By Grant Miller, Salon Consultant

Words on paper, properly crafted, can have an amazing effect on your bank account. It still excited me that you can put ink on paper, send it in the mail and customers bring you money.

I am amazed how most business owners throw an ad together while driving in their car or over morning coffee, knowing they have 10 minutes before the ad deadline. Does anybody really think being highly effective at anything is that easy? One of the most important priorities of successful salon owners is attracting a reliable stream of qualified customers in a cost effective manner.

One of my favorite media choices for attracting new customers is the ValPak mailer. A ValPak is a bunch of coupons or offers stuffed in an envelope and mailed directly to homes in your town. Properly used, coupon mailers can be used effectively by any salon owner.

It’s a great media choice for a couple reasons. Number one is you can target very specific neighborhoods and zip codes where you know your customers live. ValPaks generally get mailed every month so you are able to change your message frequently if desired. Once you know an offer is working effectively, you can easily increase your mailing size the next month to attract even more new members.

Typically a ValPak mailing costs around three to four center per home, making it one of the most affordable ways to get a solid sales message into the hands of your prospect. They also have an incredibly high open rate — almost every household that gets one will open it up to see what’s inside.

Many people will sort through their ValPaks over the trashcan, quickly scanning each coupon looking for the one or two they want. This means you have only a moment to deliberately capture your prospect’s attention.

Click here to read the entire article in Smart Tan Magazine online.