Increase Your Revenue from Online Marketing
Jeff and I have been learning about online, as well as offline marketing, for years now. We have gone to several seminars, including the Dan Kennedy’s GKIC’s Fast Implementation Boot Camp in Chicago, IL last year.
Here is what we learned from Dave Dee, one of Dan Kennedy’s most successful students.
You can use direct response to increase your clicks…
1) Use Active Verbs. Many businesses will create a link and write something like, “This week’s specials” or “Calendar of Events”. Instead trying putting an action verb at the beginning…”Find out what this week’s specials are here” and “Explore our calendar of events.”
2) Add urgency. Give them a reason to respond right now. While you don’t want every email or social media post to be promotional, using urgency when you are doing a promotion is really effective. You can accomplish this in many ways including using a limited-time offer, scarcity, or a fast action bonus.
3) Make offers. One of Dan Kennedy’s Direct Response Rules is to always make offers. Look at ways you can incorporate offers into more of your online activities. Offer the first ten people that post a comment on your blog post a copy of the template you mention in your post. Or offer a free webinar on the topic you discussed in your email in your P.S.
We strongly believe that you need to combine different marketing venues for your business (online, offline, old and new marketing techniques) and that no two businesses are truly alike.
Take some time and look around the Salon Marketing 365 website for many more online and offline marketing ideas.
Our tips are geared for Salons and Spas, but will work for any other business just as well.
Give us a call at 320.961.4732 or visit our contact page if you have questions or want to hear more about the many ways we can help your business grow online and increase your revenue from online marketing.
Quirky Business Card Designs
The 10 Best Designs and creative ideas for a business card, they don’t just have to be plain pieces of card in your wallet!
- At number one is the Flow Yoga Business Card, at flow yoga they offer the best in yoga treatments to give you a great relaxing experience. Their creative business card rolls up like a real yoga mat.
- At number two is the quirky idea of a miniature comb with a print of the business on it. This is a groovy business card designed for a rock and roll hair salon in Rome. It’s extremely clever design even plays a rock tune if you run your fingernail against the comb.
- At number three is an advertisement for a stationary company. The clever card comes equipped with a drum skin and pencils shaped like drumsticks. Create your very own beat wherever you are.
- Elixia, a health and Wellness group are able to show their creativity skills in their business card. A clever and interesting way to advertise.
- Dr Al is a dentist; his business card includes a set of teeth cut into the bottom with dental floss through them. Clean and creative!
- Choko La is a chocolate company. This is not like any ordinary business card, in fact if you were to see this on a desk you would probably throw it in the rubbish. Not to say it isn’t good though, it’s a wonderfully creative idea acting as a sweet wrapper. When the wrapper is opened however you will come across the company’s information. Chocolate and advertising what more could you want?
- At seven is a business card for a company which sells cleaning products, it is printed on a real sponge and is small enough to keep in a wallet.
- Next is a business card for a roofer. The design is fairly simple inside however the outside resembles a roof when stood upright.
- This is a business card for Levin Tahmaz, a personal trainer who helps you to get fit. His business card features a large figure that can be peeled off to reveal a toned figure. Motivation is clearly the key.
- At ten there is the graphic designer Jose Antonio Contreras and his fun little business card. If you want to find out the name details and number of the company you will need to complete a word search. Of course if you aren’t very good at word searches then the answers can always be located on the back.
Author Bio:
Jake is extremely interested in anything to do with businesses and techniques that will help improve a business. He is particularly interested in business cards and cheap business cards.
Do you have unique looking business cards for your Salon? How do you make your salon stand out from the rest? Please share.
5 Ways to help advertise your business
In order for your business to be recognized by potential customers and increase growth you need to make sure you are advertising your business.
The first thing that pops into people’s minds when they think advertising is cost.
It is true that some advertising methods can be very costly but others are low cost and some are even free!
So rather than forking out for those expensive advertising methods such as billboards or posters on the side of a bus why not try these low cost ways of advertising:
- Sign up to social networking sites: Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a great way to advertise your business. On Facebook you can create a company page where you can advertise your products and services to potential customers. You can also build and create vital relationships between you and your clients in order to gain trust and recognition. It is also a great way to share with your customers any deals, offers or information you may have on new stock. Twitter allows you to create an account where you can gain followers keeping them updated on what’s going on in the business. Both of these social networking sites allow your followers to then comment and give you feedback on your produce so that you can carry on improving and expanding to meet the needs of your clientele. Other social networking sites include LinkedIn and Google Plus+.
- Start Blogging: Blogging is a time consuming way of advertising but it works, not only is blogging free but it also helps to increase traffic to your website. A blog is a fantastic way of bringing in new clients especially if it is updated regularly and the information provided is informative and correct. People begin to trust and respect those who provide good quality information that can solve their problems.
- Networking: Networking is a great way to advertise your business as well as meet other people from other businesses. The idea is that you can help others to gain custom for their business and in return they will help you. If for example they know someone who is looking for a particular product in your area then they can direct them to you and vice versa.
- Pay Per Click Adverts: In other words you can put up an advert for free say on Google Ads but you only pay for it every time someone clicks on your Ad. This is a good way to monitor how many people are interested in what you have to offer, how many of them click on your ad and also how many people place an order. And by using PPC methods if no one clicks on your ad you haven’t lost any money and you can use your budget elsewhere.
- Flyers and Free Samples: Everyone loves a free sample; whether it is a keyring or some customized mints they seem to draw in a lot of attention. A good place to hand out free samples is at expositions where there are many other companies who may be interested in the products and services you offer. You can also hand out flyers and cheap business cards that clearly state your company name and details. Business cards and flyers can be handed out almost anywhere making it an excellent way of spreading word about your business. It is however important that you make them stand out from the rest in order to interest people and stop them from throwing them away. They don’t have to expensive but you should aim to be inventive.
Image Source: http://pinterest.com/pin/117515871499345687/
Optimize your page to be found on Facebook
Do you want your Salon page to be more visible in Facebook Graph Search? How about helping your clients find more of what their looking for through friends and connections?
As Facebook’s Graph Search rolls out to more users over the next few weeks and months, online marketers are exploring different ways to use it.
The tips outlined below, originally written by Social Media Examier, will help you increase your exposure in Facebook Graph Search.
Facebook Graph Search
Here are four things that you can do to set your Page up for Facebook Graph Search success.
You want to prepare your Page so that it comes up more often in these searches. Currently, Facebook Graph Search’s initial search categories are a bit limited.
#1: Watch Your Category and About Section
So far it looks like mostly Place, Music, Books and Movie Pages are the biggest beneficiaries of the category classification. You can search Places by Place Type, but the interesting thing is that the Place Types don’t correspond to the Place types you can choose in the subcategories.
Make sure you have your Page listed as one of these major categories if it fits. If your Place doesn’t fit these categories, don’t worry. Just review your category to make sure you are properly classified.
But also notice the Place subcategories. Only Places have subcategories and they affect how Places come up in the Graph Search. Places can choose up to 3 Place subcategories, so make sure you are using those choices wisely.
Currently, Pages are not as easily searchable by category in Graph Search. You cannot search Pages by a company or brand type. But it’s still worth checking your category to make sure it aligns as closely as possible with your business.
Also, it’s important to fill out your About section completely with keywords. Facebook Pages are indexed in Google and so you’ll want to have your perfect keywords in your About section to improve your chances of being found. If you are just getting started with your Page, you may want to make sure you have some of your keywords in your Page name.
#2: Encourage Check-ins
Since you have a physical address and a Place Page, you want to encourage check-ins.
One of the benefits of Graph Search is that people can easily search by their friends who have been to your location (and you take advantage of the social proof). The number of check-ins are not always a factor in the ranking of search results, but the more people you have check into your place, the more likely you will come up in searches when people filter by their friends.
#3: Claim Your Place
Did you know that anyone can create a Facebook Place using his or her phone? And anyone can create a Place for your business with a phone. Unless you “claim” that Place as your own, it may just be hanging out there in Facebook space without you getting the benefit of those check-ins.
If you have your Page set up as a Place Page (this happens automatically now when you set your category as Local Business), Facebook attempts to display your Page when someone tries to check into your business.
But sometimes it isn’t displayed, and someone may unknowingly create a Place for you by checking in with his or her phone. Or they may use a slightly different spelling or business name when trying to find you, and then Facebook creates a new Place for that check-in.
You want to make sure you claim your Place so you get credit for the check-ins to take advantage of the social proof and to come up higher in the searches as mentioned in point #2.
Do a search on Facebook for your business and filter the results by Place. Also search for your business on your mobile phone when you are at your location to see what comes up. Then claim any Facebook Place that is yours.
#4: Encourage Tagging and Liking of Photos
Photos also come up very prominently in Facebook Graph Search. If people are searching around on photos of their friends, they may see a photo of their friend at your location or tagged by your Page.
People can also easily filter to find photos of friends by Pages they like. All of this activity helps your Page and your business to pop up in people’s minds more often.
Remember that you can’t tag personal profiles as your Page. You can only tag your personal friends on a picture or you can encourage people to tag themselves if you have a picture from an event.
Encouraging people to like pictures also helps your Page because people can easily browse by the pictures they have liked. Now you get another chance to remind them of your presence when they are looking through the pictures they have liked.
Facebook Graph Search is definitely an interesting tool. It will continue to evolve as it goes through beta, but you can start encouraging interactions such as check-ins and tagging to help your Page show up more prominently as people search.
Remember that it’s still important to post regularly and connect with people through the news feed, since not everyone will use Graph Search.
See the accompanying photos for this article here.
Learn more about the design and engineering behind Graph Search.
Let us know in the comments below what you think about Facebook, Graph Search and any suggestions you might have for other Salon and business owners.
Website Conversion for Salons
First of all, you need to understand the term “Conversion” in relation to the Internet.
A website that converts is viewed as active content (as oppose to casual content). The web content has a purpose, which is to achieve a reasonable conversion rate. The conversion rate is the number of goals achieved, divided by the number of visitors to the website. The goal of “Active” content may vary from website to website. For a services website like your Salon, a conversion may be an inquiry like your phone number or street address, for an ecommerce site it may be a sale, for a blog it may be a newsletter sign up.
The conversion funnel design
The most sophisticated form of website design for conversion rate involves a conversion funnel. This is a marketing technique where a viewer is exposed to a series of events/elements, which move him or her closer to a sale.
The technique is not a new one, as traditional advertisers have been doing it for years with the AIDA method (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). The thought process of a potential viewer must be analyzed, and each page must ponder to what the viewer is likely to think or feel. This information is used to move a viewer through the various elements, almost as if the web design were a narrative. The last element is the conversion tool, such as a newsletter signup or checkout. How you choose to structure your conversion funnel is up to you.
Below are some tips to help you design your salon website for a better conversion rate, which could all be applied to a conversion tunnel design.
Remove any barrier to a potential conversion
A big barrier is navigation. Poor navigation leads to frustration that will often cause the user to leave your website. Worse still are the occasions where a viewer has decided to purchase (convert) and cannot find the means to do so. This is one of the dangers of a poorly constructed funnel design.
A web designer will imagine that a user will only purchase at the end of the funnel. As a consequence, he or she will only put the ability to buy at the end of the funnel. If you fear that this is you, then you should make sure that a user is able to convert on every page. Have the checkout link, newsletter signup link, contact form, etc, available on every page if you must.
Start the process off-page
Run ads to increase brand awareness and post reviews of your products and services on other domains. Be prepared to receive visitors who are already amenable to purchasing from you. In these cases you will not need to market to them as hard. Consider having them enter the conversion funnel at a later stage (on a page besides the home page).
Design your site around your goal
Creating a conversion tunnel is one way of doing this, but that is just one element of your website. Apply your goal to every section/element of your website. If you have an ecommerce site that is 150 pages large, and 5 of those pages consist of your conversion tunnel, and 9 are landing pages, you can apply your goal to all 150 pages. Your landing pages can drop people off at certain points during the conversion tunnel. The other pages may simply link to or advertise your goal, with each link placing the viewer at the beginning of the conversion tunnel.
Improve your websites focus
A mess of information and design may seem useful, but it is not ideal for converting people. Casual content can afford to lack focus, since its usefulness is not relative to a specific actionable goal. A lot of the time, it comes down to either making your point, or purging elements that detract from your point.
Include images to aide conversion
This is a no brainer in many cases. It is hard to imagine a salon site without images. But consider them also when you are linking form other domains, linking internally, or trying to prove a point. Picture links have less SEO value, but we are dealing with your conversions and not your SEO, and images aide conversions.
Reduce the thinking needed to click
The popularity of big boxes and widgets that are links has grown because they are a needed part of mobile browsing. This is not a bad thing because clicking on a big box requires little thought. Now, compare this to the website that puts five text links in a list and asks you pick one (it takes some thought). Thought is good if you are trying to provoke a reaction, but if you are trying to convert someone then help them to think less (at least when it comes to using your website).
Credibility is King
This is the last point for anyone who was good enough to read this article in full. Credibility is the biggest and most important key to your conversion success, and your web design can go a long way to increasing your credibility.
- Poorly designed websites are the first credibility killer. If your website takes ages to load, is hard to navigate, has tiny text or is cramped then your credibility will evaporate.
- Websites that look like they were built by amateurs are credibility killers.
- Boxy designs with sparkly or poorly animated features and plain color backgrounds will kill your credibility.
- Too many security and association logos are a credibility killer. They are often added by fraudsters in an attempt to fool people into thinking a site is safe.
Less is more–sleek and minimalist websites are easier to trust. Cramped or over filled websites look desperate. And over promotional websites look like they offer reduced quality at a higher price.
Author bio: Korah Morrison is a writer for EssayWritingServices.com. She helps students write essays of any complexity and writes about seo, blogging, social media, internet marketing and other tips.
Image Source: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8517448155_9520b3d682.jpg
We can help you in creating a conversion funnel for your Salon website today!
Visit our contact page to learn more.
Google Plus Explained for Salons
If you use the Google search engine or have a Gmail account than you have most likely heard about and probably even used Google Plus by now.
Google Plus now includes Google Places’ local maps and it has been incorporated into Google’s search results with the +1 button. You should at least create a personal account and your Local page for your business and make sure they are complete. If you want any traffic or referrals from Google, you have to figure out how to make Google+ work for you.
Google Plus explained for Salons:
- Google+ is cool because you can add people to “circles”, and you don’t have to add people back who add you, unless you want to. This allows you to keep some privacy and separate the groups of people in your life and your business. For instance, you can post specific articles and show them only to the people in your ‘Salon Clients’ circle.
- Google’s +1 button is basically similar to the “like” button on Facebook. A +1 means you like or are adding your vote of +1 to the topic or website. The more votes you get, the higher the search rankings and the more people see your post.
- Creating your profile and a local page for your business are pretty simple. Google will guide you through the process and even auto-fill some stuff if you have an account already. Make sure you claim your local business page, because if you are in the phone book, chances are there is already a listing for you.
- Follow the instructions to add your page badge to your website. This helps Google link your account and website together and verify official pages for your business. Also, on your profile pages be sure to include links in the websites or contributor categories for all your social media accounts and websites. This helps Google link all your stuff together and it will improve the search results for your business.
- Finally, start adding people to your circles. The neat thing about circles is that you can pretty much add anyone and as many people as you want without getting overwhelmed. We recommend creating 4-5 circles to start with: Family and Friends, Clients, Leads, Acquaintances, and Team Members. That way you can share your party pics with friends and family, and salon information with your clientele. Just know that “public posts” go to everyone.
- You will need to log in and post on Google+ at least on a weekly basis to get the most out of it.
With all of the social media options available it gets overwhelming, not to mention very time consuming. You should concentrate most of your efforts on Facebook and Google Plus right now and make them an important part of your communication strategy. Just don’t forget about these other large networks like Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
A combination of content across multiple social media sites allows you to reach your clients in different ways and increase your capacity for interaction.
How to really boost your Salon Website
Are you still stuffing your salon website articles with as many keywords as possible to get high traffic and higher rankings on search engines?
If your answer is yes, then let me tell you something very important. When you just focus on keywords and not on the quality of your articles, then the desired results will most certainly elude you.
Here is how to boost your web presence by imposing quality content in your website:
- Good web copy engages your visitors and turns them into customers! At the very least it will turn them into loyal visitors who will visit your website again and again. It is very advisable to not recycle content from brochures, mission statements, other printed marketing material. The message on print material is focused on your company and not your target audience. A good salon or spa website should not just be about YOU, instead it should be about YOUR CLIENTS and how you can help them.
- Make your articles relevant to the products and services you provide. Don’t fill your articles with fluff and unnecessary information that will only end up distracting your clients. The title of your article should always be in sync with your article. For example, if your latest article is about the Spring and Summer Hair Styles, then include content that describes these styles. Arrange the write-up in a proper structure and make sure that your readers can easily find out what they are looking for.
- Be sure that your website is not mis-selling or mis-leading. Never promise anything that you can’t deliver! Remember, your website content is the platform through which you are going to communicate with your customers. Your content, may it be videos, images or text, should be closely related to what you offer. However, it’s important that you don’t go overboard with your marketing messages.
- Always keep your website content fresh and unique. Update your website with related videos, images and articles at least a couple times a month. You can write about the new products you offer, services you added, rules and regulations, etc. For example, do your hours change during the summer months? Let your customers know about it via your website before hand. The new changes will be visible immediately and your clients can make adjustments in their own schedules.
- Your website content must be informative and easy to understand. Articles and product or service descriptions should always be written in a clear and understandable way so that the facts are conveyed to your readers very easily. If your readers are not able to make out what you are trying to say, they will not stay on your page for long. This will result in increased bounce rates and ultimately a lack of business.
5 Salon Website Tips
Your website must highlight the unique features of your salon and on how the products and services you provide will benefit your customers.
This can not be accomplished by keyword stuffing. Your website will naturally rank higher in search traffic and get more traffic if you implement the tips we outlined in this ‘How to really boost your Salon Website’ article.
If you need additional website help, don’t hesitate to call us at 320.961.4732 or click here to send us an email.
We can help you to get your salon website to rank higher!
Grow your Salon business with QR Codes
What is a QR code?
Quick Response (QR) Codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can contain any alpha-numeric text and often feature URL’s that direct users to websites where they can learn about an object or place (a practice known as ‘mobile tagging’). Decoding software on such tools as camera phones and tablets interprets the codes, which represents considerably more information than a one-dimensional code of similar size.
The codes are increasingly found in places like product labels, billboards and buildings – inviting passers-by to pull out their mobile phones and uncover the encoded information. Codes can provide tracking information for products in industry, routing data on a mailing label, or contact information on a business card. Small in size, the code pattern can be hidden or integrated into an attractive image in newspaper, magazines or even clothing.
How does a QR code work?
Data can be translated into a QR code by any QR generator. Here is a link to a free QR code generator. Users simply enter the data to be translated, and the generator produces the code. This code can then be displayed electronically or in printed format.
Decoding the information can be done eith any mobile camera phone that has a QR reader, which is freely available online for most devices. Once the software is loaded, a user points the cell phone camera toward the code and scans it. The software interprets the code, and the cell phone will either display the text or ask for permission to launch a browser to display the specific web page.
How can a QR help grow your Salon business?
You can use a QR to generate interest in your Salon by leading your clients or potential Salon visitors to your Internet home page or favorite social media page like Facebook or Twitter.
Where QR codes can be used:
- Your business card
- In your Brochures
- On your personal vehicle
- On name tags
- On mirrors in your Salon
- On Sales receipts
What QR codes could link to:
- Directions to your Salon
- Valuable coupons and special offers
- Client feedback forms
- Your Salon website home page
There are many other uses for QR codes and places you can link to.
Have you used QR codes in your Salon? Please leave us a comment below and tell us how you are using QR codes.
Promote Your Business Services Online
Promoting any kind of business offline could be one of the most expensive costs as popular advertising billboards and famous TV commercials hold a large investment to market business products or services. Promoting your business online is one of the cost effective ways, and it can be done from your salon or even from the comforts of your home.
Because the ease of use and its many advantages, online promotion is increasing its popularity from day to day. To expand your local outlets and to explore your product and services, it’s important to start promoting your own business online.
These listed tips help you promote your business online:
Create a promotional blog site: Promoting your services thorough blogging is a free service and is implemented by many marketers.
Sign up for social networking sites: As social sites are extremely popular you can take advantage of them in business publications. You should include some of the popular social networking channels like Facebook, Twitter, Xanga, Digg and so on.
Write articles related to products or services: Start writing quality and informative content that is useful to your website and blog readers. You can even submit various articles on different social sites and get relevant backlinks to your site.
Use quality images: Including attractive and relevant images and putting a backlink to your website can bring lots of traffic to your site.
Make use of targeted keywords: While writing articles on blogs or for other sites to get backlink, be careful in choosing relevant and quality keyword. Research well in identifying target keywords and use them in your business promotions.
Make use of free online tools: There are many free online tools that help in promoting your business products or services online.
Here are some tips to promote your salon online for free:
- Interact in online discussion groups
- Sign up for online press releases
- Submit your articles to directories
- Make use of affiliate programming
Are you thinking about purchasing advertising space on the web? Identify the best network, if you’re thinking of buying online advertisements and get a list of your target audience. You can even consider professionals advice to attract your target audience.
If you need help promoting your online services online click here to email us or call us at 320-961-4732.
Understanding Error 404 Pages for Salon Websites
Changes to an existing Salon website can hurt its visibility.
If you consider making the following changes, your inbound links can be broken and search engines may need to re-index your website pages.
- New page names such as contact.html instead of contact-us.html
- Removing website pages
- Domain name changes
Any potential clients and website visitors searching for the non-existing or removed pages in a search engine will land on a page with the message “Page Not Found”, this is a 404 error page. The problem isn’t the website itself, but the search engine result pages. Meaning the new pages haven’t been indexed by the search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. yet.
To avoid any confusion for your salon website visitors and potential clients we suggest making the following change.
Create a custom ‘Error 404 Page’ (see image below of the Salon Marketing Error 404 page for example).
Custom 404 Error Page
Creating a custom error page helps capture your visitors and prevents them from becoming discouraged.
A custom 404 error page that shows within your own salon’s website will keep the connection between your visitor and your brand. Your visitor will now have access to your navigational menus, sidebar and header. You should also include a search box and links of your most popular posts or featured articles. An automatic redirect to the home is also a good idea.
The 404 error page for Salon Marketing reads: Error 404 – Not Found – Sorry, the page that you are looking for does not exist. Try another search. This is followed by a search box.
We also included a line stating, “Check out some of our most post popular posts instead”. We list our three most popular articles next.
Setting up an Error 404 page for your Salon website is fairly simple, depending on your set-up. A Word Press site like the Salon Marketing website has a custom error 404 page built within the template. You can find it under ‘Appearance’ – ‘Editor’ – ’404 Template’ (404.php).
After you made the changes to your salon website’s custom Error 404 page, make sure your error page is functioning properly. Type “www.yourwebsitename.com/test” (replace “yourwebsitename” with your site’s URL) and hit enter. Review your results.
Don’t loose any more visitors or potential clients because of an Error 404 page. Be pro-active and help your visitors find their way to your salon website.
Need help setting up a custom Error 404 page for your website? Give us a call today.
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