Cosmetic Promotions Donates Money and Time to Different Charities

Winter Park, FL – Cosmetic Promotions Inc, a national marketing company specializing in the beauty industry, is celebrating 20 years in business. As part of the celebration, they are offering quarterly specials and also giving back to the community by donating money to their clients’ favorite charities. The special for August includes a 5% charity “rebate” to the charity of their choice on any 100 (or more) store event the client books. The offer expires July 6^th. During Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, they donated 5% of all demo revenue to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, raising almost $4,000. They are encouraging their clients to let them know which charities they would like considered for a donation by asking them to fill out a short survey at http://www.cosproagency.com/survey.

                Cosmetic Promotions CEO and founder Joann Tyson believes strongly in volunteering. She gives at least 5 hours weekly to her charities in addition to the cash donations. “If every person who COULD volunteer did, charities in this country would need less federal aid and arts organizations would be able to survive,” says Ms. Tyson who is on two city boards, volunteers at the Florida Film Festival, and served as president of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Associate Board for 2 years. She also chaired the Winter Park Library’s 2010 annual fundraiser and was the community liaison for Toys for Tots for 5 years. Her employees are also big on volunteering. Agency Director Kristin Bocox has been delivering Meals on Wheels to local Dallas shut-ins for more than 2 years. Sunny Wilmot, Contest Administrator, went to Africa for 2 weeks last August to help develop a well and a housing project in a village near Naivasha, Kenya. Diane Burge, Teen Event Coordinator, served on the Orlando Shakespeare Theater Associate Board as well. Kate Crockett, Regional Manager, donates time to political campaigns and Ted Bondhus, Art Director, donated many graphic design hours to the Winter Park Library and Orlando Shakespeare Theater projects.

                In addition, Cosmetic Promotions frequently donates extra products from events to women’s shelters and local silent auctions to help those charities raise more money. According to Tyson, “We have been so fortunate to be successful in business for 20 years; we feel it is our duty to give back. Plus, it feels so good!”

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For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproagency.com.

Summertime is the season when women use less makeup and with the downturn in the economy that could mean even lower sales this next quarter. However, by promoting the right products you can help recover, or even increase your summer cosmetics sales! Here are five products to focus on promoting this summer.

1. Nail Polish

Overall cosmetic and toiletry sales were down by 0.8% last year. But nail polish is the only cosmetic to see a double digit increase  – 14.3% since last year –  because many women are giving themselves manicures and pedicures at home and skipping pricey salon visits. Summer is also the season when nails see the most exposure, so make sure your consumers have plenty of bright summer shades to choose from.

2. Bronzer and Sunless Tanners

Sun-kissed skin is always a fashionable look and is especially sought after in summer months. Stock your shelves with sunless tanner products since consumers often want to give their tans a jump start before appearing at the beach or pool in their swim suits. Bronzers also contribute to looking more tanned and summery so be sure to have plenty on hand.

3. Lip Protection

Frequent sun exposure can cause burnt, chapped, and uncomfortable lips. Make sure you are promoting lip products with SPF, aloe, and other cooling/healing ingredients. Lip balms are among consumers’ top impulse purchases, so make sure to have a display somewhere near checkout as a reminder for them.

4. Sunscreen

Sunscreen is a must-have when the summer months roll around because skin protection is important, not just for women, but for the whole family. Have a wide variety of sunscreens to choose from and feature them prominently in your store and remind associates to suggest it with every other summer-type purchase.

5. Moisturizers

Consumers have more exposed skin in summer than any other time of year. After all of the sun’s exposure to bare skin, you can bet your consumers will want to keep their skin hydrated. Moisturizers that contain sunless tanner are great to promote because your consumers get two products in one, making them feel the great value of the product.

COLD CALLING. Brrrrr. Yes, it is a dreaded task that only the certifiably insane enjoy, but there are ways to make the process smoother, reduce your chance of sticking your foot in your mouth and increase your chances of actually acquiring a new customer. Read on for 10 simple, easy to use tips for talking to strangers:

1. Be Prepared. Simple, right? While most of us insist that we know this Boyscout motto, not many actually do it properly. Now, don’t get discouraged that this is not some amazing new trick. But it is listed here as tip # 1 as it is THE most important tool you have that will make a difference. There are a wide variety of ways that you can get prepared – research your markets and prospects, prepare an opening statement, loosely script the rest of your call, be prepared with specific requests, KEEP IT BRIEF AND END THE CALL.
2. Re-Re-Research. Take advantage of the wide variety of information available today and find out as much as you possibly can about your cold call contact in advance. It can be a huge advantage to be able to talk about their business and their needs when you call them, making the call personalized and not quite so cold. It also demonstrates your knowledge and commitment about their problems and the opportunities to solve them.
3. Opening Statements. This lets you organize your thoughts before cold calling and helps you avoid common mistakes in the call opening that would give the person you’re calling the chance to terminate the conversation. DON’T read your opening statement into the phone, but use it as a framework to get the conversation off to a good start. The approach can vary depending upon what your research turned up, but your appointment rate should go way up when you show prospects you are interested enough in their business to have done some homework and personalize your introduction/call.
4. Loosely Scripted. Lay out the benefits of your product or service and the reasons your prospect should buy. Write out possible objections and your answer to them. Once again, DO NOT read your script word for word when you call. You do not want to be so focused on your script that you are not paying attention to the customer’s reaction to it. A script’s purpose is to organize your thoughts so that you do not ramble, customize your conversation to your customer and allow you to highlight your main points while keeping the call BRIEF.
5. Converse, Don’t Pitch. In most of our daily interactions, we simply want to get to know and communicate with others. But when we go into sales situations, we have an agenda – to make a sale. And because a pitch can trigger the perception that that’s all we want, many people will sense this immediately and put up their guard, limiting your chance for real, honest communication. If you instead create a conversation around the problems or issues you know they’re facing and have a conversation about how to solve those problems, leaving off the sales pressure – prospects will share their truth with you. They’ll tell you whether solving the issue is a priority, whether they have the resources to commit to it and anything else you need to move forward.
6. Perfectly Purposeful. The cold call is NOT about making the sale, as many sales people tend to think. It’s about getting the chance to make the sale. In plain terms, the purpose of a cold call is to set an appointment to make the pitch. Be specific, “Would Wednesday at 11 a.m. be a good time to meet/call?” instead of saying, “Can I meet with you to discuss this next week?”
7. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect their time. Keep your call as brief and precise as possible — generally less than a few minutes. Remember, you are calling them out of the blue and need to realize that you cannot just assume they have free time to listen to your pitch; you need to do your intro, get them interested, then schedule that time with them. If you promised them any additional information during the call, then make sure you send it before your scheduled appointment.
8. About time. Set aside a time each day to make cold calls. By setting a time to make your cold calls, you are creating a new routine for yourself, limiting the chance of procrastination. Generally, the best times to call are either early or late in the day as potential customers are less busy and more likely to answer their own phones.
9. Cut through the clutter. With cold calls, it is all about attitude and how you react to the customer and situation. Don’t be just another drone. Whether using honesty (I realize you probably get 100 of these calls a day. Well, buckle up – here’s one more!), an industry article they may find interesting (Did you see the recent article about xyz?) or humor if the call is not going well (Mr. X, are you about to hang up on me?) – make sure you distinguish yourself and keep it light and energized.
10. Persistence Pays. “Eighty percent of new sales are made after the fifth contact, yet the majority of sales people give up after the second call” (AllBusiness.com). Keep it up! Just remember that people are having to do more and more with less help these days and it may take a while to find some free time. Don’t be annoying, but routinely follow up to show them that you are reliable and willing to go the extra mile in order to help them with their problems.

There are a million sites out there for tips, tricks and even scripts for cold calling. Use them, make the cold call your own and warm up to this area of sales. While cold calling may never be your favorite sales tactic, you can get better at it. The more you practice, the more effective it will be. The people who want to do business with you are out there – but you have to let them know about you first.

“Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Winter Park, FL – 100 Walgreen’s stores recently hosted a Maybelline makeover event introducing new eye and lip products to their Florida consumers. A professional makeup artist was on hand at each store to apply Studio Pearls Shadow, Lash Stiletto Mascara and Shine Sensational Lip Gloss in mini eye and lip makeovers to delighted customers. In just 2 days, over 800 makeovers were performed resulting in more than 1000 pieces sold. According to a survey consumers took during the event, over one-third had never tried Maybelline products before, 33% purchased something that day and another 62% said they would make a Maybelline purchase in the future because of this event.

While there, the makeup artist personally trained the store’s Beauty Advisor on the brands so that they may assist future customers. Walgreens stores have an average of 3 beauty advisors per store – the only drug chain with beauty help in all stores.

The event was facilitated by Cosmetic Promotions, Inc – a promotional and marketing company headquartered in Central Florida who handles a slate of marketing programs for the #1 drug chain. As budgets get cut and staff is reduced, Retail stores are utilizing more third party companies to assist in building sales. By hiring outside firms to fill out their lean marketing, chains are finding great results with less time investment.

Cosmetic Promotions prides itself on providing totally turnkey programs for retail chains. For their in-store demo’s they create an “event in a box” kit that is sent to each demonstrator to bring into the store, eliminating the chance of items getting lost before the event. A standard kit includes the products, custom made signs and a beauty basket giveaway that customers can enter to win. “Our makeup artists have a minimum 2 years experience applying cosmetics and we do live telephone trainings before each event” says Joann Tyson, the company’s CEO; “We also train them on selling tips and give them the proper tools so each artist can execute the event. This is why a standard rate of sales at one of our events results in selling about one week’s worth of product in just 4 hours”

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For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproageny.com.

Winter Park, FL – The prestigious women’s magazine, Vogue Magazine, sponsored Cover Girl makeovers at 14 Florida market Walgreens stores. The professional makeup artists were demonstrating the new Lash Blast Mascara and promoted the Magazine’s latest sweepstakes – a chance to win an Andrew Marc Salina Handbag – by distributing trend sheets to attendees.

The event offered customers a wonderful Cover Girl gift-with-purchase cosmetic bag, which helped sell over 152 pieces during the event – a 62% closure rate. A survey conducted during the event showed that a whopping 81% of customers surveyed had used Cover Girl before and 99% of them wanted more makeover events at Walgreen’s. Over 59% of the customers were within the target age group (25-50) of the brand and magazine.

Cosmetic Promotions, a promotional and marketing company based in Central Florida executed the event. They handle many programs for magazines at retail stores. Their trained makeup artists have a minimum of 2 years experience applying makeup and execute events all over the United States. The magazines offer the makeovers as a bonus to their clients who purchase more pages in the publications.

“Customers were thrilled with the event, these are good results” says Rachael Cohn, Beauty Promotion Director from Vogue Magazine.

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Most bronzers go on way too thick, leaving you with a muddy, unnatural-looking complexion. But Physicians Formula Bronzer Booster is specially formulated with Glow Activators Technology to give you beautiful, sun-kissed skin without looking muddy. Plus it contains a little sunless tanner so it even lengthens the life of your tan! There are three shades to choose from (Fair to Light, Light to Medium, and Medium to Dark) to ensure the most natural color for your skin. Simply apply product to the brush and glide over face and neck for a shimmery, sun-kissed look. We really liked how nice it looked over bare skin without makeup, which makes it great for summer when we use less. We also loved the full brush and mirror that came with it because, let’s face it, most powders don’t come with a high-quality brush!

The only thing to watch out for is that this is an ultra-shimmery bronzer, so if you are looking for one with a matte finish, this one may not be for you.

Overall, we give Physicians Formula Bronze Booster a 9 out of 10 for high quality, reasonable price, sunless tanner add-in, and great accessory brush and mirror. In our opinion paying $15 for this product is a risk-free and smart investment for your summer cosmetic bag.

Short, sparse eyelashes are never what we want, but often what nature gave us. However, there is a new way to combat limited lashes and it costs less than you’d think. CoverGirl Lash Blast Length mascara goes completely above and beyond our expectations of what an $8, or less, mascara can do. It comes in both regular and water resistant and has three colors to choose from: very black, black and black brown. To apply, place the wand at the base of your lashes and brush through to the ends. The ultra long brush bristles and the unique nylon formula equal fantastically longer and separated lashes. It never flaked, clumped, or smudged all day and when it was time for removal, it came off completely and easily. We even liked the look and feel of the packaging.

We loved how it glided on with no clumps and gave us sky-high length! The downsides were that we had to use three coats to see those great results, and it only created length, not volume.

All in all, we give CoverGirl’s Lash Blast Length mascara an 8 out of 10 for low price, ultra lash-length, easy removal and zero flaking. At just under $8, it’s a very budget-friendly option for those looking for wondrously long lashes.

South Florida Walgreens (March 6, 2010) – CosPro Agency recently held another successful demonstration at Walgreens locations across southern Florida. The event promoted and demonstrated the new CoverGirl Lash Blast Length mascara in order to amplify product sales and create product awareness.

The product was incredibly well received by consumers. Fourteen stores sold 152 pieces averaging eleven pieces sold, per store, in only four hours! The closure rate was very high; for every three makeovers done, two of those made purchases. Over sixty percent of customers made purchases that day and thirty percent said they will definitely be purchasing Lash Blast Length in the near future. In addition, twenty percent of the customers didn’t know the product beforehand so it was a great event for product awareness. With the chance to try a new product before buying, an enticing gift-with-purchase and knowledgeable demonstrators to help customers make educated decisions – this event was a hit!

Additionally, at least one beauty advisor per store was trained on the product and will be able to assist customers for future sales. And almost all (99%!) of the customers agreed that they enjoyed the event and would love to see more product demonstrations and sampling.

For additional information on samplings and demos please email Kristin Bocox at kristin@cosmeticpromotions.com or call (877) 326-7776 ext 501.

Oily, dull hair is never a look that you want, but having to wash hair every day leads to fading hair color and a lot of effort. It’d be great to keep hair looking fresh and clean between washes, but there were almost no options for a dry shampoo under $10. Fortunately, we found that TRESemmè Fresh Start Dry Shampoo was a great way to keep our hair looking fresh and shiny for an incredible price; it’s a welcome addition to our product collection. Its unique formula uses mineral clay to soak up excess oils from the scalp. At the same time, the citrus extracts neutralize odors and give you that clean, just-out-of-the-shower feeling. Just spray on your roots, let it sit for a minute or so, and comb right through. Amazingly, it didn’t leave a filmy powder on our hair, and it smelled fantastic too! Not only did it keep our hair from looking oily between washes, but it also added volume and texture. Those of us with side-swept bangs especially loved how full and clean it kept bangs looking for the entire day. Plus, decreasing the amount of washes increases the length of time your hair color stays vibrant.

The only downside was that those of us with dark hair needed to use less because our roots looked gray if we used too much. But, when using the product sparingly, it brushed out pretty easily. In addition, a benefit to using less product is that it will last longer and save you money.

All in all we give TRESemmè’s Fresh Start Dry Shampoo a 9 out of 10 for low price, delicious smell, easy application, and silky feel. So unless you really enjoy all the work that goes into washing and styling your hair every day, we think this product is great for just about everyone.

Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate the new year, let’s briefly discuss the eternal search to get NEW clients. There are tons of different methods to approach new customers, but we are going to explore just 4 of the most impactful.

Cold Calling – While not the favorite method of reaching new clients, it can still be wildly successful if done correctly. Research your prospects and their industry – first to make sure that you are contacting someone that would benefit from your services and secondly so that you can prep before your call to outline how you can help them. Prep an opening statement customized to that prospect to catch their attention. Loosely script your call to help you keep it brief and to stay on subject. By talking to the right people about problems/issues specific to their industry that you can help with, you increase exponentially your chance of success with a cold call.

Word of Mouth – Everyone knows that a dissatisfied customer will talk to many more people than a satisfied customer, hence the hyper focus on customer service, right? But good customer service can only reduce your chances of negative word of mouth. How do you actually generate positive word of mouth? Believe it or not, there are a couple of different ways. Get active in your community, professional networking groups and professional associations (see below). Develop a referral network – determine what professions work to complement your services and develop relationships with them. Think of wedding services – florist, photographer, caterer, travel agent – each networks and refers each other so that a referral for one is a referral for all. Finally, make it easy to refer you – whether sending an email, business cards, brochures, etc with your invoice – make it easy for people to pass on your contact information.

Networking – Most people have a wide variety of networks already in place that they fail to take advantage of, such as Alumni Associations, Special Interest Groups, Volunteer Organizations, etc; there are a variety of people within these groups that may have need of your products/services. Don’t be afraid to bring up your business in these groups, even if it is just in your introduction to someone new and giving them a business card. People are much more likely to go to someone that they have met before and shares some life aspect with them, than to risk going to a company that they do not know. Most important to remember when networking is to be sincere, relaxed and to follow up – so if you promised to email an article to someone next to you on a plane, do it. Networking is about building your trust and credibility, NOT about smoozing everyone you meet.

Current Customers – The quickest, most cost-effective way to increase sales volume is to sell additional products/services to your existing customer base. Compare your current service/products offers to those of your competitors. Add complementary services/products. Expand the range of your service/product line. Offer volume discounts, special offers or package deals to up-sell orders. Be a 1 stop shop for your customers as much as possible. Your customers will thank you for saving them time and making them look good. When they do, GET REFERRALS!

Doing these 4 things should help you to reach new customers immediately, but again, there are a million different ways to expand your customer base.  If you have a great tip, feel free to sound off below!