Things that successful salon owners do…

by Greg Milner on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

When I was a kid in high school, I had a grumpy teacher called ‘Erpy’ Prince who didn’t actually like teaching.

We all knew this because Erpy would open his weekly lesson by declaring

“99% of all the world’s knowledge is contained in books. Therefore, read.”

And for the remainder of the lesson, he wouldn’t say another word as he wandered around the classroom ready to pounce on any teenage boy who dared look up from his book. I’ve always loved reading, so this was no chore for me. But it was for many in my class, and judging by what I hear from salon owners to this day, an aversion to reading is distressingly common.

Last week I was interviewing an applicant for Inner Circle membership when she spoke the words that strike fear into my heart every time I hear them.

They came in response to a question I always ask in these interviews: “What have you ever done to educate yourself about business, and how it works?”

The answer was pretty typical among therapists and stylists in the beauty industry.

“Well, I don’t actually read much.”

Despite having heard this lament hundreds of times, I’m still shocked by it.

Most (no, not all) owners of salons & spas have come ‘up through the ranks’, by being a technician first, then deciding it’s time they became a business owner. They’ve accepted that being a technician requires months and sometimes years of training.

Yet somehow this need for training and education doesn’t apply to the discipline of owning and running a business. Beats me. So most stylists and beauty therapists aren’t great readers. But with modern technology, there is absolutely zero excuse these days for not educating yourself.

Okay, so you don’t read. But you can sit in your car and listen, can’t you?

It’ll come as a surprise to many that iTunes is not simply an online store delivering head-banging music to pimply teenagers. You can now buy (cheaply) any number of audio books by some of the most famous names in business and marketing today.

I only live a short distance from the office, so I get about 5 minutes of listening time on the way to and from work each day. But I spend a lot of time on planes.

So instead of lugging a collection of bulky books on this week’s 10-hour ride to Brisbane and back, I loaded up my iPhone with audio books downloaded straight from iTunes.

Here’s a partial list of the audio books on my iPhone:

‘Made to Stick’ by brothers Dan and Chip Heath, a wonderful story about some of the world’s greatest marketing exercises. It’s a fascinating examination of what makes some ideas memorable and ‘sticky’, while others fade into oblivion.

‘Mastering the Art of Selling’ by Tom Hopkins, one of the world’s top sales authors. So you hate the idea of ‘selling’. Listen to this and you’ll realise how dumb the fear of selling is. After all, we LOVE to buy stuff. Somebody has to sell it first.

‘Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires’ by Brian Tracy

‘Selling the Invisible – a Field Guide to Modern Marketing’ by Harry Beckwith.

‘Why We Want You to be Rich’ by Donald Trump and Robert Kyosaki.

And that’s just to name a few. No, it’s not as good as reading it in a book. You can’t scribble notes and use a highlighter pen on an audio book. But it’s better than wasting your driving or flying time listening to airheads like Britney Spears.

There, I’ve written enough. And for those who don’t like to read, far too much.

FOOTNOTE: before you flood my in-box with accusations I’m slinging off at the average beauty professional, this article does not apply to you. Well, you read this far, didn’t you?

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.