Hey guys,
Found this online about avoiding getting into a negative recession mentality and how to use quiet times to your advantage: -
1. Know your guests. Do you know what your clients really need? You might think, “Mary is out of work and can’t afford to have color this time,” when in reality, Mary might be looking for work and wants to look her best.
2. Give 110%. Before you blame the economy for a business slowdown, make sure you’re doing your best work. Is your workstation clean and beautiful? Are you giving every guest an exceptional experience? Are you creating an enjoyable oasis where your guests can escape from economic worries and other stresses? Assess yourself honestly and make improvements as needed.
3. Use your downtime wisely. If business is a little slow, use the opportunity to do the things you normally can’t. Provide education for yourself or your staff. Give your workstation (or business) a good cleaning or sprucing up. Plan some promotional activities, make flyers, or visit nearby businesses to promote yourself or your business. Get your team together and volunteer in your community. Activities like these will reenergize you and your team, and that enthusiasm will translate into increased business dollars.
Refuse to buy into the recession mind-set, and make things happen today!

Here here!!!
Great advice. I'm on a bit of a negative low at the minute cos my salon is quiet, but I'm gonna work on loads of promo activities to get my name out there!!
x

Excellent advice. Thanks for posting!

At the risk of sounding snippy, I've been saying all this for weeks!

I'm with Calla on this one. Between the two of us, plus a couple of other geeks we're trying our damdest to boost morale & trying to advise people to stop feeling sorry for themselves & get pro-active.

We've come up with some fantastic marketing ideas which, with a bit of enthusiasm should really pay dividends.

I do sometimes feel though that 'if your name's not on the list, you're not coming in' so to speak.

Good advice. It comes as second nature to a lot of us but thanks for posting this...especially for the newbies in the industry x

Hun....just because people may not reply to your posts DOES NOT mean that they are not read and noted allover the world.
WHAT LIST??????????????????????????????????????????????

I am using this time of year to plan this time of year, next year!
I am going to do little xmas hampers to sell. Some nice boxes filled with things for nails or feet. Then I am going to wrap them in some nice cellofane from the florist. Thought of this today and I will buy the products bit by bit through the year,, that way I am well organised for next xmas and not buying a huge outlay in october/november when its quieter.
As for being quiet at the moment............IS IT??? I have been so busy for the last 3 weeks and thats before it goes really NUTS!!!! starting next week.
I rave, promote and convince people they needs me. I had a little 'droop' in confidence last week, but no way do my clients know!
I have got MInx booking all over because I am minxing the girls at work and they are all raving too!!
You have to be positive and professional and convince everyone you are so important in their lives!
Little gifts are good too....I bought the little sensations bucket and every now and again I give one away to a client...this leads to them wanting the bigger one. I have orders coming in for the wash and lotions sets for xmas pressy's. The client says about the lotion and I tell them about the matching wash! I mean,, how nice is that!!!??? They buy both!

You just have to think ahead and have the balls to promote!!
You got to be init to win it!!!

Maybe this poster hasn't read some of the other threads with the fantastic advice. This is really not a very well thought out or particularly nice comment is it?

This is a good thread and the more the merrier like it, I say.

It's not about point scoring or getting a pack on the back ... it is about supporting each other and helping.

Here here - every little helps as they say

Great ideas - thank you for posting them.

Sometimes reading the same ideas but worded differently can turn on a lightbulb, thats how my brain works anyway! It should be a case of the more the merrier rather than an competition of ideas.

well everyone.

Calla and Cogsi give fab advice all the time, sometimes we CHOOSE not to hear it as it sounds like hard work, but at the end of the day what they say rings true.

Its great to have the scaremongering of the recession turned on its head into a positive.

Ive repped both of them for their sound advice.

I haven't been on here as much lately due to personal reasons, and was making my way through the threads, and read this one before any of you or Cogsi's. It is a very postive thread and certainly did not deserve that response from either of you.

This is exactly the type of thing that puts people off this site. I wonder if I'm on 'The List'.

Ridiculous!!

Thank you to the original poster.

Yep, it is. The amount of information that I've shared and that has gone unthanked is rather dispiriting to say the least. And then to see other people taking the credit for my ideas is even more galling. Of course I don't have a monopoly on good ideas, and I'm actually happy to share any ideas I have (otherwise why would I post them?) but I'm damned if I'm going to sit there and let other posters be showered with glory and praise while I get left in the shadows.

Mmmm. I've been thinking long & hard how best to respond, if at all since my last comment on this thread. No doubt whatever I say will annoy somebody but that is not intentional. I'm sure we've all said or posted things which we would rather we hadn't.

I still maintain that Calla & myself post with positivity & always help out with positive words of encouragement. Calla has started many threads to help out with networking & business boosting as I have myself. I agree with her totally that it is very discouraging to always help out with fellow therapists & very rarely get recognised for it.

I certainly don't expect geeks to go to extremes with their praise but what I meant about 'the list' is that it seems that some geeks get all the praise when some of us don't. Sometimes it would be nice to appreciate others who help out. A little appreciation goes a long way.

Despite comments to the contrary I do make sure I read all other posts & have actually utilised some of the advice given in my own business. Most of my posts in this part of the forum have been to help others. I give more to this site than I take out of it.

I also don't feel I deserve all the negativity my previous comment attracted.