The Esthetician Podcast

Finding Your Perfect Niche: The Game-Changer for Estheticians

• Kari Jo

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Have you been spinning your wheels trying to attract new clients while your marketing falls flat? The solution might be simpler than you think - you're trying to speak to everyone when you should be focusing on someone specific.

In this eye-opening episode, I share the advice that completely transformed my business: "You can only be known for one thing." This powerful insight forced me to get crystal clear on what makes me unique, and it can do the same for your esthetician practice. When I stopped calling myself a generic "esthetician business coach" and focused specifically on pay structures for esthetician teams, my engagement skyrocketed and clients started finding me.

The same principle applies to your skincare business. If you're marketing yourself as someone who "treats acne," you're speaking to teenagers, parents, working professionals, and menopausal women all at once - each requiring completely different messaging. I break down the specific marketing preferences of each generation - from Baby Boomers who value quality time to Gen Z who live on TikTok - so you can tailor your approach to the clients you connect with most naturally.

Ready to transform your marketing strategy? I walk you through exactly how to identify your perfect niche by examining who you enjoy working with most, which treatments you love performing, and most importantly, which clients are already voting with their wallets by rebooking and spending the most. This simple framework will make your content creation easier and your marketing infinitely more effective.

Leave a review if this episode helped clarify your niche, and check out my new digital course, "The Esthetician's Guide to Profitable Pay Structure," to learn how teams go further than individuals in building a thriving esthetician empire.

To learn more about coaching please visit: https://www.karijopatterson.com

Connect with me on your fav social platform:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kari.jo.patterson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karijopattersonestheticiancoach
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karijopatterson
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@kari.jo.patterson

Links You May Want to Check out:

Join the Client Building for Estheticians group to go deep in learning all the latest tips and strategies https://www.facebook.com/groups/clientbuildingforestheticians
Check out Kari Jo’s courses here https://esthelaunchacademy.com

Announcer:

Welcome to the Esthetician Podcast, where passion meets prosperity. Your host, Kari Jo Patterson, transformed from a solo esthetician into a successful business owner, achieving ultimate time and financial freedom by the age of 38. Kari is the author of Fearless Prosperity, empowering estheticians to build their empire and achieve financial freedom, and the creator of the Empire Growth System for Estheticians. Get ready for some empire-building wisdom Now. Welcome your host, Kari Jo Patterson.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Welcome back to the Esthetician Podcast. If you feel like you've been constantly spinning your wheels trying to attract clients but nothing is working, well, today's episode is going to change the game for you. We are going to talk about niching down and why it's important and how to do it and how it can completely transform your business. Stay tuned until the very end, because I'm going to tell you about my new digital course, which is the Esthetician's Guide to the Profitable Pay Structure, about my new digital course, which is the Esthetician's Guide to the Profitable Pay Structure. It actually is going to tie in with all of this, and so let's just jump into it.

Kari Jo Patterson:

When I first started my coaching program and being a coach for estheticians, I had no idea what my niche was going to be. I just called myself, you know, carrie Jo, the esthetician, coach and mentor, and I thought that that was going to be enough. But I'm a big believer in mentors. I got my success because I had many mentors, and so I hired a mentor. His name was Jim Palmer, and he told me something that literally changed everything for me. He said listen, you can only be known for one thing. One thing, maybe two if you're lucky, but really just one, and that hit me so stinking hard. What was the one thing? What was I going to be known for? I had no idea and I was like I don't know, I just coach estheticians, you know, like I just know when I talk to be known for I had no idea and I was like I don't know, I just coach estheticians. You know, like I just know, when I talk to them, I just know what they need to do and I can see it. But I was like, okay, if I was going to be known for one thing, what should I do? So I decided to go back and I asked all of my previous employees, you know, I called them up and I, hey, what do you think I was really good at? And I got like just random, different things. My receptionist she was Carrie. You just, you have this gift to see the potential in others and you can see it more than they can see it themselves, and you know how to get there. And then, you know, I had another girl who was my marketing manager and she was dude. You just have this gift to inspire people. I don't know what it is, but you can just inspire and I don't know. We just kept. I just kept going back and I was like, no, none of those work.

Kari Jo Patterson:

You know, honestly, I just couldn't figure it out at first, but then I started paying attention. See, last year I did these free coaching calls where I like advertised it hey, get on a call and I'll coach you for free. And really what I did for that entire year with all those calls was I was just gathering data. That's all I wanted to do was gather a bunch of data.

Kari Jo Patterson:

And I listened to estheticians and what their struggles were, what their fears were, what are their financial problems. And that's when I realized something really, really huge Solo estheticians. They're struggling because they don't know how to grow and they're stuck behind the chair. They're afraid to hire because they don't want competition and they're competing against teams. Well, teams go further than individuals. See, when I was growing my business, I didn't have that fear. I never was. Oh, I shouldn't hire someone because they're going to be in direct competition with me and because I didn't have that fear, that's why I was able to grow my business and sell it within eight years. I never feared having someone else come on, ever. I just didn't.

Kari Jo Patterson:

And that was like my thing is you will grow faster, you will get further if you add people, because two people can do more than one. Two people are going to do more work in marketing than one person, right? You're going to be more well-known. It's more of a stomping force. When one girl walks into a restaurant, you might not pay attention, but when you see two or three girls walk in, you definitely notice them, right? That's when I, like, made my decision. Oh my gosh, I'm going to be known for the pay structures. How to set up a profitable team.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Why does this relate to anything with you? Okay? Why do so many estheticians resist picking a niche? Here's the biggest mistake that I see after talking to all these estheticians is when I get on the phone with them, they think like, oh, I do acne and I'm always okay. But for who? Teenage acne, hormonal acne, adult acne? If you don't get specific, your marketing is a mess. Just like me, just like, okay, I was advertising, I'm a coach and I'm a mentor. There are several other coaches and several other mentors, but what makes me different? The same thing for you. There are so many other estheticians that are pigmentation, that are acne, that are anti-aging, whatever it is. But what is who specifically are you for? What specifically are you doing? Sure, you can do acne, but what kind of acne patients are you looking for? So I want you to think about this If you say you help everyone with acne, how are you going to market that?

Kari Jo Patterson:

Because if you are marketing I treat acne and you don't want to niche down to who you're treating acne for, you now have to speak to teenagers and you have to speak to parents and you have to talk to women in. You have to stop talk to women in their 40s that are struggling with hormonal change and see each of these groups require a completely different marketing approach. But if you niche down and you think of each of these groups and you niche down to one of these group, everything becomes so much easier. You know exactly and you niche down to one of these groups, everything becomes so much easier. You know exactly who you're talking to, you know where they hang out, you know the kind of content that they need to engage with and you know how to make them a lifelong client. Okay, so I want to break this down for you.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Let's talk generations for a minute. Each generation responds to marketing very differently and if you know who you are serving. It's going to help you market, to attract new clients better. Think of it like this what about them, baby boomers? They are brand loyal. They're all about brands, right, and they don't steer. Once they find someone, they don't steer. They're very loyal. So if you want a loyal clientele base, this is for you. They love great customer service. They're all about customer service. They prefer print. They like paper. They're not so much. Yes, there's digital, but they prefer paper over digital. They are about the quality of service that they're getting.

Kari Jo Patterson:

So if you are targeting a baby boomer, your strategy should include something like printed newsletters. It should be all about high quality service experiences with in-depth consultations. Listen, high quality service. When you think of older people, what do you think about? I think of, when I think of older people, how they want to sit there and they want to talk your ear off and you're busy and you have other things to do. Well, listen, if you have a baby boomer, that's what they want. They want that quality time. Quality that's what they're about is quality. So you got to build that into your pay structure. For how much you're charging them? It's not the price. If you give them quality time, they'll pay it.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Okay, let's think of Gen X, gen Xers. Their age group is like 44 to 58. These guys are tech savvy, but they still like paper. They grew up with paper, they know tech, but they they prefer paper too. They appreciate it. They love emails. These guys love loyalty programs and they value convenience, because these guys are career oriented. Right, if your audience is the Gen Xers, then you need to focus on email marketing. You need to focus on Facebook and LinkedIn and you want to emphasize time-saving treatments. These guys are really busy because they're about to be taking care of their baby boomer parents and they still have kids. These guys, they care about time. Get me in, get me out. You know what I mean. Also, I have to say if you do a treatment, get a piece of paper. Yes, paper is not dead for everyone. Get out a piece of paper and have, like the post, care on a piece of paper. They will appreciate that.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Millennials, 28 to 43 year olds Okay, guys, this group are all about experiences. They want everything to be an experience. They want social proof. They also want everything personalized. It has to be catered to me, right? I know I am this group, so I'm like everything that I'm saying that was in luck.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Yep, that's totally me. They research everything, but they rely heavily on google reviews. This is so true. I, when I go anywhere, like I go and see who has the most google reviews. If you want to win my audience, then you better outdo google reviews of all of your peers. That's what you focus on.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Forget spending hours and hours on like doing reels. You know what I mean. Instead, go focus on getting Google reviews. Trade things I'll give you a facial, but you need to give me a Google review, because if you gave away 100 facials even if they're mini facials hopefully you got them rebooked, but if their requirement was all to leave a Google review, now you guys got 100 reviews. That's 100 more than you and that's so stinking valuable. So, if you target them, they are also really active on Instagram and Facebook, so that's where you would want to spend your time, of course, and if you target them, you want to create reels that highlight transformative skincare journeys. That's like what you want to do with them.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Also, since we're talking about Google reviews, I'm going to put in a little plug right here. Guys, I need some reviews on my podcast. I know I have like all these listeners and I need a review. Can you please go star it and leave me a review? Just like you want to build, I want to build too. So here's my plug Go and leave me a review.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Okay, we're going on. Let's talk about Gen Zers. Gen Zers they're like your 10-year-olds to your 27-year-olds. They live on TikTok and YouTube and they care solely about peers. They want to do what their peers are doing Models. If you're trying to get this generation like I, would get people in this generation to come in and make TikTok videos about your business and stuff like that, because that is the audience. That is the people that want that. They also care really a lot about social responsibility. So if you can tie it to a cause they love causes If you want Gen Z clients, you need to be on TikTok and you need to be showing behind the scene content skincare hacks, quick, engaging videos, very quick.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Do you see how knowing your exact niche makes it so much easier to market? Because, listen, if you're trying to market acne, you've got to fill all of those different shoes. Do you know how complicated that is? So complicated. But if you just choose one, you only have to market that type of a generation. You don't have to market to everyone. It makes it so much stinking easier.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Listen, when I stopped calling myself a business coach, I'm going to show you how this played out in real life with my coaching business. So when I stopped calling myself oh, I'm an esthetician business coach and I got laser focused on page structures for esthetician, my engagement shot up. I started getting so much more people liking DMing me. I even just got two new VIP clients this month. Listen, my content got so much easier to create. I thought it was easier when I was a coach, but then now that I'm like niche down, I'm like, Ooh, this is like really easy. I know exactly who I'm talking to. And that is the power of niching down. It doesn't make you lose clients, it's actually going to make you get the right clients. It's going to make the right clients find you quicker and faster. How did I do it? How do you start narrowing down your niche?

Kari Jo Patterson:

First and foremost, I would say look at your current clientele. Who is it that you love working with the most and what age group is it? Write that down. Two, I want you to think about what is your favorite treatment that you do? Do you love waxing? Do you love lashes? Do you love facials? Do you love chemical pills? Write it down. And three, who do you naturally connect with? Do you find it easier to talk to day at home moms? Do you find it easier to talk to career women or teenagers, or those 20 year olds that are out living their best life. They're not married, they have no worries. Who is it? Figure it out? Who do you? Who is the easiest for you to talk to?

Kari Jo Patterson:

And, last but not least, go check your revenue. Who is spending the most money and rebooking with you the most? This is what I mean by numbers. Numbers don't lie. This is what I mean by reading your numbers. If you track these numbers, your numbers tell you a story. The people who are rebooking with you, the people that are spending the most money. That's your story. That's what reading numbers mean Finding those people. Once you answer all of these, you're going to have a better idea of like where you need to focus and where you need to put your energy.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Let's say you decide to niche down to millennials and they struggle with acne. This is a marketing strategy. Go build up your Google reviews. Millennials trust businesses with high ratings. Go do whatever it takes to get those Google reviews the highest in your town and then create personalized Instagram and Facebook content that's showing before and afters and client testimonials and position yourself as an expert by posting educational content about acne Like. That's what it should be about, and it has to speak directly to the struggles of an adult acne client. It's simple, effective and super focused.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Here's your challenge. Take a look at your business today and I want you to narrow down your ideal client's age range. Narrow it down Age. I promise you this is one step that will make your marketing easier and your business more profitable. And if you're serious about building a profitable aesthetics business, I want you to check out my new digital course. It's the Esthetician's Guide to Profitable Pay Structure.

Kari Jo Patterson:

This is a course that I made because you do go further with a team and if you can learn the right structure, you guys both can grow together. I had employees that were working for me making a hundred grand a year, working less than 40 hours a week. That's their half. You can do this and you can create a profitable structure where you guys both win and you guys both make money, and you will go further as a team than you will go alone. I hope this episode helped you get clear on your niche and if you loved it, do me a favor, go and give me a review, Give me a five-star review and let me know your favorite part. Also, as always, DM me on Instagram If you have any questions. I will see you in the next episode of the Esthetician Podcast. Bye, guys.

Announcer:

Thank you for listening to the Esthetician Podcast with Kari Jo Patterson. Each week, Kari brings you real-world lessons on how to grow your empire. To learn more about Kari fearless prosperity mastermind group, one-on-one VIP coaching opportunities and more visit Kari. That's Kari. That's wwwkarijopattersoncom. See you next week for more insights and strategies on the Esthetician Podcast.

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