With the economic downturn of the past several years and continued slow consumer spending projected to last for the foreseeable future, beauty industry professionals have seen clients extend the time between routine salon services by an additional two weeks (or more) and an increasing number of clients are doing their own hair color and purchasing more hair and skin care products from retail stores. In the spa segment the disparity between the old normal and the new normal is even greater. * How can new stylists and estheticians carve out clientele as they launch their career? * What can industry professionals at any stage of their career do to create a new normal that transcends economic factors? * What should they be doing to take control of their business, growth of their client base, retail sales and income? With so few books available specifically written for this industry, 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa is especially relevant to the owner, manager or individual professionals within the industry whether they want to revitalize their business or are just launching their career. The health and future of salon and spa professionals depends upon reinstating their role as experts, creating a bigger role for themselves in the lives of their clients, and a more present, influential role for their business within their communities. You can evolve the salon or spa into a social, tribal site for clients that blurs the lines between their service appointments and their social, professional and family lives.
About the Author: Elizabeth Kraus is the owner of Be InPulse branding, marketing and design and the author 365 Days of Marketing, Make Over Your Marketing and 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa. Elizabeth has worked with distributors, manufacturers and salons and spas in the professional beauty industry since 2004. This 360 degree exposure has given her the unique ability to write for salon and spa (as well as small business in general) with a depth of understanding about the challenges faced by professionals in the beauty industry. Elizabeth says, "Everything is marketing. To build a strong business requires that you become aware that your 'brand' (everything that people believe to be true about you or your business) is being built and enhanced -- or damaged -- in the minds of clients and prospects, each and every time they come into contact with you or with any aspect of your business. "Since people's perceptions about your business (and you) are being influenced at every touch point, it's vital for the business owner to think through the customer experience from beginning to end, from the first possible point of contact or exposure through the appointment itself, to what will happen afterward. "Developing a more holistic approach, analyzing and taking control of all of the many variables that might occur gives the business owner the opportunity to design a truly exceptional and exceptionally satisfying customer experience." For more information, visit www.12monthsofmarketing.com.