I originally wrote this article in 2014!
Marketing my Skin Care Center was much easier in the 90’s! First of all, there weren’t as many of us and now we’re on every corner. There definitely wasn’t any competition with internet discount campaigns that seem to be running rampant nowadays. Back then fabulous customer service and a newsletter every now and then did the trick. I grew a very successful business in the 90’s but things are different now. We really need to be creative, don’t we? Below are a few things that I’ve done for my Center that have worked well.
Years ago someone taught me about putting ads on Craiglist on a regular basis. I can hear you thinking about not finishing this article after reading that! Hold on, there’s a good reason and it doesn’t have anything to do with getting clients from Craiglist. Hear me out! I started placing an ad every week (they’re free!) and pretty soon I started showing up higher and higher on the search engines. The more your name is out there, the more the internet thinks you are important and will move you up on the search engines. That’s the reason I place the ads. It’s not to get new clients, it’s to move up! Once you’ve written one ad, each week all you have to do is hit “repost”. It takes two seconds and it’s well worth it.
August is typically a slow month so I sent out an email to my contacts with a special that they couldn’t say no to. I wanted to get the appointment book filled. You want it to be something that they just can’t pass up. I called it the “Sizzling Summer Super Lift” treatment. It was for a 30 minute treatment using my Face Enhancer toy (now the NanoSkin Pro). The price was only $40. It’s not about making a ton of money on this appointment, it’s about getting them back in the swing of coming in regularly. I added that if they brought a friend with them that had never been to our Center the price would be $60 for the both of them. Again, it’s not about getting rich from this appointment. Now I’ve got them thinking about who they can get to come with them and that person will be a new client for me. I even had one gal say “Oh, I’ve got two friends I want to bring”. This turned out to be a very successful campaign. January is a good month to give this a try.
Many years ago, when I was about to turn 40 I sent out a newsletter letting all my clients know about my Birthday. I stated that if you send me a Birthday card, you’ll receive a discount on your next facial. I received 56 Birthday cards that year. Many were from clients that I had not seen in quite some time. This year I did the same for 54th Birthday (remember this article was written in 2014). This time it was to Estheticians. I stated that if you send me Birthday wishes, I’ll send you the link to my equipment workshop for FREE. To my excitement, I received over 300 emails on my Birthday! I was a very busy gal returning all those emails! My point is to make it something fun for your clients to engage in. You don’t have to wait for your Birthday to come around. How about one at Christmas time or New Years?
If you read this whole article, I want thank you much. Send me an email letting me know what you think and I’ll send you one of my Audio Snippets for FREE! Much love…Shelley
Great thinking thanks for sharing
Thank you for posting this. Good information!
I love your ideas ! Clients always love a fun and good discount on services.
Hi Shelly,
Happy birthday,! This is great. I’ve read this before from you. I just moved to a new space and will use the bring a friend idea. I’d the piece like microdermabrasion.
Thanks for the good advice Shelley. I will be using your ideas to bring up my summer appointment slow time!
Great marketing advice. Thank you
Great Ideas, as always, Shelly. You are truly an Innovation Nation for Estys!
Thanks for all you do and share!
You always have such great ideas!
Always looking for new ideas! Thank you for sharing
I love your ideas Shelley! Simple, yet effective! Thank You:)
Great suggestions Shelly. You help me think outside the box!
Thanks for stirring up some creative thinking! Can’t wait to get these ideas in motion,
Great ideas, thank you!
Great marketing ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Love this idea, will give it a try for sure.
Im going to do both marketing ideas! Thank you so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY and new year!
Love this idea Shelley. Thanks!!
Loved this Shelley. Clients love a discount!
Great marketing ideas. Thanks Shelley!
Thanks so much for this I am turning 60 this year what a great idea to have my clients and friends send me a birthday card! I respect your opinion and ideas’s. I have been a cosmetology since 1979! I also found skin care right out of school. I am a expert at Dermalogica 100 hour student at I . D. I. Thanks again! Shari Holtz
You always have great ideas. Thank you. Happy Birthday . I too turn 58 in October and have 30 years as an esthetician. Big success in your new year!
Thanks for the great idea love your passion
Great ideas. Will have to implement them.
Love these ideas
Happy Birthday! Thank you for these ideas they are great!
Happy Birthday and thank you for the ideas!! You’re FABULOUS!
Love this fun idea! Great way to reach out. Definitely will use this if a get a lull. Happy Early Birthday!
Good ideas
Thank you for sharing Shelley, I always appreciate your Info and I really love your ideas on marketing. This is where I’m lacking so you have given me the incentive to do more marketing now for my business. Thank you again!