You know that feeling…the one you get when you walk into Walgreens the day after Halloween: All of the costumes are picked over, the candy is on sale, and the other half of the “Seasonal Aisle” is already filled with red and green. Every year, it seems like the holidays start one day earlier. The next thing you know, all of your local retailers will have Christmas trees in the windows, holiday music crooning through the speakers and if you’re lucky, hot cider and festive cookies served on your way in. For many salon owners, the end of the year is one of the busiest times. It’s not just the time of year that you’re guaranteed to see majority of your clientele who want to be beautified for family reunions, high school reunions and unannounced grocery store reunions with old flames. It’s the time of year when people are shop, shop, SHOPPING to fill their stockings, pile up gifts under the tree and make people smile on all eight days of Hanukkah. Every small business is gearing up to capitalize on holiday merriment, so don’t let the holiday bustle get the best of you. Invite your guests and loved ones to sell-a-brate the holidays with you in your salon studio! ‘Tis the season of spreading cheer that will keep your guests coming back for more in 2019…. Get in the Holiday Spirit From festive decorations to a signature holiday scent, turn your studio a winter wonderland. In addition to the obvious décor, stock a cookie jar with holiday cookies and serve up a warm drink like hot cocoa or a hot toddy. The holidays are a total frenzy, so create a relaxing and festive environment for your guests to take a load off and enjoy a bit of downtime while you pamper them. Don’t forget to add some eye-catching décor to your retail display, too! Draw attention to special product offerings like holiday gift sets and gift certificates, and don’t forget the stocking stuffers. Consider retailing items just during the holiday season that you may not typically carry year-round. There are so many people to shop for around the holidays, make it easy for your guests to check a few shopping stops off their to-do list. Timing Is Everything You might have a few minutes to spare today, but things are only going to get more hectic as we get closer to Thanksgiving. If there are certain days you want to focus your promotions around, make a simple calendar to remind yourself to get the word out. You won’t want to focus on all of these in one holiday season, but you may want to pick one of two of the options below to build your calendar around. Here are a few promotional ideas to get your wheels turning: General seasonal awareness marketing: Create a sense of urgency to get appointments booked! There’s no better time than now to send a simple reminder to book pre-holiday appointments. Send out a simple text blast or email reminder and your clients will be scrambling to their calendars to make sure they get on yours! Last year, Sola’s Culture Ambassador Kimi sent out a text reminder to 110 of her guests right around the first week of November, and she booked over $1700 of business in just a couple of hours! Here’s a pre-written text just to make things easy for you: Holidays are around the corner and I want to make sure you look and feel your best! Book soon, my schedule is filling up fast: kimbennettstudios.glossgenius.com. Thanksgiving: ‘Tis the season of giving, and leading up to Thanksgiving is the perfect time to invite your guests to give back alongside your salon. Host a clothing or canned food drive and reward your guests for contributing with 10% off retail. You’ll not only give them the joyful experience of giving, but you’ll also give them an opportunity to try a product they soon won’t be able to live without. And don’t forget on Thanksgiving (or the evening before) to send your clients a note of gratitude and post an image on social media. Tell them how thankful you are for their business. Black Friday: Invite your guests to stop by on Black Friday to shop ‘til they drop! Create a fishbowl filled with awesome retail discounts and prizes written on folded pieces of paper. Invite shoppers to choose from the fishbowl to win anywhere from 10-50% off retail, add-on services for their next appointment, free travel size samples and more. It’s the perfect day for your guests to stock up on holiday gifts in a no-stress environment like your serene salon studio. Small Business Saturday: Remind your guests that when they are supporting a small business, they are supporting a dream. Customers often forget that in addition to making them beautiful, as a small business owner, you are contributing to their community in such a deeply impactful way. Invite them to stop by for a glass of hot cocoa and a sweet treat and host fun demos throughout the “party.” Perhaps offer some awesome shopping opportunities and for each $5 spent, you can enter their name into a drawing to win a