ASK THE experts

Our beauty experts answer your questions about every aspect of running a salon or spa business

How can I monetise my social media?

If you are active on social media, you have a huge pool of people who are consistently watching you every day. If you are only relying on in-person services to make your money, you’re leaving money on the table by not offering something that can be available via your social media account to those who are watching you from afar. If you’re showing up there every day, you might as well make money from it, right?

When considering which social media platforms to monetise, the best question to ask yourself is, where is your current ideal client hanging out? Are they on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok? Show up where they are spending the most time. This platform will differ based on you, your expertise and how you connect with your clients.

People want things to be as easy as possible to access, and this is crucial to consider when coming up with a social media strategy. I would suggest using clickable links in your stories where people view the most, booking links in your bio and making your services and offers obvious when visiting your profile. If you visit your social media page with a fresh pair of eyes, is it easy to understand who you are, what you do, what you offer and where you are based? If not, make changes.

You might think that social media platforms are already full of people trying to make money, but every market is saturated if you think like that; however, nobody has your exact experience, knowledge and personality or offers the experience you create. Nobody can ever replicate that. So, to make your business stand out, start building your personal brand. Personal branding will give you the definitive power if you’re offering the same services as somebody else. Start showing more of you, the soul of the brand, and your personality, the things everybody sees when they visit you in person. Start by showing it on social media first.

The biggest mistake I see people make when trying to monetise their social media is that they create something without much thought, such as a digital product or an offer. They put it out there a few times on social media and then wonder why it’s not selling quickly.

You have to remember that you, the business owner, are always 10 steps ahead of everyone. It takes time for your social media audience to catch up with you and what you are creating, and what’s available to them. The key here is consistency but knowing how to sell on social media plays a big part too.

Instead of guessing, actually find out what problem your customer base currently faces. As the leader, the authoritative figure, the person they want to learn from, you have to provide the solution to that problem. The best way to showcase this on social media so that it converts to money and sales is to be authentic and share your personal journey of having the same problem. This creates a huge relatability factor, which builds trust.

Poppy Owen is a global business mentor, coach and academy owner. Don’t miss her talk at PB London on how to monetise your socials on the Business and Digital Skills Stage at 12pm on Sunday, March 3.

How can I grow a consistent client base for my home-based nail business?

If your ambitions are to have a six or seven-figure beauty business then a traditional high-street setup with a team may still be the way forward for you, but many of the business owners I work with are striving for a decent income and a great work-life balance. They are setting up work spaces from their own homes, such as in cabins or converted garages, working mobile or renting a space in someone else’s salon.

It’s easy to see why – lower costs, less stress and yet many charge the same as those on the high street. If you’ve been thinking about making that transition to work from home or you already have a non-traditional setup, check out my top four tips to having success without a shopfront:

1. Know your worth: there is no need to charge less when working in a less traditional way. In fact, home techs are often charging more than the salons on the high street. This is down to confidence, marketing and understanding why coming to you is still special. Don’t underestimate the value of convenience and a one-toone, personalised service.

2. Master marketing: when you don’t have the advantage of footfall, you have to know how to successfully raise awareness of your business within your local area in other ways. You need to be able to use online and offline marketing strategies to make sure as many local people as possible know you even exist.

3. Build trust: you must learn how to create trust among your audience online (because they can’t peer in through the windows to see if you’re any good). Great branding, lots of reviews, having a website and showing your personality as part of your social media content strategy can all help build up trust with your audience.

4. Look after loyal clients: it can certainly be harder to get clients booking in the first place, so you need to make sure you have a great rebooking rate. Sole trader business owners that are bringing in £1k a week over four days can do so because they have lots of regular clients; they rebook about 90% of their clients. This makes life so much easier than finding new clients each month.

In the Nail Tech Tribe Facebook community, we have lots of free training and advice to help you grow a sole trader beauty business.

Jo Tompkins is a business mentor for sole traders in nails and beauty. Catch her talk, “Success without a shopfront” at PB London on the Business & Digital Skills stage at 3pm on Monday, March 4 .

How can I incorporate the principles of gut microbiome health in treatments?

Gut health is central to the health of skin. If we don’t support the health of our gut, we won’t get the best possible skincare results.

The gut microbiome is the collection of microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that live in our digestive systems. Each person’s gut microbiome contains around 30 to 100 trillion microorganisms. The more diverse, the better.

Gut health affects the health of the whole body. The gut microbiome improves our digestion, regulates hormones and the nervous system, and helps us deal with stress. It keeps the immune system healthy and decreases inflammation. The gut communicates closely with the skin, forming the gut-skin axis.

The skin also has a microbiome, which bolsters the skin’s immune system, reinforces the skin barrier and protects against invading pathogens.

Gut dysbiosis occurs when the composition of the microbiome is out of balance. This can lead to an impaired intestinal barrier, an increased immune response and inflammation. This also has a significant effect on skin leading to inflammation, a disrupted skin barrier and an altered skin microbiome.

Many common skin diseases are associated with gut dysbiosis. Dysbiosis increases inflammation and disrupts the skin microbiome contributing to acne. Atopic dermatitis (eczema) and psoriasis can also occur as dysbiosis leads to inflammation and a disrupted skin barrier and skin microbiome, which then exacerbates atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.

Skin dysbiosis leads to impaired wound healing. When we think of wounds, we may think of large scratches and cuts, but many skin treatments such as needling, peeling, plasma treatments, dermabrasion and other resurfacing treatments lead to minor wounds that require healing.

Supporting the gut microbiome improves the ability of the skin to heal from these treatments, leading to better results. This is why I would recommend clients adding a thoroughly researched beneficial bacteria supplement into their skincare routines, such as Advanced Nutrition Programme (ANP) Skin Youth Biome, which supports ageing skin with vitamin C and beneficial bacteria. If a client experiences problem skin conditions, I recommend a supplement to calm and support skin with beneficial bacteria and zinc, such as ANP’s Skin Clear Biome.

Gut dysbiosis also accelerates “inflammaging”. Inflammation is one of the main mechanisms leading to ageing, commonly referred to as inflammaging. With increasing age, the ability to resolve inflammation becomes impaired. When there is concurrent gut dysbiosis, inflammation increases acceleration of the ageing process.

To achieve optimal skincare results, we need to support gut health. A healthy diet containing lots of fibre and diverse plant foods, and low in sugar and processed food, is essential, as is healthy exercise, good sleep and managing stress.

Targeted gut and skin support is also key. Oral beneficial bacteria supplements improve the gut microbiome and decrease inflammation, supporting skin health from within, further benefitting the topical treatments clients experience in salons.

In addition to a host of general health benefits, oral probiotics also lead to numerous benefits in the skin. They decrease inflammation in the skin, improve the immune system, improve the skin barrier and stimulate fibroblasts, increasing collagen, elastin and GAGs. This contributes to improvements in inflammatory diseases such as acne, eczema and psoriasis, as well as improved wound healing and decreased symptoms of ageing.

A good probiotic is a valuable addition to any skincare treatment and routine. Choose one targeted to the condition that you want to support. Remember that this is not intended to treat any disease or medical condition but can help support a healthy body and skin.

Dr Gaby Prinsloo is the medical director for iiaa (International Institute for Active Ageing). Catch her talk on mastering the microbiome at 1pm on Sunday, March 3, on the Skin & Advanced Treatments Stage at Professional Beauty London.

How can I attract more clients during the cost-of-living crisis?

A useful tactic to consider is tapping into the psychology of sales. An array of techniques can be used from enhancing decision triggers or adding referrals and testimonials – all in an attempt to build trust.

For a potential client to seek out your salon or clinic, there are certain internal checks that they carry out. Although everybody will have their own unique set of triggers, by establishing your avatars you can understand the key attributes and values that they will possess, allowing you to cater to these ahead of time.

From the very first second that a potential or returning client engages with you, an impression will be made – so make sure it’s a good one.

For the majority of clients, the first encounter now takes place in the digital world via a website or social media platform. Ensure that these are accurate, up to date, and a true representation of your brand, business and values.

• Showcase your team – include real photos as opposed to stock images of your team and premises to help build familiarity, trust and credibility

• Vary your content – everybody has a different information density preference. Some clients would prefer a top-line overview of your clinic and services, while others would favour a deep-dive understanding. Cater for all using a variety of content to ensure everyone can gather what they need from your platforms.

• Remove barriers – ensure clients have everything they need for a seamless service. This could include sending appointment reminders with details about where to park or how to access nearby public transport.

Business author Bob Burg famously said, “People buy from people they know and trust.” This is even more prominent within an industry such as beauty and aesthetics where clients are placing their complete faith in practitioners to achieve their desires on how they want to look and feel.

Individuals want to know that the services you offer are credible, genuine and safe. Especially at a time when money is tight, prospective clients want to ensure they’re not spending their hard-earned cash with a cowboy trader or risking receiving a below-par service.

Show off any case studies or client testimonials on your website and social media. If you don’t have any, make it a priority to gather some from your regulars. Other third-party credibility boosters include Google reviews, award wins and finalist placements, and thoughtleadership magazine articles. Don’t waste the power of these – if you have all or any of them, share them across all platforms so that prospective clients can’t help but take notice.

Also, place your insurance, qualifications and accreditations of your business and your team front-andcentre in both the virtual and real world. While people may not actively pay much attention to these, they’re important unconscious decision triggers that help clients feel calm, comfortable and in genuinely safe hands.

Alan S Adams is a profit coach and author who has published a series of books focused on helping businesses achieve sustainable growth. His most recent book, The Beautiful Business, focuses on supporting cosmetic, and aesthetic company owners.