This article is fromLifehack.org, a great resource that you should be reading! They have articles for business and for life. Please check them out!

For most businesses, a web site is one of the most important investments you can make. Entrepreneurs are either overspending or underspending on their web sites, and many have no idea what they’re doing or why. So today I’m going to talk about why a good, solid web site really matters to your business, and in the next two weeks, I’ll follow up with articles on the core components your web site needs to work well for you, and how to hire a solid web firm to build your site affordably.

1. Your web site reflects you as a business owner and professional.

If your web site looks professional, your potential clients will think you’re a professional who has enough clients and enough income to have a site built for you. If potential clients visit your web site and it looks half-assed and home-built that’s how they’ll perceive you.

If you’re a web developer, by all means, build your own site, as that will reflect your capabilities. Everyone else, hire a solid company that can do a good job, not just in building your web site, but in getting it seen and in building it wisely to maximize the traffic you’ll get.

2. Your web site can mean extra local business.

Even if you’re primarily brick and mortar, having a solid web site can mean extra business. Local clientele often perform seaches online and find your web site, encouraging them to walk into your store. If they find your competitors and they look more reputable or solid than you (or if they have a web site and you don’t), you’ll lose business, just because of your web site. And, when you’re mentioned in the media or on review sites like Angie’s List, you’ll need a web site to help people find you.

3. Your web site can mean global business.

Did you ever think about getting orders from Australia or Malaysia? Launching a fantastic web site means you’ll instantly become a global business, allowing you to expand your clientele to a much larger audience. Your web site is visible in almost every country around the globe, and that means you expand your potential client base by millions. You’ll still want to keep your target market in mind, but an international audience may still find you appealing.

4. Your web site can generate media interest.

If a journalist is looking for an expert in your field to quote for an article, s/he is more likely to choose the business owner whose web site looks professional and clean than someone who looks like they don’t really know what they’re doing. And as most of you know, a mention in the media can be powerful for your business!

Don’t do your business a disservice by putting up a shoddy web site. Take care and invest wisely in your business web site by hiring someone who knows what they’re doing. Next week I’ll talk about what components you need in your web, and in two weeks, I’ll cover how to hire a web company.

WRITER’S BIOGRAPHY

Susan Baroncini-Moe

Susan Baroncini-Moe started her entrepreneurial adventures with a lemonade stand. Now, Susan is the CEO of Business in Blue Jeans, dedicated to helping you turn your passions and expertise into a passive income-generating business you can run from home or anywhere in the world. Learn more atbusinessinbluejeans.com. Other links: Business in Blue Jeans Blog Business in Blue Jeans e-zine

This is a post from That Guy With The Nametag. He has great stuff all the time.  Cick on over and check out his blog (and subscribe while you are at it!)

1. Let people finish what they have to say. Most interruptions are derailments, and as such, most interrupters are avoided.

PRACTICE: On a daily basis, challenge yourself to play the game called, “Let’s See How Long I Can Go Without Interrupting People.” Actually keep score. See if you can beat your personal best each day.

Then, every time you DO interrupt (unnecessarily, that is), drop twenty bucks in a jar. Get the whole office involved in the game. Then, at the end of month, use the money to have a BBQ. Or donate it to charity. That should put an end to the interrupting.Does your conversational narcissism irritate people?

2. Listen with the ear of your heart, not the pointed finger of your ego.Judgmental attitudes stop commutation before it starts.

PRACTICE: Post a sticky note on your desk that reads, “Are you listening with your heart or with your ego?” This serves two purposes: (1) A visual reminder of what to listen WITH during your conversations, (2) An accountability measure to assess your listening practices after your conversations are through.

Then, should you catch yourself listening more with your ego and less with your heart, here’s what you do. Take ten extra minutes before clocking out to replay key conversations in your head. Then honestly ask yourself, “How would my heart have listened in that conversation if my ego wasn’t engaged? Are you monopolizing the talking or the listening?

3. Recognize employee contributions and ideas. According to Dilbert, most bosses will listen thoroughly to your input, thank you for your suggestions, and then do exactly what they planned all along.

PRACTICE: Just sit quiet. Your hand doesn’t have to shoot up first. Next time you attend a meeting or sit on a panel, play another game called “Let See How Long I Can Go Without Contributing.”

This will force you to listen FIRST and hear everyone else out before stating your position. Yes, it takes self-control; but you never know – you may hear something that adds to, modifies or betters your idea. Is your listening all show and no go?

4. Remain calm when confronted with different points of view. The word “emotion” comes from the Latinemotere, which means, “to disturb.”

PRACTICE: Take a few breaths. Recognize that someone has an opinion, even though it may not be your own. You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to disagree. Just honor it. Practice a little Namaste Leadership. Honor = Respect = Trust = Increased Willingness to Ask More Questions.

Otherwise you’ll start to resemble Dogbert, whose management strategy is, “I’m not going to comment – I’ll just look at you until you agree with me.” When you are emotionally involved in conversation, how well do you communicate?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How will you keep your employees from wanting to kill you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “33 Daily Practices for Boosting Managerial Magnetism,” send an email to me, and you get the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
scott@hellomynameisscott.com

Click on over and read this article in Business Week magazine.

How to Sell More Than a Product

In a coffee showdown with McDonald’s, Starbucks’ tried—and—true strategy has a lesson for entrepreneurs: Don’t sell products. Sell an “experience”

By Carmine Gallo

Read the article here.

Are you spending time on the phone booking appointments that you could be spending pampering the clients in the salon?  It is time to join the 21st century and get an online appointment system!

An online appointment system works 24/7.  It doesn’t call in sick and it never comes to work with a hangover.  We have used online appointment services in my salon for years.  If I tried to take it away, the customers would string me up by my toes!  Whenever they think about their hair, they can get an appointment.  It doesn’t matter if you are open or closed, or where the client is when they get the idea.  If they have an internet connection, they can make an appointment.

Reasons salons are afraid of online appointments:

1. Clients can’t be trusted to book the right thing.  Most of your clients are smart enough to know whether they get a highlight or a brow wax.  Most systems are easy enough for even the most obtuse clients.
2. I want to pre-book my clients while they are in the salon.  Web based systems are live all the time. You can make the appointment just like you would on paper, but now your clients have access, too.
3. I don’t want my clients to know what or who else I am doing.  Clients will only see slots that are available for the service they select.  Some systems even have a “smart booking” feature that directs clients into the most effective slot so that you have tighter booking.

So, what are you waiting for?  These companies are safe, effective, and affordable.  Plus, they will let you set up a trial account to make sure the system works for you before you have to pay!

• Hour Town
• Schedulicity
• Booking Calendar
• Latiss
• Flash Appointments
• TimeCenter

(By the way, last week I had a client make an appointment while she was on a work trip in Mozambique.  If I didn’t have online appointments, she would have had to wait until she was back home to make that appointment, but instead, she came straight from the airport.  How cool is that?)

I even found a company that has a complete online system that integrates your appointments, client records,  inventory and point of sale!  If you need a full solution, you really need to check out Rosy.  It’s all that (and a bag of chips!)  I spoke to them in depth today and they walked me through the system.  I have not seen a better, more affordable solution for small salons.

When you get yourself up and running, let me know who you chose, and why.  We’d all love to hear!

I have mentioned to you before that our primary advertising tool for the salon is Citysearch.  It works well for us and so we keep at it (in good times and bad.)  I wanted to share with you an email I got from my Citysearch account manager.  I was impressed with the personalized service and as I read the message, I couldn’t help think that she was following the same advice she was giving.  It can’t be easy to sell advertising to companies who are facing cash flow shortfalls, but she is working it.  If you are in the Seattle/Tacoma area, I suugest you give her a call and see if she can help ypur business.  If you aren’t, check out Citysearch in your area and see what other salons are doing.

Hi Aura,

This morning, I listened to a great presentation on the Salon/Spa/Massage industry, focusing largely on how small business like you can make it through these times. I thought there was some great advice presented, so I am passing on these recession busting strategies I learned today.

From one professional to another…“The last thing you should do is put a blanket over your head… This is the time you invest in your customers and seek to gain new ones.” Lee Anne Sullivan, Salon Owner in Hyannis, MA

What you can do:

• Create extra value

– Give them another service free for booking a service

– A how-to night on make-up application

– A champagne social night

• Focus on retention

– Reward repeat client with discounts on additional products or services

– Thank your customers with an email post visit

• Be Positive

– Create an oasis from stress

• Survey your clients

– Use data to improve your service

• Market aggressively—and efficiently!

If you need any help thinking of promotions/incentives or help adding them to your Citysearch listing, let me know.

All the Best,

Marie

Marie Kochert

Senior Account Executive

P: 206-215-4120    C: 206-375-3727    F: 213-351-7013

E: mkochert@citysearch.com

Citysearch

An operating business of IAC

419 Occidental Ave S, 3rd Floor

Seattle, WA 98104

www.citysearch.com

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What happens when a ‘mad genius’ type 4th generation German shear maker goes drinking with a well known tattoo artist?

Freebird Shears – where we believe the tool a stylist uses should represent their own personality and flair.

Freebird Shears is the brainchild of Maurice Stoll a fourth generation German Master Craftsman.

After immigrating to the United States he was faced with how he was to earn a living, he then fell back on the century old family business. Stoll got his start selling family shears “Made in Solingen, Germany” as well as sharpening services to salons and stylist across Texas and its surrounding states. As his business grew, he yearned for a young, fresh and updated twist to shears while still paying homage to his family’s history and roots.

It was his desire to develop a selection of shears that are as artistic and unique as the designers’ individual style. Although, professional styling shears are not a new concept, especially for a fourth generation craftsman, Stoll wanted something innovative so he revamped an old product for a new generation. Similar to what Google did for the Internet search and Starbucks for Coffee.

To fulfill his vision of the ‘perfect’ shear, he consulted leading master craftsmen, artisans and designers from Japan, Germany and the U.S.A. to leverage century old knowledge and fuse it with the latest ground-breaking production techniques known to man.

After perfecting the production process, Stoll met with Elvis Crocker a well-known tattoo artist in Arlington, Texas (formerly of NYHC Tattoos) and created shears inspired by Crocker’s designs. Each shear has a design intricately cut into the handle and these designs vary wildly from “Butterfly Kisses” to “Key to my Heart” and from “Iron Cross” to “Skulls and Crossbones”.

Stoll’s goal of developing a cutting instrument like no other in performance, design and uniqueness was in sight. After several years of planning, development and research, Freebird Shears was born and is proud to be one of the few companies to have their own production facility in which they incorporate the finest hammer-forged Japanese steel while fusing German and Japanese craftsmanship with American passion, design, ingenuity and technology.

Freebird Shears are not simply cut by a machine and finished but go through over 250 steps by hand to create a flawless shear before they are finished and perfectly balanced by a master craftsman during final inspection.

Stoll’s idea may have begun with shears but that is not where Freebird Shears has ended. They also offer thinning shears and razors with matching designs so the stylist has an option to use a trio of tools or give them the ability to create their own unique set. For the easiest use and most convenience; Freebird razors use standard premium shaper blades that are available in any beauty supply store.

Have an idea for a design you would like to see in a shear of your own? Freebird Shears is also able to take company logos and personal designs to create a custom shear. These can come in a variety of colors, including laser designs or special engravings.

Freebird Shears: Innovative Tools for Creative Minds

http://www.freebirdshears.com

Hey all you leasers out there!  Looking for a cheap way to get (and keep) yourself organized?  Grab one of these netbooks.  They are small, so they are easy to grab and go between the salon and home, they connect to WiFi and run XP.  They even come in a handful of different colors.  All of the hairdressers at our salon have their own.  We went with the Acer Aspire One because they were on sale at Office Depot.  You can pick one up for $399 or less.  You can use Gmail and Google Calendar and Mint (all free!) and keep your business world and personal life all tucked into a neat little package.  It has never been easier to be a solo salon owner!

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I found a new salon automation product that you might find interesting.  It is a complete touchscreen system with appointments, credit card swiping, bar code scanning and email/text.  You can buy it outright or you can lease it for $149 a month (they sometimes have specials, so chat with the sales folk for the most current pricing options.)  They also provide merchant credit card processing and will meet or beat your current rates.

I haven’t used it, so I can’t tell you how well it works, but it seems pretty cool!

Watch the demo video here.

Wells Fargo Small Business Round up sends me links to articles once a month or so.  When I find them helpful, I share them here.  Why don’t you bookmark their page and check it now and again?

Competitive differentiation is critical. Whether your value proposition rests on price, service or offering a completely unique product or service, building the optimal customer experience can help separate you from the pack. Creating ongoing, meaningful relationships with customers may just be the best retention tool you have.

“We live in a world of abundant choice, uncertainty of innovation and change and the stress of time pressure,” notes John Todor, Ph.D., author of Addicted Customers. “From a customer’s perspective, this pushes them out of their psychological comfort zone. Bidding wars make products and services commodities, which leads to stress and the tendency to buy on price and convenience, not on value. It takes the joy and inherent loyalty out of the buying experience. But an emotionally satisfying experience gives customers a sense of belonging, helping you increase desire and demand, while decreasing the focus on price.”

Thus, the goal of building the best customer experience is to create desire, and increase demand and commitment on the part of the customer; it’s an experience customers want to return to because they derive value from it. Todor points to the experience of walking into an Apple computer store. You’re greeted by a concierge, and all the products are turned on and ready for use, which is actively encouraged. There’s even a classroom in the middle of the store to foster in-depth product learning. The value for customers is clear: They can experience the product right now, not after they’ve purchased it. They’re subjected to the potential value of owning and using the product in the future—this is the root of desire.

But you don’t have to be big to offer a great experience. “We have a local hardware store where all the employees are ex-tradespeople,” Todor says. “Most of the customers are do-it-yourselfers, so the staff works to have the right person—a plumber, electrician, etc.—talk to you about your needs. They offer solid, sound advice about projects that helps keep customers from making mistakes. They may charge about 10% more than other big box or hardware stores, but you’re getting real expertise when you visit. In this case, the shared experience is valuable and meaningful because the anxiety of concerns the customers have about doing their project without unexpected complications are defused. It turns a nagging task into a project that, when done right, leads to gratification, and the confidence to tackle more homeowner projects. The result: more business for the hardware store. A bonus: customers who spread the word to friends and neighbors.”

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I don’t know why I let the salesman talk me into it in the first place.  I told her that nobody I know uses the paper phone book anymore.

I had not advertised with them for over five years.  But somehow, I understood I was buying something that would link to my salon’s website from their online directory.

Alas, I was misled.  What I got was my website printed in the white pages of my local directory.

Really?

Who looks for a salon in the damn white pages?

Our website is the best way for us to get new clients.  It gives them more information than I could ever communicate into an advertisement.  It is the path I want all potential clients to take.

I called the claims department and they said they could give me the additional web listing FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE and that I was stuck paying for the ad I didn’t want.

Hate Dex.

Perhaps other salons have a different result from phone book advertising than I do.  Do any of you think that the money you spend on phone book ads gets you enough new clients to make it worth the expense?

I would love to hear your thoughts!