see in their facial creams, lotions and make-up. Many beauty retail products are based on these ingredients, but some offer very little of an active ingredient to keep costs low and profits high. This fact is often masked by the term “proprietary blend”.

The ingredient list can be broken down into individual ingredients with each one holding a different marketing tactic. If the main ingredient has been shown to significantly reduce wrinkles, know that fact and present it to your customer. If there are secondary benefits, like younger looking skin and reduced chance of acne, tell them that as well. Your knowledge of the product must dig deep into the formulation and ingredients used to make that product.

Taking Your Knowledge a Step Farther

On the same lines as understanding your ingredient list, you should also take things a step farther and learn about the ingredients used in your products. Where are the active ingredients processed? What is the country of origin for the product? Who is the main manufacturer of the product and what other successful products do they manufacture? These simple facts will not only impress the client or customer, but make for an easier sale and that is what makes marketing worth the effort.

Knowing what the ingredients can do is just as important as knowing what the ingredients “do” do. Many health and beauty business marketing centers on testimonials, but knowing simply how the product can work and being able to present the real benefits of using the product to your clients will increase your sales and make for more return customers. You can increase your sales and boost your profit in one easy step…LEARN the PRODUCT!

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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 ‘about the author’ section is included.

There is a great deal of pressure due to the media and society as a whole to look and feel your very best. One way to do so is to turn to beauty therapists who specialize in an array of procedures. You may look polished and perfect but there is plenty going on behind the scenes to get you to that point.

Too many people though don’t know what a beautician, hairdresser, or masseuse has to offer them. They may think of the basics but there is much more. There are facials, spa treatments, manicures, pedicures, and more. All of them can help you look great and that means you will likely feel more confident about yourself as well.

In the health and beauty business though you have to be willing to really market what you offer. Otherwise you will be missing out on plenty of potential business. Your services also have to be very affordable. That is because as the cost of basics including gas for vehicles and food to eat go up people are cutting out other expenses.

Taking the time to care for yourself though is important. It is often women who want to have procedures done by the beautician, hairdresser, or masseuse but they pass them over. They may feel guilty spending their money on such things. Most feel guilty though for spending their time pampering themselves.

When you are marketing for the health and beauty business you need to incorporate all of this into your messages. By reminding clients how good they will look and how great they will feel they will be more likely to call you and schedule an appointment. Appeal to their emotions too and you will entice them to do something for themselves. For example remind them that by taking care of themselves they are going to be more physically and mentally ready to take care of everything else that will come their way.

Marketing for the health and beauty industry also needs to take the cost into consideration. People love to get something of value for a perceived lower price or better value. If you are a beautician, hairdresser, or masseuse you can offer a coupon for an added value offer for new clients. That is a great way to introduce them to all you offer. Chances are the will become a regular customer afterwards.

Don’t forget to take care of your current customers as well though. You can use them to market your health and beauty business. For example if they refer a customer to you that schedules an appointment they will get their name entered into a drawing for fabulous prizes. You can also provide them with special discounts and promotions for remaining a loyal customer.

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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 ‘about the author’ section is included.

There are three main goals in most businesses:

1. To attract potential clients
2. To convert those potential clients into actual clients by getting them to book or buy from you
3. To cultivate those clients into regular clients who come back again and again

Doing activities that focus on all three of these means you will have a strong client base which always books ahead and is extremely loyal. Which is the whole goal!

For each of these three steps you need to have specific strategies which will bring you new leads and get their contact details on your database and that will then convert them into paying clients and then get those paying clients to come back. If you just focus on one and neither of the other two steps, you can end up with holes in your marketing approach.

Obviously the level to which you do all three depends on the type of business you’ve got… If your business is mostly focussed around repeat business then you’ll probably end up spending more time on step 3, but if your business is mostly focussed around doing intensive bursts with clients then they are healed and you move on to the next client, then you’ll probably want to spend more time on steps 1 and 2 to get a continual flow of more new clients in.

For example

• In a Beauty Therapy Business clients should come back every 4 to 6 weeks
• With Laser Hair Removal clients come back regularly for a few months then hopefully only about once a year for top-up treatments
• In most Counselling or Chiropractic Businesses, clients come in regularly to start off with then only for maintenance type sessions every now and again

However no matter what type of business you have and how often you ideally want your clients coming in, you still need to get their interest to begin with, convince them to book and then get them to come back at some point in the future (be that regularly to begin with then only occasionally or be that every month without fail).

So as with everything, there is the easy way and the hard way of achieving this…

There are ways of implementing these steps that are going to be more time consuming and those that will be less.

And I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get into business for myself to spend hours staring at a spreadsheet or pounding the pavement with fliers.  Funnily enough I personally quite enjoy the spreadsheet / planning aspect of things, but that’s not all I want to do.  I want to get out there and help my clients.  And I want a better lifestyle for myself and my family.

You’ve got your reasons why you got into business for yourself and it could be a multitude of contributing factors… lifestyle, money, health, change in circumstances, a specific end goal…. Whatever it is, I bet it wasn’t to spend hours filling in spreadsheets or pounding the pavements with fliers.  If you wanted to do that, you’d have trained to be an accountant or a postman, not a therapist or practitioner or even an entrepreneur!

And part of what we do is being and entrepreneur so we should be able to live that lifestyle where we get time for ourselves.  Where we don’t have to work 100+ hours a week just to make sure all the work gets done.

The best way of ensuring you don’t end up doing this is to have a full marketing plan that addresses all three areas equally each and every month.  Then you need to follow this marketing plan.

Without a marketing plan you could spend hours and hour at your computer typing stuff up or hours and hours of physically stuffing fliers in letterboxes because it has suddenly gone quiet.  However with a solid, well-thought-out marketing plan, there will be a continual flow of new and returning clients coming in rather than feast and famine type periods.

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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 ‘about the author’ section is included