It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Well, almost! The holidays are approaching faster than you think and it is ESSENTIAL that you start to plan for how you want your business to operate during the season.

 

It’s the season where our industry experiences the MOST demand.

In today’s episode I’m going to share with you 5, count ‘em, 5 of my top tips for getting your business ready for the holiday season!

{If you want to listen to the podcast episode on this topic, click on the player at the top of the post. Alternatively you can watch the video below, or read on…}

 

It may be the most wonderful time of the year but its also the busiest 

 

If you’ve gone to ANY major department or big box store… you… and millions of other people JUST like you have probably rolled your eyes in disgust that Christmas decor is all around and ready to buy.

 

We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet!

 

I used to work at a day spa in one of the major malls in San Diego and would get SUPER annoyed at Santa and all his North Pole glory that would start parading about on November 1.

 

Now, I love me some Christmas music and pumpkin pie and peppermint lattes…the whole shebang, but 7 weeks of it kind of kills the Holiday spirit by the time Christmas actually rolls around.

 

Why big retailers are getting ready for Christmas and why you should too

 

But the reason why big retailers are throwing Christmas in your face from September is because they have done decades of research and experimentation on what the market responds to. 

 

So if big retailers already have their holiday plans, promotions and details worked out by now to execute on November 1st, well then we should too.

 

 

In the lash industry, our busiest time of the year is between November and December. During that holiday season is when we and the rest of the beauty industry are in most demand.

 

In order for you to be part of that holiday spending and to stay top of mind you’re going to want to start taking advantage and using the tips I’m going to share with you.

 

Read on for my top tips to take advantage of the holiday season:

 

TIP #1: Plan out your holiday schedule NOW

 

Decide which days you’re open and which days you’re closed – now before your schedule gets crammed.

 

If you are intentional about this, it will set you up to seem that you are in high demand.

 

This is a great strategy for the holiday period. When there is that much perceived demand on your time and someone wants to book you outside of that time, then you can take advantage of this and offer after-hours appointment – but for an after-hours fee.

 

TIP #2 Get clients to pre-book NOW

 

For every appointment from now – you need to remind them that the holiday period is coming up and tell them that there is a lot of demand, so they need to book NOW.

 

Your current clients, god love ‘em, we want them to get their lashes looking super-duper fly for the holidays, tell them that there’s going to be a lot of demand for lashes this holiday season and you want to make sure they have their preferred time locked in so they don’t miss out by trying to schedule last minute.

 

Look after your current clients and give them a heads up.

 

You can even say your schedule is starting to book up, they don’t have to know. Have them book 2-3 appointments out and really emphasize booking through to the end of the year to ensure you can accommodate them.

 

TIP #3: Start engaging with other social media accounts NOW

 

You want to start building your audience heavily during October and early November before you start majorly marketing any offers, promotions or holiday specific specials. This way you’ll have a larger newer audience who’s primed for the taking when you start to promote yourself.

 

My tip to start engaging local audiences:

 

• Start by searching hashtags that your ideal type of client might be using and start to leave meaningful and relevant comments on her posts. For example – search for the hashtag San Diego Yoga or San Diego Beach, or San Diego Sunset, then go to that person’s account.
• Next, find 3-5 accounts a day and go leave a meaningful and engaging comment on 3 of their photos. Make them relevant, funny, engaging or give them a compliment.

 

In need of some inspiration? Well, here’s some examples of comments I might write:

 

Holy cow, how long did it take you to hold your upside-down headstand for more than a minute?! I can only hold mine for about 15 seconds before I fall flat on my face

 

That sunlight photo of your dog on the beach is such a beautiful shot of living that San Diego dream

 

You HAVE to tell me what filter this is, cause the blues of the sky behind you are GOOOORG!

 

This strategy can really build your following with authentic people who might want your services.

 

 

TIP #4 Plan out the promotions that you are going to offer NOW

 

Don’t leave this for the last minute! We don’t want to pull something willy-nilly out of the hat that’s not in demand and won’t incentivize a whole bunch of people.

 

Think about these things:

 

1.Think about how many promotions do you want to offer

 

Maybe stick to 1-3 so you have some variation and promotions that can fit and fill a need. It doesn’t always have to be a discount. You could offer a package which gets that customer to carry on throughout the new year and not just the holiday season. The longer people wear lashes through the holiday period the longer people want to carry on doing that so we want to drag this demand into the slow new year period.

 

2. Think about how someone redeems the promotion

 

You need to work out the kinks to make is easy for you and easy for your customer. What if someone wants to purchase something in advance, or if they want to purchase the promotion for someone as a gift? How does someone pay for the promotion? You need to think all these things through.

 

We don’t want to complicate our marketing and confuse our customers, because a confused mind does not buy.

 

You need to make it crystal clear in your marketing so people understand and are ready to take advantage of it.

 

3. Make sure you set expiration dates 

 

When is the promotion valid and is there an expiration or cut-off date to the promotion? Make sure that there is a deadline stated either in your caption or your email so that someone in January doesn’t come back and say – oh I want to do this now!

 

TIP #5 Plan how you’ll get the word out about any holiday specific promotions NOW

 

How do you shout from the mountain tops that your promotion is now LIVE, come and get it.

 

You need to be making people aware that the holiday season is the time to be thinking about lashes.

 

You need to make sure you think about following:

 

• When is it going live?
• How are you going to get it out there? Email, stories, ads?
• What images and posts can you plan and schedule between November and December now on your social media platforms?
• What repurposing can you do?
• How can you let your current clients know about the promotions?
• Do you need signage in your salon?

 

Lets recap your holiday strategy

 

To maximize your holiday success this season, you’ve got to start planning out your holiday schedule, get your clients to pre-book thru the end of the year and highlight the benefit to them for doing this.

 

You want to start building and growing your audience who will be primed and ready to take you up on any holidays offers and for you to stay top of mind this holiday season.

 

Plan out the promotions that you’ll offer NOW, AND develop your plan of attack about how you’ll communicate and shout your promotions from those snowy mountain tops.

 

I’d love for you to take a screen shot of you watching or listening to the episode and share it on Instagram stories so I know that YOU are taking your business seriously and that you’re stepping into your role as a true LASHPRENEUR.

 

Be sure to tag @thelashpreneur in your story so I can cheer you on!

 

Happy business building!

Have a Good One!

Tara Walsh

The Lashpreneur