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Tips for Marketing Your Salon On the Internet in 2009
Mike Seidle, ProBlogService.com
In the past, I've advised salon owners to do three things to get more sales from the Internet:
1. Make a MySpace Page and invite customers to be friends.
2. Get an email marketing service so you can easily and legally communicate with customers and potential customers.
3.
Have a website with your hours and locations at a minimum. Offering
online scheduling and online bill pay is even better. Getting a
servicable website need not cost more than $600-$1500 if you hire a
local professional.
This
advice is still good, but things keep moving at the speed of thought on
the Internet. The web has changed a lot in the last year, and there are a few big changes that really affect tanning salons:
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People are using Google on their smart phones to find local businesses. |
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Social networks (sites like Facebook and MySpace)
are fast catching up to portal sites like my.yahoo.com in traffic. Why?
Because they communicate virally. If I talk to my friend, my friend's
friends get in on the conversation. |
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Young people are buying iPhones and other devices that can connect to both social networks and to Google. |
What's that mean to a tanning salon owner?
First, Google is more important than ever. Getting your salon listed, on their maps and in Google's search results really matters (see below for a link to set your business up on Google). Buying "pay per click" ads from Google probably makes a lot of sense,
just make sure you are limiting where your ads run to where your
locations are as well as using long tail (more than three word)
keywords like "tanning salon muncie indiana". If you are not
comfortable doing this, get a professional to do so (link below).
Second, you need to play the game with social network sites.
Yes, you do need to have a MySpace page. And you especially need to get
a Facebook page and engage in the conversation with your customers.
Third, you might want to consider getting a blog. Right now, blogs are
outperforming nearly everything in Google's search results, and they
can be plugged in to social network sites so when you post, your
friends (customers) and their fiends get your message. It's like
building a mailing list with unlimited post cards you can send for
free.
Links You Can Use
Get your salon listed on Google's local search
If you want to buy your own ads from Google
If you want a professional to help without spending thousands
Great place to get a blog for free
About the Author
Mike Seidle has been advising businesses on how to get more traffic and
sales from the interent for over 10 years and has been working with
tanning bed manufacturers and tanning salons since 2005. Mike's
company, ProBlogService.com provides end to end blogging services for business.
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