Cheryl Whitman's Future Speaking Engagements.  Meet Cheryl Live!

Cosmetic Surgery Expo
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
March 11-12
www.csexpos.com

Healthcare Retail '06
Orlando, Florida
April 10-11
www.healthcareretail06.com

American Spa Expo
New York, NY
April 30-May 2
www.americanspaexpo.com

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Is Franchising For You?

By Cheryl Whitman, CEO, Beautiful Forever

Aesthetic Trends
Jan. Feb 2006

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONALITY?

When considering whether or not a franchise is right for you, the first place to start is by critically examining your personality. Are you the type of person who likes control? Do you thrive on expressing your individuality? Do you prefer stability over uncertainty?  How you answer these questions will be a good indication of your "fit" with the franchise model.  With a franchise, you give up some of your creative license.  Franchisors often control much of the business, from products and services to the look and feel of the spa. If you do not mind sacrificing individuality, then franchising might work for you. On the other hand, if you prefer stability over uncertainty, often being part of a franchise can make you immune to economic downswings. As a franchisee you will have access to systems that work and will not have to face these challenges on your own.

WHAT ARE YOUR RESOURCES?

 If you choose the franchise model, many of the day-to-day business systems, tools, and materials are provided, including marketing, hiring, inventory, and staff training. If your preference is to focus on other aspects of the business, having these details taken care of for you can make a franchise very attractive.

In general, franchisors expect an up-front lump sum fee to buy into the business. These fees are set by the parent company, so they may or may not be appropriate for your specific community.  Additionally, the franchisor often requires rent plus a percentage of your monthly sales revenues on products and services. If you open a facility on your own, you will be required to provide the bank with a business plan to be approved for financing.   You will be able to set your own fees, appropriate for your community and the competition, and be able to sell the products of your choice. You know what your nest egg is and what you can and cannot afford.  And will be able to adjust expenses accordingly to achieve your vision.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION?

 If it is merely a financial investment, the decision between a franchise and start-up will be made based on dollars and cents.  But, if it is more than that, the only thing which will keep you motivated during challenging times is your dream. So, if your thinking parallels that of a franchisor, the fit might be very good.

But, if your vision is different, the only way to achieve your dream will be to forge ahead on your own. If this is the path you choose, you can enlist the assistance of a trained guide - a medical spa consultant - who can help you overcome the many challenges of establishing a facility. One resource available is the Medical Spa Success System (http://www.medicalspasuccess.com/) which gives you everything you need to succeed, including an in-depth manual which covers all components from location to operations and marketing.

The laws regulating medical spas are changing every day. Before signing any contract with any franchisor, please have your lawyer review your state laws and medical boards. Then make sure the contract is written to meet the needs of these specific regulations. No matter which business model you choose, one of the easiest ways to ensure success is to offer a third-party financing program, like CareCredit (www.carecredit.com/).

And another thing that is for sure, whether your future is as a franchisee or small business owner, it definitely looks bright. Welcome to the evolution and revolution - of medical spas! 

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First Impressions of Beauty May
Demonstrate Why the Pretty Prosper

January 18, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- We might not be able to resist a pretty face after all, according to a report from the University of Pennsylvania.   Experiments in which subjects were given a fraction of a second to judge "attractiveness" offered further evidence that our
preference for beauty might be hard-wired.   People who participated in the studies were also more likely to associate pretty faces with positive traits.

"We're able to judge attractiveness with surprising speed and on the basis of very little information," said Ingrid Olson, a professor in Penn's Department of Psychology and researcher at Penn's Center for Cognitive Neurosciece.  "It seems that pretty faces 'prime' our minds to make us more likely to associate the pretty face with a positive emotion."

 "Research has demonstrated time and again that there are tremendous social and economic benefits to being attractive," Olson said.  "Attractive people are paid more, are judged more intelligent and will receive more attention in most facets of life."

The first study tested the idea that beauty can be assessed rapidly by asking study participants to rate faces pictures of non-famous males and females shown for .013 seconds on a computer screen.  Although participants reported that they could not see the faces and that they were guessing on each trial, they were able to accurately rate the attractiveness of those faces.

In their second and third experiments, the researchers explored the notion of "priming" whether or not seeing a pretty face makes a viewer more likely to associate that face with positive attributes.  The second experiment involved rapidly showing a face on the screen, followed shortly thereafter by a word in white text on a black screen.  Participants were instructed to ignore the face and were timed on how quickly they could classify the word as either good or bad.  Almost uniformly, response times to good words, such as "laughter" or "happiness," were faster after viewing an attractive face.

"In a way, pretty faces are rewarding; they make us more likely to think good thoughts," said Olson.  "There are some underlying processes going on in the brain that prejudice us to respond to attractive people better even if we are not aware of it." 

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Caffeine: Sex Potion for Females?

Study: After a Shot of Caffeine,
Female Rats Sought More Sex

By Miranda Hitti WebMD Medical News 

Jan. 13, 2006 -- Caffeine may put females in the mood for sex, a new study shows.In the study, female rats that got their first shot of caffeine before mating were quicker than uncaffeinated females to scurry back to a male rat after sex.

Might caffeine also rev up women's sex lives? Maybe, but it's too early to say, says Guarraci, an assistant professor of psychology at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Guarraci isn't advising women to use caffeine as an aphrodisiac -- at least, not yet. "My caution in terms of directly applying the caffeine or the coffee before sex to enhance your sexual drive or motivation would be that in this experiment, we gave only one dose of caffeine to animals who had never had caffeine before," Guarraci says.

It would be interesting to see if regular caffeine use had the same effect on female rats, Guarraci says. If she knew that to be true, she would "be more confident in saying that it would be something useful for women to consider," she says. The caffeinated female rats weren't exactly shy. The researchers tested several caffeine doses on the rats. The doses were based on the rats' weight. Interestingly, the female rats that received the middle dose of caffeine had quicker return visits to the males than the highest dose tested.

Using the same formula for humans, the lowest dose would roughly equal the caffeine in "a grande latte at Starbucks ... a pretty high-caffeinated beverage, but not something outrageous," Guarraci says. Her study shows that the caffeinated females didn't just skitter around their cages aimlessly. Instead, they specifically sought a male sex partner and weren't particularly interested in socializing with another female rat. The caffeinated females seemed motivated to seek sex, not to burn extra energy from the caffeine, the researchers write. "There are a lot of women out there with sexual dysfunction, and if they understood how that happens or how we can augment that, that would be a helpful thing," Guarraci says.
 

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Opening or Improving a Medical Spa
 Just Became a Lot Easier

Introducing Medical Spa Success System - the medical spa business made simple developed by Cheryl Whitman, President and CEO of Beautiful Forever Consulting Firm Inc.

This system is the first and only comprehensive, do-it-yourself guide to planning, staffing, marketing, and operating your medical spa business.  For a reasonable investment on your part, you get all the tools and knowledge you need to be successful including:

Become a MSSS subscriber and learn how to:

   - Prevent Costly Mistakes                - Drive New Business    
   - Secure Capital                               - Maintain Control of Your Venture    
   - Stay Within Your Budget              - Hire the Right Personnel     
   - Interpret Applicable Laws             - Create Profitiable Retail     

    *Beautiful Forever is a leading consulting firm that specializes in advising medical spas as well as clinics and centers that offer procedures and services in the realm of cosmetic and elective medicine.   

    *Beautiful Forever can not only help improve your bottom-line and address your problems but also grow your business by developing new and improved marketing programs and strategies as well as by adding new, high margin procedure-based services. 

   *Beautiful Forever has the staff expertise, strategic alliances, resources and experience to make a difference in your practice.

Subscription Options  

Signature_____________________$6995

    Comprehensive Manual     
    CD Rom with Manuals and forms    
     20 hours of consulting time    
     Updates for 1 Year    
     1 Year Membership to IMSA    
     6 months progress review with Suggestions

   Luxury________________________$5,495

    Comprehensive Manual        
    CD Rom with Manuals and Forms       
    12 hours of consulting time      
    1 Year Membershipp to IMSA    
    6 months progress review with suggestions

   Deluxe________________________$3,995

    Comprehensive Manual     
    CD Rom with Manuals and Forms        
    5 hours of consulting time    
    6 months progress review and suggestions

  

ACT NOW!
1-877-SPA-MEDI
www.medicalspasuccess.com