Esthetician Podcast; Business tips for Beauty professionals

081: What I’d Do Differently if I Started My Esthetician Business Today

• Kari Jo

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Remember when Instagram was the golden ticket to building an esthetician business? Those days are gone. The digital landscape has shifted dramatically, and what worked a decade ago is now drowning in a sea of oversaturation.

Did you know the average person scrolls past 95% of social content without truly engaging? Or that businesses are posting eight times more content than just three years ago? As someone who built and sold a successful esthetics practice, then struggled to replicate that Instagram success with my coaching business, I've learned some hard truths about marketing in today's environment.

The breakthrough came when I switched from pouring endless hours into Instagram to launching a podcast. Almost immediately, client bookings increased while my social media efforts decreased. Why? Because people don't book services based on pretty feeds—they book based on trust and relatability.

If I were starting my esthetician journey today, I'd focus on three key strategies: First, create a community-focused podcast addressing my ideal clients' specific challenges, subtly promoting my services. Second, reimagine social media with content that provides genuine value and humor, not just service highlights. And third, aggressively build Google reviews, knowing that 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

This episode weaves these business insights with my hilarious adventures driving a Tesla cross-country (including why self-driving cars don't see turtles!), exploring how technology changes our expectations and capabilities. Want to discuss how these strategies might work for your specific situation? Message me through the link in the show notes to schedule a one-on-one coaching call where we can create a personalized growth plan.

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

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Links You May Want to Check out:

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Client Review:

Hi, Kari. Jo, I just want to say thank you. Your cause helped me so much. You made everything simple and clear. I feel more confident and excited about my business. You teach with love and I can feel it. I'm so happy I joined your cause. Thank you for everything.

Kari Jo:

Welcome back to the Esthetician Podcast, guys. I am so excited to jump on here. You guys, I just got done driving my daughter. She has moved to Utah for the year and I had to drive her from Texas all the way to Utah. And I had an earlier episode. I told you guys how my daughter had gotten in all these car accidents and she can no longer drive. I just don't think she can drive because she's gotten in six accidents within a year. So what I did was we ended up buying her a Tesla and you have to pay $99, but then you get the self-driving mode and so she just gets in the car and she types in wherever she's going and it just self-drives.

Kari Jo:

And it was so scary, you guys, when we first got it especially because I know how to drive a car, we've been driving for a long time and the Tesla dealership was like, basically, we're like the last generation to be driving. They don't think that people will be driving cars in the future. They're all going to be self-driving and they say it will probably happen within five years. But for me, because I'm like know how to drive a car, you know like, I'm like, oh, is it going to turn right and I'm like grabbing onto the steering wheel, like freaking out, wanting to take over. But eventually I got used to it and I started to trust it. Trust it and my daughter. She just is full like I don't know, they're like technology, kids, you know. So she's just like, okay, get in the car she doesn't have. She thinks the Tesla is going to get it right every time, which I mean it really does.

Kari Jo:

We only had one hiccup on the way to Utah, and it's crazy because even if there's construction, the car automatically does know. There's been a few issues. You guys, I am going to jump into the episode today, but I just had to tell you guys all this stuff. So one thing is the car does see birds or dogs on the road, but it does not see turtles. So we killed a turtle Poor turtle, I know that's so sad and then some potholes it will see. Sometimes it does not see a pothole, so you do have to kind of drive around the pothole. And then the whole entire trip, which was, I don't know, at least 25 hours long, it only made like one big mistake, I guess you could say, which is we were driving Okay.

Kari Jo:

So in Texas we have like two roads that go, or two lanes that go north and then two lanes that go south. Well, the south lanes were closed. Two lanes that go south, well, the south lanes were closed, and so the two roads that go north, they made them. So one lane is going north and one lane is going south. Well, the Tesla didn't know that, and so we're driving and it got in the next lane to go around a car, and then all of a sudden, we're in the next lane and there's like this car that's like coming towards us. It did get over, so it like I mean, I did know, but that was the only thing.

Kari Jo:

That was like ah, a little sketchy, but I just thought I'd give you guys an update on how the self driving is going. And, oh, what I really wanted to say about that is so we did that and the Tesla has. You guys have so much to say about this. The Tesla has, like, this feature where and it's really great for teenagers in particular because you have to pay attention and if you don't pay attention, then, like, the self-driving completely turns off. And I was eating a candy bar and I got in really big trouble and so I lost the self-driving feature for a while because I was being naughty, eating a candy bar. So it really does want you to pay attention and focus on the road even if you're not driving it. But what I was going to say is, after you go, and we've been doing self-driving in the Tesla for probably about a month and then I left my daughter in Utah with the Tesla, I had to fly back home and now I have to get my Santa Fe car, get in my Santa Fe car and my Santa Fe is not self-driving and you guys, you feel so stupid.

Kari Jo:

Like I now believe, like I knew before and you probably know too, like when you get to that stage, like they say or you know they're like AI is basically going to make the world dumb. You know, and I get it because, like I use chat, gpt too, but like I've never been able to write, but like I think of, like people like my sister who's like so really good at writing, like I mean it just does, it handicaps you a little bit. You know, and I totally understood it, when you do the self-driving feature, it drives for you and it's funny, when you actually start trusting it, it's amazing. It takes so much. You don't realize guys, you do not realize how stressful driving a car is because you've gotten so used to it. But when you actually get in a car and you don't have to like pay attention and like focus and look to see if there's a, it's so like when you get in a self-driving car, it's so relaxing and you don't realize how stressful driving a car is Like. I don't think driving a car is stressful because I've done it for I don't know, you know 30 years. But when you don't do it, it's like this weight lifted off of you. So when you get in a car after you've been on this, you know the car's driving for you, and then you have to actually drive a car. Like you're stupid, like it's like so hard to drive a car after you've been in a car that already drives itself. I can't really explain it, if you guys know. You know it really does make you kind of dumb. But I don't worry, I am back to driving. There's no, I haven't gotten any accent, it's just just like a little bit of a learning curve. So, okay, anyways, we're going to move on to today's show, which I don't know. I'm going to title this episode, and I say I'm going to title it, but I do have a virtual receptionist. Brandy is so amazing. She'll probably come up with a different title, but I'm going to call this episode for us today.

Kari Jo:

Like if I had to start over as an esthetician, what would I do differently? So, okay, I want to go back. So when I started my company a long time ago I say a long time ago, but I mean, I don't know, it was maybe 10 years ago and then I built Okay. So for those who haven't been with me for a long time, basically I started off as a solo esthetician. I ended up building a very successful, profitable company and being able to sell it within eight years, and then I was able to get financial freedom and now I am sitting at home with all my kids at school. I have nothing to do. So I was like, well, let's start coaching people, okay.

Kari Jo:

So, taking that back, when I first opened my company, it was kind of about the time that actually Instagram was coming about and there was no one in my town at all that was using Instagram, and I feel like that's kind of what made my company explode very quickly. Some of it is you do have to get in at the right time and think of it like the Instagram influencers that have like the 35,000 followers or 100,000 followers. They got in at the right time. To do that now is going to be a bajillion times harder than what it was back in the day. So when I got into my business, no one in my town was doing it, so I started doing it. So I got a following and people followed and started knowing who I was really quickly.

Kari Jo:

I remember my favorite all-time story I have is I walked into Hobby Lobby and I got some stuff and I was coming out and as I was coming out, there was a girl that's like hey, you're the deluxe girl. And I was like huh. And I was like, yeah, that's me, you know what I mean. So it was just easier. And nowadays like so, okay, so I, I build that company, sell it. And then now I'm like okay, I'm going to get into coaching and so I'm going to go do what I did before get on social media and things like that.

Kari Jo:

So I opened my business page on social media and trying to build on Instagram sucks Like it blows. You know, if you know, you know like how many hours are you spending on Instagram? Tiktok, whatever it is. It's like really hard, although I do hear that TikTok, you can grow a lot easier. I just I just don't. I'm not into that anymore. But I'm not even into Instagram anymore, but okay.

Kari Jo:

So, going back to my story, so I started with Instagram again and I mean it is so hard to build. So when I say to my estheticians out there, I get it. I know it is hard. And if you're relying on Instagram, so I want to tell you guys my experience and what I know from when I was in business to what I know when I'm in this business and how I would merge it and how I would do it differently if I was a brand new esthetician. Starting out, I didn't have any clienteles, what I know now and how I would play it. So if I was doing this, the first thing that I would play it, so if I was doing this, the first thing that I would do differently is I would not rely on Instagram. Why?

Kari Jo:

Well, I don't think that social media is broken, but I do think that it is so highly oversaturated. So I did my research and it shows. When I did my research, it showed that the average person is literally scrolling through 95% of what they see, 95%. They're only paying attention about 5%. Is that insane? And if I think about it, I think of what I do and I do the same thing, like I'm scrolling through and I land on like probably 5% of whatever I see too. So they did the study. So I felt like Brock Johnson on Instagram and you know whatever, and I listened to him and he did like this whole study that in the last three years, businesses are posting eight times more content than they were. Eight times Guys. So like before it was pretty easy, but then everybody just started getting into it and then now everyone's posting more and more. So the content is just so oversaturated.

Kari Jo:

So one of the things that I learned when I started going into coaching was, as I originally started, because when I started my business first back in the day, I would say Instagram is what helped build my company, and so when I started this business of coaching, I decided I was going to do Instagram too. So I poured all my time, I poured all my money into doing that and I did some professional photo shoots. I went and made some videos Don't look at my feed now because it's really ugly, guys, because I just stopped caring about Instagram. But I did all the things and then I was like they say, make a commitment and just stay with it, and I am that type of a person that will do that. So I committed to posting every single day for an entire year.

Kari Jo:

And I do go back and I look at the very, very, very beginning stuff oh, it's so embarrassing. And I'm like, oh, that is awful. And I do see, like how you do get better, cause I really sucked on a scale of one to 10 when I I thought I was good back in the day and then I just have seen how it like I I get it, like my message wasn't clear, like all these different things. And then this is a really long story. I hope you guys are following it. So it was bad and then it got better. And so I do see, like, if you continually do something, obviously you're going to get better at it. But I did that and like it, I was not getting anything at all. Why wasn't I getting anything? Guys, people don't book with me, with you, because of some pretty Instagram feed. They book with you because of trust and relatability.

Kari Jo:

Well, I ended up opening this podcast and I was like I'm just going to jump on the. Everyone always says when people hear me talk, maybe you can relate. Maybe I do well on podcasts, I don't know. I feel like I do better when I'm talking to somebody. I feel like I'm a lot smarter when I'm talking to somebody than when I'm talking to a microphone. But I can wow people. I can actually show them that I'm smart and they can actually trust what it is that I'm saying. So I opened this podcast.

Kari Jo:

As soon as I started doing my podcast, my podcast took off right. I've gotten more clients, more people. I don't even do Instagram anymore. I just kind of stay afloat on Instagram rarely do it, but my business is booming. You would never know if you looked on Instagram, but if you looked at all my podcast stats you'd be like holy cow, this girl is on fire. So this is what I would do differently and how I would implement this if I were you.

Kari Jo:

If I were you and I was starting from scratch, I would not rely on Instagram Again. It's oversaturated. But where I would rely on is I would probably start a community podcast in my community. So if my ideal clientele and first and of course niche down know who you want to market the type of people know who they are. So if, like, for example, I wanted to market to women who were in their forties because that's what I am right A woman in her 40s, her kids are going to be getting older, like me, going to college, doing all those things, maybe still have some in high school, junior high area, but they're like parents, right, and they're battling being a mom, they're battling doing a career, and so I would start a podcast about all things that have to be related to that and I would put that out there. And then what I would do is I would plug in my business, so I would be talking about oh, how stressful it is. And then maybe in the middle of it I might run an ad and be like hey, are you feeling stressed out? You know, wouldn't it be so great if I got a facial, or you got a facial or something? Or at the end I would do the call to action and tell them what my promotion is going to be. Or I would, at the very front of the podcast.

Kari Jo:

I might do exactly what I'm doing myself is I would have a client, leave me like a voice review and have that be about my company. So the podcast, like, is about talking about all things that my clients deal with, and the best way that you can get this guys is, when you have a client, write down all the things. Like that you can get this guys is when you have a client, write down all the things. After you're done talking to them, write down all the different things that you guys talk about. Did they talk about kids? Did they talk about work? Did they talk about Tesla? Did they talk about whatever it is that they talked about? I would write it down and I would keep a folder, because that folder would be all the hot topics that is going to attract my audience and then I would promote it within my community.

Kari Jo:

And how I would try to promote my podcast in my community is I would probably bring on other business owners because, let's face it, anyone who's in business and an entrepreneur, we all like to talk about ourselves. We all think we're cool. You know what I mean and so I would have them come on as a guest and I would do like an interview with them so that they would help promote it to their audience, because people love to sell themselves and listen to me. I'm so cool, so that is what I would do. Themselves and listen to me. I'm so cool, so that is what I would do. And the reason why I would do that is because it would instantly build trust and relatability and people would be listening to me and relating, they would start to trust me and then they're going to be hearing ads for my business all the time and then eventually they're going to come, just like what I did with my podcast. They're going to come, just like what I did with my podcast. So that is the one tip that I would do differently if I was starting from scratch.

Kari Jo:

The second thing that I would be doing is okay, I again it goes to Instagram. So if I was on Instagram and I was doing my Instagram because I just said I wouldn't rely on Instagram, but then you do have to show up, because what's going to happen is people are going to research you when somebody wants to do business with you, basically they are going to go. They might hear you, they might see you and then, once they are kind of considering it, they're going to go Google the crap out of you. So they're going to go look at your Instagram. They're going to go look at your website and if you don't have a website, that's another big thing. If you don't have a website, you guys got to get your website. You want to be big. I don't know any company that is big that doesn't have a website. It helps with SEOs, gets you on. You want more clients. People are going to Google. You need your website to help with the SEO for you to be pulled up. So get you a website. But after they see you and they're considering doing it with you, they're going to go do a deep dive and find out everything that they can. They're going to research your website. Who is this girl? Do I like this girl? Whatever, let me see her work.

Kari Jo:

The one thing that I see that I can't stand on, I mean, I think of it. I want you to think of it. I can't stand Instagram estheticians, instagrams anymore, like it's times have changed, right. If you're sitting there posting before and after pictures of lashes all the time, or you're posting um video of you doing a massage or whatever it is, I look at everybody's Instagram accounts all these estheticians and I'm like, oh, they're so boring. I would never follow this in a million years because it doesn't bring any value to me. I am an esthetician but guys, now that I am not doing aesthetics and I'm 40, I noticed I'm aging. I want services done all the time. So I am a client that's researching and I hate going to all these esthetician pages and I think they're all boring. I don't follow any of them because none of them add any value to my life any value to my life.

Kari Jo:

If I was now going into this, what I would do differently is I would probably create a page I get, I would niche down, I would know my market, what they're dealing with, just like I did with the podcast Right and I would make hilarious reels that relates to them. Hilarious reels that relates to them. So, for example, if I'm an esthetician and my ideal market is like that, stay at home, mom, then my content on my Instagram is going to be funny stay at home mom content, not aesthetics. I am going to plug that in. But humor is what people look at now. People are tired of being sold to. I don't want to go to Instagram and be sold to it anymore. I'm super freaking tired of being sold to it. It's part of the reason I don't want to do Instagram anymore is. I don't want to try to sell myself to other people. I'm tired of being sold to myself, but I do love humor and so, like if I was doing it again, as I would know, my ideal avatar. My ideal avatar is like a stay at home mom. So I would make the funniest stay at home reels all the time, right, and then I would put in plugs for my business, like at the very end of the reel. Be like oh, it sounds like you need me. Do you know what I mean? Or however it is, but I would put in a plug for my business at the end.

Kari Jo:

In addition to that on Instagram is when you post a carousel, which go and look at it. If you've posted a series of like. What a carousel is for those who don't know is when you post like a photo and it's like five photos and you can flip through them. Those are called carousels. So when you post one of those, I want you to go look through every single carousel that you have and I want you to see who it's going to. For me, every single time I post a carousel and I'm 90% sure that this is for you too it goes out. Mostly the people who see it are my followers. Like 95% of the time my carousels only go out to my followers. It doesn't go out to other people. My reels always go out to other people but my carousels go out to my clients.

Kari Jo:

So what I would do is I would post like really funny reels about stay-at-home moms and what they're dealing with, and then I would post carousels that have like my before and after pictures or my promotions or anything about my company. I would post it in that so that I was trying to. I was attracting stay at home moms to my page because the reels are so funny and they want more reels that are really funny. And then I would do these carousels that were educational about my company. So I would plug that in. There's a rule of like I don't know what it is, I should have looked it up before I recorded this podcast. Go look it up, go chat GPT. But you should, I think, post like I don't know your business, you should sell like 30% of the time and, I don't know, educate 70% of the time, or something like that.

Kari Jo:

So, like most of my reels is, I would be making them funny to what my client's relating to right now and then throwing in selling the 30% of the time. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense. This is just what I would do differently, based off of what I've done to build my first company and what I've done to build my second company in addition Wait, okay, I was going to leave it as that, but I'm going to also add in one more plug, because I did talk about Google reviews Also. I should probably just make another episode on this, but anyways, I would also focus on building Google reviews really, really quick. Google reviews build trust faster than any single post. So studies show that like 79% of people trust online reviews just as much as a friend's recommendation. So that means if you have all these Google reviews and it's like a stranger that stranger's weight of them recommending you holds just as strong as what their friends said. So, yeah, those are the three things.

Kari Jo:

That I would do differently is I would start a podcast for my community and that's going to build trust and relatability. I would ramp up my Google reviews, do whatever it takes to get Google reviews, because they're going to go searching for me, and then I would on Instagram. I would not be like aesthetics, aesthetics, aesthetics. I would be like stay at home mom, stay at home mom. Like aesthetics, I would be like stay at home mom, stay at home mom. And then a little bit about my stuff, I don't know.

Kari Jo:

I hope that this is helpful for you. I want to know if you're going to do it. Let me know how it goes. I would love to even come up with a game plan. I can tell you all the things that I've learned. I hired a coach to help me with my podcast and it's crazy just the little things that I have learned and I would love to share it with you. So if you want to jump in and have a coaching call with me, like a private one-on-one, send me a message. There's a link in the show notes that says sends us a text, send me your name, your number, your email, how you want us to get a hold of you, and we will reach out. We'll get you booked and we can explore different ideas to help you grow your company with wherever you are at. Guys, thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode and I will see you next week on another Esthetician's Podcast. Bye, guys.

Kari Jo:

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 www. karijo patterson. com. That's www. kari jopatterson. com. See you next week for more insights and strategies on the Esthetician Podcast.

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