Social networking online seems to be exploding: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, and so on. But are these sites useful for acquiring more business for your Salon or Spa? The answer is — Yes! When used properly, it is something that can gain your business some attention.

For the most part, these social networking sites should be viewed as complementary to your website. By taking advantage of these tools you can assert your company's presence online and reach more potential customers, business partners and employees.

Here are some benefits salons & spas stand to gain by using social networking sites:

• Effective communication with existing clients
• Business promotion before a large audience
• Employee recruitment
• Cost effective marketing and
• Last, but definitely not least, is the value of social networking sites to search engine optimization. The more sites that include your name and link back to your web site or blog, the higher your profile rises in search engines, where more and more of your customers are likely to find you.

So, you may be asking how does this all work? There are a several ways you can use social networking websites. Here is one: Websites like LinkedIn allow you to update your contacts and services that your business offers. By posting regular updates about your business you can generate more leads and clients. You can also promote any event and notify your audiences about recent happenings within your company.

Now, a word of caution, while attempting to establish a good online relationship you need to be pretty careful about your manners. People do not really like to be bombarded with sales pitches. Rather they prefer to be engaged in a relevant conversation that holds some value for them. Just like with other forms of marketing the trick to being effective is to never let people know you are marketing!


With almost 10 years experience in new business start-ups and transformations, Ana Loiselle-Donahue is a specialist in finding new sources of revenue and growth for companies of all sizes. She founded theSECRET in 2004 to help businesses flourish through creative — and powerful — new solutions; including brand development, strategic financial planning and employee training. Mrs. Loiselle-Donahue can be reached at 866-288-7353 or at www.TheSecretConsultant.com
Check out her blog.

11 Responses...

1. Felicia Brown says:

   January 17, 2009 at 6:01 am

   I am a big believer in social marketing and use it for both my consulting business(Spalutions) and spa (Inspire Skin & Body). For example, Inspire has increased its web presence tremendously by adding a blog to our web site where we provide readers with free tips, links, videos, and other resources on health, wellness, skin care, makeup, beauty and of course some "inspiring thoughts." I am also a member of a variety of online communities such as Facebook and MySpace to generate awareness and enthusiasm about my businesses and events or news related to them.

   I have always believed in helping others and in embodying the spirit of what I call "cooperative competition." I genuinely feel there is plenty of business to go around for everyone, even in challenging times like these, and that we will all be more likely to succeed if we help each other. That is why I continue to mentor and train other spa professionals — even some of my "competitors" through Spalutions.

   If you need help getting started or creating a marketing plan for your own spa or practice, feel free to contact me.

   Felicia Brown
   http://www.spalutions.com
   336-508-0790 direct
2. Christy says:

   January 17, 2009 at 1:50 pm

   I've been on MySpace for awhile, and now FaceBook and Twitter. (I just read in Outside that Lance Twitters 10 times a day!) Hey, it's free and a great way to connect and increase your spa's presence. I say, why not?!?
3. Ressurrection says:

   January 17, 2009 at 2:03 pm

   How would I add a blog to my site?
4. Janet Sanders says:

   January 17, 2009 at 2:06 pm

   Wish I had the time for it! I am just launching my first HUGE email campaign next week. This is my goal this year — to actually use all my email names and generate some excitement with offers and tips and info and just plain keeping in touch with clients. I agree with you Felicia, I have formed some strong friendships/business contacts with other spas and we talk about business and marketing and so many things (like going private label for instance) — it's nice to share with other spa owners. I like the format of DaySpaOwner.com and would recommend it to others as a good way to connect with spa owners. Let's all stay busy in 2009! Full Speed Ahead! Janet
5. Kristin Diotalevi says:

   January 18, 2009 at 10:42 am

   I just wish there was a way to get Twitter and others on my SpaBoom site! It's hard having your hands tied with such things as this and forms for example.
6. Christy says:

   January 20, 2009 at 5:57 pm

   Hey, I found SpaBoom on Twitter, but there have been no updates in the last 3 months! I'd love to follow SpaBoom there. What do you say?
7. Meenoy says:

   January 23, 2009 at 3:00 pm

   There are definitely a lot of valuable resources for networking and I have found that it can be a time consuming job maintaining profiles, blogs and info for each site — especially when there is a new one popping up every month! To keep my time to a minimum I have links from the various sites pointing to my home site and blog.
8. Andrea Feucht says:

   January 23, 2009 at 3:04 pm

   Christy — good find! We started the Twitter account last fall, and you're right — we haven't posted much — yet.

   Because it is a different format/outlet than this blog, what would you *like* to hear us Tweeting about?
9. Christy says:

   January 25, 2009 at 4:08 pm

   Andrea — Live updates from trade shows would be interesting. New developments, such as the change to the client report navigation. I'll let you know if I think of anything else specific.
10. Ana Loiselle-Donahue says:

    February 2, 2009 at 8:27 am

    I wanted to address a couple of items that have come up here:

    1. TIME — Determining what on-line social networking sites you are going to be using and setting them up probably takes the longest, but once you know what three or four you are going to use you shouldn't have to spend more then 30 minutes per week updating them.
    2. Someone asked how to start a BLOG — there are a couple of blogging sites I recommend that will interface with your website: Blogger or WordPress — they are very easy to set up and are FREE.
    3. 3)TWITTER — if you're not posting what your salon or spa is doing on Twitter you need to. You can follow me on my twitter here.

    Good Luck!
11. Christy says:

    February 3, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Interesting piece from USA Today on how the travel industry is using Twitter (thanks to @lancearmstrong).