By Grant Miller, Salon Consultant

I never met anyone yet who at one time or another didn’t enjoy the movie The Wizard Of Oz. Just a great movie. Unforgettable characters, a wonderful story and, of course, the big message that “there is no place like home.”

Now, maybe I was a strange little kid, but the scene that stuck with me the most was when Toto ran behind the curtain and pulled it back. He revealed that the “great wizard” was just some old guy pushing buttons, pulling levers and speaking into a microphone to make him sound way smarter and more powerful than he actually was.

Well, believe it or not, there are still lots of “wizards,” consultants, and salespeople out there doing this same exact thing today. They talk a good game and sound like they know what they’re doing, when in reality they are sitting behind their curtain pushing buttons and pulling levers that aren’t connected to anything.

They may act as though they are showing a caveman fire when, in fact, their Bic lighter has been out of butane for a very long time. Many “consultants” are teaching from their distant memories or from a marketing textbook that was written for branding a Fortune 500 company with a $36 million marketing budget.

As small business owners, we need to spend $1 on marketing today in order to get $2 of revenue in return tomorrow. The marketing campaign has to work and pay a dividend before we get the credit card statement in the mail next month.

As much as we all love a happy ending to a good fairy tale, hoping that business will pick up next week is not an effective marketing strategy. Nor is hoping the cute sales rep or latest wizard holds the keys to the kingdom to finally solve your business or financial woes. The effective marketing of your business is the most important function of your business. Without new customers and maximizing the revenue of each customer you already have, somebody else will literally steal away your customers eventually.

This is one of the many reasons why I never use an advertising agency and don’t trust a salesperson or consultant that gets paid a percentage of what I spend. Only pay for performance. And performance is only measured in dollars and measurable Return On Investment (ROI). Sorry, but “Likes” on Facebook, response rates and awards for “good” ads do not count as performance.

If you are looking for some clarity on how to effectively market your salon business in this new economy I have a book that I wrote that could benefit you immensely. And the best part is, it’s free if you are a salon owner. All I ask is that you pay a nominal shipping and handling charge. Go to TanningSalonMarketing.com to request your copy. This is real marketing that really works, written by a tanning business owner for other tanning business owners. No fluff and no bull.

There is no magic wizardry. Do not trust the guys or gals behind the curtains. A long time ago I heard “If you want to be successful, just do the opposite of what broke people do.” Makes a lot of sense to