What’s in “Make Over Your Marketing, 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa by Elizabeth Kraus

Beyond a table of contents, I thought you might want to know what all is in “Make Over Your Marketing: 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa.” So here is a brief chapter review plus a list of the observances and ideas that you can expect to find in each chapter.


January – Make Over Your Marketing
Stop thinking that marketing is a verb—something that you should be, or should start, doing. Marketing is not a verb. A verb implies action that begins and ends. In point of fact, everything in and about your business is marketing. Or rather, every component and characteristic of your business (all of the “verbs” you have to do) like retailing, communications, training, advertising, holding events, making appearances, taking classes, managing staff and the culture of your business, cleaning, and merchandising—plus all of the characteristics—the words that you would use to describe your business, your staff, your skills, your specialties, your products; all of the verbs, nouns and descriptive adjectives that make up your business—all of these make up your marketing. Everything and anything that impacts any part of your customer’s experience, directly or indirectly, is part of your marketing.

January Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
New Year, Honest Exposure, Milestones and Goals, Systems and Celebrations, From the Inside, Out, Bundled Convenience, Dynamic Duos, Salon or Spa Branded Calendar, Pay it Forward (Make Over My Hero), National Blood Donor Month, National Hobby Month, Hot Tea Month, Home Office Safety and Security Week, Women’s Self-Empowerment Week, Fruitcake Toss Day, Trivia Day, Make Your Dreams Come True Day, Dress Up Your Pet Day, National Hat Day, Popcorn Day, Measure Your Feet Day, National Chili Day, Spouse’s Day, Fun at Work Day, No-Pressure, De-Stresser


February – Make Over Your Marketing from the Inside-Out
As human beings, we make judgments all the time about the “insides” of people based on what we see on the outside. Based on appearance, we often jump to conclusions about how intelligent, successful or popular someone is and we pre-determine whether we would want to be involved with them socially or even be personal friends with them—all based on appearance. And this is one of the reasons why it is so important to make sure that what is on the ‘inside’ of you is also continually updated; that you, personally, take the time needed to evaluate the state of your inner health—your mental, intellectual and emotional well-being. Because in many ways, what is truly on the ‘inside’ of you is being revealed on the outside. In this year of the makeover, sure, you can try to limit yourself to making only cosmetic (external) changes to your business or your own life. But if you do, then no matter how badly even these superficial changes are needed, they probably won’t last, won’t generate participation and buy-in among staff, and will fail to make the maximum impact to your business they could make—unless they are accompanied by true, genuine belief in the necessity of these ‘outside’ changes on the inside (of you).

February Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Showing Love for the Makeover, American Heart Month, Canned Food Month, Children’s Dental Health Month, National Weddings Month, Children’s Author’s and Illustrator’s Week, Dump Your Significant Jerk Week, International Flirting Week, Spunky Old Broad’s Day, Girls and Women in Sports Day, White T-Shirt Day, Valentine’s Day, Cheapskate Dates, “Two-fer” offers, Updo Dine and Dash, My Heart Beats for You, Love Yourself First, National Call-In Single Day, PTA Founder’s Day, Tortilla Chip Day, Tooth Fairy Day, National Bridal Month


March – Make Over the Employee Culture
Your employee culture is a reflection of the sum total values, beliefs, attitudes, ideas, experiences, assumptions and behaviors shared by your staff. And this culture is reflected back to your clients in every area of your business. If your employee culture is characterized by attitudes that are negative, lazy or careless, unmotivated or cynical, it is because those traits are present to some extent in one or more of your staff, and it is because these negative traits are allowed to dominate and influence daily operations. Success depends on whether you can harness the diversity of everyone’s strengths, passions and creativity to pull toward the same goals.

March Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Employee Spirit Month, Music in Our Schools Month, National Money Week, Well-Elderly Week, National Bubble Blowers Week, National Beer Day, Old Stuff Day, Unique Names Day, Employee Appreciation Day, Dentist’s Day, Incredible Kid Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Happy Hours, Gift Wrapped Clients, Book Builders, Coasters, Luck of the Irish, National Fragrance Day, Chip and Dip Day, Take a Walk in the Park Day


April – Make Over Your Talent and Skills
Investing in training to launch a new service or product line will usually result in a direct return on investment. If you launch a new service, or improve services with a new product line, you can reap new revenues, right? But you may not realize that the same holds true in non-craft areas as well. All too often, opportunity for growth is missed not because it’s not there, but because we aren’t ready. If you wanted to grow and grow quickly, would you be ready?

April Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
National Humor Month, Guitar Month, Lawn and Garden Month, Stress Awareness Month, Personal Training Week, Customer Awareness Week, Customer Appreciation, Customer Recognition, National Dance Week, National Karaoke Week, Children’s Book Day, Look Alike Day, No Housework Day, Golfer’s Day, Volunteer Recognition Day, Administrative Professional’s Day, National Jelly Bean Day, Hairstylist’s Appreciation Day, National Stress-Awareness Day


May – Make Over the Client Experience
To make over the client experience, view each client visit as a condensed, exaggerated reality show. Your client only gets to see, hear, smell and experience the elements that you decide to edit down into the block of time they are present within your salon or spa for their appointment. As the producer and real time editor of the customer experience within your salon or spa, how can you orchestrate each one to be intriguing, engaging and provocative to the client?

May Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
National Blood Pressure Month, Photograph Month, Smile Month, Teacher Appreciation Week, National Teacher’s Day, National Nurse’s Week, National Police Week, Work-at-Home Mom’s Week, Melanoma Awareness Day, Sunscreen Day, Cinco de Mayo, Tourist Appreciation Day, Mother’s Day, Pack Rat Day, Pizza Party Day, Employee Health and Fitness Day, Towel Day


June – Make Over Your Retail
How will you change your mind set when it comes to your retail? How can you make over your retail to restore it to the place of prominence it deserves to be, and the level of profit that you need it to be? If you have thousands of dollars and a significant amount of floor space tied up in retail that isn’t moving, should you be carrying the retail that you are carrying? Should you be carrying retail at all, or would that space become more profitable by being converted to service? Are you ready to completely re-think your retail? What have you done to show your clients that you have so much more to offer than the local drug store or mass retail outlet? And what are you doing to make sure that you actually do have more to offer? If you are losing ground in retail profits to diversion as well as to the competition of other retailers, maybe it’s time to re-think what your product is.

June Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
National Candy Month, Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, Sun Safety Week, Auto Service Professional’s Week, ‘Meet a Mate’ Week, National Go Barefoot Day, National Yo-Yo Day, Best Friend’s Day, Smile Power Day, Fresh Veggies Day, Father’s Day, Swim a Lap Day, Sunglasses Day


July – Make Over Your Merchandising
Why are your customers buying their hair, skin and makeup products at the drug store? Because you did not tell them what was special about the products that you used—you remember, those products you spent thousands of dollars to obtain and invested hundreds of hours to learn how, when and why to use them. They are at the drug store because they don’t know. They don’t know, because no part of their customer experience was specially-designed to make them consciously interact with your products. They loved the way they looked when they walked out of the salon, but they did not know the importance of the products that you used, because you did not tell them. Hoping that customers will intuitively understand how passionate you are about the professional products and tools that you use, in the absence of intentional activities and words on your part, is “accidental merchandising” at best. Non-existent merchandising might be a more accurate term.

July Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
National Parks and Recreation Month, Air Conditioning Appreciation Month, National Grilling Month, Sandwich Generation Month, Parks and Recreation Week, National Independent Retailer’s Week, World Hacky Sack Week, Second Half of the Year Day, Workaholics Day, Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day, Chocolate Day, Video Game Day, Different Colored Eyes Day, Get to Know Your Customer’s Day, Gorgeous Grandma Day, Tell an Old Joke Day


August – Make Over the Customer Perception
Perceived value rises steeply when what you have is (1) strongly desired, (2) in short supply or available for a limited-time only, and (3) for which there are few comparable substitutes. Obviously, there are many options within any given community for common, basic salon or spa services, and hundreds of options for consumers when it comes to professional products, so how you increase the perceived value that clients assign to your products and services?

August Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Back-to-School Month, Family Fun Month, Back-to-School Market, National Eye Exam Month, National Golf Month, National Night Out, National Smile Week, Weird Contest Week, Work Like a Dog Day, Wiggle Your Toes Day, Book Lover’s Day, Kiss and Make Up Day, Relaxation Day, National Radio Day, Second Hand Wardrobe Day, Just Because Day


September – Make Over Your Communications
It is not enough to ensure client-centric experiences in the chair; you have to view every client touch point through the eyes of clients and prospects, including your communications. While some salons and spas have multiple channels of communication open to and from customers, some have yet to build channels out beyond use of the telephone and in-salon signage. Whether you need to simply tweak existing communications or make them over completely, it should be comforting and exciting to know that it has never been easier, faster, or less expensive to communicate with your clients and prospects—anywhere in the world they might be! How do you prioritize your marketing investments when it comes to limited resources like time and money? How do you construct communications that work to reinforce not only your message of the moment, but also your brand? First, you need to be aware of all of the tools available to you. Then, just as you choose certain tools to complete specific styles for clients, you need to decide which communications tools you will use based on the specific campaign, overall marketing goals or business problems you want to address.

September Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Classical Music Month, National Piano Month, Fall Hat Month, Better Breakfast Month, Pet-themed Promotions and Events, Man and Beast Grooming Package, Shelter Me, Food ‘N’ Shelter, Retail Opportunities, Pet Owner’s Paradise, Pictures, National Assisted Living Week, Build a Better Image Week, Read a Book Day, Swap Ideas Day, Fortune Cookie Day, National Play Dough Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Punch Day, World Gratitude Day, Business Women’s Day, Ask a Stupid Question Day, National Mud Pack Day, Healthy Aging Month


October – Make Over Your Events
Holding events is a natural way to enhance business in the salon or spa to entice and reward customers for being part of your community, as a means of gaining new referrals and contacts, and in order to bring clients to a more deeper level of engagement with (and loyalty to) your business. While most salon and spa owners want to hold events, some are truly too busy to properly plan and execute events, some do not understand the advance work needed, and others misgauge customer interest, lack necessary resources or space, cannot get employee ‘buy in,’ or simply come up with a great idea at the wrong time or with too little time to execute—any one of which can seriously undermine the potential for success of any event.

October Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, Clergy Appreciation Month, Long Range Planning Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Color a World Without Cancer, Customer Service Week, Massage Therapy Week, Do Something Nice Day, Come and Get It Day, Be Bald and Be Free Day, Universal Music Day, It’s My Party Day, Cookbook Launch Day, Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day, National Boss’s Day, Evaluate Your Life Day, Make a Difference Day, iPod Day, Mother-In-Law Day, Animal Lover’s Day, National Popcorn Poppin’ Month, Candy Corn Day, Halloween


November – Make Over Your Network
If you have not done so already, it is time to start thoughtfully identifying and persuading other businesses to partner with you for marketing on a regular basis. It’s time for you to begin to help advocate for and give support to one or two community service organizations or charities on a regular basis. It’s time to join your city’s civic and political institutions. It’s time for you to begin to make your presence known to local leaders and for you to plug in to your city government so that you can influence the laws, regulations and taxes that will impact your business for years to come. It is time for you to participate in groups with other local business leaders for networking, brainstorming, problem solving, inspiration and personal development. Partnering with other businesses for shared marketing and events makes sense. When you cross market with other businesses, you extend your marketing reach by hundreds (if not thousands) more prospective clients at a very low cost. Your business now has a lot (more) to offer other businesses in return for the additional exposure and marketing reach that they can provide for you.

November Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
Military Family Appreciation Month, Holiday Season, National Jewelry Month, Inspirational Role Model Month, National Hunger and Homeless Week, National Game and Puzzle Week, Sandwich Day, Men Make Dinner Day, Parents as Teachers Day, Area Code Day, Loosen Up Lighten Up Day, Clean Your Refrigerator Day, Beautiful Day, Shopping Reminder Day, Humane Society Day, Flossing Day, Beating the Holiday Blues, Cyber Monday


December – Make Over the New Year
To make over the (next) New Year, you need to do something that you are probably well-suited to do. As a professional in the salon or spa, you are already creative and already a believer in the power and necessity of continuing education. You already believe in yourself and your ability to build something special in the pursuit of practicing your art. You have a vision not only of the business that you can build, but also the good that it can enable you to do. To make over your next New Year (and the next, and the next) will take all of these things that you already believe in, and something more.

December Marketing, Event and Promotion Ideas for:
National Bingo Month, Holiday and New Year Parties, Write a Friend Month, Cookie Cutter Week, National Handwashing Week, It’s About Time Week, Build Business… with what’s right over your head, Santa’s List Day, Bathtub Party Day, Mitten Tree Day, Poinsettia Day, Bake Cookies Day, Make Up Your Mind Day, Out with the Old, In with the New