Blog

As you try to rebuild your business, let’s focus on working together to get our communities back to normalcy. Work with each other, rather than against each other and leverage each other’s customer bases. It’s time to partner-up so we can all level-up!

SMS marketing is one of THE most powerful forms of marketing in your toolkit. The pros at Message Media (AKA Shortcuts’ fab SMS provider) say that 90% of text messages are read within 90 seconds. Heck, that’s quick! Straight from the horse’s mouth, we’re delivering all of Message Media’s best practice tips for sending effective SMS campaigns.

We sat down with our little resident Google guru, Naomi, to chat about how you can leverage the power of Google to communicate with your clients and establish your online presence.

We are FINALLY starting to see the light at the end of the very long COVID-tunnel. With hair and beauty businesses allowed to start operating somewhat normally, it’s time to get your ducks in a row so your business is ready for clients again if you did close your doors.  Begin by thinking of the things you have control over: cleaning the salon, communicating with your staff, and creating new sanitation processes. This is also a great time to think about any changes you may want or will now need to implement during this time to keep you, your clients, and your staff safe. For example, allowing for breaks in-between services to sanitise your stations.   By giving yourself time to think about your re-opening plan, you will be able to focus on each key area of your business so you can reopen with a bang! Here are a few ideas to get you started.  1) Map out a COVID-safe plan  Think about how you are going to sanitise stations, basins, waiting areas, in between clients, and the entire salon at the end of every day. It’s important to establish a consistent routine for you and your staff to prevent the risk…

It’s time to remind your clients that there’s still an important reason to celebrate just around the corner. This weekend in fact – Mother’s Day is on Sunday 10 May.

We’ve got a stash of FREE SMS to give away! Any Shortcuts client with SMS bundles on their package will receive a Bundle Bonus of 400 free messages to use over and above your regular bundle limit.  

How many times a day do you hear the familiar ‘ping’ of a text message to your phone, only to find it’s AusPost updating you on the status of an order, or an online retailer letting you know about a sale? Nowadays, SMS is a common way for businesses to spread the word, and it’s important to keep your SMS campaigns engaging and novel so that they make your clients take notice.    Our top tips? Glad you asked.   Make it personal. Use personal information like client name or appointment data wherever possible. And remember to use your name! Feeling like they’re getting a text from a real person will make your client take notice.   Use shortened links. Sites like Bitly allow you to cut down on characters by shortening website URLs for you! Simply enter the webpage address you want to shorten, and insert the URL it produces into your text. Bingo!  Mix it up. Don’t send the same message and expect a different result. Try a few different types of SMS, and see what works for you!  Here’s some ideas for SMS campaigns you can start sending today:  If you’re open…  Remind clients you’re open – with so much uncertainty around the government restrictions, your clients may not even realise they can still visit your salon!   Reinforce what your precautions are –…

Now is a great time to re-energise your staff and set some little projects to keep morale up. We’ve collated some of the things we think would be great for your teams to spend some time on – and we’ve even got some we can help you with!

Even if your business isn’t trading (be it physically or online) it’s important to be regularly connecting with your clients. After all, you want them to be beating down your door once you re-open. We’ve pulled together 7 ways you can connect with your client base while you’re closed – that’s one for every day of the week. How convenient!