A prospective new client recently stated that she had spent ‘about $1000’ on advertising in the last year. And she was complaining that she made ‘only’ about $50,000 profit for the year.

Mmmm, let’s see. Spend $1,000 to make 50k – in my simple mind, that’s a 50-1 return on investment. I’d say that’s pretty good.

It’s always a mystery to me that so many salon owners somehow expect their business to give them a $100,000 a year income without spending actual hard cash on acquiring the asset – i.e., customers – to fund that income. Let’s be clear; can you really expect to get an income-producing asset for free?

Income-producing assets don’t come for free. To expect to build a $100,000 a year income by fiddling around on Facebook and email, relying exclusively on social media, spending next to nothing on PAID advertising in any media is almost a definition of insanity. Sure, you could build a business with no more effort than whatever you can get for free, but don’t expect it to happen fast.

Definition of insanity: thinking that all you need is all that ‘free’ social media stuff and you’ll suddenly get a stampede of customers

If, to the question “what are you prepared to spend to acquire a $2,000 a year customer?” your answer is ‘I want it for free’ then you’re living in la-la land. Assets like that require investment. Acquiring multiple assets like that require multiplied investment.

But if you knew you’d tear up a $100 note every time you acquired a $2,000 a year customer, how many $100 notes would you be willing to tear up? (The answer, for the smart ones is: ‘as many as I’ve got.’)

Merely throwing up a Facebook page and waiting for prospective customers to wander by while putting little or no effort into going out and seeking those customers, is akin to a spider weaving a very small web in the corner of the eaves, while ignoring the moths circling the verandah light because you don’t want to bother building a ladder to reach them.

No worthwhile marketing comes for free; properly-constructed, well-maintained marketing in any media takes investment, in both money and in time. Remember that clients are assets and therefore salon advertising is an investment.