Talk Skin Academy Podcast

Focus on this one thing and watch your business grow

• Katie Howell • Episode 7

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Can your clients become your ultimate marketing tool? Discover how the power of word-of-mouth can transform your business! In this episode of the TalkSkin Academy podcast, I share a personal experience of overhearing a client rave about her spa at a pub, and delve into how this genuine enthusiasm can attract new clients in a way social media can't. We'll discuss the importance of building personal connections, particularly for home-based salons, and why showcasing your personality and knowledge on social media is far more effective than merely selling treatments or equipment. Plus, learn how to track referrals to identify and reward your top advocates, ensuring they remain your best marketeers.

As we make our podcast comeback, I share some light bulb moments and insights from our latest discussions. Your feedback is crucial, and we can't wait to hear your suggestions for future topics. Your input helps us grow and evolve, offering content that truly resonates with you. Thank you for tuning in, and get ready for more engaging and insightful episodes coming your way!

Remember, you're part of the conversation - we welcome your thoughts and questions on our YouTube channel. So, turn up the volume and prepare for an enlightening chat on retail sales and skincare education, paving your path to success in the beauty industry.

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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everyone. It's been a while. Welcome to the TalkSkin Academy podcast, presented by moi Kate, the founder and owner of the TalkSkin Academy. It's been busy, I'm not gonna lie to you. It's been absolutely mental. The last six months have just blown up and I can't believe the last podcast I did was in December of 2023. Like, I have to think about that 2023 and it's already June. Blown my mind. Where has that gone? Anyway, we digress.

Speaker 1:

We're here to talk about you guys and how you can better your business and start to think outside the box when it comes to promoting and advertising your business, because what I've seen and what I'm starting to experience through students and through mentorships is that so many of you are hell-bent on social media for marketing and I absolutely believe there is a place for social media inside of your business 100% but I feel, for some reason, that it's become all about social media and what a lot of therapists have forgotten is the best type of marketing is your existing clients, and it brought. What brought this back to me was literally Sunday, so it was Father's Day. Me, miles and Aurora went out for some dinner at a pub and it was a beautiful day, one of the rarer days of this particular summer so far. I think it's been our first nice day and we were sitting on a table and there was two women sitting not that far away from me, close enough so I could hear the conversation, and they were in a proper chat about a spa that one of the ladies goes to and she was selling it. She was literally just selling it, not just to her friend but I wanted to go and ask where are you going? Because how passionate she was as a client to this place, it was intoxicating. I wanted to go. Did I have the balls to ask her and say sorry, I've just been eavesdropping for the past 30 minutes. Where are you on about? I should have done, but I didn't. But it just brought it back home to me that social media absolutely has a place in your marketing, but it isn't where you should be focusing on, because the idea is that your clients should be your biggest marketeers and they should be doing it because they want to, because what you provide is exceptional.

Speaker 1:

Now my question to you is are you getting people referring you? Are you able to actually find out if they are referring you? Do you have a referring scheme so you can start to track who are your number one marketeers. It's something to think about if you haven't ever thought about tracking who's referring you to start tracking it, because they really should be your VIPs, because they are saving you time and they're saving you a ton of money. If they are doing what this lady was doing, which is basically selling her the KC, it was selling her the microneedling. She was selling her friend the facials. She was selling the therapist. She was selling the business must be a pretty big business, because the way that they were talking, like it seemed bigger than just one person, but she sold it and, like I said it was, she wasn't just selling it to her friend. If I'd asked, if I plugged up the courage to ask where she had gone, I would also have been going there as well.

Speaker 1:

So it just brings home that, yes, social media is important. It really is, because what I believe social media is for is for building connections, building relationships with people that you don't know yet. If you're an individual business and it's all about you, then what you have to do is allow people to fall in love with you. That's the whole point, right, if they're going to come, if your home, if your salon is at home so you've got a home salon or home spa then it stands to reason that if they're going to actually be walking into your home, one, you want to feel a connection with this client, but two, they want to feel so comfortable with you that they actually feel comfortable coming to your home. I think home salons are a great thing, but it does come with obstacles, such as it's in somebody's home, it's not in a you in a public establishment, so that can be a drawback. That's the only drawback I really ever see is that it's not in it's in someone's home.

Speaker 1:

So you have to work, you have to make social media market. You market your personality, because you also want to make sure that the people that are coming to you they, they vibe with you. Right, that's the whole point of building relationships, because you vibe with certain people and you and you don't vibe with others. Now if you're finding that you're attracting quite a lot of people that you don't really vibe with, then it could be down to the fact that maybe your social media is really focused on what the treatment does and selling the treatment or selling the machine or selling the product. But what actually you're missing is the key. The key asset is you, and so maybe you're attracting the wrong type of customer because all you're doing is selling a certain product or a piece of equipment. But if you found that, if you turned the social media marketing on its head and made it all about your knowledge, you why people come to you.

Speaker 1:

What is it that you offer? Why did you get into the industry? What was your reasoning? It was it that you offer. Why did you get into the industry? What was your reasoning? It was it because you had spad skin? Or was it because you just absolutely loved working with your hands? Or you just love people? And because you just love people, the treatments are a little bit longer, so you can spend a lot of you know time with them and it's not a rushed experience. Like, what is it that you got into this industry for? For me, this industry I I've told you the story millions of times but this industry is. It saved me.

Speaker 1:

I left school at the age of six, sweet 16, thinking I was dumb, stupid, and I had absolutely no qualities and I had no, no ambitions and I was not going to accede to anything in this life, because school made me feel that way. And then as soon as I left, left school, I was going through my A-levels and I was just so stressed that I was losing all my hair. Um, that I left school, my mum's like well, you're not, you're not sitting on the dole, you're not staying on the dole, okay, you're getting it. You know, either getting a job, you're going to college. And I decided to go to college because I liked doing nails when I was at home.

Speaker 1:

And I realised that as soon as I entered into the world of beauty that I wasn't stupid, I wasn't thick, that I did have something in me, because but it just wasn't academic, I just was very good with my hands. And I remember learning a massage. That was a whole, whole massage from top to bottom, and I didn't forget it and that for me was a huge accomplishment because I remember when I was in school they would teach me something and I know the next day when they would re-teach me it, I, as if they'd never, ever heard of algebra before, like my brain just couldn't hold on to the information. But as soon as I hit beauty school and I started working with my hands, my brain started to level up and go up a gear, it remembered things and it made me realise that I wasn't stupid and that I had a choice, I had a potential potential to do well, and that's why, 20 years down the line, I'm still as passionate, because it completely changed my life and I see it every single day changing.

Speaker 1:

Either people who have followed me and they've gone into the world of skin and they absolutely now love it because they're helping people so they're, they've changed their whole careers based on on it because of their passion for the skin, and then now they're helping hundreds of people with their skin. Or you know, for someone who you know works with me on the skin, that they finally get those light bulb moments and understand why the skin is behaving the way it is. And I'm almost like the, you know the the communicator between their skin and them, so that they can start to build a better relationship. Because, let's be honest, majority of our clients don't really like their skin or like the appearance of it, and they always have these bad experiences. And so that is why I love this particular industry, because I want to give back. I want to give back to what I've given me so much, and you know, and that's that's why I love it.

Speaker 1:

So why do you love this industry? Why do you love working on skin? Why do you love facials like, what is it that you love? This is what social media marketing should be about. It shouldn't be about what products you have, what treatments you have. This every now and again, those things can crop up if it's based on a potential, maybe, um, a I don't know a a thought-provoking idea that you had, you know, based on, maybe, an experience you had, but it shouldn't be what you should be talking about all the time on your socials, because nobody ever buys into people that are just trying to sell. What people buy into is you. That's the whole point of your business, right?

Speaker 1:

So, when it comes to marketing, the best marketing you can ever do is have your people, your clients, just go out and tell the world about how amazing you are. If they and then I would ask why? I would simply ask my clients is there any reason? Is there any way I could better my experience so that you would recommend me? You know, if people are coming back and they're not recommending you, then maybe the question is why? Maybe it could be simply well, I'm scared that you're going to get so fully booked up that you know I can't get in and I don't want that, and that's an an amazing, that's an amazing thing to hear, right?

Speaker 1:

But then you can then rest assured. Rest, you know, make them go. Well, it's, it's okay. Like I, I will always have a space for you. You know you're one of my I hate the word vip, but you're one of my vipers can't think of any word at the moment but you're one of my vipers. I will always, I will always get you in, I will always make time for you. You know, like, just reassure them that they out there. You know that if you do get busy, that you know priority wise, they will be also priority to you because they have been with you the longest or they have recommended you the most, whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

Um, and like I said at the very beginning, you know if you haven't got a referral scheme in and that's, you know it's a great way to be able to start to identify if people are and who those people are. So you can say thank you and send them a little extra gift. Or, you know, on their birthdays, if you send birthday cards, send them extra flowers, for, you know, helping them build your business, because that's exactly what they're doing. They're building your business on your behalf and they're not getting anything from it. They're paying to do it for you. So think about it from that perspective Use social media to build your relationships, build those connections and showcase your skillsets.

Speaker 1:

That's what you need to do, and every now and again, if you've got a promotion or if you've got a launch, if you've got something going on, if you've got free you know some time spare and you've got people, you know and if people want it, then use it as a notification board. Right, that's what you want to be thinking of your social media for, but then, at the same time, when it comes then to marketing itself, the best people and the only and the best thing you can do is use your clients and their reviews. Okay, so if you find that you're getting clients that aren't referring you but they leave you amazing reviews, then this is what you also want to focus on, because, again, reviews make people buy for me. Whenever mile says to me what do you think of this, I'm like what's the reviews? And I know reviews can be a little bit like. You know, you can get disgruntled clients and they just want to, you know, pull you down. But, as we all know that if there's only there's like 16, like 10 good ones to one bad one, you're you were probably thinking that bad one probably, just you know, was bad for a reason you know well, they just didn't. You know we're looking for everything negative, um, so I wouldn't worry so much if you get one or two, as long as you've got the majority of them are positive and they're, you know, they're singing your praises.

Speaker 1:

Then reviews are also a phenomenal way to make sure that you're getting the word out there that what you do is good, because people also buy interviews. I buy interviews all the time, even if I'm not 100 sure I want it. Sometimes the reviews just sell it for me, because sometimes the reviews will actually say things that I'm like oh, actually I've been dealing with that, you know, when it was being sold as something else. But then because people have used it and they've actually it's actually helped other other pain points, and maybe one of those other pain points was another pain point that I had and all of a sudden that particular product then becomes a pain point, solution to two of my pain points rather than just the one. So it just it just makes me want to buy even more. So.

Speaker 1:

So these are the type of things that I would say focus on reviews, your customers spreading the word about you and finding ways to be able to make that a you know, to make that more of a understanding for your business. So you know, are people doing it and, if they are, who is it? So put a you know referral scheme together and then use your social media as a place of connection, networking, notice boarding for your business and just keeping all of your clients up to date with what's going on with you and the business, and in that way then you're able then to build that community, which is the only way you can sustainably succeed in building a successful business. So there we go, guys. That is the first podcast. You can sustainably succeed in building a successful business. So there we go, guys.

Speaker 1:

That is the first podcast back. I hope that's been useful. If there are availabilities in the comments, please let me know. If any of this was useful, any of the light bulb moments, anything else you want me to talk about in the next following podcast that will be coming up shortly. Okay, thanks everyone. Bye.