I’m a professional beauty expert and brand owner; here’s how I made it happen.
Having a beauty business is an incredibly exciting endeavor. It can mean owning your own shop or salon, getting paid to write meaningful beauty content, collaborating with revered brands, maintaining a steady flow of loyal clients, and elevating your career. I’ve created my own success as a beauty business owner and expert and love my career. Here are the six steps I swear by.
Step One: Expand Your Professional Beauty Career Into A Business Owner
If you are an esthetician, hairstylist, beauty content writer, makeup artist, nail technician, beauty influencer, or any beauty professional, there are many ways to expand your area of expertise into a full-fledged business. Many estheticians find it challenging securing steady employment after graduating from beauty school. And, without a cosmetology license or massage certification, simply getting in the door can be tough because of competing, seasoned estheticians and the ever-expanding technologies that a new esthetician may not yet have experience with.
Unfortunately, some estheticians give up too quickly as a result of not being hired. Instead of going the traditional route of searching for a job at a salon or spa, why not build your own business with the knowledge you learned in school? This can be done in several ways: offer house calls to visit clients at their homes and create your own beauty content with a blog and regular postings via your social media channels. A highly recommended opportunity for any beauty professional that has helped me build a thriving business is Beautytap’s Beauty Expert Program. This digital, diverse, community-based platform gives beauty professionals the opportunity to meet and network with world-renown beauty brands, attend master classes hosted by brand founders, experience new, innovative products, write trusted reviews, and connect with other experts in the beauty industry. Beautytap is essentially the LinkedIn Of Beauty!
Step Two: Find Your Niche.
According to Google, the beauty industry is valued at over $500 billion dollars globally. You don't want to get lost in the crowd, so zeroing in on a niche is the best way to stand out. Begin by building one area of specialty and grow from there. For example, a makeup artist could think about starting out by offering faux eyelashes, given they are very popular and require maintenance. Place all of your efforts into marketing yourself as a faux eyelash expert. As you grow a steady clientele, you can consider adding a few beauty products to recommend and sell to your clients (such as eyeliners, eyeshadow, and lip gloss) along with your makeup services. Beautytap's Beauty Expert Program offers many revolutionary ways to learn more about new product launches, ingredients, and technologies that help build your knowledge, stay well-informed and ahead of the game. Your clients will appreciate this and look to you as their trusted beauty source, building loyalty and expanding your business.
Step Three: Create Your Marketing Strategy.
Beauty is visual, but it is also about information. It’s essential to stay on top of social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Clubhouse, or wherever your clients spend most of their time to stay in touch and connected. These apps are ideal for quick, bite-sized information. Technology is evolving, and it’s vital to stay in touch with your customers. Pick the social media channel that speaks to you the most and stick with it. In addition to being present on social media, you must also create your own website, even if it’s just a domain name and a webpage with your bio and contact info. If you are a beauty content writer, create a blog. Consumers love imagery, but others want to be educated as well, so don't leave those potential clients out. Many people read through reviews, blogs, and social postings prior to making informed buying decisions. For example, if your clients want to learn more about a buzzy ingredient, such as hyaluronic acid, create a deep dive blog and social media post about it and direct them to those channels. Social postings also serve as their own mini-blogs. Maintaining your own up-to-date website and solid social media presence helps you appear relevant, informed, and professional.
Step Four: Network.
As you begin to grow your business, networking is vital. Before COVID, whenever I wanted to promote my aphrodisiac spa line, my designer friends invited me to New York Fashion Week events to meet potential clients and salon owners. I always gave an introduction about my line of products and secured sales. Salons would continue to reach out to me and many of their clients are still my regular clients to this day. It’s imperative to create a digital footprint as mentioned above. If you want a brand to notice you, contact the brand you’re interested in partnering with directly and think about sending a tutorial - 15-30 second video of you experiencing and talking about their product and what you like about it. Reach out to many brands this way, and eventually, you have a good shot at landing the right opportunity. You can't just rely on your social media followers and cross your fingers that you will be discovered, although it does happen. The key is to hustle, create compelling content and be proactive. As part of the Beautytap Expert community, you meet and stay connected with many other verified beauty professionals, so the networking is vast. There is also tremendous opportunity to collaborate with the high-profile beauty brands they partner with as you have direct access to them via their master classes. And these brands also read your product reviews; your well-written, detailed, thoughtful opinions (make sure they’re polished and professional) are essentially a digital calling card.
Step Five: Image Is Everything.
As the classic saying goes, "Image is Everything," even more so in the beauty industry. It may not be the most appropriate thing to say but I must be honest – much of today’s culture is socially accepted sloppiness and it doesn't work when you are trying to promote yourself as a beauty and skincare pro. You are the face of your brand, so you must always look the part. Period. You want to inspire your clients by looking good because you are the example and inspiration. This means always maintaining a clean, polished appearance - nails must be painted or buffed and not chipped, and your teeth, hair, subtle fragrance, and wardrobe must be on point.
Step Six: Make It Official.
If you want a successful business in any industry, take professional classes. And for the beauty industry in particular, obtain an esthetician and/or cosmetology license. These are not always required, depending on your profession, but the more knowledge you have about skincare, ingredients, treatments, cosmetics, and makeup, the more qualified you are. Never stop learning. I took a business class on branding and selling at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and it has helped my business in many ways. Always continue educating yourself, as this will set you apart from the competition, along with building loyal and trusted relationships with your clients and customers.
These six steps are the beginning of how I created a successful beauty business. Use them to create your foundation and build your own flourishing business.
Now’s the time! Seize the day! It’s never too late!
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