Cynthia Frederick, Electric Beach Mankato

We interviewed this vitamin D crusader in the October issue of Smart Tan Magazine. Her story about starting a bikini parade to promote natural breast cancer prevention took national media by storm, but read on to learn other ways Cynthia wins over customers.

Q: Are there any other organizations you’re involved with in the community?

A: We are very supportive of the Minnesota State University athletic teams — we are the preferred tanning salon for MSU athletics. Electric Beach is especially involved with the cheer and dance teams. Every year we host a car wash for them that usually raises about $1500. Those girls are not considered part of the athletic department and they don’t get scholarships, so they have to fund warmup suits, pom poms and camps out of their own pocket. We have a radio station broadcast live and motivate the dancers to participate by giving away a free month of tanning for showing up. It helps build loyalty to my salon because they know I am the one helping them.

Q: How do you keep your Facebook fans engaged?

A: We do a lot of little fun things for our Facebook fans. In late August, I started a raffle. For every $10 someone spends on their purchase, they receive a raffle ticket; if they like our page, they get 10 tickets. Every day, we draw out of our box for the winners. I give away things like vitamin D drops, lotion packets, t-shirts or sunglasses. And at the end of the month, we give away one month unlimited tanning in all beds. That boosted our likes last years owe continue to do it randomly.