Catch the Latest Episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy

They’re back for their first official update of the year! 

I’m talking about today’s guests on the podcast, Sara Sykes and Melissa Lanno, who are the co-owners of Sykes & Lanno, and are officially one month into their Growth Factor journey to hitting seven figures in their spa this year. 

Last month I sat down with them for our first installment to talk about the background of their first year in business and their big growth goals for 2020, so if you haven’t listened to Episode #106 yet, be sure to go do that to get caught up. 

Every month in 2020, I’ll be sitting down with Sara and Melissa to pull back the curtain to show what it truly takes to get your business to the next level of growth and how to maintain it. 

And now that we’re one month in, we’re officially off to the races!  

After having our kickoff and initial planning call for Growth Factor, then attending the Aesthetic Marketing Seminar (my event for Spa Retail Rockstar and Growth Factor group), they’re now back at their spa and hitting the ground running. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The result of the biggest takeaway from their Growth Factor kickoff planning call and how that has played out over the last month
• Their experience and biggest aha moments from the Aesthetic Marketing Seminar that they’re bringing back to their spa
• Their three big goals for Quarter 1 and how they plan to tackle them 
• Plus we talk mindset, building a legacy, having family support in entrepreneurship, perfectionism, and more

Follow Sara and Melissa’s Growth Factor journey:

• Listen to Episode #106 – Starting the Journey to 7 Figures – A Behind-the-Scenes with Sykes & Lanno Skinbar 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Welcome to our weekly #Beautybomb, a burst of info on the latest and greatest ingredients, products, and treatments in the spa industry to help you expand your knowledge and fine-tune your client communications. 

In this week’s #Beautybomb, I’m talking about neuromodulators better known by the name: Botox! Well, to be accurate, Botox isn’t the only neuromodulator/neurotoxin on the market as this is more of a category of products that encompass some of the most widely used non-surgical cosmetic treatments available.

In this #Beautybomb episode, you’ll learn:

• What neuromodulators and neurotoxins are and how they work within the body
• A brief history of the medical applications of neuromodulators, what conditions they are used to treat, and how their aesthetic application was discovered
• The primary contraindications of commonly known neuromodulators such as Botox and the common misconceptions we need to educate our clients through

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, request future #Beautybomb topics and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community.

With the ever-changing world of Instagram, I know it can be hard to stay on top of the feed changes, the evolving platform features, and the trends, but here’s the good and the bad news…

(I’m always a fan of bad news first, so let’s jump right in.)

Bad news: there are a few key mistakes that I see a TON of aestheticians making on Instagram and these are mistakes that are making it hard for your ideal clients to find you or if they do find you, hard to connect with you. 

The good news: these few mistakes have simple solutions that you can fix starting today. 

And the bonus good news is that if you fix these mistakes pronto and stay consistent, you’re likely to see an improvement pretty quickly. 

In fact, I hesitate to even call these mistakes because the reality is, they’re “areas of opportunity.”

I know it can feel frustrating to keep up with the fast-paced nature of social media, but I want you to think of social media and platforms like Instagram as a huge opportunity rather than as a chore. 

Instagram is a free marketing tool that allows you to directly connect and engage with people who live in your immediate area. It’s pretty powerful to say the least. 

And while I’m a huge proponent of running Facebook/Instagram ads (something you know well by now if you’ve been around here for a little while, and if you’re new, you’ll learn!), you have to get the basics down first. 

It’s these areas of opportunity that I see 90% of the aestheticians I connect with missing the mark, and they’re all tied to the basics, which is why improving these areas is going to provide a quick boost in your engagement and overall efforts on the Instagram platform. 

So let’s get to fixing them, shall we?!

In this episode, you’ll learn:  

• The 3 biggest mistakes you might be making on Instagram and how they’re holding you back from connecting with your dream clients
• How to remedy those mistakes aka “areas of opportunity” to start gaining traction on Instagram 
• My top tips for optimizing your profile and creating a variety of content, plus an example of how to craft captions for conversions

References Mentioned in Episode #111: The 3 Biggest Mistakes Aestheticians Make On Instagram

• Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — for every 25 reviews we receive, we’re sharing a new downloadable resource to help you grow your business 
• Use Linktree to house multiple links in the single link allowed in your Instagram bio
• Learn more about Post With Purpose, our monthly membership for learning how to post to social media purposefully with a process. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Welcome to our weekly #Beautybomb, a burst of info on the latest and greatest ingredients, products, and treatments in the spa industry to help you expand your knowledge and fine tune your client communications. 

In this week’s #Beautybomb, I’m talking about PRP aka PRP/Microneedling aka the Vampire Facial… you may have heard it called a number of things, and that’s because PRP is incredibly versatile in its application and the benefits it can provide for a number of skin and health concerns.

That’s right, PRP is not just the facial that Kim Kardashian made famous, we’ll give her a little credit for bringing it to the masses, but PRP has been used for everything from wound healing to dentistry to sports injuries.  

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What PRP is, how it works, and what it’s most commonly used for in an aesthetic application 
• Why PRP is so powerful for skin and facial rejuvenation, and other reasons why PRP is a viable solution for wellness-related conditions 
• Answers to common questions such as how often PRP treatments can be performed and who makes for an ideal candidate 

References From This Episode:

• Learn more about PRP from Dr. Charles Runels, MD
• Click here to leave us a review on iTunes. – For every 25 reviews we receive, we’ll be creating a new downloadable resource to help you thrive in your aesthetic practice. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, request future #Beautybomb topics and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Have you left us a review? Head to iTunes to leave us a review, and for every 25 reviews Spa Marketing Made Easy receives, you’ll get a special bonus downloadable to help you grow your aesthetic biz. 

Have you ever found yourself mid-treatment and thinking, “If only this product had this”? 

Or “If only I could do that, this product would be perfect.” 

As an aesthetic expert working full-time in the treatment room, you’re the utmost authority on what’s going to work best for your clients, which means you’re primed to be a product creator if that’s something you’ve dreamt about, which I know many of you listeners of Spa Marketing Made Easy have because you’ve told me! 

In any case, whether you’re someone who has dreamt of creating their own line, or you’re meticulous about knowing the details of the product lines you carry and what has gone into their development (something you should be meticulous about!), you’re going to love this episode with my guest, Stephanie Laynes. 

Stephanie has been a licensed aesthetician for over 16 year and is the creator of Se-Brazil Waxes, Se Skin Botanical Skincare, and the founder of Smooth Skin Supply LLC, her e-commerce platform and wholesale wax supply company that also incorporates training and education. 

In this episode, she’s sharing her journey of how she got into the aesthetics industry, moved out of working in the treatment room full-time, and transformed into the role of CEO of her own product line and platform. 

Not only does she have fantastic tips and perspectives for how aesthetic professionals can boost their retail revenue, but she’s got a great story that’s sure to inspire your journey if you’ve ever pondered the idea of product creation or want to expand your revenue streams inside your aesthetic practice.  

In this episode, we discuss:

• Stephanie’s origin story of getting into aesthetics and how she quickly found her niche in waxing and why that was so powerful to building a profitable practice 
• How Stephanie discovered that systemizing her process could help her maximize her client capacity 
• Where Stephanie saw the shift in opportunity to create her own line of waxing products and how she stayed focused during the process of creation
• Stephanie’s top tips for waxing experts and her answer to the ultimate question of “hard or soft wax?”
• Her keys for creating an unforgettable experience for your client and highly profitable experience for your business

References Mentioned in Episode #109: Moving From The Treatment Room to Full-Time Brand and Product Retailer with Stephanie Laynes: 

• Learn more about Stephanie’s line of products, online trainings and more on her website
• Connect with Stephanie on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
• Help us reach more aestheticians looking to build thriving careers and businesses by leaving us an honest review on iTunes. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Welcome to our weekly #Beautybomb, a burst of info on the latest and greatest ingredients, products, and treatments in the spa industry to help you expand your knowledge and fine tune your client communications. 

In this week’s #Beautybomb, I’m talking about the latest medical aesthetic treatment making waves in the industry (or should I say pulses): Emsculpt. 

It’s an FDA-approved procedure with seven scientific research studies backing its power to strengthen, tone, and firm the muscles, and it’s the world’s first non-invasive butt lift procedure. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What Emsculpt is and how it works to strengthen, tone, and firm muscles as well as what conditions and areas of the body you can improve through Emsculpt
• How Emsculpt compares to CoolSculpting and how they can work in tandem in your practice 
• What the treatment feels like, plus average session duration and number of sessions, and when patients can expect to see results 

For more information on Emsculpt, visit:

• BodybyBTL’s Emsculpt website
• See Emsculpt in action on Potomac Medical Aesthetic’s Instagram

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, request future #Beautybomb topics and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Thinking of giving Groupon a shot at your spa? 

Maybe you just read that question and thought, “you’re kidding?!” 

Now hear me out, Groupon is not your answer to becoming a successful spa, it is merely a tool in the journey to get there. 

Just like we use Facebook ads to drive traffic and leads, Groupon is just another advertising channel and a client acquisition strategy. 

However, like Facebook ads, you can’t just throw up an offer and expect it to go off like gangbusters.

There are strategic pieces involved and you need to understand the foundation of the platform, not to mention your financial foundations. 

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m breaking down the step-by-step strategy for leveraging Groupon successfully so that you can effectively build up your brand awareness and your clientele while seeing a benefit to your bottom line. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Groupon can be a powerful client acquisition strategy
• The key difference between Groupon and Facebook Ads
• The process of setting up a successful Groupon deal and the one thing every Groupon deal should have 
• When to use the Groupon strategy in your business and what your sales goals should be 

References Mentioned in Episode #107: The Strategic Secrets of Using Groupon the Right Way

• Join the Spa Marketing Made Easy community for free marketing trainings, tips, monthly goal-setting sessions, and to be a part of our Aesthetician Book Club. 
• Click here to get the Scale Your Business Bundle featuring our Groupon Tracker.
• Read our current Book Club pick, Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business by Pat Flynn
• Listen to Episode #084: 10 Ways to 10X Your Revenue with Facebook Ads with Tara Zirker
• Click here to learn more about running a deal on Groupon and to connect with a rep

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

One of my core beliefs in building a successful business is that no one should do it alone. 

Of course, it’s your business, so you can choose your own path, but as the saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” 

Although, let me fill you in on my experience…going alone doesn’t lend itself to going fast, either. 

My belief is that when you have the ultimate trifecta of support, ongoing education, and accountability, you go a lot further a lot faster. 

And to prove that point, I’m diving into an experiment with a couple of the women inside my Growth Factor high-level group coaching program to show you the *real* behind-the-scenes of what it takes to build a seven-figure spa.

Over the course of the next year, I’ll be checking in and following up with Sara and Melissa here on Spa Marketing Made Easy so you can see all the possibilities and realities, filter-free.

In fact, this is an idea Sara pitched to me to share her and Melissa’s year-long journey through Growth Factor, and it was an immediate full-body “yes!”

So often I talk with aestheticians who are stuck in a paradox between comparison-itis and possibilities. 

Perhaps you’re looking at another spa owner and wondering, “why can’t I have a business like that?” or “why haven’t I reached that point yet? I’ve been in business so much longer.”

You’re constantly asking yourself, “What piece of the puzzle am I missing?”

While there may be some pieces you are missing that need to be filled with those aforementioned elements of education and support, you may also be blurry on the reality and possibilities of what it takes to build your spa to seven-figures. 

It takes hard work, tough decisions, and yes, sometimes taking two steps back so you can take four steps forward.

Those are the things people don’t love to talk about, let alone share on Instagram, but we’ll be sharing it here.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Sara and Melissa want to share their year-long journey to growing their spa to seven figures 
• A look at what their first year in business has been like (that’s right, these ladies are still in year one!)
• How they’re approaching year two and they’re biggest goals they’re planning on tackling first within the Growth Factor program

References Mentioned in Episode #106: Starting the Journey to Becoming a 7-Figure Spa 

• Connect with Sara and Melissa and follow their business, Sykes & Lanno Skinbar on Instagram and Facebook.  
• Want to learn more about joining the Growth Factor coaching program? There are still a couple of spots left for 2020, click here to learn more and if you’re interested email us at hello (at) addoaesthetics.com

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As soon as I announced my pregnancy with my second little one due this spring, I’ve had many listeners ask, “how do you prepare to take a real maternity leave without seeing your business stall?”

It feels like a loaded question when you ask it, especially when the cultural norm of a good maternity in the U.S. is three months. 

Additionally, if you’re a solo aesthetician or a spa owner whose business largely depends on your presence, you might feel overwhelmed at the thought of your business growth taking a considerable dip if you dip out. 

So, as my team and I are beginning to implement our plans for Operation Baby Woerner #2, I thought I’d share with you my top four tips for taking an extended break from the business while maintaining stability and even growth! 

Also, know that these tips equally apply whether you’re also having a baby, you need to attend to family/life issues, or simply need a real vacation. 

Listen, life will happen one way or another, so even if you don’t have a break planned, you’re bound to be thrown a curveball at one point or another. 

And it’s always better to be in the place of being well-prepared and on solid ground versus scrambling while the earth is shaking beneath you. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• My top tool to keeping all my life to-dos and events in order so I can see what needs to be done well enough in advance so I’m not scrambling as my maternity leave approaches or when I return. 
• How I decided how long my maternity leave would be and encouragement for creating your own rules around your leave time
• How it “all gets done” even when I’m absent from my business and how you can anticipate coming back to buzz in business rather than a lackluster dip. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

With technology continually shifting and consumer behavior moving with it, there’s one constant you can always count on in business: change. 

However, there is one exception to that rule, and it’s been a mainstay of business since the beginning of time, and that’s the power of relationships. 

Behind every marketing campaign, strategy, or tactic and every new service, offer, or promotion, the success of your efforts all boils down to your relationships…

Always has and always will.

And on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, my guest Elaine Lou, a business and career coach who helps women take aligned action in reaching for their wildest dreams, scaling their businesses, and doing it all in a way that’s anything but cookie cutter. 

In this episode, she’s sharing her secrets for using local events to build community and develop deeper connections with her past, existing, and potential clients for business growth, increased client retention, and creating word of mouth. 

As a spa owner or aesthetic expert with your own space to leverage, events hold some of the greatest potential and opportunity for growing your business while costing next to nothing. 

I speak with a lot of aestheticians who all talk about wanting a “word of mouth”-based business, and while I believe today’s business landscape requires more than relying solely on word of mouth, events are one of the best ways to begin building that kind of organic buzz. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Elaine works with women to take aligned action and get out of their own way to go after their wildest dreams
• The deeply-rooted mindset blocks that may be standing in your way of success and the number one thing you can believe and do to unlock those blocks
• Why Elaine focuses on hosting local events and how this can translate to building community for your spa or aesthetic practice
• Her top tips for crafting events that brings together people who are excited about the opportunity to connect with and work with you

References Mentioned in Episode #104: Cultivating Community Through Hosting Events with Elaine Lou

• Learn more about Elaine and her work via her website and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram
• Grab Elaine’s 6 High-Touch Scripts for Sharing Your Event with Your Community 
• Listen to Episode #086: Creating a Month’s Worth of Video Content in 15 Minutes with Katya Varbanova
• Check out Eventbrite for creating your event information page, spreading the word, and selling tickets (if applicable for your event)

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…especially for spa owners and aestheticians, because we are in the swing of the holiday season!

Now’s the time to rock out the last quarter of the year, and to help you do it, I’m pulling one of my favorite lessons inside Spa Retail Rockstar out of the vault. 

Consider it my token of gratitude for having you here in the Spa Marketing Made Easy community, which by the way, this has been a very hot topic of conversation as of late. 

I’m talking about the “Buy $100, Get $100” spa gift card promotion, which has the potential to double your gift card sales from previous years (or more). 

So fire up your notes app and tune in, because this is going to be the year of your top-grossing gift cards sales yet. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What the Buy $100, Get $100 promotion is, how it works, and the step-by-step process of preparing for the promotion so you can knock it out of the park. 
• The key elements you need to have in place for the promotion including materials as well as policies and explicit directions. 
• My tips around the logistics of running the Buy $100, Get $100 promotion so you can track your gift card sales success and replicate it for the next big gift card holiday, Mother’s Day!  

References Mentioned in Episode #103: The “Buy $100, Get $100” Spa Gift Card Promotion

• Gift card resources mentioned in this episode include: Plastek, Canva and Vistaprint 
• Listen to Episode #062 with Amanda Whelband where she shares her experience with the Buy $100, Get $100 promotion and how she doubled her holiday gift card sales from the previous year in just 2.5 weeks
• Have questions or want to share your wins? We want to hear them! Come join us inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Facebook group. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community.

Whether your business is stuck in a vicious paycheck to paycheck cycle, or you can’t seem to climb out of credit card debt, or the thought of digging deep into your business financials scares the pants off of you, this is an episode you literally can’t afford to miss. 

And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Paycheck to paycheck? I’m happy if I even get paid at all!”

Then you definitely need to tune in because if you aren’t paying yourself, we need to get you there NOW. 

But regardless of the size or scale of your aesthetic practice, here’s the reality: you have to prioritize your business’ profit if you want to hit your financial goals and hit them in a timely manner, and in a way that’s not riddled with stress, but instead, strength. 

Believe it or not, finances can be incredibly exciting and empowering, and as my guest today shares, when her clients and students understand the cash flow of their business, they accomplish huge goals in timeframes you may have only thought were a pipe dream. 

In this episode, I’m so excited for you to hear from my guest Amber Dugger, who is a cash flow expert for entrepreneurs and founder of the program “Profit For Keeps,” where she is on a mission to help business owners go from just making money – to actually keeping it so you can spend it on the things that make your life awesome. 

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time educating myself on business finances over the last few years, I can tell you that hearing what Amber has to share can be business- and life-changing for you if you open yourself up to move past your money blocks. 

Remember, knowledge is power. 

And when it comes to finances, your power lies in your profits. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to navigate through the emotion of money and reframe your mindset so that money doesn’t feel scary to begin digging into or learning about
• Why it is vital to your business’ success to understand your cash flow and the primary financial framework that makes money management easy to understand and, yes, exciting 
• How Amber classfies debt into two categories, how they differ, and when it’s okay to take out a loan or line of credit to help your business scale 
• Where to begin with prioritizing profit first in your business and why this system works to help you achieve your business and life goals 

References Mentioned in Episode #102: Prioritizing Profit in Your Spa with Amber Dugger 

• Tap into Amber’s free Profitability Calculator by clicking here.
• Join Amber’s Facebook group, Sweet Life Purposeful Money. 
• Connect with Amber on her website, on Facebook, and on Instagram. 
• Read Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (affiliate link) 
• New to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast? Download our Quick Start Guide to learn more about tuning in, where you can connect with our resources, and how to leave a review. 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community.