“My website coupons are the most profitable advertising I do,” says Shari Finger, owner of Finger’s Nail Studio in W. Dundee, Ill. “They’re great because I don’t have to mail them or print them. I don’t even need to find the customer, the customer finds me!” Finger offers new customers an incentive — $5 off or a free bottle of polish — to give the salon a try. “Almost every new customer comes in with one,” says Finger. This newcomers’ discount is also available to clients who haven’t been there in six months.

Finger also offers a $10-off “old timers” coupon that can be used by regular clients every six months. “This coupon is double the dollar amount of the new customer coupon because I want my regulars, who are my bread and butter, to know they are just as important, or even more important, than the new customer,” says Finger. ”After all, it costs a lot less to keep a customer than find a new one. The other thing the old-timers’ coupon does is bring my regular customer to my site where I can educate them and tempt them with new services and products.”

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