The Bookatu blog
Practical, no-nonsense advice for service businesses. Cutting no-shows, building steady income, getting found online, and keeping more of what you earn.
Salon blog ideas: 30 topics worth writing about
30 salon blog ideas from client questions, the seasons and your own street, plus how to turn one into a finished post with the AI you already use.
How to write a salon blog post with ChatGPT or Claude
How to write a salon blog post with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini: the prompt to use, what to check before you publish, and how to keep it sounding like you.
Cyber security checklist for salons, spas and clinics
A plain cyber security checklist for salons, spas and clinics: own logins, two-step, passkeys, shared screens, old keys and staff who have left.
Staff offboarding checklist for salons and studios
A staff offboarding checklist for salons and studios: what to do when someone leaves, from logins, keys and calendar sync to their bookings and clients.
Front desk computer security for salons and clinics
Front desk computer security, step by step: a login for each person, auto sign-out after inactivity, passkeys for quick sign-in and a screen out of view.
Salon staff permissions: what each role should see
Set salon staff permissions with care: what owners, managers, front desk and stylists should see and change, what stays locked, and when to review it.
Quick swap: let a late cancellation go without the fee
Quick swap lets a client who must cancel late offer their time to your waitlist. If someone takes it, they pay no late fee and your chair stays full.
Passkeys, auto sign-out and a Security page for teams
A new Security page scores your business and links each fix. Add passkeys for the whole team, auto sign-out for shared computers and one-step offboarding.
Write your blog with the AI you already use
The blog editor builds a prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Paste the reply back and the post fills itself in for you to check, with no AI credits used.
Booking clients in another time zone, with both clocks labelled
A client booking a video consult from abroad, or a visit ahead of a trip, now sees times on a clock that is clearly labelled. You keep your own clock with theirs beside it. A phone number typed from abroad, the way people write it there, gets that country's code. And a moved booking emails the client the new time with a calendar file.
Choose who does each service, and give each person their own hours
Limit a service to the people who actually do it, from the service or from the person. Give anyone on your team their own working week, with a break if they take one. And add a photo to every card, so clients can see who they are booking.
Check clients in, edit bookings and block time off from your calendar
Mark a client as arrived from the calendar, change a booking's service, length or price after it is made, and block a whole week of leave as one entry. Restaurants can take a party size and a table on phone bookings, and front-desk logins can book when you allow it.