How to Market Your Salon, and Get Noticed

Whether you’re a new salon or you have been around for ages, new clients are the key to longevity in the marketplace.  Take a drive in your local area, metropolitan or rural, and you will find an abundance of salons and spas to choose from.  Where does one go to find a good stylist and services that will make them feel like a million bucks without having to spend a million?  How do I know it’s the right place for me?  Well, appearances are everything.  If your spa has a look that says come in and be pampered, chances are people will come in and inquire.  But who has time to drive around town looking for a place to get their hair and nails done?

Enter, the internet.  You have got to have a website if you want your salon to be noticed among the crowded marketplace in YOUR city or town. Websites are so prevalent in today’s market, that no business can survive without one.  Your URL or website name is to what your phone number was when people advertised in the yellow pages.  People have to be able to find you, they want to find you.  If you don’t have a website, then the sad reality is you are NOT going to be found.

Now, word of mouth is still the best advertising, and many salons do well with this.  However, you have to keep the people coming back.  Whether it be monthly specials, enticing them with your services or your salons design, look, and feel.  To read more about what you can do to market your salon better, check out what Shaina has to say on her marketing blog.

Modern Meets Simplicity

When you think of a salon, you typically think of a place that is clean and has a lot of buzz going on and has good smells of new styles being born.  Typically, you don’t think of your best friend’s New York Loft or a place where you can hang out and spend time.  Salons are in the business to make money and that means customer turnover.  Not in the sense that you get a client and never see them again, turnover as in, get them in and out.  Next haircut, please.  Turnover = money.

Propaganda is going against the grain of that philosophy and IMHO has taken it in a refreshing direction.  Make it personal and clients will want to come back, and not just for the stylist.  Now, don’t get me wrong, you need to have a talented staff, or your decor means nothing. The point is take the extra steps to make the experience that much more personal and the great cut and color will not be the only thing bringing them back – and all their friends with them!

The design in this article, is interesting in that the Architect – Dick Clark Architecture designed the space in a way that welcomes the client to spend time there. Such as a sofa to spread out and work on their laptops while waiting for their next service. The customer is welcome to lounge around in the seating area while they are waiting for their nails to be perfectly dry before taking on the dangerous adventure of opening the car door with semi-wet newly polished nails.

The design is simple, yet inviting at the same time.  There are little touches like the iPad and keyboards set on the counter underneath the Wall Mounted Rollerball II Hair Processors. Nice.

Simple doesn’t have to be impersonal and cold.  Inviting does not have to be cluttered and busy.  Find the happy medium!

 

 

Barbershops, a lost art…almost

We are so fortunate to be in the beauty / barber business in that we get to speak with and communicate with the people and the stories behind the businesses that they have created.  I so enjoyed watching this video about the dying art of the Barbershop, it brought to life the dream of this man and the dreams of so many others…past and present.  The video features Dave Devine of American Classic Barbershop of St. Louis in this short film by Bruton Stroube.  View entire link here.

New Blog

We have embraced the world of blogging and are thrilled to share ours with you!!!  We are just getting started and are looking forward to posting some really cool information and links about the Salon Furniture Industry. More to come soon!  Meanwhile, check out our website.

Let us know what you think, leave a comment.

Thanks!