How Can We Market Our Market Our Spa/Plastic Surgery Center?

Services

We are a luxury spa/plastic surgery center. Our facility is spacious, and quite noticeable. Its pretty bare outside, but the minimalist feel gives off professionalism. (any suggestions outside?..banners..shrubbery..)

Our center has dental, plastic surgery, laser, and hair treatment. One can get botox treatment, and then pedicure right after so I keep this in mind.

What I’m wondering is if there were some innovative and effective ways to up our presence…..reel in more customers…..is there specific ways we should approach advertising (old or young)…..where should we advertise which will have the most impact…….since we have other beauty departments, what are some ideas to utilize it….what are some events we could hold….

I’m also thinking we need interactivity……..I already set up some smaller contests..but am looking for more ideas on contests, and/or charities that will give our center more exposure.

We also want to make our internet presence stronger. What are some good places to get our website linked to…and some things to add to the website.

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Jay’s Answer: Have a series of classes showing how people can look better WITHOUT surgery (makeup, diet, haircut, etc.) and/or offer non-surgical makeovers. In both cases, you’re trying to find people who care about their image but aren’t yet ready to take the plunge. You just want to build trust with them, and give them the opportunity to find out more when they’re ready.

Offer a class on ROI of plastic surgery: how much more people earned looking better, or who they attracted in their life, or how much better a life they now live.

Piggyback on upcoming college/high-school reunions. Give people a chance to “wow” their fellow students.

What’s A Good Slogan For a Water Purifier and… ?

Starting Out

I want a slogan for a water purifier to invites a press meet but water should not be mentioned on the slogan. and want to known how we can launch a new jewelry showroom.

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Jay’s Answer: 1) A slogan alone will not generate any interest in your business, especially by the press. If you have a press-worthy story, you need to do a targeted press release detailing who you are, what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, what’s special about it, etc. If the press deems it interesting, then they might appear at a press event. Using a teaser (without mentioning your product) will definitely backfire – no one wants to invest their time without knowing why they should. What you need is a marketing strategy – a plan to generate interest, and more importantly, attract new customers.

2) To launch a new showroom, I’ll once again strongly suggest that you create a strategic business plan. Why? I’ve talked to thousands of business owners, and the number one issue is people being overwhelmed by having to do too much and not having enough time/money to succeed. By first starting with a plan, you’re forced to go through the exercise of understanding your competition, identifying your market, your strengths, your weaknesses, supplies, and pricing. You’ll be thinking through the issues on paper, before you sign a lease, purchase supplies, or even print business cards. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling jewelry or ice cream – you need customers to make your business a success. You need to figure out why someone would want to purchase from you, and attract them to you.

How Can I Market My Portraits To Doctors’ Offices?

Publicity, Starting Out

I am marketing portrait photography services in my community and one of our strategies is to set up community displays in local pediatrician, OBGYN and family practice physician offices. Basically I am looking to set up a small table in their waiting room with some marketing material, portfolio books and a contest for a free portrait session to collect names. Another option is to provide portraits for the walls of their waiting room and patient rooms with the studio logo in the corner.

So far I have just been cold calling the offices in person and asking if they would be interested. I’ve only tried about 10 and haven’t had luck so far. Are there any other methods you would suggest to make it more beneficial to them to agree?

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Jay’s Answer: Your question is basically – how can I get a doctor to provide me with prime advertising space? Why should the doctor’s office be willing to give up patient waiting area to you? What about liability – kids & glass don’t mix well. What about aesthetics – it’s your display in their space.

Start with asking doctors you (or your friends’) know. What are their concerns? Under what conditions would they be willing to do this (and for how long)? Once you understand their needs, then you can being to cold call (ideally, warm referrals are better) with the knowledge of what the key objections are, and how to appeal to the office need in general. For example, ask about the art work in their office – when was the last time it was updated? Offer to visit their office monthly to rotate portraits among the offices – change is always nice. Perhaps have themed pictures (holidays, etc.) that go with their decor, etc.

Derren Brown – Subliminal Advertising

Branding, Videos

I had not heard of Derren Brown until I saw this video. The “setup” is two British advertising experts are given a very short time to craft an artificial ad for a service. I won’t spoil the video, but this video claims to show the power of subliminal advertising.

After viewing it, I proceeded learn more about Derren and watch many others of his videos. He’s quite entertaining.

The Little Touches That Matter

Creative Business Ideas

Orkin Insect Zoo Sign at Smithsonian Museum
Orkin Insect Zoo (!) Sign at Smithsonian Museum

I’ve been noticing a growing trend of restaurant dining inconsistencies. For example, the Station House Cafe makes a point to talk about how much it supports the local economy, uses the freshest organic ingredients, and is environmentally friendly:

“We subscribe to sustainable agricultural practices and use premium ingredients, including local fish and meats and organic vegetables from our own garden.

Our beef, pork and lamb are from Niman Ranch and raised on chemical-free pastures, without hormones or antibiotics. Our chicken is fresh, free-range “Rocky” birds raised in neighboring Petaluma, also without hormones or antibiotics…”

So, when I was sitting at my table at the restaurant waiting for my meal, I noticed the condiments: salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, etc. They were all from a generic restaurant supplier. Why wasn’t the salt “sea salt”? Why wasn’t ketchup made from local organic tomatoes? Why was the packaging in plastic bottles? Given their concern for sustainability, why weren’t the napkins and to-go containers made with recycled paper or the plastic to-go utensils made from compostable/recycled usual plastic?

When your business takes the effort to stress certain values, you’re saying how important this value is to you and educating others why they should care about it. People who don’t know care about the values (they just want your product or service) might be open to learning something new. People who care about these values will be curious to see if you’re self-consistent: Are you walking your talk? If not, your message will be diminished. Make sure that your business values are carried through consistently.

Plumb-Wrong Advertising

Creative Business Ideas, Services

Live Plumbing Advertisement What’s wrong with this advertisement? From my marketing strategy perspective, it’s focusing on their service and not the benefit to the prospective consumer.

How many property owners think about their sewer pipes? Why would they? Sewer pipes are something are “out of sight/out of mind” and seldom fail.

So, how should the plumber advertise this service?

First, let’s figure out the basic marketing strategy for this plumber:

For local property owners
who need problem-free plumbing
we inspect sewer lines
to prevent unpleasant surprises
unlike traditional plumbers that only fix the mess
our offering is a free consultation/estimate/second opinion/video inspection.

Now, let’s rewrite the headline, “Do you really know what’s in your sewer pipes…and if they leak? Do you want to know?” Here are some options:

  • Homeowners: Prevent A Sewer Catastrophe! [key words are: homeowners (who), prevent/catastrophe (pain), and sewer (what)]
  • Is Your Plumbing About To Explode? [key words: plumbing (what) and explode (pain)]
  • How’s The Health Your Older Home’s Plumbing? [key words: plumbing (what), health/older home (pain)]

Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur

Book Reviews

Click to purchase Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur Book at Amazon What struck me about Stuart Skorman’s book (subtitled, “Why I Can’t Stop Starting Over”) is his creative need to start new businesses and his (growing) wisdom about business. Stuart’s better-known accomplishments are launching Reel.com (sold for $100M) and Elephant Pharmacy.

Stuart’s smarts, creativity, luck, risk-taking, and finances are well-described. The book is written in a conversational style – it’s as if you’re sitting down with him (or going for a walk) and he’s mentoring you on customer service and startup business logic. He not only describes his business life, but also his personal life (and the give-and-take he learned). The best part of the book is his hard-won pearls of wisdom that end each chapter:

  • Why I rarely hire MBAs (they often don’t understand the needs for creativity, struggle, and sacrifice)
  • Customers can be your best teachers (by intimately knowing your customers likes and dislikes you have a better chance for success)
  • Decisions should be made by the person with the best resum?© (Hire well and entrust the right person make the right choices on your behalf)
  • Three rules to winning in poker and business (Be aggressive, be conservative, be opportunistic)
  • Do’s and don’ts for choosing a business (base it on logic, stick with the familiar, prioritize fun, start small, do something established, know your risk tolerance, and focus on short-term goals)
  • Create a second bottom line for your idealism (calculate the cost of your idealism from your profitability)
  • Avoid creativity at all costs (where possible, reuse existing well-tested solutions to your problems. Creativity is expensive (but attention-getting)).
  • How to make the transition from a big company to a start-up (start small, do your homework, work for a startup first, understand your motivation, and be financially prepared).

How Can I Do Source Code Tracking On Direct Mail?

Publicity

We currently use a source code tracking system that entails someone establishing a random 4-digit number and that number is then assigned to a certain promotional effort. My boss wants the codes changed so that he and others can say (by looking at the number) that these sales are from a catalog or from a publication mailing or whatever the effort was and also identify the time frame it was mailed in.

We mail a variety of different pieces including envelopes, catalogs, self-mailers, email, web and sales reps. On top of that we offer a large variety of products using each of these vehicles including publications, books, videos, awards and training.

The part that is tripping me up is that I only have 6 digits to work with and only numbers are allowed.

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Jay’s Answer: If the six digits are: ABCDEF

A = medium code (0-9)
BC = product code (00-99)
D = last digit of year (0-9)
EF = week of year (0-52)

If you have more than 100 products, then:

A = medium code (0-9)
BCD = product code (000-999)
EF = week of current year (0-52)

If you could also use letters + numbers, you could get a much larger range (use A-Z, excluding I and O, which will give you 24+10 =36 characters per slot)

What Is A Good Tagline For My Business Consulting Company?

Names + Taglines

I need a tagline for a new company. The name is “Key Methods.” It’s kind of a complicated company structure but here we go: Key Methods is the parent company. We also have a software company (named Key Software), an IT Consulting firm (named Biztek), and an IT network support company (called Clear Focus).
Key Methods refers to helping businesses find the right way “Method” of doing things; kind of like best practices. We want the company to have the feeling of cutting edge, innovative, and modern.
We would like the tagline to have the connotation of looking at different business processes and implementing the key methods to complete the project.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Unlocking Business Success
  • Locksmith For All Your Business Problems

How Can I Find Sponsorship For My Game Show?

Publicity

My company, which is an entertainment based business, is building a game show production tour for fall of this year in Metro Atlanta, GA. The production will be geared towards the sports industry and will be hosted by various sports bars and venues in the area. I am hoping it will expand to other venues i.e. Falcons pre-game festivities etc but that’s another issue. The name of the tour or production has not been named yet but it will focus mainly on football trivia…something like "Ultimate Football Challenge" and will be based on the game show format similar to Jeopardy and will be prize driven. The production will be a real game show set with podiums, host, projector screen, lighting etc….

As far as the marketing end, getting businesses and venues to donate gift cards and products as prizes for visibility isn’t going to be a problem on this one. But getting corporate sponsorship is what I am not familiar with. To make this profitable for my company I will need sponsors and this format is a great way to promote businesses/brands. Game show podiums can host brand or business logos, the projector screen can rotate through logos and advertisements for businesses during intermissions and before the show similar to movie theaters, product boosting through trivia questions and as prizes as well. How do I go about finding key contacts for corporate sponsors in my area that would be interested in this? Also how do I start to tier sponsorship amounts and what exposure they will receive? How do I make this attractive for the sponsors? I’m new to finding corporate sponsors so where is a good place to begin? Also how can I get the local radio stations to promote the tour on their show? Would I offer to brand their station logo on the set? Or if that’s not enough, what could I offer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also on a side note as mentioned before how can I find contacts for pro sports events so I can pitch the production?

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Jay’s Answer: You’re looking for sponsors that want to attract the sports bar demographic in your region. This could be local breweries, wineries, clothiers, placement services, dating services, travel agencies, cell phone providers, or even auto dealerships. Your presentation would identify the size of the audience, their demographic (age, income, etc.), and the context of the ad.

Again, to get a radio station involved, do your homework to find one that’s targeting this demographic. Offer to be a guest and provide some questions for a football trivia call-in show.