Catch the Latest Episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy

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.

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.

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!

Have you ever heard of the Pareto principle?

You might know it as it’s more common name, the 80/20 rule, which states that, for many events and scenarios, 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes.

When it comes to the earning potential that solo aestheticians and spas possess, retail sales can absolutely be that 20 percent activity that contributes to a considerable proportion of your bottom line.

According to a career profile by the U.S. News and World Report, it’s stated that, “estheticians and skin care specialists made a median salary of $30,270 in 2016. The highest-paid 10 percent in the profession earned $59,780, while the lowest-paid earned $18,640 that year.”

You may be looking at those numbers and thinking that you’re happy hitting $30K per year, but almost $60K? That would be amazing!

Whatever is your version of success, by all means, celebrate it, but if you’re looking at $30K and want more, know that you don’t have to stop at $59,780 as your higher-earning cap.

We can do better.

In fact, with retail sales and the opportunities of the very lucrative skincare market in the U.S., we can do an extra figure better.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m breaking down dollar-for-dollar how retail sales can massively grow your business and expand your take-home pay as well as dispel the common objections and hang-ups I hear around retail sales.

Yes, retail sales requires selling, but it doesn’t need to be slimy or pushy.

Listen in, and I’ll help give you a mindset shift that can help you grow your business by leaps and bounds (and maybe a couple of zeros, too).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why retail is the quickest and easiest way to boost income as an aesthetician
• How selling retail can increase your businesses bottom line (I’m pulling out the numbers and math skills)
• The entrepreneurial mindset shift you need to see the power that retail holds
• How the U.S. market presents one of the best opportunities in the world to sell retail, and my top tips for leveraging those opportunities

References Mentioned in Episode #030: Smashing The Most Common Spa Retail Sales Hang-Ups

• Learn more industry-specific statistical information on esthetician earnings on Statista
• Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook
• Unlock my free trainings and business-building resources including my retail sales masterclass

If you’ve been connected to AddoAesthetics for a while or been a listener of Spa Marketing Made Easy for even just a couple of episodes, you know I’m passionate about spa retail sales.

I consider it my zone of genius, which is why much of my work has centered around consulting with physician-dispensed skincare brands as well as working with solo aestheticians and spa owners to bolster their retail efforts.

But like most things we’re passionate about, retail sales wasn’t something I just magically became good at one day.

It took a lot of self-education and practice, but once I saw the results I was helping my clients achieve as well as the potential for growth that retail sales afforded me in my career (and later in building AddoAesthetics), I drilled down and refined my strategy and skills ’til I saw the results I sought out.

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m going to walk you through that journey and show you how if you develop your retail skills, you have the potential to drastically grow your business (with plenty of my insider tips and insights included, of course!).

If you’ve been sitting on the fence with bringing a skincare line into your spa or feeling uncertain in your ability to sell retail, I urge you to give this episode a listen.

If it’s something you desire, it’s something you can acquire.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• My journey into retail sales and how it started from the perspective of the client
• How I came to love physician-dispensed skincare brands and my approach to creating custom regimens for my clients
• Why retail sales isn’t actually about sales
• How I looked at retail sales as an opportunity for the consulting arm of my business and educational component for my work with estheticians

References Mentioned in Episode #031: How Retail Changed My Life and Business

• Learn more about the medical science of skin and skincare in The Lancet.
• Connect with me over on Instagram.
• Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook.

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.

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

Nothing irks me more than someone who views careers in the beauty industry as pure vanity, because as any aesthetician knows, beauty is so much more than skin deep.

In our experience working with our client’s skin, brows and lashes, makeup, or any other aesthetic avenue, the core of what we do is building confidence and bolstering the feeling of being beautiful from the inside out.

Our work may treat a surface issue of acne scarring or hiding hyperpigmentation, but the real thing we’re addressing is that voice inside that makes our client’s feel like they’re not enough.

Of course, we know that they are already beautiful and more than enough, but if our gifts in aesthetic artistry can help them see that in themselves, well, that’s why we do what we do.

If you’re anything like me, when I think of that deeper why behind our work as aesthetic experts, it really fires me up and gets my passion pumping for our industry even stronger than it already does.

So can you imagine how we can make our clients feel when in addition to treating the surface we can help them with discovering their inner beauty?

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m talking with makeup artist, beauty expert, and self-love activist, Sara Drury, to discuss the role of inner beauty in our work as aesthetic experts and how her shift in helping her clients discover their inner beauty has grown her business and how it can change yours, too.

If you’ve been thinking of ways to go deeper with your work, expand your earning potential and revenue streams by leveraging your passion in a new way, you’ll want to give this episode a listen!

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why Sara began her entrepreneurial journey, and she’s gotten to where she is now
• What she did to transition her focus from purely aesthetics to also encompassing inner beauty and how that has impacted her work
• The opportunities Sara identified in her business and how she adjusted her business model for greater scalability
• How to own your aesthetic expertise and incorporate it into new revenue streams

References Mentioned in Episode #034: Discovering Your Inner Beauty with Sara Drury

• Learn more about Sara’s work on her website.
• Steal a makeup artist’s secrets and sign up for Sara’s free video training, “Top 10 Makeup Mistakes and How to Fix Them”
• Connect with Sara on Facebook and Instagram.
• Join the Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook for more marketing conversation, insights and tips.

Anyone who’s a working mom knows the struggle of trying to “do it all,” which also comes with the lesson that if you’re going to try to do it all, it’s difficult to do it all well.

Cue the mom guilt.

With a 17-month-old, I’m right there in the trenches of working out the balance between my family, baby and my business.

Some days everything flows smoothly, but with an ever-growing little one, those smooth days and ironed out schedules can quickly shift and it can feel like we’re back to square one on finding balance.

While those days are par for the course in the grand scheme of parenthood, chaos doesn’t have to be the norm.

As my guest on today’s episode shares, with a few key strategies and practices in place, not only can you take on the tasks your heart desires, but you can craft a mom life/work life balance that actually works and feels good (sans the mom guilt).

In this episode, Ashli Carnicelli, a mom of three (and two under two!), joins me to discuss how she balances her roles as mom, esthetician, and blogger so that she’s consistently present and productive.

If you’ve ever felt even a twinge of guilt about not being present with your kids while reaching for your dreams, or questioned how you’re dividing your time between home and work, I know hearing Ashli’s journey and insights will put your worries at ease and give you some tangible steps you can start putting into action immediately.

Whatever your personal family and work situation, the most important thing I think you’ll walk away with is there’s no “right” way to strike a balance.

What works for you won’t work for everyone, and it’s about time we start to lay down our guilt and dust off our capes because no matter what, I know you’re already superwoman. And this episode will help you see and feel it.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Ashli crafts her daily and weekly schedule to meet her and her family’s needs
• Her strategies and mindset to bring in balance, allow presence and excuse mom guilt from her life juggling multiple roles
• Why we need to open up this conversation so we can crush mom guilt and focus on the goals  that are important for us, and thus, our family’s and kid’s futures

References Mentioned in Episode #035: Balancing Work and Life as a Busy Mom with Ashli Carnicelli

Read Ashli’s blog The Skincare Belle

Connect with Ashli on Instagram and Facebook.

Bella Santé Day and Med Spa

Join a community of like-minded aestheticians and continue the conversation in the free Spa Marketing Made Easy community.

It’s only been a couple of years since I began to dip my toe into the world of “woo-woo.”

See, I’m a spreadsheet type of girl, I like my neatly aligned cells with clear-cut numbers and results that can be tied to tried-and-true data.

While I still love (and always will) the “science behind success,” I’ve also learned that some of that science lies in the areas that aren’t as clearly defined as a number but are certainly shown to work.

What am I talking about? Mindset.

And in this episode, I’m joined by my friend Melanie Bundock, who knows more than a thing or two about the power of a positive mindset and how you can use techniques such as visualization to manifest the desires you have for your life.

Melanie is a mindset coach, the host of Big Vision TV, and the creator of Tapping Into Abundance, her signature program where she helps her students shift their own state into one that allows their desires and goals to manifest faster and more effortlessly in their lives, no matter what their current circumstances or beliefs.


Still with me here?


Good! Because Melanie’s personal experience is one you have to hear…


Whether you’re 100% on board with trying visualization or if you’re slightly skeptical, you will be awestruck after listening to her stories about being able to make the leap from her quitting her job to start her business (with the help of her winnings on a pretty big-time game show you’ve probably heard of) and how she took her family on the vacation of a lifetime.

In addition to sharing her personal journey with visualization, she’s also cluing us in on her techniques on getting started with manifesting your dreams right after you’re through listening to this episode.

Now I only have one more question for you…

What do you have to lose by giving visualization a try? The answer is absolutely nothing.

So sit back and listen in, this episode could be the start of the shift of everything.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Melanie’s journey to becoming a visualization and manifestation expert including the incredible stories of how these practices have worked in her and her family’s lives

• Recognizing your unique desires and goals, and the keys to making visualization work for you
• How vision boarding can act as a valuable tool in manifesting your dreams
• The consistent practices you need to embrace to attract the results required to achieve your goals

References Mentioned in Episode #036: How to Visualize Your Goals and Manifest the Life You Desire with Melanie Bundock

• Learn more about Melanie and her work by visiting her website.
• Tune to watch Melanie’s show, Big Vision TV.
• Connect with Melanie on Facebook and Instagram.
• Read “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne.
• Join the Aestheticians Connect community to discuss all things treatments, skincare, and beauty.
• Join the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community to receive more marketing insights, free trainings, and tips around growing your aesthetic business.

We all know that it’s good to be grateful.

But are you really, truly feeling that gratitude?

The truth is, having an attitude of gratitude requires practice, consistency, and specificity, which isn’t always easy, especially if we feel like we’re in a tough season of life or business.

Of course, we’re grateful for all the blessings we have, but when you desire something different, it can leave you feeling lost on how to feel thankful and using that gratitude to propel you forward.

And that’s exactly why I’m bringing you the message I have in this episode, which is all about how you can cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, put it in action, and how by doing so; you have the opportunity to see significant growth in your life and business.

See, gratitude isn’t a byproduct of success; it’s the activator of it.

So click play and dial into all you have to be grateful for, I promise you’ll immediately feel uplifted and see the benefits of building a gratitude practice with time.

In this episode I discuss:

• What gratitude helps do for our mindset, perspective, and actions, and in turn, how that affects our lives and businesses
• The 30-Day Gratitude Challenge
• A story of one of my students and how gratitude can affect the outcome of your goals
• Why it’s important to get specific when reflecting on your gratitudes

References Mentioned in Episode #037: The Attitude of Gratitude

• Download the Gratitude Journal and join me for the 30-day Gratitude Challenge
• Leave us a review on iTunes and help us reach our goal of impacting the lives and careers of 500 aestheticians
• Join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook for exclusive monthly marketing trainings, insights and tips

No matter what industry you’re in, the name of the game in business is all about convenience.

Today’s consumers are busier than ever, and if you don’t make it easy for them to do business with you, you can bet they’ll find another spa or esthetician elsewhere.

Not to mention, researchers have found that the average human attention span can now be compared to that of a goldfish (thanks, technology), which is why it’s crucial to capture your potential client when they’re in the process of deciding “yes.” Because if you don’t, they’re gone in a single click, tap or swipe.

However, when you utilize the power of online booking software in your business, you can make that “yes!” just as simple of a process.

And if you’re wondering just how important online booking is, I will stand confidently in my declaration that online booking is more important than any marketing or networking effort you do. That’s right; online booking is spa marketing strategy number one.  

If you’re reading and already have online booking set up, stick around and tune in because I’ve got tons of tips for you, too…

In this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’m giving you the full crash course in online booking software 101 from what you’ll want to consider when choosing a platform to how to set it up so you’re leveraging all of its capabilities, as well as how to set up your new client onboarding process to ensure a fantastic client experience from the first click.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why having online booking capabilities through your website is non-negotiable for your business
• My top tips for simplifying and streamlining your online booking software so it works like a 24/7 salesperson
• Your online booking software set-up checklist
• How to design your new client onboarding process step by step

References Mentioned in Episode #038: Online Booking Made Easy

• Tools including Google Analytics and Zapier
• Scheduling platforms including Booker, MindBody, Vagaro, StyleSeat
• Search “booking software” in the Aestheticians Connect Facebook group