If you own your own business, then you know that you have got to have a marketing plan especially in these economically trying times. Everyone is looking for a bargain and they do not want to have to drive miles away to find it because the price of gas has hit all time highs in recent weeks.

How do you ensure that you can attract business to your store?

Whether you operate your business strictly as a website or whether you own a brick and mortar store, a sure fire way to drive traffic is to offer free samples and giveaways.

People like getting stuff for free, and if it turns out to be a product that they enjoy, then they are likely to buy it in the future-from you!

I know what you are thinking. I can’t afford to giveaway free stuff. I disagree. You cannot afford NOT to giveaway free samples.

Even if that customer came to your store just to get the freebie, you can be assured that she will tell a minimum of three other people that they went to your store and came home with something free. That, my friend, is called advertising.

The giveaway brought you word of mouth advertising, that is worth a lot more than whatever the freebie cost you in the first place.

With the price of gasoline these days, the odds of someone coming to your store just to get the free item is unlikely. The free sample may be what gets the customer to your store, but the rest of your products are what will keep them there to make a purchase.

Great products, free samples and good customer service are essentials if you want to make it as a retailer.

Think about all of the times you go shopping. If the supermarket is offering a sample of a new food product, you will taste it.

While you may not have come to the supermarket to buy that particular item, if you liked the sample, you are now going to add it on as a purchase. Even better is if you can offer the customer a coupon for the product sample because that will increase the likelihood that they will purchase the item.

Lots of food chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s will frequently have samples of food for people to try. Even if customers do not buy the product, they leave the store with a good feeling about the store because of all the free samples they were able to try.

If you are an online retailer, you can still offer free samples. Limit the free samples to items that are inexpensive to ship.

Make sure you ask for an email address in addition to the shipping address so that you can contact your potential new customer in the future for marketing purposes. Follow up two weeks after shipping the item with a coupon to be used on their future purchase.

Another good way to give away something for free is to require some sort of other purchase.

Every order will receive a free product sample. This works with brick and mortar shops as well. You only give away the free item if some other purchase is made.

Knowing what you are going to do is not enough. Writing a business plan is a very important tool. There are standard forms for a business plan. It is not always an easy process. You may need help to get all of the information together. There are several online businesses that offer free forms on the internet. Some of these businesses offer a free sample to look at and get ideas for your own business plan. You will have to search carefully to find the free business plans, but they are out there. Many of these companies will fill out the information for you for a small fee. It does not matter if you have a computer at home. You can go to your local library. You will be able to print off the free business plan and then you can get started.

Maybe you do not want to use the free business plans for your beauty salon that are on the internet. You can go to the local college. The business professors there will usually offer small business classes in the evening. Some of these classes will be free. How to write a business plan will be part of the material that is covered in these classes. Your local library is another tool that you can use. There are books there that will show you how to find the information you will need to write your plan. The books will also show you how to put the information together to get the plan written in the correct format. Following the expected format is nearly as important as the overall content of the plan.

When you are writing your business plan it is important to follow the normal steps. There are several categories that have to be in the plan. The business plan is not just a tool to get investors or bank financing. The plan can be used to help you organize your thoughts and make plans for the future of your salon. It will allow you to see how much competition you have. You will know who your suppliers are going to be and how much you are going to charge for your services and products by the time you have completed the plan. It does not matter if you use a free beauty salon business plan or pay for the services of a professional. The business plan is the single most important tool in the financial future of your salon.

FREE Salon & Spa marketing DVD – watch this DVD and discover how to cram your salon or spa with clients eager to give you their cash.