This is one of 186 strategies and applications that will appear in Putting Your Small Business on Steroids — 186 Strategies to Increase Your ROI, by John Gifford and Matt Hall.
For those persistent persons who have been following the Ted Turner saga for the first 3 parts(see Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Ted Turner: Love Him or Hate Him), here is the climactic 4th Part with the punch line: how to apply Turner’s tactics in synergy to your own business.
Let’s consider a hypothetical business; let’s call it Salon Cuts, a hair salon. Let’s consider the innovative strategies from the point of view of the creative owner and her three employees who have a special way with styling and cuts. In fact, the owner and the employees are always getting compliments on what a nice job they do and how innovative they are. They target an affluent demographic and are looking for ways to generate additional income.
For ideas on how to ratchet up the ROI on this business, let’s look at Turner’s synergistic components:
#1: Cross-Promotion across holdings
#2: Revenue Streams (breadth and innovation)
#3: Distribution multipliers
#4: Purchased properties provided content for his stations
#5: Increasing returns (success of one enterprise catalyzes subsequent successes)
#6: Coalition
#7: Celebrity Status
Why not look at Turner’s #3, distribution multipliers, and consider ways to multiply your income through distribution of your “content,” namely, your innovative hair styles. Start an affiliate option for hair salons in your area whose staff will be trained on these exclusive, innovative hair styles and cuts, and who will receive marketing help as well. They pay an affiliate fee (geographical protection) and talk up your Hair Creations. Initially promote a get-together where you demonstrate your exclusive styles to the prospective affiliates. Sell them on the idea and start your training in person, but videotape it so that in the future you can have an Internet training curriculum for your affiliates-at-a-distance.
As your affiliate program grows, take a prompt from Turner’s #2, Revenue Streams, and remember the Ginzu Knives and Pocket Fisherman. Your equivalent can be your own line of hair conditioners, etc., that will be available at the affiliate salons (affiliates will share in the profits), as well as available on your website (”remember for best results with our innovative styles, use our own special hair conditioner”).
As you continue to grow, let us not forget #4, content. Buy new cuts, styles from best stylists in region, even the country; be the place where the new styles happen; try to patent your own innovative hair styles – if successful, syndicate the standout styles, make clients’ of affiliates pay premium prices for them (affiliates get a cut). Remember, these are affluent customers and they thrive on the notion of exclusivity. If you are not successful in patenting the hair style, you can probably get press or TV coverage for your day in court. By the way, here is a link for information about patenting a hair style: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A30868
With regard to #1, cross-promotion, it is implied in the affiliate agreement. Salon Cuts’ Website lists the affiliates, as well as marketing for them; the affiliates promote Salon Cuts’ special hair styles, as well as their branded hair conditioners, etc.
Why not think of additional revenue streams, #2:
When an affiliate “launches,” one of the “celebrity stylists” from the “flagship salon” helps with promotion – they will be a celebrity stylist for a day (the prices will be much higher and the fees are split between Salon Cuts and the local affiliate).
In online fee-based offerings to affiliates, there are two content tracks, one is Advanced hair styling, the other is Hair Salon Business University – ways to maximize profit in the local salon (you’re doing it already in your salon management: package the knowledge and systems and make it available in turn-key fashion for your affiliates)
Online to affiliates’ customers (gated website only for customers of affiliates), sell conditioner line, videos (Best of the Best Styles and Cuts), and other products/services that have an affinity to upscale hair styling (spa connection, etc.).
Online to customers in general: sell the Video of Best of the Best Styles and Cuts – new edition quarterly.
#7: Celebrity Status – Get write-ups in hair styling and business publications by telling your unique story; put on Creative Cuts, Styles Competition- “televise” it online. If Orange County Choppers can achieve celebrity status through their “reality” TV show, who says that a hair salon can’t.
I’ll leave #5: Increasing returns and #6: Coalition to you to generate possible synergistic possibilities.
Hopefully, going through ways that Turner’s components can generate strategic possibilities for an apocryphal hair salon gives you a notion of how you might use Turner’s system and the summary components I have provided to generate ideas that can jump-start your own business. Even if the parallels between the strategies you develop for your business and Turner’s are inexact, understanding his mind-set and using the components of his strategy as a template to percolate ideas for your business can be highly productive.
This is one of 186 strategies and applications that will appear in Putting Your Small Business on Steroids — 186 Strategies to Increase Your ROI, by John Gifford and Matt Hall. If you would like to be notified when the book is available, please send an email with the Subject: Book Notification to johng@indysmallbiz.com.
Tags: indianapolis small business, strategy
