By Alexander Irving —
  Today was unusual.
We got a hand-written card in the mail.
It stood out in the pile like a sore thumb. Hand-written, imagine that. Different … That took time.
We went back into the house where we usually toss the mail on the kitchen table for opening later, but not today. We stayed together and opened that piece. We looked at the return address. How ‘old-fashioned’. We left all the other mail for later.
It was short, sweet, and thoughtful. We commented on it and discussed that person and (I assume both) thought to ourselves, ” Gee, they found this [...]
… Continue reading PR at its Best: Simple and Old-Fashioned
By Sharon Esche Irving —
 Slow Summer? Not Here
It’s great to see salons and spas taking on the recession’s summer season with some sizzlin’ hot PR ideas that your clients – and the media – think are just plain ‘cool’. Gone are the days when the term ‘slow summer’ in the salon was expected, and accepted until the ‘back to school’ crowd brought business back to life. Now, enterprising salon owners take the ‘offense’ against the dreaded slow season by thinking fresh with great ideas that keep clients connected … and coming back!
No more allowing clients to forget about or abandon regular salon [...]
… Continue reading Cool Salon/Spa PR Ideas to Sizzle Up Your Summer!
By admin —
 by Guest Poster Rosanne Ullman, contributing editor to Modern Salon, Salon Today, Renew, INOurSalon, FirstChair and firstchair.com. Read her blogs at modernsalonlearning.com and beautyschooladvisor.com and visit her website at betterwritinggroup.com.
Even before the current stream of layoffs, editors at newspapers, magazines and websites had little time to fix, plump up or pare down press releases in order to transform them into publishable articles. And now, with skimpy skeleton staffs, more than ever editors select for publication those pieces that need minimum tweaking. If you see the same people getting press over and over, that’s why.
How can your salon or [...]
… Continue reading Compelling Copy Gets You Published
By Alexander Irving —
 Being Consistent.
“Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.” – Francis Bacon
Consistency means you are there, appearing at ‘regular intervals’ in the lives of your clients, and in the eyes of local editors and writers. You are someone they can “count on” seeing and hearing from. You are a part of their world … consistently.
Consistency alone can make a huge difference between you and the ‘other guy’.
People experience your consistency in a number of ways. Clients, by the fact that they have the same memorable ‘experience’ every time they [...]
… Continue reading Consistency Counts
By Alexander Irving —
 This post inspired by a recent discussion with 27 year salon industry veteran Robin Gribbin and charter beautyprpro subscriber prize winner Meghanne Gibbon Haran of You Salon in Maryland. Also, it was a recent question by a new salon owner in the Salon and Spa Business Forum on Facebook who asked, “How can I become better known by my local press and community?”
‘Get Real’ in the Neighborhood
Good people and businesses ‘stand out’ in their community. They are more than just a place to go for products or services. They are part of the fabric of life in [...]
… Continue reading Is Your Salon or Spa ‘Beloved’ in Your Community?
By Sharon Esche Irving —
 No Matter How Busy You Get With Other Things, Keep Your Sights on the Local Press – And They’ll Keep Their Sights On You!
It doesn’t matter how many salons or spas are in your town – you need to stay creative in keeping in touch with your local newspapers, magazines, anchors, and TV segment producers. Keep up that great consistent effort on your part to keep showing up in clever, relevant ways that keep them turning their attention your way. Notice that I said ‘consistent’ … not ‘constant’ when it comes to sending them one-page press releases (max) or [...]
… Continue reading Keep Local Press Focus On You – 10 ‘To Do’s & ‘To Don’ts’
By Sharon Esche Irving —
 As a ‘beauty PR pro’, I pray that businesses in the beauty industry don’t cut down on public relations when cutting down on expenses in this crazy economy. Imagine my ABSOLUTE DELIGHT to hear three top beauty professionals in the last couple of weeks literally answer my prayers (looks like I won’t have to quit my day job after all <g>). What are they saying?
“Whatever you do, don’t cut down on your PR effort…don’t mess with your ‘image’ and ‘credibility’ in front of the consumer! Keep your PR intact and if you have to cut anywhere in communications, make [...]
… Continue reading Cutting Expenses in a Crazy Economy? “Don’t Cut Your PR!” Say Beauty Experts
By Sharon Esche Irving —
Here’s an example of creativity from a really ‘style smart’ blogsite www.thestylhouse.ca that … Doesn’t cost you a dime. Helps your clients get a total ‘look’. Develops a relationship with surrounding fashion- oriented boutiques you think would make good promotional partners AND Gives you something to crow about in the local media.
What if you were to build relationships with several fashion boutiques/stores in the area that retail the kinds of clothing your clients would be interested in? Perhaps you could start pulling together total ‘looks’ for your clients and their customers, creating special combo pricing ideas for clients/customers [...]
… Continue reading Newsworthy ‘Added Value’ for Your Clients – the Total ‘Look’
By Alexander Irving —
 In our role as beauty PR specialists, Sharon and I keep an eye on several different worlds:
The world of beauty and fashion. The world of esthetics and spas. The world of writers and editors (business, beauty & grooming, lifestyle, etc). The PR universe (buzz and trends in PR).
Just as you read your industry and consumer publications and to stay abreast of influences and trends – so do we. We can’t innovate for our clients if we don’t know what is going on.
Normally, our ‘other worlds’ are transparent to our clients at www.beauty-pr.com. That’s what you hire us [...]
… Continue reading What You Need to Know About the Beauty PR Process
By Sharon Esche Irving —
 What’s a VIP Card? Looking and feeling like a credit card, a VIP card is a ‘flexible’ discount device for salon or spa services and/or product purchases. Although you will think of many other uses, our focus in this post is on how you can use it to garner more local media awareness . . . without looking moochy. Although VIP cards work well in any economic climate, no one is immune to a value. Value and savings opportunities are strong motivators, especially now. See our recent post ‘Good PR in a Bad Economy‘. [...]
… Continue reading The VIP Card – A Media Attention-Getter
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