SMME #393 5 Money Mistakes Spa Owners Make On Their Journey to a Million

Social media success thrives off of authentic, real-time content. Still, a business owner building a brand needs an extra edge of professionalism and polish than your everyday social media user or influencer. You need to showcase your space and services and tell a story that emotionally resonates with your ideal clients so they can easily decipher whether you're the expert to help them achieve their goals.  So, how do you do that? One piece of the puzzle is crafting the right visual narrative, which I'm discussing with my guest on this episode, Brianna Shrader.  Brianna isn't just the creative visionary behind Shy Heart Studios, a leading Orange County photography powerhouse; she's a testament to resilience and the power of reinvention. After pivoting her photography to focus on personal branding during the pandemic, Brianna found a new era of success for her studio that has helped her grow her team, revenue, and impact.  With a relaxed, fun-filled approach that allows clients' true personalities to radiate, Brianna's talent transforms fleeting moments into treasured heirloom artwork, with her authentic images reflecting the heart and soul of countless families, couples, and brands. In this episode, we discuss:  Why Brianna made a business pivot into personal branding photography and how this area of photography is different than your standard portrait session Showing up on social media with your content topics and your visuals as a business owner vs. a typical social media user  What to expect when working with a photographer for branding photography and the process of capturing visuals that will get you an ROI and how to measure it To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep412 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

No matter what the tides of business may bring or the economy's fluctuations, finding strategic solutions that allow you to expand your spa's margins is always something to explore. That's why I'm so excited to dive into the power of Tippy with you on today's episode!  Together with Tippy sales team manager Marci Zerbe, we're diving into all the details of how the Tippy platform and variety of products allows gratuity-based industries such as spas and salons to save BIG on credit card processing fees (we're talking savings of $20-, $30-, and $40,000 per year) as well as bolster their team retention along with a host of additional benefits. Whether you're looking for a fast-tracked way to shave thousands off your annual business expenses, or tipping has been a touchy issue in your business due to "tip creep," you won't miss this episode!  In this episode, we discuss:  The key benefits of bringing a tool like Tippy into your business beyond the obvious (i.e., significant savings on credit card processing fees) How Tippy helps do the heavy lifting during tax time and makes running reports simple and easy  The 101 of how Tippy works to save you on fees and how their platform solutions naturally help build tipping trust with your clientele  A special deal on Tippy for Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast listeners! To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep411 To get started with Tippy free for your first year, visit our special Spa Marketing Made Easy listeners’ link to start saving!  Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

Whether you've dabbled with hosting events in the past with varying degrees of success, you've got your sights set on hosting more events in 2025, or you think events aren't the right fit for your business (I'd like to challenge you on that belief 😉), this episode is jam-packed with insights from Team Addo coach Emilie, who generated $150,000 from mini events this year including an $8K in one day retail launch.  If you've never had the pleasure of being on a coaching call with Emilie or catching one of her live trainings within our Addo programs, let's do a quick intro!  Emilie Drolet is a licensed aesthetician with a bachelor's degree in communications who has been working within the beauty industry for over 10 years and is leading a successful skin clinic. Her mother started the legacy business in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, over 40+ years ago. Emilie is a wealth of knowledge, full of insider Spa CEO insights, and just a joyful person to be in the company of — I know you'll get so many golden nuggets out of this conversation with her!  In this episode, we discuss:  The big picture overview of Emilie's event success so far this year and how bringing in private label to her spa's offerings and utilizing virtual events factored into her spa's success  What she did to make her events a success, including her marketing timeline, reach out, and seeding, plus how she made it through marketing the event without having product on hand until the day of!  Emilie's mindset tips for hosting events that meet your goals and a walkthrough of her events strategy  To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep410 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

Are you tired of putting out job postings only to get candidates who don’t fit the bill for your company’s needs or culture? Frustrated from frequent turnover that costs your company more than bringing in more hands to help? Have you heard all the horror stories from other spa owners and feel scared to move forward on scaling with a team?  Fear not, ambitious aesthetic pro—team building does not have to be a scary process or one that requires a ton of trial and error to get right. It’s all about having a clear pathway and process to follow.  In this episode, I’m giving you the keys to unlocking not only your mindset around team development but also the numerous processes that comprise it. This will help you get crystal clear on how to begin building your dream team or transforming your existing team into a well-oiled machine of rockstar employees who are invested in your vision and passionate about putting in the work.  In this episode, we discuss:  The mindset of “who, not how” and how this book and framework shifted my entire perspective on building a team, both personally and professionally Understanding your relationship with time, where it goes, and how that aligns with your vision is paramount to putting the right people in place for your team Typical team building and development struggles and how to overcome them before they begin  My top tips for getting clear with your employees and crafting processes that communicate expectations and roles  To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep409 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

Social media has always been a hot topic within the Spa Marketing Made Easy community — it’s an element of marketing that is ever-evolving and extremely powerful in the ability to grow your business and expand your brand. And despite how exciting its potential can be, social media tends to be one of the top intimidating facets of marketing for spa professionals.  That’s why I couldn’t wait to get my guest, Dr. Sheila Barbarino, MD on the mic with me to talk all about how to take out the scare factor of social media and approach it from a place of curiosity and authenticity that will attract your ideal clientele and get them bought into *you* before they even enter your doors.  If you don’t know Dr. Barbarino, she is a world renowned, award winning, board-certified oculofacial plastics and full body cosmetic surgeon who is best known for her comprehensive, natural results approach to both nonsurgical and surgical procedures for all body and skin types in her practice, Barbarino Surgical Arts. Outside of her practice, Dr. Barbarino is also a world-renowned lecturer, teacher, and trainer at medical symposiums who focuses on cutting edge technology and new innovative techniques. She is an exceptionally sought -after key opinion leader in our industry, serves on multiple advisory boards, published author of over 15 peer reviewed publications, and is a busy surgeon with patients who travel from near and far for her expert opinion. In this episode, we discuss:  How your practice benefits from exuding personality through your brand and social media and how to bring the multifaceted nature of your personality to a professional social account  The benefits of being on social media to attract your ideal client and creating community through content A peek into Dr. Barbarino’s content creation process with her team  Letting go of judgment and approaching social media marketing with curiosity and fun To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep408 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

Could you take the consultative process that you typically do with potential clients on a one-to-one capacity and digitize it so that you could not only draw in your most high-quality leads into your world but also do it in a way that maximizes your time and effort? The answer is yes!  Here to explain how we do that with the help of quiz funnels is Maxwell Nee, the Chief Revenue Officer of ScoreApp, a quiz marketing platform with over 6,000 clients that uses the power of personalized marketing to present specific solutions and offers to your potential clients and customers. Tune in as we talk about how spas can harness the power of quiz marketing and the first steps to getting your first quiz up and running.  In this episode, we discuss:  What quiz marketing is, and how does it fit together with the other elements of your overall digital marketing strategy  The critical components of a quiz funnel and how they work to scale your marketing efforts as well as bring in highly qualified leads Steps for reverse engineering your quiz funnel to drive your ideal client or customer to the offer that is the best fit for them and that you want to sell more of  How using a tool like ScoreApp allows you to get a quiz funnel up and running in your spa in a matter of an hour To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep407 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

The holiday season is upon us, and you know what that means…holiday sales! And I’m not talking about the “savings” type of sales; I’m talking about the opportunities for your spa to hit incredible Q4 revenue records. Of course, one of the top ways to increase spa sales during the holiday season is through gift cards.  However, gift cards aren’t as simple of a revenue stream as you might think unless you’re prepared in your marketing and cash flow management. In this episode, I’m covering my top tips for getting geared up to make major gift card sales that set you up for going into a successful 2025!  In this episode, you’ll learn:  How gift cards can be an easy source of sales and revenue during the hectic holiday season Important notes about complying with gift card laws on the state and federal level My top tips for cash-flowing your gift card revenue (and profiting even more!) A review of my top gift card promotion strategies and notes on corporate gifting The top three ways to market your gift cards for sales and redemption  To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep406 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

I talk a lot about planning on Spa Marketing Made Easy, and planning is also the focus topic of one of our annual events, Next Level Growth. However, planning is merely step one of the process to creating a life and business you love, the next step comes in prioritizing the tasks and projects you have on your plan, and doing so productively to make your goals and vision a reality.  Although entrepreneurship isn’t about trading time for dollars, the old adage of “time is money” is true – you need to be using your time well to ensure that you’re moving forward toward your goals and not getting distracted by the multitude of things vying for your attention as a Spa CEO.  In this episode, you’ll hear:  My top six productivity tips to ensure that you’re using your time efficiently and making progress toward completing your most important tasks and accomplishing your goals  Why you always need to consider what season of life you’re in so that your plan lends itself to ultimate productivity based on your day-to-day routine Building routine and flow spaces into your environment to make getting into productive mode easy My top softwares and tools that I use in my daily life to be my productivity sidekicks  To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep405 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.

Beyond the fact that retail revenue can make or break your spa’s profitability, generating more retail revenue is one of the best ways to create cash infusion since your strategy should largely hinge on your existing clientele, which is always easier to sell to than bringing in new leads and clients.    And, of course, we’re never solely focused on the sale; we’re approaching these five strategies from a place of sales as service, so don’t let the feeling of sales being “slimy” keep you from growing that retail revenue while bolstering your client relationships and the results you’re working with them to achieve. Joining me on the mic is Team Addo coach Sara Sykes Moore, a retail rockstar in her own brick-and-mortar spa, and you won’t want to miss her value-rich insights.  In this episode, we discuss:  Our top five strategies for selling more retail to your existing clientele and using retail to draw in new clients  Leaning on educating your client as a top way to sell and taking note of how to sell individually to each client based on their personal season of life Our top retail selling tips that make selling retail a natural part of your client process rather than a sales activity you have to sludge through How to transform retail selling into a practice that showcases your thoughtfulness  To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/ep404 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.  

As we turn the corner on Quarter 4, it’s time to start thinking about the year ahead, and no, it’s not too soon. Especially in the spa industry, where Q4 is often our busiest time of year, it’s critical to carve out the time and thinking space to ask yourself what you truly want from your life and business.  In this episode, we’ll explore what questions to ask yourself as you begin mapping out your plans for next year, how to craft a calendar that incorporates what matters most for you to feel balanced and fulfilled, and why Next Level Growth is the can’t-miss event of the season as you plan for a successful 2025.  In this episode, we discuss:  The power of putting everything on your calendar to create time for what matters most  How often to reflect on and reassess our plans to accommodate our season of life  What you’ll learn during our free Next Level Growth event and why this is a can’t-miss training for spa owners and aesthetic industry professionals ready to grow to the next level in their life and business  Get registered for the FREE Next Level Growth Virtual Event on October 21, 2024 PLUS receive our FREE Annual Planning Template & Workbook here! To read the full show notes for this episode, visit: https://www.addoaesthetics.com/podcast/403 Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.