If you want to participate in making this holiday season the most kick ass and profitable you’ve had to date, then yes! It’s time to start preparing and planning for your holiday schedule and promotions NOW! Do you think Target makes their holiday order and plan on October 31st and then BAM! Christmas decor is on their shelves by November 1? Nope, they plan well in advance to be able to maximize their profits and promotions so they hit all the gift givers. There are those over-achiever types (my mother-in-law is one of them) who typically have their holiday shopping done by mid-November, and then there are those procrastinators who rush the stores on December 24th trying to find something they can wrap and put under the tree.

Now that you’re in the world of running an eyelash extension business, it’s time to flex your marketing skills and create a plan for the holidays NOW! Map out your marketing and promotional plan, get your gift cards and stocking stuffers ordered, even looking through your schedule for the next two months and put it in stone on what days you will take off and what hours you will work.

LASHPRENEUR LIGHTBULB

There is no busier time for the beauty industry than between Thanksgiving and New Year’s so step up your lash business game and plan ahead this year by starting NOW!

Our society has come to expect great deals and promotions during this time of year and lash clients are no exception. It’s a great time to create awareness for the services you offer, entice a new customer through your doors who may have been putting off the luxury of lashes for a special occasion, or to provide value for your current clientele to increase their dollars spent with you and to solve their gift-giving problems with special holiday packages and gift cards.

Use October thru mid-November to start to build an audience of either followers, email subscribers or fans on social media who you can market holiday offers and promotions to.

Questions to ask yourself to start crafting your holiday marketing plan starting in October are:

• How will you market your lash services this holiday season?

• What will you do differently than normal to capitalize on the demand for beauty services?

• Who will you market to?

• How can new clients wanting your services find you?

• How can you entice new and current clients to continue to get services from you well into the new year?

Having a strategic holiday marketing plan in place that you roll out week by week will give you the most opportunity to maximize your holiday sales!

This is where all of your planning starts to kick off and your step-by-step plan can start to unroll.

Questions to ask yourself to start to implement your holiday marketing plan in November are:

• How will you communicate your specials in person?

• How will you communicate your specials online?

• How can you capture the early bird gift shoppers?

• How do you stay present of mind so people remember you exist and you’re offering valuable deals?

Take advantage of these 2017 special gift-giving days:

• Black Friday: November 24 – Give your clients at least a week heads up that your lash business will be participating in Black Friday Weekend deals. You can include your deals in your communication or you can keep it secret until the day of and tell your clients to follow you on social media to know what specials are happening and when.

• Special note about Black Friday Weekend: Competition is fierce to get the attention of shoppers as their focus is drawn in so many directions. Don’t put all your big holiday deals in one “Black Friday Basket”. Be sure to have an ongoing marketing strategy to catch shoppers throughout the holiday season in case they’re distracted by the big box stores and their deals over Black Friday Weekend.

• Small Business Saturday: November 25 – Same 1 week notice.

• Cyber Monday: November 27 – If you have the ability to retail anything through your website, this would be the day to go big on a deal.

• Green Monday: December 11 – Biggest day for online sales in December.

• Hanukkah: December 12-20

• Free Shipping Day: December 15 – If you have any online retail, this would be the day to offer free shipping.

• First Day of Winter: December 21

By now you are probably knee deep in work and just trying to stay afloat until Christmas Day to finally get a day off! Don’t forget that this is your holiday season too, so allowing yourself time to go to holiday festivities, hang out with friends and family and have a few days here and there will help you to avoid the dreaded holiday burnout. Your focus during this final push should be to keep the holiday rush going through the New Year and into January and February.

Offering holiday packages that include at least 1-3 touch-ups that would carry that client into the New Year is your best bet in retaining that new holiday client for the long haul. The longer they’ve worn their lashes, the more accustomed they will be to how they look with them.

If you find this coaching session was awesome and you want more, we’d love for you to join the waitlist for The Lashpreneur Society to find out more about marketing your lash biz!

Have a Good One!

Tara Walsh, The Lashpreneur