Jill’s “Business of the Week” strategy is a great idea! I am very excited to try this technique. I have spent the last couple of evenings figuring out which businesses to choose for the next few weeks and working on getting the letters made up for the poster. Then I can drop it off at the store I chose to be the first” Business of the Week.” This tip comes at a great time for our salon too. We have a nail technician moving back after being in another state for the last two years. She has a very loyal following that I have been servicing since she moved away. I know that many will be overjoyed that she is back and book their next service with her. She is starting next week and this will undoubtedly help to fill her books as well as replenish mine. I will keep you updated on how this is working for us over the next couple of weeks.

As for some of the business builders that I have tried in the past, I think the promotion that gave me the most varied results was a “buy one full set of nail enhancements and get the second set free.” The first person had to pay for both and she had to book her first fill appointment at the time of the full set application. I did this when I first moved to the area I live in now. Remember, this is the town where I knew no one, not a single person. So I had no way of starting a referral program with friends or acquaintances. I had rented a booth at a small full-service family salon and had to try anything to get my name out there.

I made a sandwich board with the promotion on it and put it out on the street next to the salon. This promotion did bring a lot of people in to the salon; however, I got a lot of coupon-shoppers who had the enhancements put on at half price and scheduled their first fill and then either no-showed or canceled on the day of the appointment. That was very frustrating for me. It wasn’t all bad though; I still have some of the clients that originally came to me to get their nails done from that promotion several years later.

— Sandy