Salon Superstars – Inner Circle Member of the Week, Susan Vincent – USA

by Greg Milner on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

If more so-called ‘business leaders’ took some lessons from fleet-footed business owners at the small end of town, like Inner Circle member Susan Vincent of Body & Soul Day Spa in Staunton, Virginia, the US might not be wallowing in its own economic misery.

Unlike the CEOs of big, fat companies bailed out by the taxpayer, Susan didn’t ‘know it all’ – she sought – and found – the money-making templates and tools in the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit® and USED them:

“As of June 2009, with the recession in full force, we are still experiencing a 20% growth rate – we couldn’t be happier!”

Susan joined the Inner Circle program and got her Toolkit nearly two years ago, and immediately embraced its no-nonsense style of direct marketing, advertising, salon/spa marketing plans and sales strategies. But importantly, she did it with a pulse, and used it as a spur to seek more knowledge about the whole world of direct response.

“Although the recession hasn’t hit us like it has in some parts of the US, the community here has embraced that (recession) mindset.

“This has created a very difficult environment for such a small spa. A couple of years ago, a Dan Kennedy mentor of mine recommended that I start a print newsletter. He knew I was a write and encouraged me to write about my life in the newsletter. I really thought he was nuts. After all, email was the rage.

“Why would anyone want to read a print newsletter? But more to the point, why would anyone want to read about my boring life? Turns out, he was spot on.

“A year after the newsletter’s debut, we grew 35%. Our clients raved about it. They loved the funny, inspirational stories I wrote, much to my surprise. But it wasn’t just that.

“I combined the newsletter stories with great offers. Worldwide Salon Marketing helped me to understand how to craft an offer and combine a killer guarantee to increase sales.”

In fact, so successful has Susan’s monthly newsletter proven to be for her spa, she’s about to launch a ‘done-for-you’ newsletter service for other beauty businesses. She’ll do almost all the writing for you, with a couple of gaps to use for your own offers, and all you’ll have to do is get it printed and mailed.

The fine details are being ironed out over the next few weeks. We’ll let you know when it’s ready to go.

FOR INNER CIRCLE MEMBERS: You’ll find easily-adapatable Newsletter Templates in the Members Only ‘sealed section’, downloadable in Microsoft Publisher format so you edit them, print ‘em, and send ‘em out.

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.