Don’t let downtime bring down your morale. Use the lull to accomplish projects that help you reach your long-term goals. Here are seven great ways to fill the space in your schedule:

1. Call clients who haven’t been to your salon in a while and ask them to take a short phone survey about their salon experience. Find out what would make them return. (You could conduct the survey by mail as well.)

2. Write a press release about your salon and e-mail it to local media. You should attach a few photos. (If you don’t have any current photos, this would be a great time to get that accomplished too.)

3. Skim through magazines for nail art inspiration, then make a demo nail. Prominently display the inspiration and the art at your station.

4. Meet neighboring business owners. Find out if they’d be willing to cross-promote with you. Zenka Nail Lounge in Manhattan Beach, Calif., recently partnered with a neighboring apparel store to do the nails for the store’s upcoming seasonal photo shoot. The resulting photos are being shown in both spaces.

5. Move slow-selling retail items to a more prominent location.

6. Offer your services to the hairstylists or other employees or booth renters in the salon who are also having a slow day. If it’s just you, then practice your designs in a fun-to-display way. Nail tech Michele Hoffman of Shelley’s Beauty Zone & Day Spa in Bullhead City, Ariz., makes 3-D acrylic animals on polish bottle tops.

7. Start a Facebook or Twitter page for your salon.

— Sree Roy

Coming Next Week: There’s No Such Thing as Overexposure

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