General

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Once a holiday promotions strategy is developed it is important to convert that strategy into implementable tactics or steps.

These tactics should be specialized, employed to carry out a specific strategy in an organized fashion. Some of these tactics will naturally come to life, an intuitive process born of the strategy conceived. Others will require a methodical approach to crank out.

Think about the 4 P's: Product, Price, Promotion and place (spa). Take each piece and think about what you need to execute the product, price, promotion and spa location components of the promotion.

Timing is important — it defines the nature of the promotion and its time limitations. Incorporating, “For a Limited Time Only” in any promotional offer should compel the consumer to take advantage of the valuable offer immediately. It is the fun and nature of promotion.

Timing is also very important in advertising when you are considering the lead-time for each element of the holiday promotion. If you plan to incorporate email communications to existing customers, make sure your email address list is ready. Then add as many addresses as you can before you send out your first email.

Using the SpaBoom email marketing tool is easy. You can write your copy for the email message and add it to the scheduler right now, today. All email communications can be ready to send out well before the holiday.

We wish you all the success this holiday season. It’s been a rough summer, I think just about everyone could use a spa day this holiday!

Posted in Holiday Promotion Brief, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • Comment »

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
  
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Developing a promotions strategy provides an outline of what will be communicated to target customers and how it will be communicated.

A promotions strategy is a plan of action developed to meet specific quantitative and qualitative objectives. It defines the process that will be implemented to meet a specific set of objectives.

The holiday promotion may involve developing a specific product/service package that provides value to the consumer and compels them to act and make a reservation. In this case you want to define the package, the "call to action" and then determine the appropriate method of communication to reach consumers with the offer.

There are a variety of advertising methods that can be used to reach target customers:

• Email marketing.
• Holiday Newsletter.
• Direct Mail.
• In-store promotion display.
• Traditional advertising, media.
• Public relations.

Developing a promotions strategy for the holiday will create a plan of action to meet set objectives and define a clear message to the consumer.

Posted in Holiday Promotion Brief, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • 2 Comments »

We hear from SpaBoom customers that writing web content can be a challenge. It is not surprising, writing effective web content is a unique marketing medium, much different than writing a brochure for your spa.

At SpaBoom, we thought it might help to answer some of your most vexing web content challenges. What do you want to know about writing effective web content for your spa?

I am constantly inspired by the stories I hear from our spa customers. Their unique passions and hard work for what they do is exceptional. That passion and inspiration along with a firm hold on its value to customers is a key piece in developing effective web content.

All the information you need to write effective content for your spa is out there, it is a matter of extracting and organizing it in a way that helps your customers.

We want to hear from you and will post our answers in a timely manner.

Posted in Spa Marketing, General, Spa Website Design • 4 Comments »

Let me be upfront right now. There is a reason I majored in marketing in college and not accounting. I just don’t have the patience for all those formulas that give you a sense of a business's bottom line. I know it is important but it lacks the excitement of my side of the business equation. That said, when it comes to advertising and holiday promotions I love to measure everything. It’s fun and there is nothing better than seeing a direct revenue jump from a planned holiday promotion that exceeds expectations. It just gives you a warm holiday feeling inside.

Your ability to measure your success based on original objectives also creates a benchmark for the future. If the promotion is successful, look for ways to improve and expand your holiday promotion next year and increase your budget accordingly. It will give you the confidence to build and grow your advertising plans.

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Hit the mark this year by knowing what you want from your promotion before you put it in motion. The objective is to increase sales/margins over a particular time period based on previous years. It is a projection, a forecast and serves to guide future marketing investments.

It is critical to know how much your promotion costs, so add up all the expenses associated with the promotion. It is also important to try to identify the sales that result from the promotion over a specific time period. A concrete ROI (return on investment) will make your accountant sing.

Beyond quantitative there are the qualitative objectives that you hope to reach through your holiday promotion. Here are some favorites; you can add your own.

• Build awareness of your spa business and the services offered.
• Boost target customer traffic to your spa and business website.
• Increase the number of new customers utilizing your services.
• Encourage existing customer loyalty.

By understanding exactly what you want before you launch your holiday promotion you will be ready to meet success head on.

Posted in Holiday Promotion Brief, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • Comment »

I hover at the mailbox during the holiday because I love the catalogs I receive in the mail. I haul them in the house and go through them one by one, amazed at all the wonderful items that seem to fit my needs like a glove. After the glow fades, and the shame of my environmental blunder creeps into my brain, I reassess. Of course these catalogs are tailored to my particular consumer needs, I am their target audience and they have successfully reached me. I am hooked.

Anytime you plan to advertise your spa for the holiday you must consider your target audience. These are the people who most likely fit your customer profile. When you develop a holiday promotion you want to make sure it appeals to your target audience.

Companies conduct complex and in-depth market analysis to determine their target audience. You can perform a less formal market analysis by asking some basic questions.

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Target Audience Questions:

• Who are your spa/salon customers now?
• Age
• Income
• Male/female?
• Where do they live?
• Do they come to the spa/salon from home or work?
• Do you get vacation traffic into the salon?
• Are your existing customers loyal and do they keep coming back?
• What keeps them coming back?

Knowing and understanding your target audience is critical to your business’s success. There are so many variables that can influence who will walk into your spa. Understanding those variables and looking for ways to optimize your business based on them can give your spa an edge. At the end of the day customers create your success. The better you understand them the easier you make it for them to use your spa services.

Posted in Holiday Promotion Brief, Creating Customers, General • 2 Comments »

In Spa's best holiday ever — Part 3, I espoused the benefits of developing an advertising brief to help organize and frame your holiday promotions. Companies large and small use this tool to keep their focus where it needs to be especially when things get hectic.

Let’s talk about the first component of a Brief, the Background or Situation Analysis. It is valuable to take some time to think about where you stand and where you want to go for the holidays.

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Background (Situation Analysis):

This is an opportunity to describe your spa business as it is today. This is time well spent because a “this is where we are” statement creates a benchmark for future improvements.

• Describe your spa's services and products.
• Explain the spa's current holiday challenges and opportunities:
• Holiday Promotion Challenges:
• Getting the spa's message through the holiday clutter to reach target customers.
• Manpower/time restrictions in developing and executing a spa holiday promotion.
• The current economy.
• Holiday Promotion Opportunities:
  • A spa's existing customers are the best customers.
  • Take advantage of opportunities to get your spa's holiday message to existing customers starting right now.
  • 50% of gift buyers wait until the last 48 hours to purchase their gifts. Your spa sells gift certificates on-line; this is a huge opportunity for last minute gift purchases.
  • More than ever consumers will be shopping online this holiday.
  • SpaBoom online gift certificates benefits:
  • No shipping costs for instant spa gift certificates.
  • Gift certificates can go directly to the recipient.
  • No Shipping deadlines, consumers can purchase gifts on Christmas Day!
  • Don't have to get in your car to purchase a gift.
  • Buy a gift certificate 24/7 and on Christmas Day.
  • It is never too late to buy an instant gift certificate.

In the next blog post we will be talking about understanding a target audience and how spas can take advantage of relationships with existing customers to increase sales over the holidays.

Posted in Holiday Promotion Brief, Spa Marketing, General, Spa Gift Certificates • Comment »

Planning Spa Holiday Promotions

It's time to plan your promotions strategy for the holidays. It can feel like an overwhelming task to develop and execute a successful campaign. There are ways to organize your plans that provide an effective framework and strategy.

I have been in the advertising industry for about 15 years. I have worked in Telecom, Retail and the Consumer Products industry. Whenever I was given the task of developing a promotional campaign I used an advertising brief to set the strategy and execution of the promotion. All industries use some amalgam of this form to guide a project. Whether you are a billion-dollar industry or an entrepreneur with a salon or spa, a guide will make any marketing project more successful. Why? It helps us to see the forest for the trees.

Here are the basic components of an advertising brief. In the coming weeks I will expand on each component as it relates to a spa holiday promotion.

Holiday Promotion Brief:

• Background (situation Analysis).
• Target Audience.
• Measurable sales goal.
• Strategy.
• Tactics.
• Budget.

Make the form your own and create a promotional campaign for the holiday that makes you jolly and sends you into the New Year a happier spa owner.

Posted in Creating Customers, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • Comment »

Orange County Convention Center

IECSC Orlando features more than 300 of the top skincare and wellness companies showcasing the latest spa and medical spa products and technologies. IECSC Orlando also offers leading education with more than 100 FREE classes, a special full day conference by Bryan Durocher called "Your Profitable American Spa." 6 hours of education presented by the University of California –- Irvine called "Introduction to Spa & Hospitality Operations," as well as Advanced Education and CIDESCO Workshops.

Special Discount Offers: Register by September 5th and get your Daily Admission ticket for just $30 (that is $15 off the regular price).

PLUS you can save up to $60 when you purchase a Best Value Package.

Register here or call 800.498.6984.

Posted in Spa Business Management, General • 1 Comment »

Don't let negative employees sabotage your spa's holiday success.

Watching employees work together harmoniously is like watching a symphony; there is such synchronicity and beauty in seeing a team steady even under the most challenging circumstances.

The holiday always brings added stress, particularly for service providers who strive heroically to maintain a consistently high level of customer service. It is most challenging when your team is not aligned because it can truly make or break your holiday goals.

Before the stressful season takes over with a tidal wave of Ho-Ho-Ho! and red, take some time to inventory your team's successes and challenges.

• Are all employees aligned with the spa's organization's objectives? Do they feel a part of something more than their particular role? If you are hearing more "we" than "I" from your team then you are heading in the right direction.
• Do all employees understand their role in the team? Are their duties and expectations clearly defined? Employees who understand where they fit in the team and understand their duties take more responsibility for their performance. It is very empowering to be measured based on clearly defined goals and to be rewarded for outstanding performance.
• Is there a way for the team to voice and resolve issues that come up among team members? Having unique ideas and ways of accomplishing a task is a good thing. Conflict among a team is inevitable; how the spa owner manages that conflict is critically important. Make sure all employees know their problems and ideas are being heard and, when possible, implemented to make the team better and stronger.
• Is there a lack of harmony or trust among the team? Find out why and fix it. Trust among teammates builds unity and success — it is absolutely critical to know that each member is looking out for the rest of them team.

You work hard every day to make your spa the best. Taking time now to align your team toward a common goal will give them the tools they need to make the holiday a success.

Posted in Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • 1 Comment »

Who out there knows best what is happening in the industry but you, the professionals who are delivering the services and products and are on the front lines? You're out there doing what you do, and you see what's trending and what's waning from season to season and year to year.

We would love if you would share some of your experience with us. We're always working with media to garner attention for our businesses-your spas, Spa Emergency and SpaBoom.

Guess what the media love? Real time information from the practitioners/businesses in the industry. If we can gather good info for them, there's a decent chance they'll want to include that in articles and make mention of where they got the goods for the stories. This is a very good thing.

We've created a short survey designed to gather pertinent industry info from the people who know what's up, and we would love for you take a few minutes to complete it. We will hold the survey open until September 15th, so please be sure to get online and share before then! The results will be shared with the media as they compile articles for the upcoming holidays and beyond.

Thank you for your participation, SpaBoomers!

Click HERE to take the survey.

Posted in General • 4 Comments »

Now that you're thinking about holiday planning, keep up with the To Do list, and next thing you know you'll have set your spa up for a memorable and successful season!

Holiday To Do List (cont'd):

• Plan a customer event right before the holiday season.
• Use client email list to send out an invitation.
• Plan an evening of beauty to promote the spa’s services and product selection.
• Educate customers with a sampling party. Invite vendors to come and promote their products.
• Make sure your in-spa product displays are ready for the holiday.
• Place product orders to ensure that the spa can meet customer demand.

Execution is key, now. You've set the wheels in motion, now it's time to attend to the finer details and enjoy being so very proactive with your business this holiday season!

Posted in Spa Product Sales, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • Comment »

My job at SpaBoom involves spending a great deal of time honing our message to garner attention. I really believe that what we offer makes a huge difference for businesses, so putting passion behind the messaging is easy. Attracting the attention of prospects, then converting them to SpaBoomers is what I do, and the endeavor is intensely rewarding. It's really a pretty selfish process for me. Knowing that a spa, salon or massage therapist has entrusted us to help them increase revenues in a cost-effective way makes me happy.

What you do is similar, but different.

You're looking for ways to bring new clients into your spas. You're looking for ways to increase the frequency of visits and the incremental value of the visits of your existing clientele. You're courting future clients and nurturing existing relationships — each requires tailoring your message, but, ideally, at times the same message can be used to do both.

No Gas is Greener message.

You offer Instant Gift Certificates on your website, which means you've embraced technology and have recognized that more of your prospects and clients are using the Web as a way to find you, and to do more business with you once they've found you.

Tell them what that means to them in terms they'll appreciate. Everyone is struggling with the reality of higher gas prices, so your offering them a wonderful gift solution in terms of Instant Gift Certificates means they can fulfill gift purchasing online. You're saving them gas money — a direct cost benefit (and great way to promote your Instant Gift Certificates!)

And, no gas means a greener approach. If they're not starting up their Suburban, trekking across the metropolis, possibly during peak traffic times (which means stop and start driving-the worst for fuel efficiency AND emissions), seeking a gift the old-fashioned way, they're helping the environment.

Oh, and Instant Gift Certificates can be emailed, which means no dinosaurs gave their lives to help support either the purchase or the actual gift.

Your 'green' message can appear wherever you're promoting your spa. It'll fit well in an email newsletter (which, of course you're doing since it's free in SpaBoom, right?), or incorporated into display advertising as a catchy tagline, included in your voicemail messages and printed on flyers for inclusion in your product bags.

It's simple and bears repeating. And it works for both your existing clients as well as your prospects.

Posted in Creating Customers, Spa Marketing, General • 2 Comments »

Before you know it, pumpkins will be all over the place and then a week later you will walk into Target and see red. It is in this moment that fear floods through the body and the realization strikes: procrastination has gotten the best of you. You have waited too long to plan a successful holiday season.

Don't wait. It is not too late to plan your holiday promotions, and with a little planning you can make this a record-breaking holiday for your spa. Take advantage of the lull that the end of summer brings and GET BUSY.

This is the time to think about how you can provide value to your customers. It is no secret that great service brings the prize of customer loyalty. Making your client's spa experience special and memorable is valuable to that person. They will want to help you succeed by buying Instant Gift Certificates from your website over the holiday.

So get ready now and you will experience a smoother, happier and more successful holiday sales season.

Holiday To Do List:

• Clean Up.
• Make sure all internal processes and procedures are working smoothly.
• Make sure spa employees are ready to make each client spa experience special.
• Clean the spa from top to bottom and give staff a visual image of your service expectations.
• Take care of the little things that are missed when everyone is too busy over the holiday.
• Make sure your spa website is updated and ready for the holiday.
• Update all content and contact information.
• Add a map and directions to your spa.
• Use the SpaBoom promotional content tool (accessed from Setup/Events) that allows you to enter your promotions that will go live at the dates you preset.
• Update your email list.
• Gather as many new email addresses as possible from your current customers.
• Purge the addresses you know are not correct.
• Have your list ready and set up in SpaBoom.
• Start thinking about a great service/product holiday promotion.
• Make sure you have the product in stock.
• Create POP (Point-of-Purchase graphics) to promote the promotion.
• The promotional offer should be visible in the spa and on the website.
• Make sure customers know your spa offers Instant Gift Certificates on the website.
• Develop POP that promotes the Instant Gift Certificates.
• Create an Instant Gift Certificate flyer to go into each clients bag.
• Make sure your website address is prominent in your spa.
• All advertising.
• On the door.
• Bags to business cards.

Now you're cooking. See how easy it is once you just get started? Go on, start ticking off the To Do list items, and look for more next week.

Posted in Spa Product Sales, Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General, Spa Gift Certificates • 1 Comment »

Last month, Larry Donahue and I co-presented a class at the Harms User Group meeting, which discussed the legal, financial and business issues around gift certificates. We examined what our top sellers (or Winners!) are doing to sell so well. Many of you have requested we post this presentation, so here it is. Enjoy!

Harms UGM Presentation [PDF]

Posted in General • Comment »

So, when we hit the wall around SpaBoom we look at our numbers and see what they tell us.

When we looked at our top sellers for the first part of June we found something interesting. It turns out that we have a few businesses other than spas (and now restaurants) who have figured out how to use the instant gift platform to increase their sales.

So Air Combat has been happily selling Instant Gifts for a while. How did they suddenly get into the top tier? Simple–Father's Day. An Air Combat IGC is a great gift for most fathers, so their June sales soared. However, they did not outgun the average spa for Mother's Day.

The lesson is intriguing. We know that many gifts are purchased for fathers, but few spas get any of that business. The question is how can you create a compelling offer for dads or any other non-spa-centric gift opportunity?

Posted in General • 4 Comments »

In the ancient city of Zippori, magnificent mosaics been preserved for posterity. The artists who developed these mosaics were at the cutting edge of material innovation and artistic expression. Each stone was placed by hand (like a pixel), to the artist's specifications and took years to complete. These masterpieces remain preserved for the world to enjoy. Very cool stuff, you say, but why blog about it on the SpaBoom site? Because I want to point out what those motionless works of ancient art have in common with an Adobe Flash website.

For years many of us SEO-interested types have been warning all who would listen that Flash content on your website is invisible to search engines. Some of us (me) have gone so far as to suggest that the overuse of Flash is generally a self indulgent bad idea when designing a website. Well I have good news and bad news for you Flashers.

The good new is that new developments by Adobe along with Google's enhanced code are designed to make Flash files easier for search engines to read and index. Overall, this is a great thing. Otherwise static websites can be enhanced with Flash to develop beautiful website designs sprinkled with amazing animation without hiding the content embedded in the Flash. While this is progress, it's not a green light to run out of do a 100% Flash-based site. Remember that underneath that Flash and beauty is the website's content. Flash content is virtually unchangeable by the website's owner and updating it (indexable or not) is generally a nightmare. That's because there are no set standards for Flash development and very few sites are designed to accommodate a site owner's need to change and update information on their site. When text is embedded into a Flash file a web designer must specify the fonts, sizes, content and layout (picture the Second Century mosaic "developer" choosing his materials). When the site is completed, a site owner can't go in and make content changes easily. The guts of a Flash site might as well be set in stone and mortar like the 1,800 year old image above. Rather than update often, most site owners just wait until they are so sick of their website they hire a new designer to create a new one. Content that is not updated is not useful to the visitors. For example, if your Mother's Day special is still showing—is it at least for this year? Do you at least update your site for the massive purchase and sale opportunities that come around each year? It gets worse. Sites that are not updated often are punished in their rankings. To beat up the analogy, the Zippori graphic was last updated in the year 200 CE. They had a lot of traffic back then. Today—not so much.

So what to do with your website? I really think that a little Flash is nice (not necessary but OK). Just think about where you use it. Logos, and images within your pages are a good place to use some Flash. Your menu, specials and any content you would like to change (without a $500-$2,000 fee from your designer) is not a good idea. We like to tout Dynamic websites, which are flexible and allow our clients to easily update content and images that are displayed on their site. A smart website gives its owner creative independence and provides users with the convenience of relevant and updated information. Today, a business owner needs a website that meets the needs of the business before satisfying their artistic cravings. For pure art and history, commission a mosaic. Your website is a tool for your business. Keep it in the current era.

Posted in General • Comment »

Competing in today's market requires skill and tenacity, and an undying focus on making the absolute most of your business, regardless. The media hypes negative events because they garner attention (and sell issues/subscriptions), but even in the face of tighter financial times there is opportunity for all who take the time to really embrace their effort.

The bottom line? You must trust yourself.

You created this spa business with passion, sweat and effort. Know that you can and must manage your business, like a business.

Get in control by actively acknowledging and managing your business challenges.

• Get real and face the problem.
• Dissect into manageable pieces.
• Define each task to accomplish.
• Take action.

Strengthen your relationships.

• Build loyalty with existing clients and employees.
• 80/20 rules always apply.
• Stay in contact with the spa's most loyal 20%.
• Keep track of your top customers and let them know you appreciate their business.
• Create a spa environment that is positive for employees and customers.
• Develop an online marketing program.
• Use all those client email addresses you've been collecting over the years.
• Let customers know about special events, new treatments and promotions going on at your spa.
• Send clients an email and give them a good reason to come in for a new spa experience.
• Provide value and strengthen relationships with existing clients.
• Send clients appointment reminders.
• Let clients know when you have appointment openings.
• Deliver Welcome emails for new clients.
• Send out a spa newsletter.
• Think long term.
• Update your website and keep it current.
• Educate your clients.
• Optimize your connections with clients.
• Know your audience and what they need.

Build new relationships that strengthen your bottom line.

• Create partnerships with other retailers and garner support for your business.
• Have a spa event at your day spa or salon.
• Get out of your comfort zone to create new customers.
• Look for ways to provide a key service to an unserved market.
• Help others. Selflessness and helping others is empowering. Problem solving for others keeps you ready for new challenges.
• Improve your processes.
• Correct mistakes that you've too busy to fix.
• Act on revenue-generating processes you have been meaning to get to but keep putting off.

Tighten your belt.

• Look at your inventory to look for efficiencies.
• Hold off purchasing new equipment.
• Focus on increasing sales instead of new product development.
• Increase profits by selling gift certificates from the spa website.

Occasionally stepping back and getting down to basics allows us an opportunity to strengthen the very foundation of our businesses. Now is an excellent time to take that step back!

Posted in Spa Marketing, Spa Business Management, General • 5 Comments »

Regis, which operates salons under such brands as Supercuts, MasterCuts, Regis Salons, Sassoon Salon, SmartStyle, Cost Cutters, Trade Secret, PureBeauty, BeautyFirst and Hair Club for Men and Women, will be closing 160 of its salons by the end of the year. They are big and smart but had to make the tough decision to shrink rather than die.

Why did this happen?

In a nutshell, they commodified their brand, in part by being successful with their core concept. Supercuts is a basic hair cut place where most of us can expect a reasonably priced mediocre haircut that will reflect the current decade but not today's cutting (pardon me for punning) edge of cosmetology. It is a great concept and one almost everyone within 25 miles of a grocery-anchored shopping center knows. So with that success they built or acquired all those other concepts and leased space in every strip mall across America. Picture the Safeway-anchored center with a Supercuts on one corner across the street from the Kroger-anchored center with a MasterCuts. Sound like another iconic retail brand forced to announce store closures? Hint-it rhymes with "woodchucks."

Part of this occupy-every-corner strategy was to keep out competition but in the end both concepts lost their brand identity. Many of the Regis concepts are so similar most clients can't tell the difference. I occasionally go in one (to get my kid's hair cut or if I missed my appointment and am looking like "Shaggy" of Scooby Doo fame). For the most part they have incrementally distinguished concepts and seem to draw from the same pool of recent cosmetology school graduates. Consequently there is nothing special or unique about each brand.

The other big problem was over expansion. Both Regis and Starbucks are public companies who have to answer to shareholders. Both showed good growth until recently and had a stock price that reflected not how much the company is making now but, how much it will make based on forecasted growth. Basically they had to open lots of new stores to make their forecast numbers work. But, guess what? The more stores you open, the fewer really good locations you have to go into. So what do you do? Lower your standards of course! You take a couple hundred A- or B+ or B- locations along the way to meet the expectations of your shareholders. The problem is those locations don't meet the expectations of your customers and those stores underperform. That underperformance is a problem but is a harbinger of an even bigger issue–they degrade the brand.

Starbucks wound up competing with basic burger-and-fries fast food places for locations in order to meet their growth projections. Ten years ago the Starbucks brand was cool and sophisticated and stood for quality and a unique experience. Now, two blocks from my office, they share a pad site with a Carl's Jr. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they are here, and I like to drive through on my way to the office or on the way to an appointment, but if I want an experience and a really great cup of coffee, I go to the Grove, Satellite or one of the other local places who have built their brands on that kind of experience for people like me.

Did you catch that segue on why this is all good for most folks reading this blog? Think about it this way–many spas report their business is down about 20% (except for gifts). So assuming most spas and salons did not have 20% extra to being with, one in five is in danger of closing. Most of you reading this blog have better information about your local markets and your customers, information that you can and should use as you adjust to an ever-changing marketplace. Your advantage (aside from SpaBoom)? You not only know the market but you can react faster.  Don't compromise your brand into a commodity that can be replaced or substituted. Be something unique and irreplaceable to your clients.

Posted in General • 4 Comments »

You've built a Dynamic Website for your spa. It is live and you want spa goers to find your website and buy lots of gift certificates for your spa. What's next? Optimize your site baby–it's called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The big engine is Google and they pretty much rule when it comes to searches. The good news is that even a small spa can win in this game, but you've got to play smart.

Ask yourself, are you in this to win? All right then, take a healthy shot of ego and jump in…

Keywords are well, key to the search.

What will a person logically enter when they are looking out there for your spa? (Let's just toss out of the equation the 5% of the population that is positively nuts when it comes to formulating logical searches.) Imagine a customer at home or work, sitting down at their computer. They plan to search the web for the perfect spa experience. Let's say they live in Austin and want to try something new. What do you think they are going to enter as their search in the Google search box? Austin, day spa.

To help improve the ranking for a spa in Austin, a website will want to have "Austin" and "day spa" written naturally in the content on the home page. Maybe something like, "Rejuvenation day spa in Austin is located in the heart of…" You get the point. Don't go overboard, Google is sensitive and it doesn't want you to throw keywords in its search engine face so 2-3 times should suffice. Make it natural!

Now take your keyword strategy a step further. If you have a specialty or focus at your spa add those as keywords to make sure target customers find you. You might not be able to rank at the top of the list for "Austin day spa" but perhaps for "Austin Reiki" or "Austin Reflexology." Someone interested in a specific treatment or bodywork may be adding those specific terms to his or her search.

Tag you're it.

Each website page has a title tag, which is where the text in the top line of the Web browser comes from. The title tag for this page is "Online marketing for spas, salons and massage therapists — SpaBoom Blog — …" The title tag is also used by many search engines as the title of search listings, and it is what a customer sees when they look at the search results for your spa. Make sure the title (and and description tags) include your city or geographic identifier and are clear, logical and describe your spa.

Popularity counts so get linked.

Super popular spas know they want to be on the first page of search results for their specific keywords, because most searchers consider the top search results most relevant. It bites not to be popular enough for the first page so make sure your SEO campaign focuses on establishing relevant website links to your website.

Imagine that a spa owner sends out a press release to the Austin Chamber of Commerce about their business, Rejuvenation spa. The Chamber of Commerce takes the information, adds Rejuvenation spa to their official website and then creates a link to the spa's website. Score, Rejuvenation Spa has just added an inbound link and it is relevant. To Google, that is important because it says that your site is important and relevant enough for another site to reference it. So get out there and make friends. It might be time to bake some cookies and initiate a campaign to get noticed online.

Blog on and on and on…

Make Mom proud and blog about your spa. Make sure it is relevant; you don't want customers to feel like they know you too well when they read your blog so keep it spa/business specific. If your spa is committed to a non-profit cause, talk about it on your blog. If you are bringing in a new piece of equipment that will take 10 years off a client's face, talk about it.

Building a reputation as a spa knowledge leader in your community will bring financial rewards to your spa and give Mom naches.

Posted in Spa Search Engine Optimization (SEO), General • 5 Comments »

Reviews, already up and running on SpaBoom, will be going live on Spa Emergency early next week. Now consumers looking for spa gifts on Spa Emergency will be able to view real feedback about your spas in the form of Reviews–a most helpful way for them to choose just the right spa!

What does this mean to you? If you're already listed on Spa Emergency and wish for reviews to show, do nothing. You're automatically opted-in.

If you'd rather not have your Reviews to show on Spa Emergency, then simply log in to your SpaBoom account, go into Setup, then Basics, scroll down to the Online Directories section and uncheck the checkbox next to Show reviews in listing.

Posted in SpaBoom New Features, General • 2 Comments »