A Lesson Learned From Miley

Planned PR stunts come in many forms. You could hold a press conference where you hand a giant check with lots of zeroes to a worthy organization, you could hire a stunt man to para-glide into your Grand Opening, you could even rent a famous person to make an appearance and pretend they are close friends with you for a special occasion. These are all wonderful ways to gain positive attention for your business.

Then there are planned PR stunts with negative connotations. Follow me here. A celebrity is a branded business. It has income streams, expenses, and a thought over marketing plan. To include PR. They have a target market. The fastest way to gain widespread loyalty within a target market is to do something terrible enough that your fans come to your defense, but not too terrible that they abandon you. It is exactly the root of the Paula Dean "scandal" and it is exactly the root of the Miley Cyrus mayhem. Guess what folks, if you are unhinged by her skanky "dance moves" - you aren't the target market!! You are the other side of the global conversation happening where Miley fans are becoming diehard Miley fans. Yes it's wrong, disgusting, a terrible example for children... But that, my friends, is marketing.

There is no denying her antics, or that of her publicist, raised her exposure. Every media outlet has covered the story, its all over your newsfeed, hell it made you open this very blog! Every page view adding advertising value to the source site. It flat out pays to stir the pot. So how can the small business owner cash in on this calculated marketing move with dignity?

Now I'm not suggesting you strap on a nude colored bikini and parade around a stage in front of millions of people to move more units. But I am suggesting you analyze your target audience. What dumb thing can they relate to doing and then do that dumb thing. Or at least write about doing that dumb thing. An embarrassing error in an email, a misuse of a texting term ("here I thought my associate was proclaiming his undying love for me and it turns out LOL doesn't mean "lots of love"), use your media of choice to embarrass yourself, just enough that your target relates, not enough that they abandon you. The more public the better. If done right, you get a conversation started where your loyals reLate and say "we've all been there", increasing loyalty, word of mouth advertising, thanks for the teaching opportunity, Miley.

DIY Easy Peasy Retail Cards

Retail Cards are small signs that provide information about your retail products available for sale. Also known as "shelf talkers", retail cards help attract your client's attention in your waiting area. For the purpose of today's blog, I have created very simple retail cards with an image, product name, and price. More elaborate shelf talkers may include details about where or how the product is made, it's benefits of use, and possible gifting ideas.

Needed for this Project: *Computer, *Printer, *Cardstock, *Scissors or Paper Trimmer

Step One: Create a new document in Word or other word processing software. Select a Business Card Layout.

Step Two: I chose a pre-made business card design with a flower. You could create your own with logo or other design.

Step Three: Delete rows 1 & 3 and the right portion of row 5 (side folding tent card). These will be the back half of your tent cards. Change the placeholder information to your custom descriptions. (For my example I am only putting product name and price).

 

Step Four: Print. I used colored cardstock to stand out and stand up straight.

 

Step Five: Chop.

Step Six: Once you have your cards all trimmed up, the next step is to fold the tent cards in half and display them with your retail items.


I think this looks much better than the price stickers we had been using and we can change the cards quickly and easily when we need to. We will make seasonal cards for the same products to spark interest in slow moving items around different holidays.

Here's how they turned out:

 

 

What do you think? Can you spice up your retail displays with this fast and easy retail card display? Comment below!

Becoming a Destination Spa is Easier Than You Think!

Yesterday's thread on the Facebook group Massage Practice Builder had my mind racing! There is so much more I want to share about my experiences with TripAdvisor that I just can't fit it all on one thread. 

Getting Listed
As discussed yesterday, this is the super secretive link to getting listed as a Thing To Do in your town. You fill out a description, name, address,etc. Same ol' same ol'. They may send you a postcard to verify you are a real business, I can't remember. But once you are approved, you can really jazz up your profile! Add photos of your office, your staff, or your services. Add your hours of operation, and do not forget to include a phone number! You can link your website and a variety of social media. Did I mention this is all free?

Low Maintenance
Once your listing is active and you've added your content you are done! You will receive an email to notify you of any new reviews. If you want to you can log back in to your account and under Management Center you can opt to reply to the reviews as the owner of the business. It's a good idea to thank people for taking the time to post positive reviews and earnestly and honestly reply to the negative ones. Negative reviews will affect your rank within the system, but customers often report they chose a location because the owner replied to address complaints. You can't delete them as far as I know so might as well pull a PR move: own up to the problem, take responsibility as the owner, and list the solutions you have taken to make sure it never happens again.

Okay great you have an active listing, who is going to find you here?
Travelers! Hotel guests! Full-time RVers! People in town for a family or work function. Lots and lots of people who are potential clients of yours pass through your town every day. They don't live there, they don't read the paper or subscribe to the local things you may be spending your advertising dollars on. This is how you reach them! Their money is just as good as your local's money.

Not Always Planners
I'd say 75% of the clients who call us from TripAdvisor need a same day or next day appointment. They see that we are here once they are already here. Sometimes we can't accommodate them and we refer out to another therapist or two in town.

Frequency
True, a lot of these people will never come back again, but not because they didn't love you, they just have to go home sometime. But some will come back to town annually, maybe even monthly, so repeat business is certainly an option! 

They Value the Experience
These are not discount seekers! They make their buying decisions on reviews not on prices. So when you are ranked #5 thing to do in Hoboken, with 30 five star reviews singing your praises, it doesn't matter what your price is because chances are good you are worth it! They are coming because your business adds value to their vacation.

They Write Reviews
Because they found you on TripAdvisor, they are extremely likely to review you on TripAdvisor and help you increase your rank and find even more new customers!

You Are the Destination.
They found you, discovered you even, they've seen your pictures, they've  read the reviews and now they are counting down the seconds until they get to be the one on your table. You, my friend, are a destination in your town! Now maybe you didn't go into your business to be a luxury day spa, maybe you cater to a sports crowd or a medical crowd. This listing is not supposed to change who you or who your business is. It is supposed to highlight you as a fixture in your community.


Donna Kopf,
Owner LMT Marble Falls Massage Therapy Center
Owner LMT Kingsland Massage Garage
Marketing Director, Sway Marketing