Worldwide Salon Marketing

I get (hate) mail….

by Greg Milner on 10/02/09 at 12:52 am

Well, hate phone calls anyway….In advertising circles, it’s said that if your ad doesn’t upset somebody, you haven’t pushed the outside of the envelope far enough.

Seems I’ve upset somebody.

In a late-2008 issue of the Success Strategies newsletter I used for instructional purposes a couple of typically-lousy beauty industry magazine ads to point out why most such advertising is a dismal waste of money.

You can read that piece and see the ads I criticized here.

That criticism clearly put a burr under somebody’s saddle. Took a call today from a lady who wasn’t from one of the salons whose ads I had a crack at, but nevertheless took it upon herself to defend the nice people who own those salons, and how dare I single them out for such harsh treatment/I’m going to take this up with the ‘industry people’ (whoever they are) blah blah blah.

*Sigh*. First, the ads were lousy. Second, they are in the public arena – in other words, they had already been published in magazines – so it’s not as if I was betraying a secret. Third, when your material is in the public arena, expect it to be criticized. It’s not defamation, it’s fair comment.

And fourth, if you’re marketing your business, you need to have skin thick enough to withstand criticism. Otherwise, don’t advertise.

Finally, my critique of these ads was instructional, valid, and for those who took notice about how not to waste money on branding-style advertising, hopefully illuminating.

As for upsetting somebody, I‘ll take that on the chin. My goal in life is to stop salon owners wasting money on ‘pretty‘, ineffective advertising, and start using advertising and marketing that might not look glossy and lovely, but gets results.

For some, that means joining the Inner Circle program. For others, who obstinately resist educating themselves on ‘my‘ kind of advertising, who insist on doing it the way they‘ve always done – well, I‘ll keep pointing them out, niggling at them, annoying them. Maybe one day they‘ll ‘get it‘.

A post by Greg Milner The odd idea, a bit of prodding, a nudge here and there, a little fun, and the occasional dose of brutal reality. Greg is co-founder and CEO of Worldwide Salon Marketing, a writer, direct response marketing consultant, specialist marketing systems adviser and coach. He (sometimes) accepts private consulting clients.

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