Transcript
Speaker: writing. Welcome to the Beyond Aesthetics podcast. We are your hosts. My name is Tiffany Orr. And I am Jessica Peterson. And we welcome you here to our, our little community. And, um,
Speaker: into our world and we're just really happy that you're here. We're happy to talk with you and share with you and share our combined years of knowledge and experience and resources and wisdom and do's and don'ts and all of the things. So welcome. Yeah. I'm feeling so inspired because we just recorded an episode with our friend, Sierra.
Speaker: It's a members only episode um that is actually going to air in the membership September fifteenth right? not September's episode.
Speaker: And if you guys remember, Sierra, she was on the podcast about a year ago, was ah one of our most inspiring episodes. We got so many comments on it. And so many of you reached out to her afterwards asking her about spa parties.
Speaker: And so if that's something you're still interested in and you want to know all of the nitty gritty, join the membership. but You should join anyways. It's so good. And ah her her episode is exclusive for members only.
Speaker: And it was so good. It was so inspiring. It's always really fun to revisit, you know, like see where these estheticians are at now. And yeah, it was such a good conversation. I feel really, really inspired because she is someone that really does live our core values.
Speaker: Yes. Yes. You know, and and and I was reminded of that during our conversation. Same. my I was like, oh my gosh, this is, you know, and we mentored her. And so that's really cool. But, yeah you know, she just, she really has leaned so hard into it. and so some of the things that she was saying, I just was like, this is really what it's all about. You know, i mean, everything down to like,
Speaker: her vision of success and peace and freedom and just leaning into that versus the monetary, you know, which is crazy because her monetary is like so good because of that. And i I just think that those two things can really go hand in hand, right? That's such like a a mindset it's a goal thing that's so cool but then down to like she's so happy to share every detail about her spa parties to anybody who wants to know because she's so like there's more than enough to go around if you are down the street from me and you're an esthetician and you want to host a spa party
Speaker: come at me. Like let me tell you how to do it. I'm going to tell you how to do it and how to be successful. And so it's so cool um to see that it was really, really inspiring and so fulfilling to just watch that all come full circle.
Speaker: And so we would definitely invite you guys into the membership for a million reasons. but That's another one. That's another one. Well, speaking of the membership. So um it is September when you're listening to this. And um September is our for continuing education in the membership is all about women's health and hormones. And we're doing a series on this CE for our community members and holy cow.
Speaker: Holy cow. We have invited some special, I would keep calling them guests, but they're not guests. They're, what did you call them? Special advisors?
Speaker: I don't know. Yeah. They're, they're, they are educated. They're esthetician educators who specialize in this field. And so we hired them to do it because we know that we don't know. yeah We know some, but we just found these people who do know and are so excited to pour out this value and knowledge to our community. And so it isn't even me and Tiff. It's like, we brought people into this for you. And so- Yeah. If, if you guys want to learn more about women's wellness and hormones and the nutrition aspect and, oh my gosh, so much, there really is so, so much to learn. And, you know, I was, I was with one of my solo estheticians who's also in our community a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker: And what I was telling her was, i think we're in a place as women now where we're very comfortable talking about these things. And so it is coming up more and more with estheticians that they're like, my clients are going through this thing, you know, with their hormones or nutrition or, you know, whatever. And so I think having a good baseline understanding so that we can communicate and converse with them and support them and see them and be that safe space for them. And having a little bit bit of baseline knowledge is extremely valuable as an esthetician these days. Cause we're not afraid to say like, my doctor's got me on testosterone, you know, and here's, you know, kind of what's going on. And I think honestly, 10 years ago,
Speaker: people weren't as open about it. And I know that as far as you and I just turning 40 and, um, you know, my, all of my friends are within that same age range as well.
Speaker: This, I talk about this every single day to people and it is such an open, normal conversation to have. So I'm really, really excited to bring that support to professionals.
Speaker: Absolutely. And not only for you as the professional, the esthetician to support your clients, but also to support yourself too, and have a deeper understanding of what your own body and system is going through or why you may experiencing certain things that you've never experienced before.
Speaker: and normalizing it. you know, there is so much talk around perimenopause that there wasn't even a year or two ago, which I love. So as a society, we are getting there and there's still so much misunderstanding and confusion. And so I just love that we have shifted the continuing education with the the membership in this direction for fall and going to be putting out series over the next few months. um, for just deeper understanding, deeper knowledge, deeper resources for ourselves and our clients. So it's not just for your practice. It's for you too, because we care about you and we want you to be able to perform optimally and, um, feel good as you age and all of those things so that then you can continue to pour into the cups of your clients and your family and,
Speaker: You know, it just goes out from there. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. There's so much I could say. So we're going to move on. Yes. OK, today's episode today's topic, we are going to be talking about um when it's time to invest in your practice or your career.
Speaker: in something new and then how to do it and to do it the right way. So what we're talking about here is like when it's time to bring in a new product line or say the product line that you're working with launches a new product or a new, a new skincare line within that product, how to incorporate it into your practice and how to financially,
Speaker: be able to bring it in when it's like brand new. Another example would be when it's time to invest in some new equipment or you want to open that door and bring something new in and it's an equipment and it's there's a startup cost with it or new supplies or we we need to re up our supplies, maybe our linens and our towels and everything is just really worn out and we need to come up with some revenue.
Speaker: to go to that new thing while still maintaining where that revenue source needs to go as well, which is paying yourself, covering your your COGS, which is your costs for your practice, um and all of the above. so And then it can also look like a new service you want to bring in or maybe new education for yourself, right? You want to take a continuing education course and you need to come up with the money to pay for it. So that's what we're going to be talking about today.
Speaker: and um there's a strategy behind it as always, you know, it's more than just like having a shiny object syndrome and being like, that looks really sexy and I really need that. And so I'm going to bring it in, but then going to go into debt because of it, or I'm going to spend the money that I have allocated for my repurchasing retail on this new cost. And then my shelves are empty. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: right i think I think it's like there needs to be a strategy. Like if you if you're just making these decisions without a strategy, that's what we would love to encourage today is the thought process of actually being more strategic about these things because it really is easy in this industry to have that kind of shiny object syndrome and then just kind of dive into it. So what we would like to bring to the table is a strategy so that we can be as successful as possible in making these decisions.
Speaker: Yeah. And so you can get your return on invest on your investment back as quickly as possible and start making money off of this new investment, whatever it is, while continuing to maintain your, your numbers with where they're at and not sliding backwards.
Speaker: That's the whole goal. And so we don't backslide. Yes. and so first things first, when you're thinking about investing in something new, whatever that may be my best advice would be, and I know Jess would agree, is to know your current numbers and data with where you're at right now. now So we can't really know where we're going if we don't know where we're at and where we've been. And you and I talk about this a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot is to make sure that you're running reports consistently on where you're at, where your service um data is, right? where how How booked are you? What percentage of, um I'm like drawing a blank on what to call that.
Speaker: What would you call that? Like how, how booked, what your percentage is on how booked you are? Um, your pre-booking percentages or your, yeah, just your booking percentages, your returning clientele percentage, um, percentage or number, you know, even if you have a ballpark number, that's pretty easy to figure out. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And then also like your, like whatever your revenue is coming from, whatever revenue streams are coming into your practice, um, to knowing those numbers. So I like like to look 30 days previously. i like to go back and look six days or six months, excuse me, previously, and then look back a year and then do a year to year comparison. If you've been in business or in practice for that long and do side-by-side comparison. And so any booking system, any e-commerce platform, um the beautiful thing about technology is like that that data is there and it will run those numbers for you. It is your job and responsibility to go to sit down and dedicate time to actually run those numbers, sit down and look at it, and then just look at the data with an objective, um
Speaker: A perspective. And a calm nervous system. You know, it's so interesting when you are avoiding looking at your numbers. um It is usually a nervous system response. And it's crazy how much more confidence and security you'll feel.
Speaker: when you look at your numbers. And so if that's something that you're still getting used to, I would just make that appointment with yourself and learn to regulate your nervous system around that, right? So if you need to just say a little prayer, go through your gratitude list,
Speaker: ah before you look at your numbers, that's okay. We really do want to actually train our nervous system to be able to look at our numbers and our bank accounts and to feel really good about it. So it is a nervous system issue, I think, for a lot of people when it comes to running their numbers and running the reports and seeing the realities. But you really do have to in order to make the best decisions for you and your business.
Speaker: That's actually a really good point. It's kind of the same conversation around when you avoid looking at your banking app or your bank account. 100%. We've all been there. We were like, I just don't want to. yeah but you know ignorance is bliss. But then it's not because you know, because then it just bothers you or it's just heavy on your mind of like, I do need to pay attention to that Same can be for your numbers for your business. And so I like that you mentioned making an an appointment or putting on your schedule. And so I think what a great practice to be would actually to be like, put it on your schedule once a month to run your numbers, dedicate 15, 20 minutes to it. It doesn't have to be a lot. And then do some nervous system calming. I like the prayer. I like that, you know, whatever you can do some affirmations you can do. what breath work you can do, whatever it is that helps you work through that. And then just look at it with an objective, like not a beat yourself up type of mindset, but like, you're just getting data out there. I like the word data because data to me has no emotion in it. yeah And so when I'm just, you know, even if I can be a little bit in my fields about my numbers, if I'm just looking at it as data, it's information. And then it helps me make an informed decision moving forward.
Speaker: Oh, I love it. Yes. It's, it's so true. i always use the term data for the same reason. and like, it's just data. It's neutral. It's, it, it's info. Okay. It's great. It's info.
Speaker: Yes. It's not negative. It's not positive. It's neutral. Very. Yeah, love it. Okay, so then next piece of advice for knowing when it's time to invest into something new is determining the potential ROI on whatever that new is. So r ROI stands for your return on investment.
Speaker: And so this is something that you can do your numbers with. And it's really simple math that you can do. You can plug it into like chat GPT or Claude or something like that. Or I personally like to just sit down with a pen and paper and do that math out and get it out of my head and do it out on paper and see out in front of me. So your cost is for this something new, we'll call it, is not just the price tag itself. It is the price plus the training time, plus the marketing, and then plus how fast it actually pays for itself. So that's your return on investment is all of that combined. So we don't just have this initial cost. We have how long is it gonna take me to learn whatever it is, learn the new product, learn the new machine,
Speaker: incorporate or implement the new XYZ into the practice. and It's the marketing behind it. How long it's going to take me and how many resources and any costs associated with those resources it's going to take to market this product to my customer base, to my current clients and customers, to new potential clients. If it's a completely new thing that nobody has seen me before or bought from me before, that would be a new And then how fast is that actually going to pay for itself? And then looking at those numbers out on paper. So to to determine your ah ROI, you take the cost of the thing and then divide it by the profit per treatment. And notice that's your profit per treatment. That's not what your price tag per treatment is. So you would take out the cost per treatment out of that.
Speaker: Are we still following? Hopefully. And then that equals how many you need to sell or perform to break even, to get your money back. I'm going to put all of that in the show notes.
Speaker: We will put all of that in the show notes for you because it's much easier for to like read it and and absorb it than just listening to it. But I am going say it again. So your ah ROI is the cost of the thing, your initial cost, okay, divided by the profit per treatment or per unit. So if it's like a product, that would be per product that you're selling. If it's a service menu treatment, would be per treatment. But your profit is what the the income you're getting minus your cost it takes to do that. So say, so let me break this down. So say you're bringing in a new product line and
Speaker: we'll just do easy numbers. So say it's $500 for an initial investment on like a new product launch. We'll call it that. So it'd be $500 for the cost of the thing, totally divided by your potential profit. So if it's like retail, it would be half of your $500. It'd be two 50, right? Equals how many you'd, so let me get my calculator out.
Speaker: That's not right. Okay.
Speaker: Math is not my strong suit. mrs is like of I'm not going to do this because I actually don't know how to make that happen right here on live air, but let me just say it again. So it's your cost of the thing divided by your profit for treatment or unit equals equals how many you need to sell perform to break even. And then we want to look at equipment versus product line versus say education.
Speaker: the ROI is going to look different for each of those. So equipment, we're gonna break even math, product line, there is gonna be a margin and a reorder cycle. And then education can equal like a higher ticket or retention, and then could also be harder a little bit harder to measure your real ah um ROI with your because it's time versus actual tangible goods and services. yeah Make sense? Yeah.
Speaker: So that for number two is really determining, okay how much it's going to cost you, how much time you're going to have to invest out yeah of your own to learn, sell, um implement the new quote unquote, and then where your margin lies for getting your money back to pay for it. And then where the profit margin is going to be from there. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Number three is going to be having a strategy in place to actually build a profit from this new, this new, whatever that you have. And so, um, what we mean by that is For retail, for example, and I know we've talked about this before, but this is your strategy, Jess, that you've shared over the years. And it's just um it's just so powerful is having a specific bank account for say you're like your retail sales in is separate from your service sales, if you if you can. So this would be like for our solo estheticians, for our business owners, stuff like that. But you can also do this as actually as an employee as well.
Speaker: Now that I'm saying that out loud. And so will you walk us through just what that looks like? Yeah. So basically if you were to have a separate bank account, so for speaking to a solo esthetician, um, the biggest thing that we tend to run into with people is a lack of number one cashflow in the business, but number two, a lack of budget for retail. And it's so important to understand that retail is the easiest way to make a profit in your business. And so that's because of your markup with your retail and because it's uncapped, you can always sell more retail. Like there's always ways where service wise you are gonna kind of tap out. So if we have a whole separate bank account for retail, then for an example, let's say that we just put $200 this bank account
Speaker: for retail only. And then take that $200 and we place an order with our skincare company. And then within the next couple of weeks, we sell through that product. So now what we can do take that $400 and put that back in the bank account because that covers your cost and your profit. So now all of a sudden we have doubled our money. So now in the bank account, we now have the $400 because we replaced what we paid and we put our profit back into that bank account. Okay. So that's the thing with retail is you're always doubling your money. So now going to take, let's say, you know, even $300. So let's say we decide to leave a hundred dollars in that bank account. And now we want to place a $300 order. So over the next two to three weeks, we sell that $300. Hopefully you do that in a week. And then that $600 now put that in the bank account. Now we have in the bank account. And it just goes on and on and on from there to where you'll get to a point where I think the the smartest strategy to then...
Speaker: um either continue to sell more and more and more and more like Tiffany does or Sierra is another really great example. I have a lot of estheticians that it's just like their retail just continues to skyrocket and they can sell more and more. I do work with a lot of estheticians who have sort of a cap, like they they feel like they're kind of capped with what they're selling and they aren't maybe thinking outside the box of like, maybe I want to sell online or do pickup orders or whatever, right? So then let's say...
Speaker: Um, there's, they want a thousand dollar budget. So they're like, I'm going to order a thousand dollars of product every month. So I'm consistently making a thousand dollars in skincare sales every single month. profit. Right.
Speaker: So, but that bank account is now crazy full. Well, you should take that money and invest it, you know? So, so that's kind of the other thing is that when you get that bank account to like this crazy, crazy good place, you should take that chunk of money and now let that money work for you. And now you're buying yourself like crazy amounts of, you know, freedom and, and paths. I mean, that's kind of a whole other conversation, but that is the point of having a separate account so that your retail budget does not get muddied with all of your other expenses. And I am telling you guys as a solo esthetician, that is where your freedom and your success and your cashflow and your investments is going to come from. And you're going to start to make real money from doing that. So that's kind of the point of having that separate account when it comes to retail.
Speaker: Absolutely. Well, and I think to take that a step further, yes, when it comes to retail and you can utilize that separate retail bank account for, like you said, your investment, if you want to bring it in something new or a new product line or a new machine or whatever it is, education, then that is how you do it because it's separate money from like you said, your expenses account or your regular banking checking account where your rent comes out of and your, all of your costs. So much it is just very easy to separate it. And I feel like it does separate the emotion. I will add on to that. I had this conversation with this old esthetician the other day. It does take a certain amount of discipline. Oh yeah. In my opinion to, to monitor yourself with that separate account. So say,
Speaker: your Your booking system dumps all of your money into your main checking account, right? That's your service sales, that's your retail sales, that's whatever. And then you have to create a system for yourself of however that looks that you're gonna be disciplined to to transfer over your retail sales specifically to your retail bank account. And then let it grow on itself and always keeping in especially selling retail. And this was kind of the conversation we were having the other day of like, Cause she was like, I sell all this product and then I, my shelves are bare and I don't have the money to restock, which is what you come up with a lot with working with eminence and stuff like that.
Speaker: And so I'm like, oh, you gotta have the discipline to keep your baseline in there. Knowing your numbers, looking back on your numbers, you've been in business now for a year. so we've got some data to look at and see how much you're selling in retail every single month. So then that gives you some data and some numbers to know your baseline of what needs to stay in that account. Right. And then ah you have an assistant, whether it's once a week or once every two weeks when you pay yourself, however that looks to transfer that money over and then be very have a boundary around it.
Speaker: Does that make sense? Oh, yes. it It does take a lot of discipline. I think especially as you watch that money grow as fast as it does. Yeah. Yeah. yeah but the devil We all need to learn about money.
Speaker: And I think once you learn about money and making money work for you, it does get a lot easier to set aside and have discipline with it. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: For sure. But we do have to have a strategy in place and you do have to have a place for it to grow on itself and and then have some boundaries around it and have some discipline around it and have a system in place. So whether you need to make an appointment for yourself and put it on your schedule, like Friday morning, you're going to sit down for 15 minutes and transfer that money over. And then you can restock your retail, place your retail order, and then you can see or whatever that looks like. That's my best recommendation is make an appointment for yourself. Put it on the calendar. If you want to create a system and a habit around doing something new that you've never done before, we got to get it We got to
Speaker: a commitment somewhere. And that has to be separate from just like having it in our head, at least for me. And so best, best way to implement something new like that, put it on your calendar and treat it like an appointment with a client. Yes.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. um And so we are going so have a strategy in place, have a specific bank account to let that money grow on itself so that then you can take your profit from it and invest it somewhere. And that would be investing it in this something new, but then going to attach our next step onto the strategy is creating a realistic timeline for yourself to bring in that something new. And so if we're investing in something new, we're trying to
Speaker: come up with the money for that investment, however that looks, having a timeline will take like the pressure and the stress off of yourself of like, I need to do it now. And a timeline can be, it can be anywhere from 30 days to six months to a year, whatever that looks like. And it probably depends on how big the investment is for sure. But when we have a realistic timeline for ourselves, then we have this goal. that we're working towards. And then we can link that back to the strategy we have in place to connect with this realistic timeline. So say for instance, if we have this retail bank account where we're letting our retail sales profits grow in this specific bank account, and then we want to bring in a different new piece of equipment that costs say a thousand dollars, we'll just throw out there. All right, well, I'm going to give myself six months to
Speaker: come up with that $1,000 investment, but I'm gonna use my retail sales bank account profits to go towards that investment. And I'm gonna set aside an extra, however that looks, 10% of my retail sales profits every month for six months to then gain this $1,000 investment without and that and that's not going to come out of my personal paycheck. That's not going to stretch me thin in any other ways for my business or my personal life because I have a strategy in place. I have a realistic timeline attached to it. And now I have some actual steps to, to achieve that. And i would have to venture to say like probably eight times out of 10, you're probably going to reach your goal even faster than six months. Yeah. Because you actually have that strategy in place, you have clear numbers and a very clear vision of how to do it. um
Speaker: And so it always tends to happen quicker when we, does that make sense? Absolutely. Because there's energy going to it. yeah Very specific, intentional energy going to it. So it does tend to happen a lot quicker. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker: And then when it comes to the actual new, whatever it is itself, it, strategy behind launching it can be really, really fun. um And so one idea that we have for launching something new is to do an actual pre-launch promo. And this is something that I learned from you, Jess, that's been helped really successful. Like when I, when say Eminence launches a new product line, that's brand new products um and implementing that into my current clientele and my customers, is to actually offer a pre-launch promo to actually, that is a strategy of actually being able to pay for that new investment itself before you even have the product in hand. So will you share your idea behind that? Absolutely. i you know, because I think it's easy.
Speaker: I honestly think the easiest thing to do is to pre-sell something. And so let's say I'll just give the example because it's September now. So September 1st, we're launching two new vitamin C products. And so if Tiffany wants to... You know, she's like, oh, maybe, maybe I don't want to use what's on my credit card to buy. Maybe I would actually like to make the money first to pay for that. And that's the strategy that I want to go with. Um, but there's a lot, a lot of solo estheticians who don't quite have that credit built up yet on their cards that they don't have the, the money to invest in it yet. So what you want to do is to market that to your clients and have a promo around it and have them pre buy the product. And you're putting that money on a specific card or in that specific bank account so that as people are paying for it, then you order it because they've actually paid for it for you. So now you've been able to pay. So let's say the purchase package is $500 to bring in these products. And so you went ah ahead and did the promo for the presale, which is usually a little bit more of a um,
Speaker: bundle promo. So there's two products. And so you could simply just say, purchase both new products, receive 20% off, you know, you just make it a really, really good deal. And then you place that order with the money that they paid you. And then you're also getting that profit on top of that. So not only has that promo paid for you to bring these products in, but you've already just made profit on that as well. And then you can kind of, um,
Speaker: like almost decide from there how much more you want to invest. Like you can take that information, right? You can take that data now and decide like, okay, I think this is going a really great promo. And so now I'm also going to take that profit. I just made an invest in more of it. um You don't necessarily need to like continue that promo. That was actually a conversation I had with Sierra during the last launch is like, you don't, you know, you do that and then you put that money, um you know, toward the new promo, but you don't have to keep that promotion going. Some people do. Some people do. Some people are like, well, that was really good. So I'm just going to keep doing that.
Speaker: you know and and you can do that if you want you just don't want to over discount but that's literally pre-sale so let's say it's the same thing for microneedling if you're like i'm going to bring in microneedling you know and i'm already doing the training or you you take all that into account you're like this is how much the education is going to cost this is how much the pen is going to cost this is how much services are going to cost You can let your clientele know, I'm receiving this training, I'm making this investment, I'm pre-selling micro-needling packages.
Speaker: you make it a really, really good deal, will literally pay for you to do that, you know, by just doing- Don't pay for your education. Exactly, right? Let's say like another simple example, let's say, I really want LED and there's this thousand dollar, you know, whatever.
Speaker: whatever And so you start marketing to your clients that you're going to bring this in. You create a promotion around it. They prepay for this amazing premium, limited time LED, you know, thing that starts.
Speaker: October 1st, that's already prepaid for. They've already, you know, booked and you've pre-sold that to them. And so that pays for your Saluma or at least the majority of it. And so honestly, I think that the best strategy is pre-selling the thing that you want to bring in and then using that data to know where you would like to go from there.
Speaker: Yes, absolutely. And I will add that To make it easy on yourself and to take away like the overwhelm that can come with pre-selling is just clearly communicate your offer. So if you don't want to, or if you can't start, say the new service or the new package for six weeks, then you just let your customer base know ahead of time that this promo does not start. You cannot book a service with me until October 1st or later. And you just, or this promo only lasts seven days. If you want to like do a bundle on the product, you, you put a parameter around it and then you clearly communicate it. And then it takes that overwhelm away from
Speaker: You you know clients and customers asking, and even if they do ask, even if they don't see it, but you already have that policy policy in place, then it just makes it very easy to be like, no, that doesn't work that way because of this. And you just explain that again. Hopefully that's making sense, but you just kind of get ahead of it a little bit.
Speaker: You know, you know what I'm just thinking? Yeah. What could also be a good idea. So let's go back to the Saluma example and let's say across a thousand dollars. So basically, if you were to market this like crazy, so let's say we're planning on buying the Saluma at the end of September. We already know it takes five days shipping. So we know we can start the services by October first Okay. So there, there's your background there. So basically as you're talking this up and doing your marketing, which we're going to go through the marketing as well in just a second, you could basically say, if you have a facial booked with me from starting October 1st, if you're like already on my books and you want to add this new, incredible led treatment to your service, you can book that
Speaker: now for half the price of what it is going to be. And you can prepay for up to you know, three of these services for like your next three facials, October, November, you know, December, if you wanted to, and then they're like, yes. And then you run their card.
Speaker: There's your money to pay for the, sal like, there's so many different ways that you could strategize and do that. And honestly, marketing is a huge piece of this puzzle, a piece of this strategy, but like, hell, that's what I would do.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. It's just, it's kind of stupid, simple. Like you said, it's so simple on any new investment that you want to bring into your practice. Just do a pre-sale, solo do a pre-launch, do a promo ahead of time before you even have the tangible, whatever it is in hand. You're already getting your, you're already talking about it. You're already getting your clients excited about it. You're having them book it and pay for it. And then they pay for the actual thing itself. and what Go ahead. Another, another thing. and this is like, it's a little bit risky to do this, but sometimes you can gauge interest in something just by pre-selling it. So let's say,
Speaker: We're not even 100% sure that we're going to offer this new you know service or whatever. um We're thinking about it. We've got like a fairly tangible idea of this new facial that we're wanting to put on our menu. But we're we're just not 100% sure if people are going to be excited about it, right? yeah So you market it and you pre-sell it.
Speaker: And then if there's a ton of interest, then you know, and you create it So, you know, ah my class that I taught was at this January, the Aligned Foundations, and it was like the nervous system of selling. hu
Speaker: That class was not created when I sold it. but You know, it it wasn't, and I'm not a i'm not really afraid to say that either. it was like this idea that was on in my heart that I felt you had for a long time. Like, yeah, like we had talked about it, right. yeah I already had a baseline retail class. I just needed to go more in depth, but I was like, who is even interested in going more in depth? Like, are people really looking for this level of depth to the foundations?
Speaker: And I am telling you within a week of advertising it, I think I sold 20 spots to that class, some live and some virtual. And so I was like, okay, perfect. Let me start putting that together, you know, for people.
Speaker: Um, and so it's, it is kind of another strategy you can take. You can only do that with certain things. Like you can't really do that with equipment, of course, but if there's just this like idea or like a spa party, if you're just gauging like, Ooh, maybe I want to go this direction. You can start putting it out there and even start kind of pre-selling that to gauge, Oh, this is going to, this is a thing.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. It's such good information. And again, it's such good data. on especially the how quickly it would set it sells just like you and your line foundations class like it sold so quick and filled up so fast you're like oh yes and you already knew i mean it was already in the works and in the plans for you to create anyways but it did give you that like like nice little challenge and push yeah to actually bring it to fruition but I think like a spa party like is again If you're thinking about it, you're wondering if your clients would like it or if community would be open to something like that. And you're just kind of really wondering, heck, do ah do a launch or a pretty promo launch on it and really get some data behind it and how much excitement. And then that too would give you information on where to position your pricing with it too. Yes. I would say. 100%. Yep.
Speaker: and so And so here's like, just to drive that home for people is like, if, if you put something out there, like again, going back to my aligned foundations class, I don't remember what I, what the price initially was, but I remember booking so many within the first couple of days, like so many people just paying me instantly for that, that I was like, I could have charged double. That's great information. So the way that that classes priced now is based on that initial information was like, there is such a high demand that I can take that and then add some to it because I know that the value is there. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Well, it's like, um, yeah, because you know, the value is there, know, was kind of just It's kind of like discounting, like doing a bundle discount on product. You're willing to give it away at it at a lesser price for many reasons, to get them in the door, to get some testimonials, for you to figure out exactly what you're doing and how to build the course itself. And then moving forward, you have that great information of actual where actually where you want to position your pricing at based on the value that you put into it. Right. Well, it's the same with Sierra and her spa parties. Like the conversation we had on the podcast was like, now you have so much info and so much data, you know, you can charge a lot more for this, yeah you know? And she's like, yes, it's time to like blow it up and charge more. We know that the value is there. So it is just, again, it's data. Yeah. The more data we have
Speaker: the more we can grow and know exactly where to put our energy and time and attention, which is the biggest investment of all so that we're not continuing to, you know, throw spaghetti at a wall or have all these ideas that we're sitting on. You know, we have the actual data to back up like this is a good idea and you can, you know, here's the potential profit or, you know, what you can be charging for something like that.
Speaker: Absolutely. Oh my gosh. So let's talk about marketing for a second. i think one of the biggest biggest mistakes that estheticians can do when it comes to bringing in something new is on from our end, only like take it, i okay, I have a couple things to say, but from like our end, when we have a new investment,
Speaker: we've been working on it, thinking about it for a while, right? So we've been researching it. We've been thinking about how to incorporate it into our practice. We've been designing it in our head, aligning it with our branding and our, all of our things. And so that energy has been going into it for a while. And then Say we make that investment without doing some sort of pre-launch promo and bringing our kind clients and customer base, our community into it.
Speaker: So say we invest it, however we do bring it into the practice and then we launch it and we've already had this energy behind it, but our clients or customer base and our our community has not. And then that launch can kind of fall flat because we're so excited about it and we've been excited about it, but our, our community hasn't And then we do this big one offer and then like nobody books it or nobody buys it. And then we get very discouraged and then we're like, well, it was a bad investment or it how am I going to get my money back? And then it can kind of fall apart from there.
Speaker: And so to reiterate, like that is why your marketing ahead of time is so, so, so important. You should be marketing this whatever new before you even have it in your hands. You should be talking about it We should be educating about it. We should be having those in-person conversations about it.
Speaker: long before i in my opinion, we even have it. agree Right. Because marketing clients buy what it can help them become, not what it actually does. And that's another piece of marketing that I see go wrong is it's like, here's this new shiny thing that I'm offering. This is what it's going to do for you. And then there's a little bit of a disconnect there with clients because yes, they might be interested in what it does, but there's not that like feeling behind it. So to reiterate like the pre-launch strategy, that is just so powerful in and of itself to go with that strategy because then you get to bring your customers and your clients into bringing it into your practice and you're like in it together. And that energy is just flowing both ways the whole time. Yeah.
Speaker: I love it. Yeah. So do you have anything else else to add about marketing?
Speaker: No, there's a phrase that keeps coming to me that I'm like trying to pinpoint in my head, like people buy how they think something's going to make them feel, which is what you're saying. And I do think that that is just such a huge missing piece to the puzzle. And, you know, one thing that you've said before, too, that I think is so important to drive home is that marketing is many different things. It could be text marketing. It's email marketing, obviously marketing on social media, but the most powerful marketing you're actually going to do is when you're in person with your clients. And so just talking about it and talking about it, right? Advertising it, even, you know, within your spa, you want people to see something like seven to 10 different times before they actually remember it and it sticks.
Speaker: And so just the, the in-person conversation That's more important than even your email and your text and and all of that. So you really want to hit on all of those avenues, but especially that in person, because we might not see your emails, right? Or we might not see those texts because now, you know, if you have an iPhone, it goes into your unknowns. Right. And all sorts of crazy things end up in there. And so you really don't know who is seeing your email, who's seeing your social media, who's seeing those text messages, but we can guarantee having those conversations in person.
Speaker: Yeah. And then those kind those in-person conversations have a ripple effect. So you have a conversation with one person and then they're going to turn around and have a conversation with another person or a group of people for you. And so marketing even is allowing your your clients to market for you as well, right? It's that word of mouth referral that is so powerful. And so making sure, like you said, we've got to be talking in person and making sure that we're not afraid to put our ourselves out there to market ourselves, to just have us. And it's really just having a simple conversation and being and sharing our level of excitement behind it. And that's contagious. And then that's going to carry itself forward for you. Yeah. There is no greater marketing tool than a conversation. yeah not
Speaker: i think that the that optimization with technology has just gotten a little out of hand. It's so wonderful. It's so great. Like I wouldn't be able to function without my booking system. Right. i mean, and my booking system,
Speaker: by the way, was not loading all day yesterday. So I could not see my calendar and I was freaking out a little bit, yeah like freaking out. And I was like, what if it doesn't, I would be so screwed. Cause I am so dependent on it. And I just had, the i that thought just came to me of like, we would be screwed without technology. And let's not forget the simple cornerstones of how, how, business in America was, has been built and it's truly just through connection and relationships. and it's one of our core values that beyond aesthetics of just, there is nothing greater than nurturing a relationship and building and curating and growing a very genuine relationship.
Speaker: Absolutely. All right, let's move on. So We want to sell an identity, not just a product or a service. People choose products and services that reflect who they are or who they want to become. So as we're marketing, as we're thinking about pre-launch promos or whatever it is that we want to support this new investment, we really want to come back to that identity piece and the feeling behind whatever it is we are putting out there for our customers and our clients and our community. Because that's really it i Education is so important, sharing the why behind
Speaker: what something does for you and how it's going to help benefit the skin or benefit their life or whatever. And not forgetting that feeling piece because most purchases are emotional for sure. yeah And it's always a, how is this going to support who I am or how is this going to support my goals of who I'm trying to become? right And that's that missing piece or that's that very important piece that I think marketing can miss the mark a lot on.
Speaker: Especially in skincare, if I hear the word collagen one more time... ah You know, I'm like, okay, and what about feeling confident and feeling vibrant or feeling relaxed or, you know, where is that piece to it, right? How are people going to feel when they book this facial with you? How are they going to feel, you know, when they're using this new serum that is going to,
Speaker: help with those lines and wrinkles and make them feel so young and vibrant and confident. Like, where's that piece? We keep talking about collagen production and I just want to scream every single time.
Speaker: Which is so interesting because like, I've been an esthetician now for almost 15 years. I do understand collagen and they're still like so surface level. I'm just like, if I had to explain it, I'm just like, I don't actually know, even though I know, you know what I mean? So you can't tell me that the average woman that we our marketing too understands it either. If I have a hard time really understanding the structural function of the skin as we age, they don't give a shit.
Speaker: You know, they want to, like you said, they want to feel vibrant. They want to feel feel beautiful at 55 plus years old. They want to feel empowered as they age and they want to feel good in their skin and they want to feel good in their body. And they just want to feel freaking like a beautiful, gorgeous, amazing woman as we all do.
Speaker: Attach yourself to that as you're having the conversations or as you're marketing your products and services. So true. Really, really all. It's so simple. We overcomplicate it Yes, we do.
Speaker: We do. Yeah. Yep. And it doesn't have to be that way. no I'm really glad you brought that up. So our last little piece that we're go to share with you is to actually simplify your offer and not over speaking of overcomplicating it. Simplify your offer, your value for the offer matters much more than the price tag itself. And your potential clients are going to care about the value more than the price.
Speaker: Nine, 10, 10 out of 10. That's really what it comes down to. So value versus price clients really say no because of the price. They say no because they don't actually understand what they're getting. Okay.
Speaker: Literally. So, you know, what's coming to me is just the fact that we are very overwhelmed all the time. And we talked about this a lot. I think at the holidays, when were, you and I were like, I am so tired of, you know, even holiday shopping because every time I try to shop online, it's just like so much marketing and it's so overwhelming and it just gets to be so much. And so There really is something to be said for making things as simple as possible, like make the offer simple and then make the action very simple because there's so many times where I'm helping somebody with their facial menu or they're coming to me present. What I, what my mind keeps going to is when people implement memberships in their business,
Speaker: And then they come at me with so many details of the membership. And I am just like, if, if this is overwhelming to me and I know what you're talking about, imagine how your clients are feeling, you know? And so i think everybody is looking for simple and keeping things really simple and straightforward. um There's more to it and it's more important than you think. Like, don't be adding in so many details to everything that you do that you're just overwhelming people. And they're just going to say no, because they just don't, they simply just don't understand. So that the more simple, the better.
Speaker: Absolutely. Because it does, like we it does. it It takes away that overwhelm. It's clear and precise. So basically how to simplify, have one clear offer, one clear outcome,
Speaker: and then one clear price and then resist the urge to over explain every technical detail upfront, right? They don't need to, our clients don't need to know what we need to know to perform said service or sell said product. They really don't. We, yes, we do need to have a baseline knowledge. We need to have an understanding of what the service or product or outcome needs to be. Absolutely.
Speaker: Our clients don't actually care, right? They want to know how much is it, what's it going to do for me and what does it entail? Like, what does it, what, what do I have? What's my piece of the pie, right? How long is my appointment going to be? What do I have to do to prepare? What do I need to expect out afterwards? And that's it.
Speaker: And so, um, yeah, memberships can get very overcomplicated. We've seen lots of overcomplicated menus in itself. And then I've seen so much overcomplicated marketing and I've even been subjected to that as well. Like I've fallen trapped to overcomplicating my marketing on social media and or email marketing as well of just adding too much detail that actually is just irrelevant to what the client needs or wants to know. Yeah, no, it's so true. It's so true. You just, you lose people. And I think we've all been in those situations where let's say it is just selling a product and we are over explaining a product and we just watch people glaze over and we know that we've lost them.
Speaker: yeah And the same goes for a menu. and Menus are really interesting. so you know, I come from the resort industry. I know I say that all the time, but it was a complicated, annoying menu. And what always ended up happening, because I started at the front desk, I was the one answering the phone, booking the facials before I had an esthetician position. and they Always. I'm a literally like nine and a half times out of 10, they just booked a basic facial.
Speaker: Right. Because when you're looking at the menu, I mean, there's no, they have no understanding of what even happens in a facial most of the time. Right. And so a lot of that is just for not, it's such a, such a waste. And so, you know, keeping things more simple and more precise, it really helps people make decisions so much better, so much easier. um i think,
Speaker: we can use that example as estheticians and everything that we do, literally everything that we do. Yeah. 100%. I think it's just, I don't know. It goes back everything. So overwhelming anyways, there's so much information coming at us constantly And if we can be like this shining light in our clients lives of like here, let me pamper you. Let me help you feel beautiful in your skin and make it just as simple as possible and clarify what your offer is. So it takes away their overwhelm. Then your conversion, you're going to watch your conversion becomes so much simpler and so much higher. Your conversion tickets are going to be higher because it's just, it's just like a one road versus like this integrated city map of like, confusion and getting off on this like wrong way or all of these things. You're like, Oh, I have a straight shot. I see where my deadline is. This is the way I need to go Yeah. Yeah. It's so true. Um, it's so true.
Speaker: oh i just had a really good exit. Oh, here's what I was going to say. i think that you get to a point as an esthetician, when you get really good at relationships and connecting and communication, and because we're pretty energetic and like empathic, I think the best strategy is always to trickle information and then judge the situation. Right. So trickle some information. And then I wouldn't even hesitate to say, and you have further questions? Do you want me to explain a little bit more or are you feeling good with that amount of information? When I have said that to people in the past, they say, I'm good.
Speaker: yeah And then I'm like, okay, great. You know, so I don't need to vomit all of my information and energy all over you to overwhelm you. You have the simple information that you need to make the best decision for yourself. And it is really interesting how, you know, I...
Speaker: So, so interesting. So I had started a treatment room in the back of an organic salon in Chandler back in like 2000, want to say 14 ish. And I remember that's when I started noticing that I was over giving information because I just didn't know what they needed to hear. And it was exhausting. Yeah. you know And then I would watch myself do that in my eminence trainings with spas. And I'm just like coming away from these trainings completely exhausted. And that's when I started to realize they don't know. I just want to deliver the information that you know people can understand, digest, relate to, and repeat. Yeah. You know, and then if you're in a situation and you're like, I think I can tell that they might need more, give them the option for more before you start vomiting more information all over them. Cause nine times out of 10, they just kind of need to take what you've already said and make a decision or process it. And they're not quite ready for more. And I think that even now that it's 2026 and our nervous systems are just chaos, you know, it's even more true
Speaker: now So yeah, especially with marketing and understanding that your clients are being promoted to all over the place you want to be the one that is appealing to their heart and to their nervous system and to their self-esteem and that you are providing this sense of like safety and comfort and simplification that they're really looking for i think is a really beautiful thing And it's so important important whenever you are creating anything in your business or selling or marketing and doing all that, that the first thing you do is put yourself in your client's shoes and step outside. Like you've said before, step outside of your business and view it.
Speaker: from their point of view with your marketing, with your social media, with your products, with your services, with your menu, like step outside of your esthetician brain and put yourself in your aunt's shoes, you know, or your best friend's shoes. And Or the, you know, you work in a community of like wives of ranchers or they're ranchers themselves. you Like they truly know nothing. And it's so important to just put yourself in that position. And and that makes it a lot easier, I think, too, to simplify things. Yeah. you like
Speaker: I'm a, I don't know. I'm a ah woman who's never washed her face before. So how simple can I make this? Does that make sense? Yes. I actually love that so much because then it's just like, oh, that's so simple. I could, I could repeat that asleep and unconscious of telling a woman how to wash her face. Cause she's never washed her face before. Right. Done.
Speaker: You know? And then I think too, of like practicing pause, you know, and letting, letting the person on the other end of who you're talking to, like be able to make a decision and not feeling the need to fill up that space or, or allowing whoever's on the other side of your marketing, whether it's on the other side of the screen or the email or or the text message, like let them have a minute to make a decision without unraveling yourself and just staying anchored into your purpose and knowing that,
Speaker: that you have this vision for a reason, that you have done the preparation necessary to put it out there. You are prepared and you're, you will receive what comes back to you in like the perfect timing that you're meant to. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Is there anything else you'd love to add? No, I just really, I really just think the simple marketing and focusing on feeling like the feeling word, the identity, the, the feeling is really, really powerful. So instead of relying so heavily on education and information, start taking that simplified, more feeling identity-based approach to your marketing.
Speaker: Yeah. And it just comes back to again, that human connection, that safety that we're creating for our clients and customers and um just being being in safe space, being a light for them and helping support the ease of their life in any way that we can, right? We don't want we don't wanna to become a stressor for our clients.
Speaker: And we want to just be like, someone and something that they look forward to truly. And so again, when we can like look at it objectively, take ourselves out of the situation and look outwardly in and be like, am I actually doing everything I can to simplify my client's life in the best way possible so that they, you know, supporting them in their skin goals and in their self-care routine and in their daily life and not like adding more pressure onto her shoulders and by constantly bombarding her with information she doesn't really care to know.
Speaker: Right, right, right, right. No, I love it. And i mean, just to kind of go back to the very beginning of the conversation when we're talking about making those investments into our business, I think that that should also play a piece in the decision is you know am i adding too much? Am I adding all the time? Like, how are my clients feeling about everything that I'm adding in all the time? I mean, because I am kind of a consultant at the end of the day, or I'm an observer of many, many spas, there are some times where I watch spas do a little bit too much. And it's like every single, you know, month or every, you know, couple of months are like bringing in all these new modalities. And I'm like, are people just getting lost because you're like doing so much. And so I think that even bringing more strategy into it and keeping it more simple and like bringing something in, maximize it, capitalize on it, you know, and really implement it into the business before you then are going to jump into something else new that you want to bring in or do. So it's interesting because
Speaker: I think that clients do kind of want to see us like progressing and evolving and whatever, but you also don't want to like do that too much because not only is it not good for your business, probably like you're losing strategy, right?
Speaker: But it's probably not great for them either when they're getting a little bit lost in and everything that's like new and going on all the time. So that I think that there also has to be like a balance with these investments and these strategies and what you're bringing in all the time, you know, which is funny because I work with a skincare company that...
Speaker: puts new stuff out all the time. But you want to know what's crazy is that we've actually stepped way, way, way back from where we used to be. We used to launch three times per year and holiday. And they finally are now just doing every March, every September. And then this year, as you notice, we only have one holiday. And so even, even eminence is like, hmm, let's simplify, let's make things easier for people. And it's made our launches much more successful because it's not like so much. And so i think that that those two conversations very much relate to each other, that when we're...
Speaker: looking to bring in a new service or do the continuing education or bringing in new products or making that investment, that has to be a part of the strategy too, is ah a simplification and not overdoing it.
Speaker: Absolutely. Because it's easy in industry. It's so easy. need to create your shiny object. Yes. And it is exciting. and we And like you said, we do want to continue to grow. And a lot of the times that growth looks like implementing new things because we want to grow our practice or our business or our career in some way.
Speaker: And a big and our clients don't want to be sold to constantly, right? They want to retain with you. They want to come and get their regular services with you and keep their products stocked, their skincare routine products stocked with you. And when you have you know, two ish new things, maybe a year, then that gets exciting. But if you're launching something every month or every other month, and that gets very overwhelming, and you're just like, as a client, you know, I'm just like, i it's a lot. Yeah, yeah. yeah
Speaker: Yeah. So good. Such a great conversation. um We will have those links for you in the show notes. And we'll also have a link to the Beyond Aesthetics membership community. It's $47 a month. It is the best investment that you could make into your your life, your career as an esthetician.
Speaker: um It's such a powerful space and we couldn't be more proud of it and proud of the members that are in it. And we invite you to join with us and see what's going on over there. And yeah.
Speaker: yeah I love it. We're so grateful for you guys. We always appreciate you sharing the show and leaving us a rating and review, especially on Apple, on Spotify. You can kind of just leave comments on episodes or something like that. It's kind of weird, but like we appreciate all of the above. i think more than anything, we love it when you share.
Speaker: the show and bring other estheticians into our world. Um, you know, beyond aesthetics is very much support for the esthetician as a whole about, you know, creating the success that you're looking for, doing it with a community, making more money, being more fulfilled personally. it really is just, uh,
Speaker: a space of full, full spectrum support and you can't get it anywhere else? No, no, we've looked.
Speaker: We've wondered. There's many great spaces for estheticians, but we really love to hit on the personal, the professional, the spiritual, the the energetic, the money, ah all of it, all of it, all of it, all of it, because so much really does go into being an esthetician and being a successful esthetician. And this career space is a lot to navigate and you don't have to do it alone.
Speaker: Yeah. Nope. All right. We're so grateful for you and we hope you have a wonderful day and week ahead and you sign us off, Jess. It's your signature. Have pretty dreams and we'll see you in the next episode.
Speaker: Bye. Bye.
