ETS Tanning Bed Blog

There's a strong statistical link between Vitamin D deficiencies and breast cancer, says William B. Grant, Ph.D., in his March 2004 essay. The essay was featured on the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center website .

Grant's research showed that more than 200,000 women across the United States get breast cancer yearly with diet and lifestyle being the two determining risk factors. Proper diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of breast cancer, however a key benefit is getting plenty of vitamin D. Grant's analysis says that the breast cancer risk could be cut in half by sufficient vitamin D levels.

He states that dietary sources of vitamin D are not adequate to be beneficial and instead people should get their source of vitamin D from the sun, supplements, or from artificial UVB exposure. Proper exposure to the sun provides the body with the vitamin D it needs to help prevent not only breast cancer, but other cancers, heart disease, stroke and depression. Make no mistake, the best way to get vitamin D is through the sun. Unfortunately, time constraints and weather, especially the cold, dark winter months prevent many people from taking advantage of the healthy benefits of the sun. When sunshine is at a minimum, a trip to the tanning salon is a tempting opportunity for many.

The question is can a tanning bed offer the same benefits as the sun and could it be a factor in the reduction of breast cancer?

Some researchers say the best way to get benefits is to have a moderate exposure to sunlight. That could be no more than five to 10 minutes on your body. According to research by Michael Holick, who has done years of research on the subject of vitamin D, exposure to tanning beds increased pre-vitamin D. Continued exposure led to even more increases and thus could lead to a reduction in breast cancer.

Although we get vitamin D from the sun and its rays, overexposure could prove damaging so we have to use caution and limit our exposure to the sun. Plus, with our busy schedules and cold weather, it's not always possible to get outside. That's where tanning beds can be helpful. Studies have shown that moderate exposure to UV, including UV from indoor tanning beds, may produce vitamin D.

Grant does state that insufficient evidence exists to link sunbed use to risk of melanoma for other than those with skin phenotype I. It is accurate to say that indoor sunbeds provide an alternative way for individuals to obtain ultraviolet exposure in a responsible and controlled fashion if spending time outdoors in the sun isn't possible or convenient.

The big news this week was the link between vitamin D deficiency and obesity in teenagers.

Obesity, especially teen obesity has had numerous effects on the physical and emotional health [of what, whom?]. Poor dietary habits, a lack of exercise and smoking have all contributed to obesity. However, new findings suggest that a lack of vitamin D can also contribute to adolescent and teen obesity.

In addition, low levels of vitamin D can lead to high blood pressure and high blood sugar, which compound the health issues.

A new study by Jared Reis of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said that teens in the study with the lowest vitamin D levels were more than twice as likely to have high blood pressure and high blood sugar. The teens were also four times more likely to have metabolic syndrome, defined as having three or more conditions that contribute to heart disease and diabetes - including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, big waists, and high cholesterol.

Admittedly, more research will be needed to factor whether vitamin D is really behind the health problems and whether getting more would make a difference.

In addition, minorities were also more likely to be vitamin-D deficient, however the study didn't determine if they were more like to suffer from the normal vitamin D deficient conditions.

To further boost the findings of the Johns Hopkins study, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia studied more than 650 teenagers from 14 to 19. They found that teens reporting a higher intake of vitamin D had lower body fat and lower amounts of abdominal fat. Once again, it showed that minority teens were getting insufficient vitamin D intake.

Black females had the lowest vitamin D intake and also had higher percentages of body fat and abdominal fat, while black males reported the lowest percentages of body fat and visceral fat. White males, were shown to be getting the recommended minimum amount of vitamin D.

While we're still waiting to see whether the vitamin D deficiency is a cause-and-effect relationship, we have maintained all along that vitamin D is an important part of any healthy lifestyle.  Although we get vitamin D from the sun and its rays, overexposure could prove damaging so we have to use caution and limit our exposure to the sun. Plus, with our busy schedules and cold weather, it's not always possible to get outside. That's where tanning beds can be helpful. Research has shown that people who use indoor tanning equipment that emits UVB – which most equipment does – also produce Vitamin D. Studies have also shown that indoor tanning clients have higher Vitamin D blood levels than non-tanners according to Tanningtruth.com.

Installing tanning beds is one of those details whose timing is critical. There is actually a bad time and a good time to install tanning beds. Finding the right time can make everything go smoothly, keep installation times short, and can even save money. A bad time can result in damaged beds and delayed openings.

Installing a bed while the building contractors are still working is risky. It's just smarter to have the contractors doing their finishing touches, or even finished, when the beds are installed. If installers show up too early, and have to work around the contractors, it can actually take longer than waiting until the contractors are done.

If contractors are still fixing drywall, installing the floor, or painting, the tanning beds can be damaged. We've had clients who ended up with paint on their beds, drywall dust, and even dents and scratches.

One of our customers, who's opening his third salon, understands what it takes for a smooth installation. He makes sure to have everything ready for us, and as a result, his installations are the smoothest we usually have.

Everything in his new salons are nearly complete – rooms are drywalled and painted, the electricity is on – which ensures his contractors and our installers are not disturbing each other or waiting for others to finish. The installers can actually get done in a single day, rather than working for a day-and-a-half. This saves installation costs, and makes sure his salon opens on time.

We understand the eagerness for new salon owners to get their tanning beds installed. But it's more beneficial to have everything in place rather than to rush and risk damage to the beds. By making sure everything is completed before the installers show up, you can reduce the risk of damage, and keep extra costs at a minimum.

Yesterday, we talked about how tanning salons can get started on Twitter. Today, I want to give you some ideas on how you can use Twitter to grow your tanning business.

CoffeeGroundz, a coffee shop in Houston, Texas, is credited with having one of the first commercial transactions on Twitter. It all started when one of their regulars sent a direct message (DM) to the shop for a breakfast burrito pickup. Since then, they have turned their Twitter presence into a regular communication method with their customers, even holding a special Twitter meetup (called a Tweetup) that not only let their regulars meet with each other, but brought in big sales that day.

So how can you use Twitter to grow your business?

CoffeeGroundz tapped their regulars for their efforts, so start with yours. Ask them if they're on Twitter – if they're not, get them on it – and start following them. Send out regular Tweets to your clients, and build the expectation that you use it regularly. When that happens, your clients will start communicating with you too.

Once you've built up a Twitter following, and are using it on a regular basis, here are some ways to use it.

• Send out announcements, sales, and special offers to your followers. ("Special Twitter sale: Refer a new member, get 2 weeks of free upgrades.")
• Send out cancellation notices to fill a spot: ("We had a spot open up from 3:30 - 4:00. First DM gets it.")
• Forward articles to your followers about the industry, tanning techniques, and things that might affect them (this is where it pays to get to know your clients).
• Create a "message-ahead" program. Let clients DM you for appointments and cancellations.
• Use GroupTweet.com to create groups of clients. Maybe you can communicate with your premier members with one message, regular members with another, and a third to occasional members.
• Run Twitter-based contests where the winner gets a special prize. ("Tell us your most outrageous vacation story, win a free bottle of tanning lotion."
• Make sure you send Tweets that are actually interesting to your clients. While it's good to have 1-on-1 conversations with your followers, if that's all you're doing, your followers will get bored. Get a personal Twitter account if you want the personal conversations.
• On the other hand, participate in group conversations with your clients. See if you can stimulate conversations between them, and build a community of Twitter tanners (Twanners? Why not?). (Asking questions to your followers, like the outrageous vacation example above, will generate this conversation.)
• Use a program like Tweetdeck – a Twitter client that sits on your desktop – and keep it open all the time. If you have an iPhone or BlackBerry, there are special Twitter clients for them too.
• If your clients are going on vacation and putting their tan to use, encourage them to Tweet photos to you via TwitPic , and retweet them to all of your followers. This will help build your community.

If you can build your Twitter following, you will have made your tanning salon a special place to be for your clients. The more they feel a sense of belonging – a sense of community – the more they'll stay involved. Occasional clients will become regulars, regulars will become premier members, and they'll refer their friends.

That's a great ROI for a free application that only lets you send 140-character messages.

Twitter has been in the mainstream media for the last several weeks, which means it has probably reached its tipping point. It was on Charlie Rose last night, on our local FOX station this morning, in the New York Times, and a lot of other mainstream media outlets.

Tanning salons are in a great position to take advantage of social networking tools like Twitter. Twitter is an important way for people to communicate with a lot of people quickly and easily. By typing a 140-character message, you can ask questions, provide information, tell people about books or articles you're reading, and even make plans with friends.

You build up your readers – called followers in the "Twitterverse" – by following them, and they'll follow you in return. Pretty soon, you have a small community of people with shared interests, geography, or relationships. Then, when you send out a message, your followers will see it, and respond. If they write a message back, their followers will see the response. It's like instant messaging in a crowded room.

Your hands are very important in the self-tanning process.

When you're applying self-tanning lotion, the problem is that you'll end up rubbing more tanning lotion onto your hands than the rest of your body, and they'll look unnatural.

If you want a natural looking, glowing tan, the last thing you would have is tanned palms. If your hands are orange or built up, everyone will know it's fake. Of course, the best tans come from tanning beds and indoor tanning, rather than lotion. But if you're traveling, or your schedule doesn't let you visit your regular tanning salon, then this will do in a pinch...

The best method is to wear gloves while you're applying the lotion. You can buy latex gloves at Wal-Mart or Target, and these are ideal. They're thin, inexpensive, disposable, and they don't soak up the lotion like cloth gloves will.

If you don't have any gloves, then it's important that you wash your hands several times during the application process. Be sure to scrub the creases in your hands and in between your fingers. You don't want any build-up in those areas. But don't skip the gloves if you can help it.

After you're done washing your hands, be sure to use a moisturizing lotion so your hands don't get dry and cracked. Repeated washings can dry out your hands quickly, so be sure to take care of them.

To stay competitive in the tanning bed industry, you have to stay on top of what your customers are thinking – what do they like about your salon? What don’t they like? What new tanning bed options they would like to see? How could you improve? And, most importantly, how can you keep them as a customer.

Remember, a satisfied customer rarely speaks up whereas an unhappy customer usually just leaves. Instead of watching that business walk out your door and never come back, start talking to your customers, get their feedback and implement it.

You can get feedback in numerous ways:

• A printed survey in your lobby.
• Specific questions asked by your front counter staff.
• An anonymous feedback section on your website.
• Encouraging customers to use business rating services like Yelp.com.
• Start using Twitter to both track your feedback and comments, but also respond.
• The old-fashioned suggestion box.

One salon we work with has set up a text messaging account that lets them survey customers after their tanning bed appointment and get feedback via SMS. It’s innovative, fast and definitely appealing to that 18-40 tanning demographic.

For texting or SMS customer feedback solutions, there are a number of services that will automate the process for you. For example; Clickatell, a bulk SMS gateway that also offers a retailer’s marketing package; Touchwork, a company that specializes in customer feedback text messages; and ResponseTek, another firm that sells a CEM (Customer Experience Management) text messaging package.