Blog

Give yourself one giant pat on the back honey, ‘cause you have just made it to the other side of the pandemic. But with that we need to dive head-first into adapting to the new-normal. One of those things being your salon marketing and giving it a little shake-up.

When you’re trying to promote and SELL a new service or product, like Online Gift Cards, do you just choose one channel, cross your fingers and hope for results? Nope! One itty-bitty post to Instagram isn’t going to drive those sales all by its lonesome. It has to work with all the other powerful channels you have in your marketing toolkit to get you the results you’re envisioning.

While last week was grim and gloomy in the world of online bookings for our clients, the first few days of this week were BUSY… and things aren't slowing down. When we dug into the numbers we were seeing, we found some absolute 🌟 star performers 🌟. We asked them how they did it - and they told us. Find out how.

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.

When lockdowns end and 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. Begin by thinking of the things you have control over: cleaning the salon, communicating with your staff, and creating new sanitation processes. 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) Revise your COVID-safe plan  Reconsider your current COVID-safe plan and see if there are any improvements that could be made. 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 and maintain a consistent routine for you and your staff to prevent the risk of contamination within your salon.  In your Shortcuts Appointment Book, consider adding a finishing block titled "Sanitation" or "Sterilisation" if you haven't already. This should be booked after every service to allow a minimum of 15 minutes to clean your space in-between clients.  Plan…

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.

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…

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!

The JobKeeper payment package has now passed through parliament. But what does it mean for salons, and how can you access it? We answer the questions on everyone’s minds – plus, give you some real-world examples of how it will work.

We’ve hit the (virtual) pavements and rounded up just a few of the creative ways our Shortcuts community are making money while their businesses are closed. Who knows – one of these could be the pot of gold you’re chasing!

If you haven’t heard, Rewards Club is a feature that bring income to your business RIGHT NOW. You already have in your Shortcuts system and already paying for as part of your subscription. Rewards Club is a spend and save style program that guarantees immediate revenue for you, while giving additional value to loyal clients as a reward for paying upfront. And nope! It won’t cost you an arm and a leg!

There is a long-lost little feature that you have already in your Shortcuts system and are already paying for as part of your subscription that could earn you cash money quick smart. It’s a win-win idea designed to generate cash for you, while rewarding your clients when things return to normal (hopefully sooner rather than later!)

The New Zealand Government has announced a number of ways they are offering financial relief to help businesses stay open through COVID-19 lockdowns.  Find out what this means for your salon.

From the tide of information over the last couple of weeks, we have pulled together a few comments from key industry leaders, to hopefully give you some insight and perspective.  

If you are facing the prospect of temporarily closing your doors, first of all remember that you are definitely not alone. Many salons and barbers are finding that the current COVID-19 pandemic is forcing them to take a temporary closure, and for most cases, it will mean the eventual re-opening when current pressures ease.