There is no worse feeling in business than sitting in your home or salon with an empty appointment book, especially if you have spent money and effort on leaflets, business cards and adverts in the local press. There’s no magic formula for getting customers, but here are a few ideas to target your advertising.
Is your business based on wants or needs? Some beauty treatments are wants, such as waxing, facials and body treatments. The majority of your potential customers will not be on the lookout for these treatments as they may be getting them elsewhere or are not actively searching for you. You need to put your services on offer right under their noses, so avoid discreet adverts in your local newspaper, or expensive listings in telephone directories. Try and get a feature in your local paper such as the opening of your business. Hand out cards (perhaps with a gift, such as sweets or stickers) to people in shopping areas, and other methods that will grab their attention. Make sure everyone you know is telling everyone THEY know about your business to get word-of-mouth exposure. Use every contact you have, eg if you know someone who works in a clothes shop, ask if they can put a pile of your business cards at the till. Call up former work colleagues for a chat, and let them know what you are doing now. Offer vouchers for high street stores such as M&S when booking certain treatments.
If your business is based more on needs, such as back pain massage or laser skin treatment for birthmarks then your customers are mostly on the lookout for someone to help them. In this case, list your business in as many directories as possible, either on the web on in directories. Put your card on community noticeboards, or in doctor or hospital waiting room boards (ask permission of course!)
If your business is providing a treatment that people don’t know that they need (ie they have a problem but don’t know which treatment is for them) then you need to concentrate on advertising the benefits rather than the treatment. An advert which talks about sclerotherapy will not work, as most people don’t know what it is. However, if the advert mentions threadvein or spidervein removal then people will immediately understand what is on offer.
If you are providing a treatment that people will travel to you for, eg micropigmentation, then setting up a website is quick and easy to do. Webhosts often provide templates to set up simple pages.
If you are using a branded product or equipment, see if the manufacturers have a list of therapists and salons that provide their products or treatment and make sure you are on it. Also, most of the beauty trade associations have websites that list their members. Ensure you have submitted your details as they are often mentioned in the national press.
Remember one thing though, no advertising method is guaranteed to bring you customers. If nothing seems to be working then rethink your strategy. Unless you have a huge advertising budget or live in an area where there are no other therapists, you are not going to get customers overnight. Be patient and just keep spreading the word. It can take up to a year to get a decent customer base.
About Author
Pam Kaur runs the popular website www.beautystartup.co.uk for new beauty therapy businesses. http://www.beautystartup.co.uk
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