Do you own your own business, but you're struggling getting clientele? Are you finding that your current marketing strategies aren't helping? Well, marketing in today's world is definitely a headache, but it's manageable if you put your mind to it. When I first started my lash business, I had the hardest time with marketing. I still get a little puzzled sometimes, and I'll have random content blocks. I will say I've learned the ropes thus far though.
In this blog post today, I'm not going to go too in-depth, but I'd like to get a few points across. First things first, do you have a plan? If you don't, I strongly advise you to start writing down all of your ideas. Create a marketing and content plan. If you're lost on where to start, sign up for Fiverr. There are many experts on there that can guide you and even create a marketing strategy plan for you.
Next, you need to find a consistent theme for your social media. What is your color scheme? What layout do you think will catch your followers' attention? Is your work posted all scattered and unorganized? Do you have a consistent flow? Ask yourself these questions. You want to have an interesting and unique look to your social media. Try to do things that make you stand opposed to other people in your same industry. You don't want your followers to become bored with your posts especially if they are the same as everyone else's.
Outside of just finding a consistent flow and theme, you have to know your target audience. If you don't know who you're targeting then you will be selling to everyone. The key to marketing your business is selling to your direct audience. For a lash artist, you're looking for women or men who desire an enhanced beauty look using lashes. You should be targeting people who no longer want to deal with getting up putting on eyelash strips every morning of their lives. As a business owner, find out who your target audience is and SELL YOUR BUSINESS.
I'm going to give you some advice on selling your business, though. I won't say "never" directly sell to your customers, but in my honest opinion, I've found that if you're always just posting your work and website or booking link, it can scare people away. Why? Because your audience wants to see much more than just "book now" or "shop now". I've learned from personal experience. Your audience wants to see and know that you are confident in what you do. Start posting informative posts. Talk about what you do and tell your "WHY" behind your business.
Why did you start? What made you want to start your own business? Where are you now in your business? What steps are you taking to get to where you want to be? Talk about these things. Also, post information on your products/services. People want to know details. If you are confident In what you do, it will show. If you have absolutely no confidence at all in what you do, that will also show. You never want to show intimidation in the entrepreneur world. People will eat you alive. If you feel as if you aren't 100% knowledgeable in what you do, take some extra training. It never hurts to expand your brain. Gain more knowledge by taking more trainings and perfect your craft.
Below are a few apps that I use as a lash artist in my business:
- Canva : this app can be used to create flyers and other graphics, schedule posts for your social media, create ebooks, and more. It's superrrrr useful. I love it!
- Square or Acuity : both of these are appointment scheduling apps. I haven't personally used acuity, but I use square and you can do not only appointments, but also invoices, payroll, taxes and much more.
- Facetune : I use this app personally to edit any photos that may have little blemishes that need to be fixed up.
- Planoly : this app can be used for scheduling social media posts and creating a neat arrangement for them.
- My Google Business App : this app is what I used to get my business name onto google. Once you sign up, you can do search optimization and much more. You can view your insights and analytics. I've seen as many as 18 thousand people view my business within a week. That is AMAZING! I highly recommend you all to download this app and get your business on google asap.
- Quickbooks : this app is very useful for keeping up with your income and expenses. You can also plug all of your information from quickbooks into turbo tax if you use that method for your yearly taxes. Quickbooks self employed also allows you to pay any quarterly taxes that you may have.
Ok, enough about apps, lol. As far as marketing, you have to have a plan. You should post at least 3 times a day even if no one is liking your posts. People are always watching. You want to make sure that your business is seen though. As long as you're posting, somebody is watching for sure.
Personally, I try to post at least 2-5 times daily. If I miss a few days, I feel heartbroken because everyday that you don't post is a day that you're losing potential clients and customers. I pay close attention to my insights when I post. Insights are going to help you in the long run. Start checking them to see what your peak times are. What time do you get the most engagement? Those are the times that you need to post each day. Once you get into this pattern, you'll grow a habit of it and it will help you in the long run.
I'm going to wrap this up now. For those of you who are interested, I will be releasing a marketing ebook in the next few days. It is beginner friendly. SO, if you are just starting out, I highly recommend keeping a lookout on it. It will also include more in-depth marketing strategies. You don't want to miss out.
If you took the time to read this blog today, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of my supporters. If this blog helped you, please don't hesitate to leave a review. We will talk again soon Vanity Babes.
** Disclaimer: these tips are given directly from personal experience of Brittany Lewis. They are not guaranteed to work. We only give advice on what worked for our business.**