Gayla Rottering of Get Nailed by Gayla in Paducah, Ky., says it’s photos and plenty of them that make her clients more adventurous and give them new ideas about polish shades and designs. As a form of cheap and profitable advertisement, Rottering cuts out nail-related photos from magazines and displays them in low- priced frames around the salon wherever she can fit them in. The nail designs — from tame and natural to wild and gaudy — grace shelves and walls, and stand among polish and nail art displays. “I change the photos frequently,” says Rottering, “particularly if a new color or fashion trend emerges.” Her masterpiece is a large nail-motif collage made out of words and pictures cut from trade magazines. “You would be surprised at how many people don’t know what a French manicure is,” says Rottering. “All I do is point to the picture, and clients can simply point to what kind of nails they want, instead of trying to describe them.” This practice has greatly increased her revenue from nail art and retail polish sales, she reports. “I’ve had walk-ins come over and make appointments to have their nails look like a certain picture on display,” she says.

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