Business Cards—a must have

To this question, I answer with an emphatic YES!

There are a few printed materials that I believe are must-haves for an aesthetician running her own salon. First and most obvious (and the most useful tool as well) is your business card.

Perhaps right now you work for someone at their salon. Even so, I believe it is important for you to have a business card with your name on it, no matter your work situation. That may sound obvious, but I have met many salon professionals who don’t have any kind of card or just the salon’s generic business card.

If the owner is unwilling to make cards with your name on them, it is relatively inexpensive for you to have something made. If this is the case, ask your boss to at least give you the name of their printer who you can contact and have your personal cards made. Going through the salon’s printer insures a cohesive look for your business card, with the salon’s brand, font, and look, which is what you want. Ask other workers in your spa and see if you all can go in together and save money. Once the printer has the ink on the press, having more than one different business card printed is much less expensive than doing multiple cards individually.

Here is my business card when I worked for Rosewood’s Spa at the Crescent. I was fortunate that they provided all of us (facialists, massage therapists, nail technicians, et al) with the company business cards with our own names and professional services on them. This is essential to have to hand out to all of your clients or potential clients, whether inside or outside the salon environment. 

If you’re an independent salon, you want to establish a relationship with a printer because in the course of your business you will have several things that need to be printed including your all-important business card. It’s a necessary expenditure well worth it if you want to make it easy for your clients to contact—and remember you.

Front & back of my business cards

The front of a business card is obvious. You have your name, a logo if you have one, your phone number, and the address of your salon. If you have a website, you’ll include that along with your business email address.

The back of the card is important real estate. My card, as you can see, has the covers of both my books along with quotes from a celebrity and a reviewer. Because mine is a special case, most of you will have a blank slate to work with on the back of your business card. Here you can come up with a number of things to use there. 

Some salons utilize the back of their business cards as next appointment cards. I see this most often. If you have special advertising you want any and all clients and prospective clients to see—put it there. Use the space on the back of your business card for something. Don’t leave this blank!

Here is my first card when I opened my first salon in 1994. I used this “logo” until I had one professionally created years later. I used it on my stationary and all things Carolyn Ash Skin Care.

To read about most all of the important things I use in my business, see:

• Some of my printed material: all links so far

First-Time Client Information Packets

My basic Client Take-Home Packet

Just like the title of this post suggests, I like to give my client a lot of information on her first visit with me—and throughout the life of her being in my care. The following is what a client I’m seeing for the first time leaves my salon with. Occasionally someone will come in (many times on a gift certificate) who I can tell right off the bat does not want to talk, talk about her skin, get my advice, nor leave with samples. In these cases, although rare, I listen to the signs and signals I’m receiving and just give a great facial. These few clients don’t leave with anything unless they inquire before they exit my salon. Usually—99% of the time—first-timers leave with the following “packets”:

• My business card
• My referral program card
• Product instruction card
• Product brochure
• Any incidental information sheets
• Product Samples

All of the above items have a corresponding blog post. Simply click on the title to be taken to that article. Read through these to get an idea of how I take care of my clients, first-timers and regulars alike.

I have several different-sized bags for products as well as for Information Packets. I don’t want a client to just shove all these ingredients into her purse; I like everything to be neat and together in a nicely presented bag. Sometimes I just put the samples in a little colored mesh bag and leave the paperwork put together in the product brochure. (Yonka’s brochure is fairly big and thick, so all other papers fit in there nicely.) I rarely sell a first-time client products on her initial visit—I want her to try the appropriate product samples at home first. But sometimes she needs cleanser or toner, something that isn’t as skin type specific as a cream, so I’ll put the Information Packet in the same bag with her purchase(s).

However you want to or currently handle product instructions and your business information, do be sure to hand something to your first-time clients to take home.

Aesthetician/Pros: Regarding this blog

This was posted today on my layperson’s blog: ageless beauty, timeless skin. Click on the title: Aestheticians/Pro: PLEASE READ THIS to be taken to the article.

Aestheticians/Pros: PLEASE READ THIS!

WELCOME and Congratulations on starting your new business!

Welcome to this blog! All the articles you will find here are my giveaways to you. I have been a working aesthetician for 30 years (1985) and have owned and run my own Carolyn Ash Skin Care businesses in Dallas, Chicago, and Boulder CO since 1994—21 years on March 1st! I have written 2 skin care books, and have a lot of information to share.

I divided the articles into easy-to-use categories, which will help you navigate this blog. In most cases I will post one article per day. These posts were originally going to be published on my “layperson” blog: ageless beauty, timeless skin under the Aestheticians/Pros category. But I felt these articles don’t really belong on my blog for clients and the public in general. Most people aren’t interested in what you will be interested to learn. 

I hope you find these articles helpful, especially if you plan to open your own skin care business. Most people starting and running a business have made mistakes along the way, I know I have. I will let you know the mistakes I’ve made as well as the good ideas I implemented—anything I can contribute to help you succeed in business. As I mentioned earlier, this blog—for me—is my giveaway to you.

Check in often and use this as a reference location to help you with your career/business decisions. I wish you well as an entrepreneur in the skin care world or any industry!