Free Salon Marketing Resources

No time or money for salon or spa marketing?  You’re not alone!

For those that don’t know, my name is Elizabeth Kraus and I worked as a marketing director for 2 multi-state salon and spa products distributors for several years.  Doing so gave me a 360 degree perspective of the industry not everyone else sees. I worked directly with manufacturers at the ‘top’ of the salon product chain, with distributor sales consultants in the “middle” who translate the benefits of manufacturers products into financial and client-benefits in order to sell those products to salon owners, and I worked directly with salon and spa owners and individual stylists who attempt to translate those client benefits into client education and compelling reasons for clients to purchase the prescriptive services and products they need most, both in the salon or spa and for at home care.

Above all, I was struck by the need for each point of the professional salon products distribution chain – manufacturer, distributor, sales consultants and salon owners and stylists – to all be active in educating the public and creating demand for professional products and services. 

Because at the end of the day, if clients don’t believe they need the benefits salon and spa services and products provide, it’s all for nothing.

There’s a lot riding on salon client education,which is no surprise to any who are salon and spa professionals, because my guess is that you hear this from professional educators, manufacturers and distributor sales consultants all the time.  They sometimes make it sound so easy and obvious, and in many cases it is, or should be.

That said, clients are people, and people aren’t always ready to hear what they need to learn.  They aren’t always willing to follow prescriptive advice. They don’t always believe in the superiority of salon and spa products.  Some have limited financial means which may make them afraid to take the risk, others come with their own fears of change or prejudices carried not only from their own experiences but cliché stereotypes or preconceived notions they may have gleaned from others.

All of this translates into what are called “objections” that must be overcome, to put it into the language one would hear in professional sales training.  And on top of all of their other responsibilities, which include not only full time hours behind the chair, many independent salon owners are also responsible for office duties, bookkeeping, cleaning – a thousand other responsibilities which go along with running a salon or spa – and yes, marketing, too.

In the U.S., most salons are independent and in some regions up to 90% of salons are staffed not with direct employees, but with stylists called “booth renters” who are, in fact, independent business owners.  Like the salon owners referenced before, that puts them into the category of not only working behind the chair, but fulfilling multiple responsibilities shared by all business owners like bookkeeping, business taxes, and marketing themselves as stylists.  Many can’t afford marketing materials like professionally designed logos, menus, websites and business cards, let alone hire a marketing consultant or staff member to put in the hours it takes to come up with marketing ideas and execute them on a consistent basis.

What To Do When You Need – But Can’t Afford – Marketing Help in the Salon or Spa

And that’s the reality that inspired my first book, 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa which was published in 2010, and it’s precisely why I began publishing unique Salon and Spa Marketing Calendars every year.  These calendars provide independent and small business owners with virtual marketing consultations.  They include marketing advice and ideas that you and I might discuss each month over a consultation or coffee – at a cost that’s less than what you might pay for a decent lunch or an average dinner.

In the Salon and Spa Marketing Calendars I publish every year, you get the tools, ideas, inspiration, motivation and occasional ‘kick in the pants’ to get into motion on your own behalf and execute marketing strategies and tactics that will work in attracting new clients into the salon and spa, that will work in helping you to build a stronger salon team, that will work in helping you create extraordinary client experiences to generate word of mouth referrals and establish the basis for client loyalty over the long term.

And you and I become e-friends, because we interact on Facebook and you get even more free marketing advice inspiration and how-to from my blog.  You find me on Facebook or LinkedIn and shoot me a question specific to the business needs of your salon or spa, and I answer.

You can check out the calendars at www.12monthsofmarketing.com – come friend me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or Twitter – It’s going to be a great year!

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