Plan to Make 2011 Your Best Year EVER!

You've probably heard the old Proverb, "He who fails to plan, plans to fail". When you manage your own salon and spa business or even rent a booth and manage your own clientele, there are many ways to plan for success.

Planning for your business can be as much as creating a full business plan or as little as simply writing down the "Top 5" things you would like to accomplish in your salon or spa business by the start of 2012.

It is impossible to make EVERYTHING in your business better all at once, so choosing one thing to make PERFECT is a great place to start. The "one thing" you choose should be a revenue-generating feature in your business which for most salons and spas is services or retail.

If you need ideas on where to focus in your business or how to get started, I whole-heartedly recommend you start with Carol Phillips begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting and BeauteeSmarts. I believe Carol provides the BEST retail and business management training in the industry that is both affordable and accessible - even to booth renters!

I read Carol's book, "In The Bag: Selling in the Salon" almost 15 years ago. Even now, it remains the SALON AND SPA selling BIBLE. Learning from Carol and implementing the many ideas in her training, changed my life as a professional service provider and salon owner. My business increased tremendously. I only wish there would have been CD's and DVD's at that time to make it easy to review all of the great material she provides.

Popular class titles like "A Year's Worth of Business Builders", "Low Cost / No Cost Marketing", and "10 Ways to Get Your Staff to Sell" are full of techniques you can put to work in your salon or spa business the very next day. A highly in-demand speaker, Carol's practical insights and easy to implement ideas will increase your retail and service business sales - GUARANTEED!

In the last year, I have had the privilege of meeting Carol and I have seen first-hand how she continues to have a true passion for helping each individual beauty professional succeed - just like we do at VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas.

To have your BEST YEAR EVER, I encourage you to purchase any of Carol's training materials that appeals to you. Buy them for yourself and your staff - YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUR RESULTS!

TO BEGIN SHOPPING, GO TO: www.beauteesmarts.com/xcart

Who is Carol Phillips? To read her professional bio, CLICK HERE

Salon and Spa Social Media

Social Media has a valuable place in a service business marketing mix and I have no doubt social media tools are here to stay, but in my business, we're also seeing a bit of the "BUZZ" wear off for Salon and Spa professionals.

It is true that Facebook and Twitter can help you communicate with and inform many people of news in a single click of the mouse, but too many times, I'm seeing a Salon or Spa using this new media only for "couponing" their services. Filling last minute cancellation with a tweet or post is very cool, but continual service discounting offers can hurt your reputation with existing full-price clientele.

Just like I teach in our business management forums, I'd rather see promotions like a product "gift with purchase" type of offer that adds extra value when a client pays for a service. I recommend professionals always use these marketing tools for product-centric savings that will drive an immediate response from clients and build product sales for the future. For example: An offer like "Buy one regular price - get one 50%" can significantly increase retail sales. In my experience, if a client goes through two bottles of a product - they are usually hooked and will be back for more. Or better yet, I've seen this promotion do even more to build future sales when the client is required to buy a product they've never purchased before as their 50% savings selection.

When I owned my salons, I learned quickly that there were only so many hours a day to do services and focusing on building a loyal product buying clientele was a great way to increase revenues. Once I figured out how to do that, I focused all of my Salon and Spa promotions around retail products to expand our number of product purchasing clients.

I never made a cent from a service client unless a service was performed, but I made a bit of profit with each product sold. There is time involved in the first sale of a product, but repeat sales do not typically require service time. Multiply this effect across your clientele and you may be surprised at how much money can be made if you stopped discounting services and focused on product promotions.

From my perspective, one of the great things about this rush to social media has been the way that it has opened a dialogue with Salon and Spa professionals about how using technology tools can be very effective for service providers.

These "broadcasting" tools can be great, but every salon and spa professional should be implementing online business management with day-to-day business-building tools like the automated and on-demand email marketing available in VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas.

Everything from appointment confirmations and reminders to our "Thank You's" and "We've Missed You" email provide the opportunity for you as a service professional to offer custom product-centric promotions and make a closer digital media connection with each of your clients.

I will be excited to watch for creative new promotions via Facebook and Twitter. If you come up with a great product promotion share your success with me and our subscribers on our Facebook page.

Results: Testing VirtualSalons & VirtualSpas App with Cloud Browse on iPhone 4

We spent several hours with Cloud Browse using the 99cent download version of the app from the iTunes App store. Here are hints and tips based on our experiences:

1. The 99cent download provides you access to 3-5 minute sessions on the iPhone or iPad to our application. We found this to be ample time to log-in take a look at an individual professional's schedule and make an appointment or check a client record. We never had a session cut out on us in the middle of performing a process, but the browser session did time out after 3-8 minutes displaying an offer for a subscription for unlimited access browsing sessions. The monthly subscription is $6.99 per month.
2. Cloud Browse appears to work by streaming content to the iPhone or iPad through a browser technology that has flash-player embedded.
3. The free version will suffice for quick schedule reviews or performing quick tasks, but to manage a business online daily through the iPhone or iPad, a subscription would be more convenient.
4. When using the 99cent download version, we suggest that you log-in at www.VirtualSalons.com or www.VirtualSpas.com rather than the home page of the online application because those URL's are easier to remember and shorter to type into the address bar. The "free" version access does not allow for bookmarking.
5. System performance was a bit slower than on a desktop or laptop, but overall speed was good whether we were using a 3G network or tapped into the Wi-Fi connection. They were about the same. Of course, this can vary regionally, time of day and which mobile service you have.
6. On the iPhone, we found that using the Zoom View for individual professionals in the Salon/Spa account was the best way to get in and make appointments rather than attempting to use the View Schedules screen where you can load multiple calendar columns in one screen.
7. It also seemed that many functions and drop downs that require only one click of the mouse in the application were requiring two clicks or a second try. (Although that happened mostly only to me and could have been caused by my fingernails)

We want to hear from our subscribers as you are working with Cloud Browse and accessing your account on iPhone or iPad. Please email your feedback to support@virtualsalons.com.

Mobile technologies are experiencing the same growing pains we experienced with early Internet connectivity. Mobile carriers are scrambling to try to get 3G and 4G networks to be reliable and Smartphone manufacturers are working to make devices flash-enabled. We are monitoring this technology struggle on a daily basis and want to continue to provide unparalleled value and service as we work to optimize our technology for mobile use.

Follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter to get regular updates on mobile progress and to be notified when our iPhone video demo comes online.

New technologies and third party companies are popping up everyday to enable Flash on Apple devices and the majority of Android models are now being shipped with Flash-Player pre-installed. For an updated list on Flash-enabled devices including Smartphones, Tablets and Digital Home Devices go to:

Dermalogica: Leading the "FITE" for women entreprenuers worldwide - Please Join

I'd like to invite you to read an amazing article about Dermalogica's role in helping found and facilitate "FITE" (Financial Independence Through Entreprenuership).

FITE is a global empowerment platform powered by Kiva.org, the nonprofit leader in microfinance, that is designed to foster Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship for women in the developing world.

I first discovered Kiva at a tech conference last year and have to say that I was very moved by their passion and genius. Dermalogica has taken it to the next level by bringing this opportunity into mainstream retail and it is very exciting! Please read and JOIN FITE

Jet Rhys Salon: Why use VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas?

SWITCH & SAVE - Get money back for your old software

One of the most common things we hear at VirtualSalons and VirtualSpas from potential clients is that they would love to switch to our system, but they have so much money invested in old software (or systems they hate) that it is hard to justify making a change. You don't have to be a hostage any longer...

WE HAVE A SOLUTION: For a limited time*, we are offering to return ALL of the money you've previously invested in business management software.

Whether you bought a software program 10 years ago for $15,000 or if you've recently signed up for another online service that you hate, you can get all of that money back.

LEARN MORE >>


* This offer applies to BOTH Independent Contractor / Booth Renters and Salon & Spa subscriptions created through January 31, 2011.