Glossy = Glamour!

When you want a REALLY eye-catching salon business card, you can't go wrong with a glossy finish. How do you get a glossy finish business card? Well when you go to order your card, splurge on the UV coating.

UV coating is an ultra-thin, plastic layer that is bonded to your business card surface. It makes that surface a lot more damage and moisture proof, but from an aesthetic standpoint, it can really add a touch of glamor to your design.

Those who are ordering double sided cards with appointment fill-in areas on the backs should get the UV coating only on the front side- it's too hard to write on.

The card shown above is already "glossy" in a way because of the highlights on the graphic. Imagine how it would sparkle with the UV coating. Add this touch to your business card designs by including the option in your cart. It only costs a few extra bucks, but you'll be thrilled with the results. If you don't have an appointment area on the back of the card, why not go all out and get the UV coating on both sides? Happy designing.

The Well Rounded (Corners) Salon Business Card

Did you know that, for a couple of extra bucks, you can add a smooth new dimension to your salon and hair stylist business cards? We're talking about rounded corners versus the old traditional square ones.

Obviously, squared corners are perfect for many business card designs, and we'll talk about that in a future post- but then there are others that would look absolutely smashing with rounded corners.

Why would anyone want to bother with getting business cards with rounded corners?

The main reason would be simple durability. When someone slips a square-cornered business card int or out of their purse or wallet, the corners tend to get bent, (because they are more narrow of course) making a dog eared effect that is less than attractive. Round cornered business cards are easily transferred without losing their crispness.

Another positive aspect about ordering your salon business cards with rounded corners is a significantly softer appearance. When your primary customer base is female and your primary business card design is very feminine, a rounded silhouette will be very complimentary. A variation on this idea is, instead of order a huge box of all the same cards, order 2 smaller boxes- one for the guys and one for the gals. Have the ladies cards rounded, and the gents cards with traditional square corners.

Finally, the obvious- so far, business cards with rounded corners are still rather unique and trendy. Show your potential clients that you're on top of the current style trends by having a salon business card that sets you apart from your competition.

Most online business card companies allow you to choose this option toward the end of the checkout process, along with your finish- matte, glossy, etc. Next time you order, consider stepping outside the norm and choose rounded corners.

When Salons (And Their Business Cards) Don't Make The Cut

Okay. Being knowledgeable about both the salon / spa business AND business cards, I've seen some real duds on both counts. I don't really need to elaborate on less-than-pleasant salons, we've all been to at least one. (Rude employees, unsanitary, too expensive, etc.). But business cards... let's complain talk about those shall we?
There's the cards that are tacky, but not in a stylish, avant-garde, kinda way... more like the tacky, tacky- tacky kinda way. They have 5 different unreadable fonts in 5 different ugly, neon colors. Sometimes they have no graphics whatsoever, or the graphics they do have are fuzzy because the original picture file was too small and they blew it up to fit.

Yes, let's talk about graphics a little more. If you're advertising a business that specializes in beautifying people, it's probably not a good idea to feature your (scary-looking) cousin (whose hair you do for free once a month because you owe them money) be featured on your card. You should use a template that already features an attractive model with great hair. Or, you can take the time to find a really nice, copyright-free picture of a model to upload to a template.

You know, cheap paper looks... cheap. It's dull, it gets wrinkles, and it smudges if you breathe on it. That's because it has no coating on it. It looks unprofessional and will make you look unprofessional. Your business cards should have at least a protective coating on the front, and if you can swing it, get the UV coating, which will keep the card looking fresh for a long time.

Plain white business cards with black text and graphics can look good, but not if the fonts and picture you use looks like you printed it on your home computer with a clip-art program from 1996. Instead, find a pre-made business card template with eye-catching graphics and matching font. Don't use a Victorian, fancy font like Vivaldi if your cards have a modern, high tech flair. You'd think that would be common sense, but I've seen it done.

Too much information can be a bad thing on a biz card. Sure, there's a lot to say, but you really don't need to say it all. If you feel that you must include a lot of info, then choose a business card template that you can edit the back of. Then, you can put anything on there you like- a map to your salon (especially if it's out of the way), a list of all the things your salon specializes in, etc.

Keep your designs simple, readable, yet classy and your cards will work hard for you- you'll get your money's worth right away. Plus, you'll never have some picky blogger making fun of your business cards. This guy does a bang-up job of making fun of business cards in general, he has some really good points.

Internet Resources for Hair Stylists & Barbers

On my last post, I mentioned how important it is to make use of internet resources available for hair stylists, barbers, and nail salons. So I think it would be a good idea to elaborate on that subject.

HairResources.com  is an entertaining & useful resource for keeping an eye on celebrity hair trends ("Can you make my hair look like Megan Fox?") Has an extensive gallery of styles along with suggestions on how to achieve certain celebrity looks. You have to navigate through some ads but otherwise a very cool site.

HairMaven.com is an interesting online hangout for stylists of all types. Aside from more practical issues, has a forum for posting interesting / weird / funny things that happen in your salon.

BusinessCardsThatWork.com is an online store that has some of the classiest and most trendy salon, barber shop, spa, and nail salon business card templates available. Simply pick out your favorite template and personalize it (you can even add your own salon logo, pics of your employees, etc.). You can choose what type of finish you want, and also whether you want the corners to be rounded.

www.blackhairmedia.com and www.blackfolkshair.com are both huge sites that have lots of resources for both clients and hairstylists. Also, www.black-barbershops.com is a supersite of info for African-American barber shops.

Here is a very nice article from Entrepreneur Magazine about starting and maintaining your own salon.


You would not believe all the great resources out there for stylists. Go over to Youtube.com and do a search on whatever hairstyle types you're interested in learning about- some really useful and entertaining videos are there- even videos about how to make Disney Princess styles, for goodness sake. What would we do if there weren't so many peeps out there who like that 15 minutes of fame? :)

Salon - Spa - Barber Shop Client-Building Quick Bits

Here are some bite-size ideas for you to consider while pondering your salon, spa, nail tech, etc advertising venues and other ways to increase client volume or enhance your current customer's experience.

1) Change decor (plants, sculpture, style books, posters, etc) a couple times a year. If I see the same magazines on the same table one year later, yuck. More points lost if it looks like they're still in the same position and covered in dust.

2) Music, please. But be careful- the wrong music or loud music can also be very aggravating. Play it safe with the Lite rock station, which is relaxing and has a little something for everyone.

3) Use free internet tools to stay on top of trends in your industry. Ever heard of GigaAlerts? Formerly known as "Google Alerts".  It can help you learn what people are searching for and talking about, and you will know about that awesome new technique or product before your competition does.

4) Join an internet forum to schmooze with your fellow stylists across the country- for instance, the Hair Boutique forums cover a jillion different topics from curly hair to African-American hairstyles.

4) Karma. It may take a while, but you get what you give. Participate in local charities and do what you can to help people, as a company/business.

5) Don't be uppity. Hey, you can be sophisticated AND personable at the same time. I can't count on one hand all the hair stylists and boutique / salon owners I've met who gave off a distinctively snooty aura. You want to give me the stink-eye while you've got your scissors to my hair? WRONG ANSWER. And if you're the owner / manager, don't let your stylists act the fool, either.

6) Get yourself some high-quality business cards and don't let one satisfied customer go out the door without one.

7) Don't underestimate a good sale, coupons, etc. Make sure you have them frequently... don't be known as that salon in town that ALWAYS charges full price for everything because you think everything you touch, including your clients, turns to gold. See #5.

Business Cards & Electronic Advertising - A Comparison for Salons & Spas

There are some people who would argue that paper hair stylist & barber shop advertisements- such as business cards, flyers, postcards, etc- are less effective and more complicated than electronic and internet based means.

Not everyone has regular access to the internet. If they do, they may not ever run across your website on their own. When someone Googles certain keywords, such as "barber shops in Atlanta", the resulting websites that show up are no accident. It costs the website owner money to hire another company to "tweak" these search engine results. This can be very pricey and this search engine optimization is an inexact science with uncertain results at best, since the big search engines like Google and Yahoo are constantly changing their criteria to keep everyone honest.

Sure, most folks have access to television, but realistically, how many independent salon owners or hair stylists can afford even a 30 second TV spot?

So, electronic advertisements are great, but they aren't very proactive, since they depend on your potential customers finding YOU. The truth is, you shouldn't do without either, but paper advertisement is absolutely essential.

Three venues are super important: phone book yellow pages ads, business cards, and if you can swing it, postcard circulars. Yellow page ads are kind of pricey and aren't exactly attractive... but that's still the most popular form of advertising so you might as well fork out for it or be left in the dust. Don't think the "internet yellow pages" is going to get it. If you don't have at least a text ad in your actual paper phone book, you're losing out. Yes, some people still let their fingers do the walking.

Business cards for your beauty shop, nail salon, barber shop or spa are another must-have. They force you to be proactive. You should consider a good quality set of business cards an investment, as important as your phone book ad. You should get the best business cards you can reasonably budget for. It's a good idea to get the UV coating on at least one side. UV coating makes your card last longer and resist fading. If you have something like a list of your services or a map on the back, you should have the back coated as well. Some salons (and especially spas) like to have an appointment reminder area on the back, just like a doctor's office. If you have that done, leave the UV coating off the back, so you can write their next appointment there. Don't let a single satisfied customer walk out of your salon without at least 2 of your business cards. Be sure to have some on the appointment desk too.

You ought to have a postcard circular at least twice a year- once around the holidays is great, but if only once, make it spring. Spring is when people start buying those new wardrobes and trying out new hairstyles and colors. Yes, postcard circulars are pricey too but having your advertisement go directly to their mailbox is worth it. You can put a list of your services and some great coupons on these circulars.

Salon Advertising Marketing - How to advertise in a Recession

With our beauty-conscious culture, your salon should at least be able to stay afloat (if not do just fine)even during times of economic strain. If it's not, well... the economy may be a factor, but your advertising may be just as much to blame. During a recession, our first instinct as a business owner is to tighten up those purse strings and cut as many expenses as possible.

While cutting a few corners is a great idea, there are 2 things you don't want to skimp on: Quality supplies and good, consistent advertising.

Don't start using sub-par products- your customers can tell the difference. Chippy nail polish, less fragrant spa products, cheapo hair gel, and worse, streaky tan solution... Using those is a sure way to tick off your clients. Most folks are willing to pay a few bucks extra when they know they can expect a certain level of quality. (I KNOW I do.)

You may think that you're selling hair cuts and spray tans, but lets go a little deeper to examine what you're really selling.

Recently I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, in a foul mood. As we sat down at our usual table and I ordered my usual fajitas, I immediately began to feel my spirits lighten.... UNTIL the food came. Instead of the usual balance of meat, onion, red and green peppers, there was less chicken, and almost all onions. Plus, NO cilantro in the salsa. I found myself disappointed almost to the point of tears over what I'd normally have blown off, had it been any other restaurant. How childish is that? I was even surprised at myself.

This is relevant to our subject, since the same psychology applies. How? Because I'm not just paying for some grub: What I'm really paying for is the way the food makes me FEEL. More specifically, i'm paying for how I EXPECT the food to make me feel. Subconsiously, I was actually counting on that food to pull me out of my bad mood, which is why I had suggested to my hubby that we go there in the first place.

The same concept can be applied to any product our customers are accustomed to. If you're in the business of personal appearance or relaxation, your customer depends on you for that great feeling they get after they leave your salon or spa. What a hair stylist, nail technician, or spa really sells is the expectation of increased self-esteem or peace they are accustomed to feeling after a visit. They will pay more for what they expect- period.

Advertising for your salon is another area to NOT skimp on. With advertising for your hair salon, You need 3 things: Consistency, Quality, and Style.

You must be consistent in your efforts to get your hair or nail salon and spa advertising media out to your target audience. Don't hang up a poster and pin up a hair stylist business card and expect it to still be there, clean and visible, 6 months later. They will get obscured by your competition's advertising junk. Only you know who your target audience is and where they hang out. Whoever they may be, you need to make regular visits to those places to refresh your posters, hand out business cards, and make your presence known. Make sure you look great while doing it- you're a walking billboard in this business, you know.

Quality is super important when advertising your hair salon, barber shop, or nail salon. Even when you're not exactly a high-roller from your salon profits, you don't want the public to think you can't afford quality advertising. Why? Because You want to give the impression that you do a lot of business. Why do you want that? Because if you do a lot of business, then it logically follows that you must be doing a great job, which is why you are able to afford better quality advertising than your competitor who is using cheap business cards and posters.

Style is the next most important element when it comes to your advertising materials. That's really a no brainer. Show good judgement, good taste, and style in your ads and business cards, and your customers will know that you're a person who has the know-how to make them look stylish.