Marketing
Groomers in Cyberspace
In today’s tech-savvy world, a well-developed web presence is essential to the success of a grooming salon.

By Kathy Salzberg, NCMG

If you would have told me when I started grooming that someday The Village Groomer’s website and e-mail address would become as much a part of our business identity as our street address or telephone number, I probably would have thought you were high on flea-dip fumes. I would have been wrong. In this brave, new world in which we live and do business, having a website to tell the world who we are and what we do is fast becoming a necessity.

Our business website (www.villagegroomer.net) does much more than list our contact information, hours of operation and menu of services. The homepage offers one-click links to our e-mail, history, mission statement, bios of our late founder, David G. Salzberg, blips on our current staff members, contest ring updates, a primer on holistic pet foods and some wonderful photos of our four-legged clients. There is also a guestbook for visitors to sign, as well as links to our Dog Daze Day Camp and numerous rescue groups, the American Kennel Club, shelters, pet care providers and pet loss grief support organizations.

Why do we need a website? It’s a great way to introduce ourselves to those who zoom by on the highway where our salon and retail store are located. Oftentimes, these passersby would like to stop by and get to know us, but maybe they’re already overcommitted that day or maybe we’re closed–but our website is available. The Internet is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Developing a Presence
When creating our site, we sought to provide a lighthearted and loving image expressing the flavor of our grooming, retail and doggie daycare businesses. The first face you see there is Missi’s adorable toy poodle Mookie, our company mascot, which continues to warm our hearts, although he left his post at the front counter to go to doggie heaven a few years ago. Our theme song, “Born to Be Wild,” adds a bit of silly fun. There is a banner link to our store, where we hope to tempt pet owners with photos of the products we sell in their clean and colorful displays.

A website can be as interactive as a groomer wants it to be. Here on Cape Cod, one local pet supply dealer offers a large portion of its inventory for sale online.

“Not everything in our store is on the website,” says Noreen Belair, sales manager of The Cape Cod Dog. “But once people on vacation have shopped here and their dog loved what he got, they may not be able to find that item when they get back home. They appreciate the fact they can order it online.” She encourages those seasonal customers to keep in touch via e-mail, forging the kind of personal bond that is key to any business dealing with beloved pets.

Belair also uses materials from product manufacturers on her site, provided with permission and at no charge by those who supply the store with food, toys, treats and pet apparel. She downloads images and copy from these companies’ websites and posts it on hers, highlighting whatever item she is currently featuring on the site.

A family member was computer-savvy enough to get the Cape Cod store website up and running, but eventually its owner hired a web designer to enhance it and broaden its capabilities. If you have the technical knowledge to design your own website, you are already ahead of the game; but if you don’t, and you have the time to learn a new skill, you can avail yourself of a web design course at a community college or adult education course in your local school district.

Our website was created by Cathy Bechtel of Mouse Magic in Norton, Mass., who works with my daughter Missi on a regular basis to keep it updated with fresh content. Bechtel developed her skills when she and her husband owned an automobile business and she designed their website with the help of her son, whom she lovingly calls “a computer geek.” Her design, hosting and maintenance services provide us with the professional image we want, and have always been a bargain. Initially, we paid $100 for the first page and $50 for each additional one, with hosting/maintenance fees at only $25 per hour (they usually go for $90 to $150 where I live). We were lucky indeed; due to family commitments and health issues, Bechtel is no longer taking on new clients.

No doubt, you can save a lot of money if you can create your own site, perhaps using software like Microsoft’s Front Page or Adobe’s PageMill. You can also find webpage templates in publications like the Web Marketing Cookbook, which also offers a CD-ROM. While mastering the how-to process from the ground up may sound intriguing, you must first consider the time and energy that the process will take. Remember that your main goal is to build your grooming business and to keep that salon of yours up and running.

Ironing Out the Details
Whether you do it yourself or hire a pro, the first step is to choose a domain name. Your web designer may do this for you, as ours did, or you could check the availability of various versions of your company name through a company like Network Solutions, Inc. (www.internic.net), which checks domain names to see what’s available out there. Next, you’ll need an Internet service provider (ISP) to host the site. There are some like GeoCities, Tripod and Towne Square 200, which will host your site for free (some also offer self-publishing tools). They are free to you because advertisers pay for them, so if you do not want to see someone else’s ads on your website, this may not be an appealing option. Such freebies work best for service industries like pet grooming, but if you plan to sell goods online, they may be too cumbersome for prospective shoppers.

You will want to be listed on as many search engines as you can so that folks surfing the Internet can find your business. Some popular ones are Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, HotBot, Infoseek, Webcrawler and Lycos (visit www.search.com to research more of them). You’ll also want to list your business with local search engines. For example, to reach local customers, our web master lists us on shoplocal.net.

Due to the demands of running our salon and store, we have not yet taken the plunge to begin selling goods online. Once you take that leap, you must essentially manage two stores, keeping up with online orders, choosing how payments will be made, making shipping arrangements and making sure your goods are adequately insured.

For starters, Bechtel recommends a limited shopping cart, featuring perhaps 20 items, as a good way to get started; but she cautions us to be careful what we wish for, as it can become as time-consuming as it is profitable.

Once you have your website up and running, don’t keep it a secret. List it on your business card, brochures, letterhead, newsletters, product packaging and, of course, in all of your advertising. Mention it whenever you meet new customers or network with other business professionals in your community.

Your website can do whatever you want it to: inform and educate your clients, sell goods, book appointments, display products, provide customer support and expedite communication and feedback with the pet owners who keep you in business. In other words, it’s just another way for you to shine. GB

Kathy Salzberg is a Certified Master Groomer and writer. She and her daughter, Missi Salzberg, own The Village Groomer and Pet Supply in Walpole, Mass., one of New England’s busiest grooming salons. The winner of two Cardinal Crystal Achievement Awards, Kathy has written extensively on pet care for several magazines and authored three books on dogs and pet care careers—How to Start a Home-Based Pet Care Career (Globe Pequot Press, 2001 & 2006) and The Everything Small Dogs Book (Adams Media, 2006).