Those who are successful in business are the people who seek the gaps.
Not copy or one-up anybody, but find the opportunities that nobody else takes advantage of.
One of the best examples? Small Business Saturday.
And while the days of blow dry parties and cramming clients into your salon for a champagne toast and cookies may still be on hold for many, you can still celebrate small businesses like you and take advantage of local network marketing.
How? In today’s post, we’re sharing our top two strategies to make the most of Small Business Saturday.
What is Small Business Saturday?
Started by AmEx in 2010, Small Business Saturday is dedicated to remembering and celebrating small local businesses and their impact on the community.
It encourages locals to skip the big box stores and head to small businesses to pick up holiday gifts or even to just do their Saturday shopping.
The big Small Business Saturday trap stylists fall into
Your wheels probably started to spin when you saw Small Business Saturday. Maybe you celebrated before and want to do a big retail sale or 20% off blow-dries. But that is forced marketing or “hope and pray” marketing. You hope and pray your promotion is good enough to drive a consumer to take an action they wouldn’t normally.
But it’s a big ask for a mom to come in on a Saturday to get 15% off shampoo. She has a thousand other places to be on Black Friday weekend, yet you’re banking that your retail sale is good enough to get her to go out of their way to come into your shop.
If you’ve tried to do Small Business Saturday like that before, it was dead, right? Or maybe you sold 15 extra bottles of shampoo, but you would’ve sold those bottles anyway. And if you didn’t do anything special to retain those new people as guests, it’s a lost opportunity and a ton of work for little payout.
How do you cash in on this as a stylist?
It all comes down to one big question: In the long haul, do you want to sell more retail or get more clients?
It’s a no-brainer, right? More clients because retail is mostly a secondary source of income. (People only need so much shampoo.) Skip the buy two get one promos and the 20% off retail signs because a retail-based Small Business Saturday promotion won’t get you ahead if you want to get more clients in your chair.
Instead, think of how you can support your fellow local business owners, build up your network, and even expand your clientele. Game changer, right?
Strategy #1: Do a heart-centered give back to 10 local small businesses.
The heart-centered give back is exactly that: taking time to celebrate other businesses in your community.
Consider which businesses you could partner with that you would like to know more, give you the most target market clients, or who have employees/clients that would be a good fit for your business. Maybe a local coffee shop that your target market loves or a clothing boutique whose staff is your dream client.
Here’s how to make it happen
Got your list of 10? It’s time to decide your budget. There’s no right or wrong answer, just what works for you and your business.
Once you have your total budget, divide it by 10 to get a sense of how much you can spend on each business. If you have $20 per, maybe it’s a little more low key. If you have $200 each, you can go a little bigger. Keep in mind how many employees each business has. Is it the owner behind the cash register 24/7? Or does she have an amazing team of 10 supporting her?
Next, decide what to give each business. Based on your budget, create a gift basket (or gift bags if there’s more than one employee per business) that’ll make their jaws drop. Maybe a nice shampoo or conditioner duo with a gift card. For a more budget-friendly option, put in two candies, plus a gift card in a clear cellophane bag.
The gift card is where the magic happens because if you can get them to come in and retain them for cut and color services, you’ll come out with thousands of dollars on the other side. The trick is to keep the card’s value less than the cost of a service. So if your haircut’s $25, the gift card should be $15 off.
It doesn’t need to be free to get them in the door but strong enough to make somebody consider taking that leap of faith to sit in your chair.
Strategy #2: Host a testimonial contest
This is an amazing way to get testimonials all over social media, but keep in mind that it only works generally only this time of year and if you do email marketing.
Here’s how it works
Send an email to your list the Monday before Small Business Saturday announcing the testimonial contest and then dig into the details.
The details are up to you, but here’s the basics: If they share a photo of work you’ve done (like a selfie or video testimonial) on their profiles with a caption telling how much they’ve loved working with you and tag you in, they could win a service gift certificate. Make sure the email includes when (and how) you’re announcing the winner.
You could even have criteria about what they need to share to enter—maybe tagging the location of your salon and your Instagram profile to enter?
The best thing about this contest is there is no better sales and marketing pitch than a client telling their friends and followers how amazing you are.
Small Business Saturday is the perfect time to build up your network, increase your trust factor online (download the free Hair Stylist Success Hourglass Guide to learn more!), and celebrate other small businesses in your local community.
Essentially, it’s a win-win for any salon professional…and with a little planning, you can take advantage of this incredible opportunity!
And to make your Small Business Saturday even easier this year, we’ve got a free download for you. Click the button below to get your free Small Business Saturday planner!