Remember when Snapchat first appeared on the social media scene and you thought, “Oh great, another social platform I have to keep up with?”

Well, if you’ve been around me long enough, you know I’m a huge proponent of mastering one to two social media channels before moving on to a third platform.

For the majority of aestheticians and the audiences we cater to, our top two channels are going to be Facebook and Instagram.

And chances are if you’re keeping up with the marketing on those two channels, the thought of adding in a third will likely seem unnecessary.

But in any case, if you were intrigued by Snapchat, but found it to be a poor use of your time and effort, you’re in luck because Instagram Stories have rapidly shoved Snapchat off the scene because Stories are not only easier to create, but you’ve already got an audience on Instagram who love the platform. No need to build a new following!

In case you’re not familiar with Instagram Stories, they’re short photo and video slideshows that don’t appear on your main Instagram page or “feed,” but are viewable by clicking your profile picture or will appear at the top of your follower’s “home screen” feed.

When a viewer clicks into your Story, or automatically enters your Story through their “Story feed,” the pieces of your Story will automatically play in the order you’ve uploaded them to Instagram. Your Stories will be viewable for 24 hours and will then disappear from view for Instagram users.

This sub-channel within Instagram provides a massive opportunity for engaging with your followers and with many other users on Instagram who are not your followers…yet!

So, in this episode, I’m giving you six ways to leverage your Instagram Stories and create more opportunities to connect, engage and convert your Instagram connections into more conversations and clients.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Instagram Stories differs from your feed and how to think about the content you share in this sub-channel
• 6 ideas for content to share through your Instagram Stories that will get you connected and engaging with your ideal audience
• Some of my top tips for using the tools within Instagram Stories to increase interest, make creating content easier and maximize engagement
• How to determine what content is resonating most with your audience

Not everyone can rock a name like Salt Freedom, but that’s precisely her point.

Your brand isn’t your logo, your color palette or fonts, your brand is YOU. Yes, even if your name is not your business name (don’t worry, we’ll get to that).

If you’re typically an earbuds listener and not a video watcher, for this episode, I’d love for you to pop over to our video recording, even if just for a few minutes after you’ve listened, so you can get a look at Salt.

This woman is her brand to the core, which makes it easy to understand why she’s a branding expert.

From what she’s dubbed as her “Salty Truths” as her messaging and her Why, which informs her brand visuals, everything intuitively and authentically ties together, and it’s because she is simply herself.

Of course, knowing precisely who you are isn’t always easy, it requires a fair amount of deep dive soul work, not to mention, you are ever evolving, but doesn’t that sound like a breath of fresh air?

That the best brand you could ever create is simply you being true to yourself?

It sounds radically freeing to me, and in this episode, Salt is laying down the law on what it takes to truly be your brand so that you can stand out amongst the endless scrolling online and create the genuine connection your potential clients crave.

If your brand has felt boring or like it’s a bit of a sham because it’s just not you, this is the insight you need to hear to get crystal clear on your brand.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to craft a brand message and visuals that don’t get scrolled over
• The story of Salt’s name and insights on how to name your business or brand
• The most important thing you have to understand first before you can fully understand your brand
• How to reverse engineer the process of defining and refining your brand and your message

References Mentioned in Episode #032: Developing You as Your Brand with Salt Freedom

• Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Community on Facebook where you’ll gain access to a community with exclusive monthly trainings, tips, and business growth conversations.

To have a presence on Instagram is non-negotiable for an aesthetician.

It’s a powerhouse platform for connecting directly with consumers and potential clients who will invest in beauty services, and it’s also structured in a way that allows you to build an impressive portfolio of your work while also sharing your value as an aesthetic expert.

But while there’s no question that Instagram provides a plethora of opportunities for growing your brand simply by posting and engaging through your own account, there’s even more opportunity lying within the accounts of others.

What I’m talking about is influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing has been around for a while (if you’ve ever been an avid blog reader, you’ll be familiar with the idea of sponsored posts), but just in the last couple of years as Instagram has grown and influencers have amassed highly engaged and targeted audiences on the platform, much of today’s influencer marketing landscape takes place directly on Instagram.

Whether it’s sponsored posts in the main feed that compensate an influencer with traded services or sponsored Instagram Stories for monetary compensation, there are a variety of ways you can work with influencers in your community that allow you to leverage their audience (ideally filled with people who would be interested in your business and services) so you can increase your brand’s awareness and ultimately, your business’ base of potential clients.

And the influencer marketing opportunities don’t just stop there; there’s also the option of building your own brand as an online influencer.

Here to talk about how we can begin using influencer marketing in our businesses is Gwen Lane, founder of the popular blog, The LA Girl, and The Spark Society, an influencer training program and community.

Listen in as she shares why influencer marketing can be a game-changer for your business and what it takes to become an influencer yourself.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What an influencer is and how they can play a role in your overall marketing strategy
• Gwen’s journey to becoming an influencer and online educator and her top tips for estheticians looking to work with or become a influencer
• How influencer marketing has the power to grow your brand

References Mentioned in Episode #029: How To Use Influencer Marketing On Instagram To Get More Clients with Gwen Lane

• Learn more about Gwen through her blog, The LA Girl,  and check out her influencer membership, Spark Society.
• Connect with Gwen on Instagram.
• Take Gwen’s free 5-Day Influencer Bootcamp.
• Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Community on Facebook to ask more of your questions and to keep the conversation going!

Pens, notepads, totes bags.

Chances are you have one of these items in your home with a business’ logo on it.

For me, it’s all about pens since I’m always jotting down ideas or journaling or making notes as I interview guests here on the podcast.

Most recently after several weeks of hotel hopping with my family as we made our trek to move from Hawaii to D.C., I looked in my bag and found a plethora of pens all stamped with the logos and names of the hotels where we stayed along the way.

As I looked through them, I realized that each pen allowed me to recall memories from our stay and the experiences we had there, which got me thinking….this idea transfers so well to the world of spa!

So in this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m giving some quick tips for how we can use customized gear with our branding to market and bring up the professionalism factor in our spas as well as ten ideas for customized products so you don’t get lost in the abyss of options.

But one thing to keep in mind, get creative!

You know your clients best, so as you tune in, let these ideas inspire you to think outside of the box and search for something that’ll get your customized product to stand out from the crowd.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why you might want to consider getting customized gear for your spa and how it can help boost your business

• 10 ideas for customizable gear that fit a variety of business needs and budgets

• How items customized with your spa’s branding can allow you to stand out and provide an extra polish of professionalism to your services

References Mentioned in Episode #028: 10 Items to Customize With Your Spa Branding

• For quality products at a favorable price point, take a look at:

• • • DiscountMugs
    • Quality Logo Products

• InkHead Promotional Products

• Alibaba

• For feedback on your ideas or answers to your questions on customized gear for your spa, join and start a conversation in the Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook.

When someone asks you what you do, do you answer with “aesthetician” or “business owner”?

Maybe you have a bit of a combination answer explaining that you own your own business as a solo aesthetician.

While there’s no “right” answer to that question, the label of “business owner” is unquestionably one you need to embrace, not necessarily in how you answer people, but without a doubt in your mindset and perspective.

The reason this is so critical is that when you view your work through the lens of a business owner, you make decisions that allow you to work smarter and not harder, which then enables you to stop leaving money on the table.

Take my guest on this episode for example. Kimberly is an expert independent hairstylist who also coaches other hairstylists to build thriving careers that fit their vision and values. When Kimberly started saying “no,” putting up boundaries and raised her prices, she was able to shift from working full-time to being part-time, but with double the income. I should also mention she did this in a year.

Now she has a business that fits into her life rather than the other way around.

That wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t begin thinking and acting like a business owner first, so in today’s episode she’s sharing with us the mindset shifts and action steps she made to take the leap away from everyday hustle to working just a couple of days behind the chair and a couple of days coaching each week.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy you’ll learn:

• The first steps for beginning to view yourself as a business owner and why that’s necessary for your personal and professional success
• How finding and knowing your why is critical to understanding your role as a business owner
• Common areas of your business where you may be leaving money on the table and how to reclaim it plus Kimberly’s “Table Money” Exercise to help you discover why finding this money in your business is crucial
• Navigating the art of raising your prices so you can find the life and work blend that works for your vision and stage of business

References Mentioned in Episode #027: How to Stop Leaving Money On the Table with Kimberly Kennedy

• Connect with Kimberly on her website and on Facebook and Instagram.
• Access Kimberly’s free resources library with business-building guides, tips, and videos by clicking here.
• Join the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community where you can access monthly trainings, Q&As, tips and a community of like-minded business owners looking to grow.

Early on in my career as an aesthetician, I learned the value of looking to my fellow aesthetic peers in the salon industry as a valuable two-way relationship.

Whether it was forming a referral partnership or developing a gift card marketing strategy, when you serve the same clientele with complementary services, the opportunity is a natural fit!

And from that early realization in the value of working with salon professionals, I’ve always found it interesting to learn about how the salon industry approaches various facets of business such as retail sales and metrics compared to that of spas.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m satisfying my curiosity (and getting a little nerdy with numbers) as I chat with salon industry veteran and Chief Financial Officer of Scottfree Salons, Amy Coats, all about the metrics that go into gauging the health of your spa or salon.

Now I know metrics doesn’t seem like the most fun business topic to explore, but as Amy explains, when you understand what you’re measuring, see the benchmark, and have a guideline for growth, watching those numbers go up can become a huge motivator in moving toward your vision for success!

Even if you’re not convinced yet, after listening to this episode, I know we’ll light a little fire under you to crunch the small numbers that can make a massive impact.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The most important metrics to keep track of to gauge the health of your business
• How the standard benchmarks in the salon industry compare to that of the spa industry and strategies for how we can work together to create smart partnerships
• Why client retention should always be a top metric to measure and ideas for how to keep current clients engaged and connected while simultaneously drawing in interest from new clients
• How to use your metrics to manage the growth actions and tactics you’re currently focusing on

References Mentioned in Episode #012: The Must-Have Metrics for Understanding Your Spa’s Growth

• Learn more about Scottfree Salons via their website, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
• Read “The Value of Keeping the Right Customers” in Harvard Business Review.

Join the free Aestheticians Connect community on Facebook where you can ask

When you hear the word “brand,” does your mind automatically think “logo”?

Well, I’ve got news for you, your logo is not your brand. But don’t worry, I once had the same thought just as little as five years ago.

But as I began to build my business, I began to notice that while, yes, your logo is a visual piece of your brand, your brand as a whole is so much more.

It’s the glue that holds all your marketing efforts together and is the vehicle for spreading the values that you and your business stand for.

Needless to say, it’s crucial that your brand is accurate and cohesive to be effective in drawing in your ideal clients.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m walking you through the top three reasons why you need to consistently reassess your branding on both a quarterly and annual basis, and I’m also taking you through the four major components of your spa’s brand step-by-step.

After listening to this episode, you’ll have a clear roadmap for how you can reassess your brand for small tweaks throughout the year as well as an annual revamp if you find that it’s time to make some more substantial shifts as you and your business evolve.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How your brand cohesively connects your online presence with your client’s in-spa experience
• Why you should check-in to reassess your brand as often as every quarter
• The three primary reasons why your brand might be due for a revamp plus the danger of shifting your brand too much, too quickly
• And the top four facets of your brand that you’ll want to evaluate for clarity, accuracy, and consistency

References Mentioned in Episode #011: How to Revamp Your Spa’s Branding

• Click here to download the free Brand Revamp Checklist that goes over the four areas of your brand to reassess and revamp throughout the year.

• Join our free Facebook community, Aestheticians Connect, where you can receive support, accountability and feedback from fellow aestheticians.

• “Like” the AddoAesthetics Facebook page and join me LIVE every Wednesday to chat with me and get your questions on the week’s podcast episode answered.

It’s no secret that social media is always shifting. Whether it’s algorithm changes or emerging features that allow us to gain more exposure to our audience, there’s always something new to learn or leverage.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m talking with video pro Beth Ryan about the type of media that’s currently reigning supreme.

From live-streaming or pre-recording, using Facebook or Instagram, or using video to educate versus sell, listen in to learn how to get started with leveraging the power of video marketing for your aesthetic business.

To ask questions and receive feedback and support, click here to join the free Aestheticians Connect community on Facebook.

Whether you’re a brand new aesthetician or starting over after moving to a new area, building a clientele from scratch can be daunting. Thankfully, there’s a strategy that can help you secure more bookings, but also help you network within your new professional community.

That strategy is gift card marketing. It’s not the quickest fix out there, but it’s one of the most effective in gaining clients when you’ve got more time to invest than you do a marketing budget.

As you listen to this episode, you’ll learn:

• The entire step-by-step of crafting your spa’s gift card marketing strategy based on my experience of going from brand new to booked out within four months as a new aesthetician
• How to create strong referral partnerships with other business owners in your community
• Critical do’s, don’ts, and best practices for ensuring you receive a  high return on investment in your gift card marketing efforts
• How to tie gift card marketing into a diversified marketing strategy as you continue to grow

To ask questions and receive feedback and support, click here to join the free Aestheticians Connect community on Facebook.

Whether you’re a solo aesthetician who’s wearing all the hats or a spa director whose job it is to consistently generate leads and close new clients, we can all benefit from the power of Messenger bots.

Now I know the term “bots” can be scary, so here with me on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, is bot extraordinaire, Adam Chatterley, the founder of Salon Business Secrets and the course, Bots for Beauty, to dispel the myths and misconceptions.

In addition to setting the record straight on how bots can support your spa’s customer service, he’s giving us his top tips to ensure all our communication is authentic and on-brand for maximum connection and conversion.

To ask questions and receive feedback and support, click here to join the free Aestheticians Connect community on Facebook.