Proper hair salon marketing could keep your appointment book filled day in and day out.

You probably have a day of the week that is your “slow day”.  The day you dread the most because you don’t know what to do with yourself. 

There are a few ways to fix that almost instantly.

Let’s assume for a moment your slow days are Wednesdays.

First, figure out what your high value, high margin products are.  You know, the one’s that are big sellers. 

Next, contact your current list of customers and let them know that you’re running a special every Wednesday. Offer a great discount on this product with any purchase over a certain amount.

Maybe you offer this highly discounted item with a hair cut or maybe added to an additional product.  There are multiple combinations you can use that could produce a bump in customers coming in. 

Another method you could try is make your slow days some sort of customer appreciation day. I’m sure you speak with your clients while they get their hair done.  You know what they like. 

Maybe you can offer a Starbucks day.  So you give out free Starbucks coffee certificates or cards to any customer who comes in to get their hair done.  You can get these cards from Starbucks and put as much money on them as you like. It doesn’t have to be much and the gesture could make a huge difference.

Staying along the same line of thought you could even offer a give-away for anyone who comes in on Wednesday.  You then collect their names and pick one who wins a decent size prize at the end of the day.  You might have to get creative to make this work but you have many options to generate tons of clients on your slow day.

Like I said in the beginning, having a proper hair salon marketing plan in place could turn your slow day inside out.

Start trying new things and you might start seeing a huge change in profits for your business.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  If you like this post remember to tweet it and when you’re ready to improve your business give me a call and setup a FREE consultation at 336-775-6606.

You need money now.  Things are tight and you don’t know where you’re going to get the extra cash.

You’ve got a hidden asset staring you square in the face…

Your customers.

That’s right!  Ask them to do business with you again.

You’ve got a list of people who’ve bought from you. Contact them and ask them to do more business with you.

For retail shops that could mean running an event sale.  There are tons of holidays and reasons why you can run a sale.  In fact, here is a great site you can check out to give you some ideas for an everyday holiday.

I’m sure you could think of something that could give your customers a reason why to come out and do business with you.  Just make sure you tie it into what you’re selling and make it appropriate. 

If you sell services, you could find a reason to offer a your services at a discount, or a bundle.  Just come up with something and put a story around it.

Be creative and your customers will love it.

One of your other hidden assets is a referral program.  Do you have one in place now?  If you don’t you should get on it.  The best people to solicit your product or services are the people who have done business with you before.

Make them an offer they can’t refuse.  Run a contest.  Give them real reasons why they should tell everyone they can about your store, your services, or your event.

All it takes is a little thought, some planning, and you could have yourself a truck load of business after setting up a good referral program.

Another area you can focus on that is often overlooked (Hidden Business Asset) are your past customers.  Yes, the people who haven’t done much business with you recently.  Often times they’ve just forgotten about you. 

Make contact with them again, make them an offer to come back, apologize for anything you’ve done wrong and get them back through your door.  These are people that have done business with you that left for one reason or another.  The point is you may have not asked them to buy anything.  This is one great quick way to increase your cash flow.

That sums up the recession marketing strategies for today.  If you look at your customers and evaluate what you could be doing to increase the frequency of sales or the amount of each sale you could be looking at a huge windfall in profits within the month.

Go ahead and find a reason for your customers to come back and do business with you.  It doesn’t matter if you’re selling products online or offline, or if you’re selling a service… these are great ways to increase your cash flow.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  If you want to get updates about the blog, new videos, and upcoming teleseminars just click the link and fill out the form.  Marketing Strategies

The other day I was reading the doom and gloom in the news.  All I pictured was a bunch of people yapping about how bad business is. 

I have to wonder what they’re doing to improve their marketing during a recession.  I couldn’t figure it out just by reading the short articles but I bet they weren’t doing the unthinkable.

What am I talking about?

Well, what if you went to a competitor of yours.  Someone who is in the same industry but has a slightly different product or service but would compliment what you offer.

What if you took their flyers, marketing information, etc. and put it in the bag as people checked out.  Include their info on your thank you page.  Or just offered the info at the time of purchase about your competitor.

You’re probably thinking I’m crazy.  The point is JV deals are done everyday.  If you can find a competitor that complements what you offer your customers there’s no reason you can’t make some money off of them too. 

Go meet up with your competition, see if you can strike a JV deal, and start making part of their profits too.  You see, they might just do the same for you and you’ll be adding an additional lead stream in place. 

Not to mention a little more cashola!

Till next time,

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  If you want to get some marketing ideas, strategies, and tactics, you should get on my list.  Here’s the link:  www.profitconvergenceinc.com

I’ve talked to several business owners who are actively marketing successfully and some that need a little help.

They’re like most, they market by trying stuff to see if it works.  The problem is they’re not tracking results properly.  In order for you to get a real grasp of what works and what isn’t a test and measure routine should be part of what you do for all of your marketing.

Besides, it’s a nice way to know if that hot shot marketer knows what he’s doing.

What do I mean?  I’m talking about keeping track of every penny you’re spending on marketing, tracking the results, and determine if it’s profitable or a loser.

I’ve heard horror stories of business owners who put thousands of dollars into yellow page advertising but because they didn’t know any better they were losing money from the ad.

You see… the company wasn’t losing money in their business.  They were losing money from the ad.  It wasn’t until they started tracking how many sales they were getting from their yellow page ad that they realized they weren’t making money from it.  It was just a black hole for money that has been there for years.

I bet you can’t guess what they did next…

Yeah… they started testing different ads.  I’m not saying yellow page advertising is bad.  I’m just saying test and track your marketing and let the numbers tell you if it’s working.

Not your gut…

So, What should you be tracking?

1. - Cold calls
2. - PPC Ads
3. - Direct Mail
4. - Post Cards
5. - Headlines
6. - Price
7. - Offers
8. - Bonuses

Those are just a few of the things you should be considering to track and test.  When you do your eyes will be opened up to a whole new world of results for your business.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  If you want to get a handle on your business and improve your profits during the recession we’re going through, then give me a call and we can set up a time to talk.  336-775-6606

Have you ever looked at your competition objectively and asked yourself how your business stands out from theirs? If you haven’t, it’s time.

Your USP is what’s going to tell your prospects why they should do business with you.

You’ve got to determine what sets you apart from everyone else. I’m not talking about just price either. Too many companies are competing on price and it just doesn’t work all the time.

What are your prospects asking themselves about your company?

Once you answer some of these questions you should frame it for your customers. Always remember the famous saying… What’s In It For Me…

Keep that on the forefront of you mind and you’ll be able to set yourself apart from everyone else.

So, getting back to what’s in it for your customer…

What do you do for your customer?

Do you enhance their lives? Give them something they can’t get anywhere else?

What do your best customers love about you?

Start building your USP from these types of questions and from what your current customers think are your best attributes.

Then incorporate it in your marketing. All of it…

Your USP will help you pull in more targeted prospects and it communicates to them exactly why you’re different from everyone else.

Start brainstorming your USP and implement it today so that you can bust through this recession with huge profits.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic

I walked into a day spa a few weeks ago to get a massage. It was a great place and the massage felt wonderful.

I was so relaxed…

After I paid and left a tip I walked out the door and went home. I’ve never heard from them again.

Why am I telling you this?

Because if you’re planning on marketing during a recession and you want to succeed then you’ve got to find a method of capturing names.

Start communicating with your current customers. Make them feel like you care. The only way you’ll be able to do that is by collecting names.

I can almost hear the voices from the retail establishments now… “Most of my traffic is walk in… how can I get their names? They just walk in buy and walk out.”

Well, Good question….

Start thinking about your business and how people come in to visit, why they come back and how you interact with them.

You could put a guest book and have people sign it. Offer them discounts monthly just by putting their name on the list. It’s worth it to capture their name. That’s the most targeted list you could possibly have…

A list of people who have bought from you already!

If you don’t think a guest book is appropriate, you can have a cheap laptop kiosk where your customers can enter their name, email, and physical address. Or you can go old school and ask them to put their info on an index card for you.

Remember, you’ve got to offer them something in return for their info, this is private information they don’t have to give you. Assure them you’ll keep their data confidential and secure.
Bottom line…

If you want to begin making a profit during the worst of times you’ve got to have marketing strategies that work during the recession. Be willing to try something new, it just might make you some money.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  Find ways to communicate with your customers.  If you can’t think of any, call me and we can do a FREE marketing analysis on your business…. 336-775-6606

Recently, President Obama mentioned that he see’s glimmers of hope in the economy. I’m wondering, what do you see?

First I see there are tons of opportunities around. The people in their trances just need to open their eyes and look around. I recently read a Time magazine article that showed how many people are starting their own businesses during this “rough time”.

That’s what I’m talking about!

The same applies when analyzing your business for improving profits, generating new leads, and just getting more time back for yourself. So many business owners get tunnel vision, fail to market their businesses properly and start the nose dive at the hint of a downturn.

Now we’re in the dead heat of an economic downturn and there are dozens of opportunities you can be taking advantage of that will boost your profits, produce more leads, and give you more time to do the things you love.

You just have to open your eyes…

Let me give you one thing you can do starting tomorrow that will boost your profits.

Raise your prices by 5%, give a reason for it, and don’t look back. Ok, look back but only for tracking purposes.

I would bet that if you increased your prices by 5% you would hardly loose anyone as long as you gave a reason and increase the value of what you were giving them.

That’s it… that’s all you have to do… but so many business owners are unwilling to even try it they’re sitting on top of a proverbial gold mine.

Yeah, you can’t just come out, raise your prices, and give your customers the finger. No. Give them some reason to stay with you. Make it about them. Let them know you’re adding value that justifies the price increase.

Go ahead, dunk your toe in the water and test it. Just put it to a short test and see what happens. You just might make so dough!

Till next time…

Jay Simcic
Profit Convergence, Inc.

P.S.  It’s only after bad things happen that many people think about how they could have done things different.  Remember, it hasn’t happened yet and you can still do something about it.  Call me to get your FREE marketing analysis done… 336-775-6606

The flight from hell….

I recently flew from Fort Lauderdale, FL back home to North Carolina. What amazes me is how cramped it seems to get each time I fly. It’s crazy.

I know I’m a big guy and all but geez!

I flew US Air this time because they had reasonable prices and I got in and out when I wanted. The only problem is they nickel and dime you to death.

• $15 for each bag of luggage
• $7 for a blanket and pillow
• A pain in my neck for the ride.

You see, it’s not so much about the money but the experience. I probably won’t fly US Air again because of it.

Sometimes it’s just not about the money!

Because they’re charging for baggage people are bringing on larger and larger carry-on bags. What baffles my mind is how they’re allowed to bring this stuff on. They’re friggin’ huge!

The airline has to be losing more money this way. I’d much rather pay an extra $30 for my tickets than have to deal with people stuffing bags where they don’t belong. I mean for real folks, our plane was delayed because it took so long for people to pack their bags. No mechanical issues or anything. I would bet the luggage bay was nearly empty because everything was stuffed above our heads or below our feet.

But ohhh… noooo… some of these people must have packed for a month. They had bags that were so tightly zipped it looked like they were about to bust.

So not only did I have to pay a little more for the flight but the experience sucked hot dogs.

So, where is the marketing lesson in here?

The marketing lesson!

For starters, just because you can unbundle your products doesn’t mean that you should. Think about the impact it’ll make on your customers. Your effort in increasing your profits could cause a decrease because you have more people leaving your sales funnel.

As you think about ways you can unbundle your products for profit think about ways your customers will enjoy or despise you for it. Weigh the pros and cons of unbundling and then make your decision.

I haven’t validated it but I would bet more people are irritated with the changes the airline has made than pleased. And that reason alone should cause you to think about how you bundle and unbundle your products and services.

Till next time…

Jay Simcic

PS:  Remeber to call me and get your free marketing analysis done.  My number is 336-775-6606.  It shouldn’t take much longer than 45 minutes.  Call now!

Grab your guns!

The economy is free falling…

That’s what’s in the news anyway.

I don’t get it sometimes. Everyone seems to be going to extremes but I guess they feel it’s necessary. I’m not saying I oppose gun ownership but maybe the focus should be on other areas.

So for all you business owners out there… what does this mean for your marketing?

Well, it means know your target market.You’ve got to know what they’re going through, the pains they’re dealing with, and the right solutions to present to them.

Marketing in the good ole days was easy. You could throw a bunch of junk on the wall and hope it stuck. Guess what, not anymore. You have to actually think about your customer.

What can you do to make a difference? How about doing something for them like a customer appreciation event. Granted this isn’t actively getting new customers…. Or is it. If you show your current customers that you value their patronage they just might send some new people your way.

Do little things for your customer. They make the difference.

Here’s a short list you can do…

There are really only 3 ways to grow your business during a recession. They’re simple and easy but often forgotten.  I’ve watched too many businesses close in my area of Winston Salem, NC because they didn’t follow these marketing best practices.

So let’s break these out the easy way.

You see if you sit down and analyze your business there are only a few strategies that will allow you to grow business effectively. And it’s not rocket science.

1.       Increase the average amount your customer spends each time they visit by using proven profit generation strategies.

2.       Improve the frequency in which your current customers purchase from you by leveraging verified customer retention tactics.

3.       Generate new customers from thin air using established lead generation techniques.

It’s that simple and so many business owners cut their marketing across the board when they need it most… during a recession.  Making it through a recession takes making solid decisions about your business and about your marketing.

You may want to cut back and that’s fine but you should find the areas that make sense.

When you stop your marketing during a recession, your exposure is lessened and people have no way to know you’re there. It’s like that Kevin Costner baseball movie in reverse “build it, and they will come”.  So many owners have this false mentality that just because they have a current customer base to work from they’ll keep coming.

It’s simply not true.

You’ve got to communicate and connect with your customers and your target audience.

If you want to improve your chances of making it through this recession let alone flourish when we come out of it you’ve got to continue marketing. You’ve got to keep making offers to your target audience they just can’t turn down.

Now, over the coming weeks I’m going to show you ways you can leverage the 3 strategies I mentioned above.  And you’ll probably wonder why you haven’t been doing them all along.

Good luck and until next time.

Jay Simcic
P.S.  If you’re wondering how you’ll make it this year, I strongly suggest you read my blog, get on my e-mail list and even give me a call.

P.P.S.  If you’re interested in finding out how to improve your business up to 30% or more during the middle of a recession please feel free to contact me at 336-775-6606 for a 30 minute free consultation.