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Unless you have done your homework, your credit card processor starts making more money on you this Saturday morning. On the first of next month, the Durban Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 will go into effect.

In a nutshell, the law caps the fees that card networks like Visa and Mastercard can charge for debit card transactions. The intent is to benefit consumers and small businesses. However, one tiny little problem is that merchants don’t buy processing from Visa; they buy processing from "acquirers." So, on October 1st (Saturday) your acquirer's cost to process debit cards will drop like a rock, but the amount they charge you will very likely stay the same.

Since the average salon or spa does 45% of their card transactions as debit, the change is likely to be substantial.

What to do? Make sure that whomever processes your credit cards is charging you "interchange plus" pricing rather than "tiered" pricing. If your transactions are processed as "qualified", "mid-qualified" or "non-qualified" you are a great candidate to either save a lot of money or become a very profitable customer for your processor.

If you need some help figuring it out please give us a call. We will be happy to take a look at your statements and point you in the direction of a processor who will save you a lot of cash.

Posted in General, Merchant Accounts • 2 Comments »

The Joy of Spa News: Embracing the Changing Seasons edition is now ready for you to customize. It is complete as is, but you are always welcome to make it yours by playing with the introduction, which follows:

How quickly the heat of summer wanes and Fall's cool breezes arrive. As the seasons shift, we should take time to assess, and to embrace what we've been given. We're rich beyond measure, but often become too wrapped up in the day-to-day to fully appreciate our gifts. Stop, breathe deeply, and look around you. We'll bet you'll be overwhelmed in a most amazing way by what life has brought you. Happy Fall from Team Joy!

This edition will launch over a three day period, October 2nd-4th, unless you've opted to change the date it goes out. Be sure to make any changes prior to that date! (And be sure to send yourself a test email after making any edits, and remember that Events that encompass the date on which your email is sent will be included in the email as well.)

Note: The new articles that accompany this edition of the Joy of Spa News will appear magically before it goes out to your clients, even if you can't see them in their entirety when you send yourself a test email. No worries, they'll be in place! We promise!

We highly recommend creating Fall events and relaxing, soothing, service packages to accompany this edition of Joy of Spa News. Helping people choose a great spa gift package for the occasion provides them a perfect gift solution while increasing the average amount of the gift certificates — a win win!

Remember, the Joy of Spa News is branded with your spa's logo and when your client clicks to read more, the website is branded with your logo, too!

Not yet signed up to send a beautiful, branded newsletter to your clients on a regular basis? Now is your time to get onboard! Go to Setup, Basics to put Joy of Spa to work for your spa!

Posted in Creating Customers, General, Joy of Spa News, Spa Marketing • Comment »

Chirugy Massage has created a relaxing spa environment, focused on health and whole body wellness. Their facility promises a private and quiet spa experience for clients seeking a much-needed reconnection to mind and body. They specialize in therapeutic pain management, holistic treatments and stress relief.

A new spa or salon website elevates your local brand, so building one that creates a strong association with your physical business and that attracts more visitors by standing out amongst competitor's websites is critical.

Spas like Chirugy, that embrace holistic health and wellness can effectively and subtlety communicate their unique brand and build a website that fits their business perfectly.

One philosophical tenant of Chirugy Massage is creating a practice that embraces whole body wellness, allowing the body to heal itself naturally and addressing the body as a whole unit that works toward the single purpose of life. It makes sense that their website should work pretty much the same way.

Color branding guru, Susan Gunelius, says this about using Yellow as a major color in a website:

After SpaBoom's initial website launch call with Chirugy Massage on January 1st, our implementation team was able to build and take their website live on January 25th. Chirugy Massage had a beautiful new website and integrated online marketing platform in less than a month.

Chirugy Massage is also taking advantage of SpaBoom's online marketing platform by using our built-in, customizable email campaigns that integrate Chirugy's current specials and events within the email. They repurposed the email content and posted it on Facebook. They used social media to extend that campaign to remind fans about their current treatment specials and in-spa events.

Posted in General, Spa Website Design • 1 Comment »

According to Launch Media, a study by computer scientists from Harvard and Boston University reveals that businesses running a Groupon or Living Social deal can expect a 10% decrease in their Yelp star rating.

The study beautifully illustrates what happens when businesses compete purely on price. Daily deals often result in unique, price conscious consumers who are less loyal and inconsistent. They are also more likely to give your business a lower rating. Ironically, Groupon won't work with many businesses until they have established hard earned reviews on sites like Yelp. It's a parasitic relationship that uses your online reputation to sell their coupons.

Daily deal sites might need to tone down their claims that these offers will help "jump start" a business because the deals deliver consumers who are less interested in a businesses and more focused on the price they'll receive for a specific product or service.

As we've said many times, these consumers get your deal one day and the next they'll be pitched a local competitor's offer. Add to it, newer businesses have fewer Yelp reviews so running a daily deal would likely skew their rating down farther than an established business. It's just not a great way to get valuable customers through the door.

Posted in General, Group Deals, Spa Marketing • 3 Comments »

First there was word that Facebook was eliminating their daily deals program and then this week we heard from Greg Sterling that Yelp plans to chop their deals sales force in half. Anyone else hear the bottom dropping out of this absolutely unsustainable segment?

The economics of Groupon and other Daily Deal clone offers are absolutely out of whack, falling way short of providing long term value for most businesses. They have clearly over promised new customer acquisition generated by the trumped-up lure of deeply discounted coupons. Most businesses just can't recoup the deal's cost in new business generated from the promotions.

What's the best way to use deals in your marketing mix? Run them yourself with BoomTime Deals, they produce more long term clients by selling intelligently discounted deals to a targeted demographic.

Posted in Creating Customers, General, Group Deals • 1 Comment »

Banks take thousands of dollars out of the average spa or salon's profits by making credit card processing fees hopelessly confusing. However, if you understand how their shell game is played you'll keep more of your hard earned money.

Join us as we slice open the grizzly underbelly of credit card processing fees and give you the tools needed to negotiate a better deal.

In this hour, learn how to calculate your actual rates, understand the two dominant pricing structures all processors use and then we'll explain the new Durbin Amendment (commonly called the Dodd-Frank Bill or the "Swipe Fee" Law), which goes into effect on October 1st, 2011, and how it can save you money.

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now!

Title: What Credit Card Processors Don't Want You to Know – Webinar
Date: Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

Posted in General, Merchant Accounts, SpaBoom Webinars • Comment »

Labor Day is summer's last hurrah and the national holiday to honor our nation's workforce.

Whether you are headed to the beach or plan to soak up the last rays of summer we wish you all a safe and happy holiday with friends and family!

SpaBoom will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 5th, so that we may celebrate our hard work this year. We sincerely hope you are doing the same.

We will return to normal business hours on Tuesday, September 6th, starting at 6:00am MDT.

Our best wishes to all!

Your SpaBoom Team

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Daily deal data aggregator Yipit reports that the top 20 daily deal markets declined by 7% in July, with market leader Groupon down by 4%. It will be interesting to see what Groupon has to do to generate the cash to pay all of its spas, salons and restaurants, since it generally needs to keep growing to make its business model work.

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Big brands may have large marketing departments, teams of copywriters and media buyers, but you have an equal (or better) opportunity to promote your brand where it really counts; via the friends of your current customers on Facebook.

There is no better or more powerful way to promote your business and develop your brand and, like Dorothy, you have access to all you need right now. No doubt, for spas and salons, an integrated approach to online marketing is vital to business and investing time and effort will pay off long-term.

Among all surveyed US small business owners (1-249 employees) who use social media for business, Facebook is the most popular platform (19%), followed by LinkedIn (15%), and Twitter (4%). marketingprofs.com

For good reason, Facebook is evolving as a perfect complement to more traditional advertising and SpaBoom's online platform is leveling the marketing playing field for local spa and salon brands. Just about any online marketing tactic a large beauty brand executes on a national scale can be replicated locally. Add to it, the power of being a local business and suddenly your spa or salon has an advantage.

Cross-Channel Marketing

Using Facebook to promote Instant Gift Certificates before gift giving holidays makes good sense for salons and spas. Your business is providing fans with a quick fast solution that drives them to your website for a purchase. When this is used in conjunction with email marketing it can extend your reach beyond social media and increase your revenue during these critical holidays.

Being Local Makes Engagement Powerful

All large beauty brands agree that Facebook is a platform for engaging with their own community of like minded fashionistas. What local spas and salons can do is take that engagement to the next level by adding layers of interaction. L. Spa is a local business in Sarasota Florida. They have combined fashion with spa to create a refreshingly bright and glamorous take on spa that truly celebrates luxury and relaxation.

Share Spa and beauty tips with their community.

Valuable content for your fans will build engagement over time. Bella Sante very consistently delivers information that is interesting, valuable and fun. They have their fans full attention and when they post to Facebook their fans look, read, listen and often respond. Their sophisticated and well-executed online marketing strategy is among the best.

Drive customers to your spa or salon website

Big brands are always driving customers to their websites. They use valuable content, offers and promotions to give their community good reason to click that button and check out their brand online.

Create strong promotions that drive fans to your website as a way to increase awareness and revenue. Take it a step further and create a special offer for Facebook fans only. Also, make your offers bit sized so fans will more readily take action. Facebook is valuable if fans engage with your brand. If your Facebook feed exclusively posts about your deals or offers you are like that person only talks about themselves at a party. Savvy guests will quickly ignore and abandon them. Instead you want to be the fascinating and engaging person that everyone wants to be around and know more about. If you don't know how your doing on this front just see how many comments you get on your average post. If its little or none you need to change the conversation. Any opportunity to provide something valuable that is easy for your customer to take advantage of is a win-win for everyone.

Special Rewards for Facebook Fans: Sweepstakes

SpaBoom has made setting up and running a sweepstakes on Facebook super straightforward. We know that growing your Facebook fan base is key to your spa, salon or massage therapy practice's social media management and SpaBoom gives you a super easy way to do it.

Facebook is such a valuable medium because it's built around social communities, a foundation that businesses can use to extend the reach of their brand and engage with fans. The very fact that clients become fans of your Facebook page validates your business to their friends just by interacting with you.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on Facebook is a tool for building community and enhancing your brand. It means monitoring your Facebook page and responding to questions and concerns within a reasonable time-frame. Creating a plan to monitor your Facebook page will reveal those ideal opportunities to engage and support your customers.

Posted in General • 1 Comment »

We've added a series of Events, beginning with Back to School and spanning through Fall Rejuvenation; plus 3 email newsletters to your Marketing campaigns, so please take a peek and tailor them to your exact preferences.

If you use Events and don't make changes, the Events will automatically appear on your website for the range of dates listed.

Event:

• Back to School (Runs 8/16–9/11)
• Seasonal Transitions (Runs 9/12–10/16)
• Fall Rejuvenation (Runs 10/17–11/27)

If you've opted in to our Email Marketing and you don't make changes, they will automatically fly, on the dates below.

Email Newsletters:

• Back to School (launches 8/16/11)
• Seasonal Transitions (launches 9/12/11)
• Fall Rejuvenation (launches 10/17/11)

You have the power to edit any Events and Emails we've created from within your SpaBoom account. Simply go to Marketing, Choose Email Marketing or Events from the list on the left side of your screen and edit away!

Note: We always recommend sending a test Email to yourself, even to multiple email accounts, to ensure it looks exactly how you'd like it to look. This gives you an opportunity to make changes to content, graphics, or even the colors if you like, before your clients see it.

As always, if you have questions about any of this, just give us a call and we'll help you out!

Posted in General, Spa Marketing • 4 Comments »

The Joy of Spa News: The Art of a Cool Summer edition is now ready for you to customize. It is complete as is, but you are always welcome to make it yours by playing with the introduction.

Joy of Spa News: The Art of a Cool Summer will launch over a three day period, August 7th-9th, unless you've opted to change the date it goes out. Be sure to make any changes prior to that date! (And be sure to send yourself a test email after making any edits, and remember that Events that encompass the date on which your email is sent will be included in the email as well.)

Note: The new articles that accompany this edition of the Joy of Spa News will appear magically before it goes out to your clients, even if you can't see them in their entirety when you send yourself a test email. No worries, they'll be in place! We promise!

We highly recommend creating Summer events and cooling, soothing, service packages to accompany this edition of Joy of Spa News. Helping people choose a great spa gift package for the occasion provides them a perfect gift solution while increasing the average amount of the gift certificates — a win win!

Remember, the Joy of Spa News is branded with your spa's logo and when your client clicks to read more, the website is branded with your logo, too!

Not yet signed up to send a beautiful, branded newsletter to your clients on a regular basis? Now is your time to get onboard! Go to Setup, Basics to put Joy of Spa to work for your spa!

Posted in Blogroll, Creating Customers, General, Joy of Spa, Joy of Spa Gift Certificates, Joy of Spa News, Spa Gift Certificates, Spa Marketing • Comment »

Research demonstrates that optimistic feelings induced by mild everyday, positive events, like congratulating a sweepstakes winner, can have a significant influence on social interactions and our overall thought processes.

Often people won't enter a sweepstakes on Facebook because they don't actually think they will win. That's why it's so critical to make sure your spa announces who wins each time you hold a sweepstakes on Facebook.

When your spa announces the sweepstakes winner on Facebook it generates instant engagement and a positive impression of your spa brand. Because winning is a true possibility, the announcement creates a tangible and affirming experience with your spa.

Fans who enter your spa sweepstakes get to see who wins, the winner loves to share their excitement using Facebook’s handy social interface and lastly, it is the perfect medium for friends to congratulate the winner giving your spa incredible social media reach.

We've had tremendous success with the Joy of Spa sweepstakes on Facebook because once the winner is randomly chosen, a Facebook post is generated linking to the winner and congratulating them on their win. The congratulating comments and likes begin to flow in from fans, friends and family creating a wealth of additional exposure for the brand.

Cloud 9 Spa Salon had a very successful Sweepstakes before Mother's Day. When it was all over, they posted the name of the winner and kept the Mother's Day excitement going with another promotion. In the end, Cloud 9 Spa and Salon had 1,346 people register for the sweepstakes. Those registered then invited 4,857 of their friends to become fans of the Cloud 9 Facebook page.

The morning after your sweepstakes ends, the winner will be randomly chosen. If the winner is a friend that was initially invited by someone else, then the person who invited them wins, too. Make sure you are ready to give away up two GCs, as you indicated in your initial Sweepstakes Event setup.

The winner(s) receive an email that contains a referral code that was generated by the Sweepstakes. Here is an example of the Sweepstakes winner email:

The winner simply clicks on the email link to claim their gift. They can use it themselves, or gift it to someone they adore – it's totally up to them. They'll be happy, and you'll have new clients to wow with everything that you offer.

You can monitor the sweepstakes event to see the number of entrants, friends invited and, once it's over, the winners in Events in the left sidebar. Included are links to the winning client(s) and the referral codes sent to them; the referral code detail will show you the value of the referral code and whether or not it's been used.

Setting up and running a sweepstakes on Facebook is super straightforward. We know that growing your Facebook fan base is key to your spa, salon or massage therapy practice's social media management and SpaBoom gives you a super easy way to do that!

Facebook is such a valuable medium because it's built around social communities, a foundation that businesses can use to extend the reach of their brand and engage with fans. The very fact that clients become fans of your Facebook page validates your business to their friends just by interacting with you.

Posted in General, Social Media, Spa Marketing • 2 Comments »

Creating strategic promotions can be tricky. Which type of promotion will deliver more sales, develop new clients, increase brand exposure or the winning combination of all three?

Join us as we discuss three specific promotion types (group deals, daily deals, featured specials) and the secrets of utilizing each one to generate maximum results for your spa or salon.

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now!

Title: Are You Creating Strategic Promotions? — Free Webinar
Date: Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM — 2:00 PM EDT

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Groupon's filing to go public has opened up the way their business works for everyone to see. And a lot of people have been looking. The most shocking thing? If Groupon's IPO doesn't work as planned, they don't even have the money to pay merchants that have already run Groupons:

What does that mean? They have $208 million in cash, but owe merchants $290 million.

Meanwhile, as the Wall Street Journal writes, Groupon increasingly has a competitive problem, because bargain hunters are willing to hunt anywhere:

Posted in General • 10 Comments »

What have you shared today?

Using social media to engage with clients and share information, video, new products, a great event or a new blog article is growing exponentially. We know that top spas in the country use SpaBoom's built-in social media tool to take advantage of social sharing and maximize their reach as part of an overall integrated marketing strategy.

According to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, online sharing is growing at an exponential rate, a record 4 billion shares every day on Facebook.

750 million Facebook users spend more time on the site and each user shares twice as much as they did last year with approximately 2 billion shares per day in 2010 and 4 billion per day in 2011. Does that mean there will be 8 billion shares per day in 2012?

Spas and Salons must think about offering products and services in a social way and in conjunction with their overall marketing strategy. Facebook is the platform for sharing experiences, ideas and suggestions with friends and family. If your spa is not actively participating in that conversation it will be pushed to the margins.

It has never been more critical for businesses to be part of the conversation and that means doing more than using social media as a means to disseminate your latest offer or promotion. You must consistently and effectively communicate value in a way that engages and encourages your clients interact with your spa or salon brand.

Start Sharing Today:

• Create a social media schedule by picking a spa or salon industry topic that you can use to engage with clients each month (not a promotion but a topic).
• Look online for relevant articles, video, images, opinions or your own original blog articles to post to Facebook and Twitter.
• Use SpaBoom to schedule multiple social media posts in advance.
• Next, highlight a treatment or event that will complement your monthly spa or salon topic.
• Ask for feedback and respond to comments in a timely manner.

Congratulations, you have just created the base of a social media strategy for your spa or salon. 

Posted in General, Social Media, Spa Marketing • Comment »

With When Guests Check In, Their iPhones Check Out, the Wall Street Journal picks up on a new packaging/discount trend in travel and leisure:

I can easily see a half-day spa package for digital detoxing… I know I could use it!

Posted in General • Comment »

Flawless Skin Spa is set for growth here in New Mexico. We don’t always get to see spa clients take their first steps with such panache and style but they are doing everything right. Flawless Skin Spa specializes in advanced skincare and they have differentiated themselves with an inspired membership program that rewards loyalty.

Our graphic designers are raving about the Flawless Skin Spa logo because it’s clean and modern, by all measures fitting their business concept perfectly. The logo has the ability to evolve and develop significance as they establish their local brand in the community.

Ernest Hemingway taught us that getting the most from the least multiplies intensity. The contemporary look of the Flawless Skin Spa website exemplifies that ideal. Their strategic use of white space is clean and distinctive, a complement to their modern aesthetic.

The Flawless Skin Spa has launched their social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. This will help them build valuable connections in the local community and will evolve as they see their fan’s reactions to specific content, events and promotions. All their marketing efforts will continue to create a powerful synergy that extends their reach and delivers positive results.

The power infused into a spa brand over time is what gives it value. It’s cumulative, each spa experience, image, marketing communication, employee interaction and news item influences the way consumers think about your spa. You start with a blank slate and build each time you send an email or touch a client; all those collective impressions build in significance and ultimately acquire a representation of your spa brand.

In an increasingly social world it’s no longer just what you communicate that defines your brand, it starts and ends with the experience clients consistently have with your spa. Whether you participate or not consumers are talking about your business, using social media to review and discuss your brand. Make sure you’re part of that conversation by listening, engaging in the online dialog wherever it resides.

Posted in General, Social Media, Spa Marketing • Comment »

Thanks to all of you who attended Seth Gardenswartz's presentation at IECSC Las Vegas.  He discussed the new Credit CARD Act that took effect on August 22nd, 2010, changing the rules (radically, in some states) for gift card and certificate sales in the United States. Despite what you may have heard, it has a profound effect on small businesses who sell gift cards or gift certificates. As Vice-President of Business Development and Corporate Counsel for SpaBoom, his goal was simplify the complex new law and explain how spas and salons can  protect their business.

If you couldn't make it, below is a link to the presentation he prepared, and we are also posting a guide to the CARD Act for small businesses. If you have any questions please feel free to call 800-940-0458 to clarify how we handle legal terms on gift certificates.

Gift Card Law Presentation IECSC Las Vegas 6/19/11 CARD Act [PDF]

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Did you know there are 3 common mistakes that spas and salons make with their email marketing campaigns that damage their reputation and squash potential relationships?

Join us as we discuss the mistakes and how to increase your email list to achieve success.

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now!

Title: Email Marketing — Success or Failure? — Free Webinar
Date: Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM — 2:00 PM EDT

Posted in General, Spa Marketing, SpaBoom Webinars • Comment »