The Successful Esthetician in 2022

The Successful Esthetician

2022 is the year of The Successful Esthetician. 

My new book “The Heart of Esthetics: Creating Loyal Clients & Achieving Financial Success” (2^nd edition) became available for purchase this week (YAY!) and it is very different from the original book which I wrote in 2013. The new book is different because esthetics is different, and this book has 229 pages which is more than double the size of the 2013 book.

Everywhere I go these days, people are talking about Covid, masks, vaccines. Of course, it’s important (no matter what your feelings may be on the topic), but we can’t let it block out our hope for the future. If we can just allow a little light to break through a crack, we can make 2022 a great year. That is my wish for you and that’s why I worked so hard to get this book out before the end of 2021.

This week, as we count down to 2022, I am going to post daily blogs that I hope will help you reawaken your love for esthetics (if you’ve lost it), dust off your dreams of a financially successful esthetics career and begin looking forward to what could be. 

What is The Successful Esthetician’s role in 2022?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just about giving facials and selling products. Every licensed Esthetician working today had to know how to give a facial in order to graduate from his or her Esthetician licensing program. Even non-Estheticians can learn to give a facial due to the multitude of info provided online to the public.

As for products, well, our professional skin care products are sold everywhere these days. However, none of that matters because an Esthetician’s job is not about facials and products. Those are simply tools that we use in our work.  

So then, what is our role in the business of skin care? It is our license, our training, our knowledge, our experience, and our ongoing opportunity for continuing education. These tools are what sets an Esthetician apart from all the others.

A well-trained Esthetician can properly analyze the client’s current skin care condition which then leads to the determination of which esthetics services and home care products will bring the desired results.

Estheticians also know that the client’s skin will change throughout his or her lifetime, so analyzing the current skin condition, providing services, home care products and guidance is an ongoing responsibility. Becoming indispensable to your clients is the most direct path to financial success in the esthetics business.

To properly determine a client’s current skin condition, a comprehensive intake process with the client, in person, is required. This does not mean asking new clients to complete an intake form on their own. Nor does it mean requiring the client to choose a facial service from a lengthy menu of services. These responsibilities belong to the Esthetician, not the client. We are trained for this, clients are not. Therefore, it is our duty.

Is 2022 the time to rethink your marketing strategy? 

If you are doing what everybody else is doing which is marketing your services and your products in an effort to attract new clients, you are doing it wrong. That strategy worked well in 1999 when I got my Esthetician license, but that era of esthetics is over. 

Getting a client in the door once, and selling products once, does not guarantee the client will return. So don’t waste your time there. I suggest you market the elements of being an Esthetician that set you apart.

For example, when clients are in your treatment room (or elsewhere in your space), what do they see on the walls? If it’s some kind of wall art, you are wasting that precious real estate. What they should be looking at are your continuing education certificates displayed in beautiful eye-catching frames. The client will immediately relax into knowing that you are well-trained and qualified to provide the services, products and advice you are offering.

Another place to highlight your qualifications is your business card. Your phone number and address is not the most important info so if you have that on the front of the card, you are like every other department store and MLM salesperson.

Instead, put that information on the back of the card and save the front for the important info. For example, your esthetics specialty (if you have one), any other credentials you may have earned, and your license number. If you've been working for a few years, also include the date you were licensed so prospective clients will know how much experience you have.  

Getting bodies in your door is easy. Just put the word “FREE” on your door and they will come. However, clients who come for a discount will always be looking for that discount. When the discount goes away, so will that client. 

When it comes to marketing, The Successful Esthetician should gear everything toward turning a new client into a loyal, long-term client. And that is precisely what “The Heart of Esthetics: Creating Loyal Clients & Achieving Financial Success” is about.

In tomorrow’s blog, I will tell you about the “First-Timer Facial” which I created to alleviate the problem of prospective clients having to sort through a service menu to determine which facial they need. That is NOT the client’s job. That is the Esthetician’s job.

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