Targeting Salons and Spas

Hi Luvfoxy

I think it would be a good market to target because the visitor value is quite high. If you want ideas for your informational products do a search in Google and look at the top 10 websites to see if they have Q&A or FAQ pages. This will give you a ton of material.

Hope this helps

Neil

In my experience these types of businesses don't like to spend money on advertising. The general consensus is they rely on word of mouth to get business. It also could be that they are bad at managing money and/or don't like to invest in themselves.

You might have a better experience but you won't know until you actually go in there and start asking questions. Go in there as a customer, spend some money, and ask "I tried looking for you online, why don't you have a website"...

This is how I got my first (paying) client. He is my family CPA and he was doing my yearly taxes and I told him I couldn't find him online and ask if he has ever thought of increasing his online presence. He said yes but doesn't have the time to think about it. I told him I would send him a report of his online presence and also include what his competitors are doing. The next day I sent him a report and he emailed me back saying, "I would like to secure your services, how much should I write the check for"...Point is, you have to check their awareness to see if they even care about an online presence. Hope this gets you in the right mind set.

Depends on where you are... in most US cities salons and spas are 90 percent Asian speaking owners and dont entertain sales presentations very well. Honestly thats a hard market. If you target "hair Salons" it may be different, but "salons and Spas" is a pretty broad subject.

Since this type of business usually gain patrons through word-of-mouth, I think that it will all rely on the information you give your employees/staff. Research on hair trends, different ways on how to keep the hair healthy, etc. So that your staff can give advices to your customers when they are finish. Customers like it when they are given different tips on how to maintain the hairstyle, etc.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to have to figure out how to come at these business owners or think of a new market that would be easier to target.

Mrelosa, I like your idea. I know when I go to the salon I like when the stylist gives me tips on how to maintain my hair, but I always forget them as soon as I walk out the door. I'm thinking maybe tip sheets and booklets might be good if they would actually use them.

I started out with salons and found them to be tight for money. I know many owners of these places and had no luck with them. Many are conditioned to think that advertising is not necessary and that there happy customers will promote them for free.

Hey this is really quite a nice discussion, I do appreciate your strategy of starting a business with saloons and spas, I guess you should go into for this saloon and spa business especially on choose a place just in the proximity of sea as its going to boost up your business...

Print out this article:
How to Measure Your Return on Your Social Media Investment

Mail it to them with a letter then follow up with a phone call. Sell them exactly what is in the article.

Don't target spas and salons target their suppliers and get them to introduce.

Work out a nice lucrative deal with them.

Quentin

Quentin you keep talking about suppliers and I keep thinking what a great idea it is. I guess I should go do something about it.

Salons are similar to restaurants in that there are many, that don't really make much money and the turnover (going out of business) is high. But there are plenty that do make money, often because they understand how important effective marketing is.

There are tons of ways Salons can use SMS text marketing, from customized appt confirmations, to a 3-4 week reminder to schedule your next appt, plus all the normal ways any retailer can use text marketing: coupons, contests, feedback, voting, etc. Allow each stylist to create their own list so they can send specials and notices for last-minute openings, etc.

Have them team up with a supplier (shampoo) to donate some product and run raffles or contests to create brand awareness and trials. Create opt-ins and lists for customer segments interested in wedding packages, makeover parties, fashion shows and other supplemental services (manicures, massage, facials, etc).

Somehow, you need to qualify which businesses are thriving and which are "hanging on", so if you're working from a list or directory, you want to use mail or phone to pre-qualify or approach. If you know your area, you can hand-pick salons that are either 1) busy all the time and/or 2) spend money advertising other places. And if they are spending money on print ads, what better way to increase and track their ROI than adding a text-call-to-action in their print ads!

neat idea Jodi but instead of affiliates I wonder if I could create my own products for them? I just wonder what could I sell to their clients.

What do you guys think about designing promotional tools like business cards, gift certificates, price lists, referral cards, etc. Do you think they would jump on that?

I would like to start out locally then expand nationwide

You know I never considered using Salons and Spas to market a business...thanks for the idea!

Beauty Salons have always been "Cheapo" in the towns I've tried to get them into any of my Ad programs...except for "Videos".

First time I decided to "Hit" Salons......I made a Sample Video of a BS (Beauty Salon)....just taking digital photos and using PS3 with some dramatic background music. Burned a DVD.

Used the BS where my wife goes as a Sample Vid.

Took my Portable DVD Player into a popular BS...showed the owner my sample DVD....told her I could make up a similar DVD for her shoppe if I could take some photos with my Camera....at NO OBLIGATION.

She asked, "How much?" I told her I didn't know UNTIL I put the Vid together and checked the "quality".

She said, "Go Ahead!"

So...I took about 12 shots...went home and made a Video with PS3. Burned a DVD and went back the next day.

Set the Portable DVD Player on her counter (making sure some of the other girls were looking also. Many shoppes have girls who share the rent, etc...and....many times the MAIN Objection the owner brings up is, "I'll have to run this by the rest of the girls!"

Well...by asking the "other girls" to "take a look"....I bypass that objection and usually get a "Go Ahead! Let's Do It!" response.

I do the same thing with restaurants.

"Works for me!"

Don Alm

We have a salon as family business, its actually a franchised so advertising isn't a problem for us, because the main office do the adverts. For our local clients, we only give out flyers every time we have promos and we utilize the social networking sites. They are free so we do not need to spend much.

Provide a SMS platform that is integrated with the social media sites to get truly effective and immediate marketing. Ours has QR codes and 1 way or 2 way appt option. Just a quick appt reminder or 2 way they respond back if they are running late or need to reschedule then salon owner can send a text blast to fill the open appt time and they don't lose any revenue. They love it and it sells like GS cookies(Thin Mints my fav)

My aunt owns a salon. And I can tell you this right now, the owners probably don't care about that stuff, as long as the stylists are paying their rent. Most of the stylists bring in their own clients, and do their own marketing. You would be better off marketing one of the stylists, and work on branding them as a top stylist in the area.

I agree with SubUrbanHype. Around here in my town most salon owners do nothing but rent out chairs to the hair stylists. So i would say find out 1st if it is the same in your town if so, hit up the hair stylists!

I agree that those types of business' tend to rely on word of mouth, however maybe one idea would be to help them make tutorials, then put them up on youtube and really promote them ?

there are a couple of BS business models. The first, mentioned above, is that the owner rents out the booths to other stylist. This usally happens when a stylist wants to open thier own place and needs help with the rent. The owner is usally working a both (the one in front) and makes their money for clients, not booth rentals.

The second model does not charge booth rent. They hire stylist, either straight commission, or per hour, or a combination of both. This model focuses on branding the business. This could be a franshise or a well known stylist who builds up a larger client base than they can handle them selves. Thier clients will be seen by the other stylist because they are under the experts direction.

The are variations of these to models. Your first step is to find out which model they have and that will deterime your approach.

Just a heads up, this thread is 9 months old.

I'd say it depends on your connections to them and how much it would cost you to leverage something. You could create a joint venture where they employ you to create sites that are all quite simple but allow them to capture email addresses for occasional promotion - a little personalized groupon-like operation. That way you create the value and manage the platform as well. Will it get you rich? No. But you could build it as pretty passive income - and think of all the free pedis you could get! Seriously though - a good, tight niche is worth a lot if you can control your own exposure, get systematic, and manage your expectations well.