Put a fresh face on your Instant Gift Certificate page's look. No matter how much we LOVE our new designs and think you will, too, we do not force you to update. You can choose at any time to update to new designs, and because we strongly encourage you to, here's how.

The quickest way to begin showcasing those new designs is to apply our default designs in one fell swoop. View them here.

Go into your Setup Tab, then click on GC Designs on the left side of the screen. You'll see your already selected list of thumbnails.

On the left, look for the "Restore Defaults" link, and click on that.

What does "Restore Defaults" mean? It returns GC Designs to the current default settings, replacing any name, category, popularity or hide changes that you've made. Custom designs that you've created will be left untouched. So if you have renamed a design or moved its category or hidden it, that will be undone. Any NEW design of your own is always safe.

Click OK on the next screen, and the new design will be featured on your IGC page! If you hadn't updated in a long time (or ever), you might also have a bunch of new and lovely designs across all categories.

You don't have to do anything to receive the new Instant POP or Collateral designs – just go into your Instant POP and Collateral lists, look for the new design with "2012″ in it, and print away! Enjoy, and Happy February!

If you couldn't make the webinar, we're sorry to have missed you! But, you can download the presentation and watch the video streaming at your convenience right here. Just block out some time for our next webinar – we always have great Q & A sessions at the end, and a limited-time special that you'll want to know about.

Watch the Video: 3 Trends in 2012 You Can't Afford to Miss

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

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

Event:

• Celebrate Spa and Relaxation (Runs 11/28–12/18)
• Banish Yuletide Stress with Spa (Runs 12/19–12/25)
• Did You Receive the Gift of Spa? (Runs 12/27–12/31)
• Love Thyself this Valentine’s Day (Runs 1/16–2/5)
• Share the Bliss of Spa! (Runs 2/6–2/14)

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:

• Give Instantly this Holiday (Launches 11/28/11)
• Need a Last Minute Gift Solution? (Launches 12/19/11)
• Gratitude and Spa for the New Year (Launches 12/27)
• Give Instant Love this Valentine’s Day (Launches 1/16)
• A Valentine’s Gift from the Heart (Launches 2/6)

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!

Janell and Seth went over how text messaging is one of the quickest ways to encourage action with your existing client base – text messaging directly to your interested clients, right from your SpaBoom account. Not only that, getting the word out to your own employees about last minute scheduling or other important news is a fantastic feature.

If you missed all the fun, just view and download our webinar files and catch up on your own schedule – but do it soon and capture some hot summer interest.

Watch the Video: Text Messaging to Increase the Bottom Line

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Like all SpaBoom emails, they can be automatically generated and sent with your existing offers and promotions or be as customized as you like. All the email templates are professionally designed and included as part of the overall cross-channel marketing integration features we offer SpaBoom clients.

To access these new email designs simply select which email design you'd like to use the next time you create an email campaign, or choose the default which will be used for all of your future emails in the Marketing tab under Marketing Settings. We recommend you choose the design that you love and stick with it – consistency for your clients is a great thing. Here's what the setting looks like:

When you change your settings in Marketing, ALL of your upcoming campaigns will acquire the new look – so your message and branding are consistent, with just one easy step!

So that you can see the subtle variations between all four new designs, here they are as seen from an email client (the iPad, actually), using the same content for each, and labeled with their names:

ORGANIC DESIGN

SIMPLE DESIGN

SLEEK DESIGN

BIG DESIGN

Text messaging is one of the quickest ways to encourage action with your existing client base.

Join us as we explore the best uses of text messaging for your salon or spa business to enhance relationships and fill those last minute appointments.

Text Messaging to Increase the Bottom Line — Free Webinar

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now!

Title: Text Messaging to Increase the Bottom Line — Free Webinar
Date: Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Time: 1:00 PM — 2:00 PM EDT

SpaBoom's Client Services group enjoys nothing more than walking our clients through various features so they can get the absolute most out of SpaBoom. A great call is one that ends in a client saying, "Thanks! I've got it! I'm all set and ready to promote that new service. Appreciate your help!"

We also work hard on our Help files, so you can find what you need there, too. We want you to have not only access to tools that help you effectively market your business online, but also guidance to use those tools to their fullest.

Now we're creating Video Tutorials for those of us who like being walked through a feature, regardless of whether we're at our desk at work or at home late at night in our 'jammies preparing for the next day!

Our first video, Sweepstakes on Facebook for Spas, takes you through the super straightforward steps in setting up a Sweepstakes for your spa, salon or massage therapy practice in just 2 ½ minutes.

We've also added a complete description of Spa Sweepstakes for Facebook on the SpaBoom website, complete with this video, for your reference.

Give the video a watch, and tell us what you think! We're producing more as we speak, and will let you know as they're ready for prime time.

While they are available, you'll need to go and unhide them to make sure they show up on your IGC page — we hate to force new GC designs on you, even if we think they are super-cool. These are really fun and we highly recommend that you add them to your IGC page.

Here are the new GCs — we hope you love them as much as we do!

The quickest way to begin showcasing new designs is to apply our default "most popular" in one fell swoop. View them here.

Go into your Setup Tab, then click on GC Designs on the left side of the screen. You'll see your already selected list of thumbnails:

On the left, look for the "Restore Defaults" link, and click on that.

What does "Restore Defaults" mean? It returns GC Designs to the current default settings, replacing any name, category, popularity or hide changes that you've made. Custom designs that you've created will be left untouched. So if you have renamed a design or moved its category or hidden it, that will be undone. Any NEW design of your own is always safe.

Go ahead and click OK on the next screen, and you'll be all set. You will now have a good number of new and snazzy Most Popular designs as well as Graduation and Father's Day.

While they are available, you'll need to go and unhide them to make sure they show up on your IGC page – we hate to force new GC designs on you, even if we think they are super-cool.  These are lovely and we highly recommend taking a peek!

New Instant POPs:

Here are the new GCs, and two ways to get them:

First, go to your Setup Tab, and then choose "GC Designs" from the left.

Option One: If you haven't updated designs in a while, I recommend just getting everything refreshed. On the left, look for the "Restore Defaults" link, and click on that.

This will refresh IGC Designs to the current default settings, replacing any name, category, popularity or hide changes that you've made. Any CUSTOM design of your own is always safe.

Option Two: If you have made a LOT of changes with the base categories, hiding most of the designs or hiding entire categories, you might want a finer control. So just click the "show hidden designs" checkbox at the top of the screen, and then scroll down until you see the new Graduation designs:

Click "show" to unhide them, and you're all set! (While you're in here, take a look at all the other cool hidden GCs you might not have noticed – time for some spring cleaning!)

Now that social media has become a key component of online marketing campaigns, you're asking us at every turn how to grow your Facbook fan base. We hear it during webinars, in emails, via phone calls to our team – you're focusing on the right thing and we can help you out!

First a follow-up on my last post, where we were running a Sweepstakes for Joy of Spa. We ended up with 208 entries, and 962 fan invites. The person who won hadn't been invited, just entered the Sweepstakes on her own, so we ended up giving away one $100 Joy of Spa Gift Certificate. Had she been invited, the person who invited her would have also won, and we'd have given away two.

SpaBoom clients who have run Sweepstakes have all grown their fan bases. The Wellness Spa in Kelowna, BC went from 38 to 84 fans. Bodyworks Massage in Vernon, CT, went from 34 to 82. Spa Constantine in Downers Grove, IL, whose Sweepstakes ends later today, has gone from 439 to 529, and with luck will increase by a magic 100 before it's all over.

Relative increases differ, of course, based on your beginning fan base number. Doubling is awesome, particularly when you're just beginning to build it. Increasing by 25% is also great, especially when your beginning number is much higher.

How to encourage people to enter your Sweepstakes

Ask yourself what your most popular service is at the moment. Then offer that up, maybe with a small lovely add on, like a massage oil takeaway, or a neck massage with a salon service, or something that sweetens what you know is a well-loved service already.

Really, it's always ok to just ask yourself, 'What would make me enter a sweepstakes?', then trust your gut reaction. You already know what works!

Since you'll want to run a series of Sweepstakes to continue to grow your Facebook fan base over time, pay close attention to what's popular at any given moment and use that to design subsequent Sweepstakes offers. Being current really matters, and really works, and the good news is you'll always know exactly what's making your spa, salon or massage therapy clientele happy at any given point, so there's no guessing involved.

Not that we're against guessing, but you can save a lot of time and energy using what's already working, right?

You won't hear the Q & A at the end, but feel free to call us and one of our folks can handle your questions from the nuts and bolts to "I am not a client yet but want to be". We love those calls! (It is 800-940-0458, if you've forgotten.)

Watch the Video: Increase Your Mother's Day Sales in 2011

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Why you want to run Sweepstakes

Growing a FaceBook fan base is key to a thriving social media campaign, and we really encourage you to work to nurture your social media marketing. After all, it's where a lot of your audience is spending free time, and you need to engage them while they're out there.

You should see a bump in your fans with each sweepstakes. Adjusting your offer from Sweepstakes to Sweepstakes will help you figure out just what triggers your FaceBook audience to join so you can enjoy bigger and bigger increases in your fan base over time.

You can monitor the progress of each Sweepstakes as it's running by going back into Events and clicking on the Sweepstakes currently underway, and at the end the winners' names will also appear on the Sweepstakes record. As of this post, 170 of our fans have entered the Joy of Spa Spring Refresh Sweepstakes, and those entrants have invited 813 friends to join.

How much should you give away?

Offering up a giveaway that will cover a full treatment for spa, salon care, or massage therapy is where you should start. What does that look like for you? A range of between $75 and $100 is what we're seeing our businesses use as they begin adopting Sweepstakes, but the amount is entirely up to you.

We chose to give away a $100 Joy of Spa Gift Certificate this time, and if the winner was invited by another person who entered the Sweepstakes, the person who invited also wins, so in essence we could be giving away 2-$100 Joy of Spa Gift Certificates at the end of the contest.

How hard is it to set up?

If you can set up an Event in SpaBoom, you can set up a Sweepstakes. In fact, Sweepstakes are a type of Event.

You'll need to choose an image to accompany the Sweepstakes, use the Event content field to describe the Sweepstakes compellingly (after all, you want people to participate!), and then you can even send an Email out to your clients letting them know you're running a Sweepstakes.

The new "Add Email" task in Events makes it super easy to create an email campaign, and by default uses the copy you wrote to describe the Sweepstakes in the event, which you can add on to if you wish, or simply let fly verbatim.

Any additional Events you have running can be included in the email, too, so you have an additional opportunity to promote Events underway while you're announcing your current Sweepstakes.

Who gets to use BoomTime Sweepstakes for FaceBook?

If you currently have the SpaBoom Marketing Suite (all Spaboom Dynamic Websites are automatically included), then follow our simple steps to run Sweepstakes.

If you are currently an Instant Gift Certificates client, you will need to upgrade to the SpaBoom Marketing Suite to activate your Sweepstakes functionality. It's easy, and risk-free. Send us an or call us at 800.940.0458. We're here to help!

If you couldn't make it, you really should try to attend the next – Seth and Janell are usually a lively duo, leading through the presentation with tons more info than you'll see on the slides. But, you can relive the magic by viewing our slideshow or watching the video of the webinar that we recorded live. You won't hear the Q & A at the end, but feel free to call us and one of our group deal experts can handle your questions from the nuts and bolts to "I am not a client yet but want to be". We love those calls! (It is 800-940-0458, if you've forgotten.)

Watch the Video: Ready To Run Your Own Group Deal?

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

We added your spa's name to the sub-header, as well as your name, phone number, website, and address at the bottom!

The new name of the card, so you can spot it, is "Be My Valentine Signup with Phone/Addr".  We've left the old one, just in case you'd like to use it anyway.

Have a wonderful Valentine week and keep promoting yourselves!

End-user is tech-speak for all current and potential online spa clients. New trends are about designing a website that is attractive and useful for them. Today's end-users won’t bother to sit through your video, splash page or other fluff. They will just hit the back button and click to the next spa website that gives them the information they are looking for. It’s that simple. If your website doesn’t engage or captivate within 10 seconds, you will lose them forever. It is not personal, they just move on.

Below are several websites that demonstrate the latest trends in website design. They use images to engage the end-user's attention and provide key information intuitively.

Using big photos in the main content area of the homepage creates a strong impression and quickly draws the end-user's attention. It is critical that the photo tie-in seamlessly with the content and is stylized for maximum impact.

Website designers are trending toward simple, easy to navigate websites that don't throw everything at the end-user all at once. Simple navigation is extremely important.

The all important first impression should tell the end-user that they are in the right place, and guide them quickly to the information or action they need.

It is true that people are tired of straining to see dense blocks of text but you don’t want to design a spa website exclusively for aging baby boomers either.

Bigger fonts should be used only when it enhances the end user experience, like headers and sub-headers for instance. But with website content, 12-14px is still the appropriate standard.

More spacing between paragraph lines is also a trend that can give a website a cleaner look and feel. In addition, adjusting line-height helps give copy some breathing room and eases the strain on the eyes.

The boundaries within topography are widening, allowing for innovative web design and development. This trend will continue to grow and evolve. Just keep in mind, bad typography ruins good web design and it distracts the end-user.

New color trends center around the concept of using just a few colors for a super clean and modern website design. Busy, multi-colored websites strain the eyes and distract spa visitors from reading your content. Loud website design like centered format text, assorted text sizes that rule-out established text hierarchy disorganizes and diminishes the end-user experience.

There is still a way to get movement without using flash. SpaBoom website designers incorporate these methods to create rotating images that engage the online consumer. Click on the website below to see Lumiere Resort's rotating photos on their website.

Effective, search engine friendly websites get noticed, attract visitors and turns them into new clients. Synchronizing website navigation with a more stylized look will deliver a seamless and positive interaction with your clients.

These options are toggled in your Basics page, under the Advanced section for Instant Gift Certificates.

• Email me a copy of each GC receipt: Normally, we send you an email with each IGC purchased – this is a happy way to let you know you're getting conversions on your IGC page. But if you get too many of these or check your SpaBoom account often enough that they're not necessary, turn this checkbox off.
• BCC me on GC recipient email: Whether or not you'll receive a masked copy of the email sent to each IGC recipient. So if Joe buys a gift for Sue, you'd get Sue's email exactly as she does. This is OFF by default to keep your emails manageable, but of course you can turn it on at any time.

In addition, we've made the language on the Instant Gift Certificate Order email even clearer, changing the first line of the message to,

…and then listing the To and From as well as the Gift ID.  Simple and easy!

Let us know if you have questions or feedback, and have a wonderful week!

Sometimes making life simpler for everyone makes good sense, and this is one of those times.

So your regular commission rate applies on all of your individual spa gift certificate sales that come to you from Spa Emergency! and Joy of Spa directories, period.

Note: If you've opted not to be on our national directory sites, now would be a great time to opt in! Learn MORE.

Holiday presents come in many forms, yes?

Happy Holidays from SpaBoom!

If you'd like to watch the webinar from last month, head on over to our previous blog post about it for the recorded video.

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Coming up on the holidays, this is the perfect time to automate your credit card processing. We're happy to walk you though getting setup with Amazon Payments, just drop us a line.

Using an intelligent discounting strategy Lynn was able to develop an advantageous group deal for her spa. Here are the three key discount strategies that turned the deal around for her spa.

Know your goal and reasons for participating

The desire to attract new clients and increase revenue was her main goals through the group deal "…I was prepared to walk away from the negotiations of the deal if they couldn't work with my pre-determined requirements…."

Margins set the standard

She based her deal on what she would require to achieve her desired profit margin after covering all of her expenses. This provided "…the advantage of a correctly aimed price point at potential new clients rather than only deal seekers…."

Upsell and Rebooking

The deal she created was never in direct competition with her existing service menu, so the therapists and staff were able to easily up-sell at the product level and rebook for services on the existing menu based on the experience received during the discounted service appointment.

If you are considering rolling a group deal — consider this: BoomTime Deals (available w/your SpaBoom Online Marketing Suite) offer you control, preferential new client targets, and the best part of the deal — you pay under 5% commission.