Website ideas: all links so far

• Press Releases to Promote Your Business—Skin Care Pro Launches New Website

• Services explained

• Salon Hours + scheduling ideas

• About Me—Skin Expert

• About me—Ballet to Beauty

• About me—An Interview

• Testimonials & Reviews

• My Cancellation Policy

• Directions to your salon

   

  

Website ideas: Directions to your salon

This may seem obvious, but having written directions to your salon is a must if you have a website. It never fails to amaze me how many times clients cannot find my office when they have been on my website, read the directions, and still get lost. My office is not hard to find, I assure you. Now with GPS and iPhones that have a NeverLost-type feature, it actually is more rare to have a client call minutes before her appointment because she can’t find my location. But still, it does happen.

On the photo of my webpage (above) I not only have written directions from different locations in and around Boulder and the surrounding counties (if the client is coming from Denver, for instance), but I also have a MapQuest link on the page so a client can input the address she will be coming from and get exact directions to my salon. Now, because of all the navigation systems that almost everyone has on their phones, I only have a MapQuest link with not a lot of written directions.

However you choose to direct your clients to your salon, do have something on your website that makes it easy for anyone to know where you are located. Click here to be taken to the directions page of my [new version] website.

Website ideas: My Cancellation Policy

This is the cancellation policy on my (older version) website. I will go into detail about why I have each item listed so you can better understand their importance to me and for my clients to read so they know how I run my business. I will let a first-time client know about this policy during our initial phone conversation to set up her facial appointment. If you don’t explain your cancellation policy, you really can’t enforce it.

SALON

Cancellation Policy

• If you are a first-time client, a credit card number is required to secure your appointment
• If unable to keep your appointment, kindly give at least 24 hours notice. Otherwise we reserve the right to charge for time reserved
• ALL appointments are confirmed the day before. If you no-show any appointment, you will be charged full appointment fee
• If you are sick or feel like you’re getting sick, please call me to reschedule your appointment

With all that said: I look forward to meeting you!

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If you are a first-time client, a credit card number is required to secure your appointment. I do this for two reasons. The first is obvious: I don’t know this person and I don’t know if they are actually going to come to their appointment. At the beginning of my career, and after a few years of having new clients cancel at the last minute or just not show up for their first appointment with me, I decided to put this policy in place. I let the client know I will charge their card full appointment fee if they no-show this (or any) appointment. And without 24-hours notice of cancellation, I also will charge them. In actuality, charging on less than 24-hours notice depends on the circumstances, and I make an executive decision at the time of the cancellation.

Reason two? By taking a credit card number and letting the client know they will be charged if they don’t come to their appointment and/or give a reasonable amount of notice if they need to cancel, it cements in their mind that I take my business seriously. And I am asking them to do the same. 

On occasion, for whatever reason, I don’t get the CC number on a first-time client booking. I will say, however, on the rare occasion this client doesn’t show up for her confirmed facial appointment, I feel like kicking myself for not implementing this simple-to-enact policy. If you’re running a busy salon (even if it’s just you), I highly recommend implementing and enforcing some sort of cancellation policy.

If unable to keep your appointment, kindly give at least 24 hours notice. Otherwise we reserve the right to charge for time reserved. Not only is this up on the website, at the time I’m booking the facial on the phone with the client, I ask them to give me at least 24-hours notice of cancelling.

If you are sick or feel like you’re getting sick, please call me to reschedule your appointment. This is so important to me, I highlighted it! I can’t count how many clients have come in for their facials while running a fever or worse—outright sick. I will never understand this. Perhaps they think it will make them feel better to lie down and have someone rub their face. For me it is disrespectful to me as a person, not just as an aesthetician working mere inches away from their infirmed face. And likewise, don’t you go to work sick. Facials are given within a very intimate space and germs are easily spread no matter who is sick. Stay home, rest, and be well—and the same goes for clients!

Last but not least: With all that said: I look forward to meeting you! And I sincerely mean that. After all the ins and outs of policies, I truly do look forward to meeting new clients!

Also see: 

• When a client comes in sick for some tips on what to do if this happens to you
• Next appointment cards for more information on appointments and cancellations 
• More on My Cancellation Policy

Website ideas: Testimonials & Reviews

The Testimonials page from an older version of my website

Testimonials and reviews are essentially the same thing. They are words of praise from satisfied clients. In this article, I use the two words interchangeably.

Testimonials can really help promote your business. If you have a website, definitely ask for testimonials! If you don’t currently have a website for your business, I still recommend asking your clients for positive—written—remarks about your business and services. You can use them in other ways besides on the Web. Have self-addressed stamped postcards you can hand out to your clients for them to write a review and send back to you. Keep these for future promotional use. If these reviews are on the Internet, you already have them in a secure place for future use.

How do you get testimonials? Sometimes your clients may write a review on Google or other review sites without your even knowing. But asking for a testimonial is a sure way to actually have something written for others to read about how a client loved your service(s).

Let your client know they don’t need to write a novel—just a sentence or two about the quality of your service and about you as a (qualified) aesthetician. Asking people to do something to help promote your business may seem like an inconvenience, but keeping your business alive and thriving is what you, the business owner, are all about—or you should be. Don’t force the issue, but you may be surprised how happy and willing most of your clients will be to saying nice things about your facial and their experience at your salon.

The Write a Review page from an older version of my website

On the back side of an instruction sheet I have for one of my products, I put a request for a review. All new clients get this sheet in with their take-home packet and samples. I’m not verbally asking so the client can write something or not, and no pressure whatsoever is involved. I personally don’t like being confronted and I don’t want to put pressure on any of my clients. If a client loves the service I am providing, spending a few minutes writing a testimonial on the Internet is not asking for a lot. If they’re happy with your services more often than not clients are happy to share what they know.

My request for a review on the back side of an instruction sheet.

Don’t be shy—ask for reviews. It will help build your business and enable you to help more clients!

Website ideas: About me—An Interview

The following article is something I wrote based on past interviews I’ve had as well as coming up with different questions that a client might like the answers to. To come up with some of the questions I thought about what a new client might want to know about my skin care business as well as who I am as an aesthetician. And, as I mention in About Me—Skin Expert, I also took questions I had seen in another article and fit it to me and my own approach to skin care. No one knows you or your business like you do, so write about yourself and create similar written pieces. It really doesn’t matter who is asking the questions; the important thing is to give people truthful information about you so they can make up their own minds about coming in to see you.

This is a page from the About Carolyn section of my [older version] website (carolynash.com).

The About Carolyn page on my website: Interview

 

An Interview with Carolyn Ash

Me, age 50, at my Boulder office

What is the Carolyn Ash Skin Care approach to healthy skin?

Getting regular facials and using high-quality products at home are vital to achieving and maintaining clear, vibrant skin. But I believe you must also care for your skin from the inside out to bring about the best results. Understanding the correlation between internal, balanced health and external beauty is what my work is all about. I’m interested in long-term, obtainable results that help my clients achieve healthy skin—for a lifetime.

Do you offer a complimentary skin care consultation?
A thorough analysis of the skin is one of the first steps in my facial. Samples are provided at the end of the treatment for new clients to take home and learn about how these products can benefit their skin—without any high-pressure sales pitch. By getting the facial as well as a consultation, you can see how the products and the information you receive in the facial will help you achieve the results you are looking for.

Do you see both women and men for skin care?
Absolutely! There has been this long-standing mythology that says facials are for women only. I actually think TV shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy helped to clear up that misconception. However, you don’t have to be a “metrosexual” to enjoy the benefits of a facial. Skin is skin, no matter which gender is wearing it. I always appreciate a man coming into my salon. It says he understands the importance of skin care maintenance and he doesn’t buy into the myth I mentioned earlier. More power to him!

When should someone begin thinking about a specific skin care routine? Is it best to wait until you see a need for it?
I like to say it’s never too late or too early to start taking care of your skin. Obviously, until you are in your teens (going through puberty), there really isn't a need to be concerned about your skin. But a teen with problem skin up to an adult with or without problems who wants to get into a routine, yes—it’s a good idea to start a program, which ideally includes regular facials. On the other hand, if you are 30, 40, 50 or even older and have never really taken care of your skin and want to start, it’s not too late! It comes down to priorities. We do in life what is highest on our priority list. Once skin care gets on someones list, that’s when I start seeing that client.

Do you think there is anything lacking in the world of skin care today or something that you would like to see happen?
Well, you’ve just touched on one of my soapboxes! I am and always have been a firm believer that we spend too much time on the outside and not enough time on the inside. Let me explain. I may have a client who comes in troubled about some aspect of her skin. It’s not young-looking enough, she may truly be battling severe problems like acne or something else. But many times this person’s lifestyle does not support that which she is seeking. She is trying to fix the outside, the skin, rather than assisting that process by going within. This entails looking at the diet with a lot of scrutiny. It also means fessing up to excesses like sun, sugar, alcohol, and stress. You can change the outside, but without enhancing that change by strengthening the inside—your internal health—I think it is a waste of time (and money!). I advocate doing what you can to feel better about yourself. But please don’t neglect your physical health. Without that, the outside doesn’t matter. I don’t think the skin care industry talks about that. It seems to be more interested in proliferating the idea of quick fixes and miracles as a way to healthy skin. I guess I just have a different opinion on how to get there.

What types of results are your clients seeing with your facials?
Healthier skin. Clearer skin. Less of a need or a total elimination of foundation (for women). A sense of well being about their faces. The other day a new client came back to get some products. She said that several people in her life had been complimenting her skin—how good it looks. She was ecstatic! She told me that had never happened before and it really made her feel good. This was just a woman who began getting facials and using good products. She didn’t get surgery and didn’t need to change anything dramatically to get the results she wanted: good skin that shows! That is a consistent result from my facials.

Another benefit, not really a result, is education. This above everything else is what I do best. If you want to know about skin care and how to get your skin looking great, my salons are the places to go. I have been honing my skills since being licensed in skin care in 1985—almost 30 years! I don’t have big salons nor do I do anything other than facials, but this is what works—for me. And my client is the person who is looking to simplify his or her skin care routine and still come out with great skin.

Carolyn Ash Skin Care is located in Boulder, Colorado. Carolyn is the author of Timeless Skin: Healthy Skin for a Lifetime as well as her second book, Skin Care A to Z.

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This and the last two posts (Website ideas: About Me—Skin Expert, About me—Ballet to Beauty) constitute the About Me section of my website. I recommend looking at several websites, skin care or otherwise, and read through their perspective About pages to get ideas on what you might want to add to your own website. Having information available is important for your clients to learn a little more about you before they come in for a facial or to simply decide if they want to come into your salon.

Website ideas: About me—Ballet to Beauty

This article is in the About Carolyn section of my website, carolynash.com. One of my publicists wrote it when my first book, Timeless Skin, was coming out and I was in high-promotion mode. Through the years I have updated it to correspond with where I’m living and any other updates that are needed.

About me page on my website: From Ballet to Beauty

Carolyn Ash
from Ballet to Beauty

Me, age 14

A passion for health, healing, and the human body led Carolyn Ash to a career as an aesthetician and a renowned skin care specialist—but her unique understanding of skin and the body can be traced to her years as a ballet dancer. 

A dancer since the age of four, Ash studied on scholarship at Balanchine’s School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City before injuries forced her to give up dancing. Yet it is her experience as a dancer that is what she attributes to her unique insight about the connection between mind, body, and spirit. 

“Ballet dancing really puts you in-tune with your body like nothing else can,” says Ash. “Through dancing I learned to appreciate the key role that diet and exercise play in determining how we look and feel.”

At age 23, Ash decided to follow her avid interest in health and healing and moved to Dallas to attend skin care school. In 1986, when the Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas decided to open a spa, Ash was hired as a facialist and massage therapist.

While at the world famous Spa at the Crescent, her talent as an aesthetician quickly became recognized. In ’86 and ’87 she received the distinction of “Best Facial in Dallas” by D Magazine and “Best Facial” by W Magazine. Celebrities such as Kim Alexis, musician Lisa Loeb, and journalist Robin Leach also discovered Ash’s talents as a skin care expert, and many celebrities have continued to seek her advice over the years.

In 1990, Carolyn left Dallas to live in Los Angeles, working for yet another renowned spa at The Biltmore Hotel in Beverly Hills, as well as Dr. Harold Murad’s A Sense of Self Day Spa in Brentwood, California.

After two years in L.A., Ash returned to The Spa at the Crescent to share her new knowledge with her Dallas clientele. Then in 1994, she fulfilled her long-long dream of opening her own skin care center, Carolyn Ash Skin Care, which was located in the prestigious Highland Park neighborhood in Dallas.

In 2002 Carolyn moved to Chicago and opened a successful storefront salon on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. Then in 2007 she moved to the state she was born and raised in, Colorado, where she currently has a salon in the wonderful front range town of Boulder. Since opening her salons, she has built a clientele that includes people from all over the country. Based on her experience with literally thousands of clients, she was inspired to write about how to have and maintain healthy skin.

“I wrote Timeless Skin and Skin Care A to Z because I believe people want to be told the truth,” says Ash. “I wanted to dispel the myths and falsehoods floating around about skin care and instead offer sound advice to help people maintain healthy skin...for a lifetime. It all comes down to following a simple skin care routine, protecting your skin from sun exposure, and finding ways to balance the stress in your life.”

“We are all concerned about aging. But aging is a natural process—one that we should embrace not run from. Accepting this inevitable process, acknowledging your inner beauty, and realizing that The Fountain of Youth is found within, is what aging gracefully is all about,” says Ash.

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If you were in a different field prior to becoming an aesthetician, consider putting something about your experience on your website. I have found many clients like to know personal information about me and having something like this for them to read satisfies that curiosity.

Website ideas: About Me—Skin Expert

Below is an article about me on my [older version] website. As with a few of the About Me articles, I wrote this myself. One day I was looking through a magazine and saw an interview with an expert. I liked the layout and with a few modifications to make the questions make sense for my particular field, I had a nicely put-together article. Don’t hesitate to write about yourself. No one knows how your business operates better than you!

Carolyn Ash is determined to demystify skin care

Gone are the days where simple was king. Now consumers are inundated with technology, which includes information on proper skin care. “Taking care of your skin is really very simple. It’s marketing and advertising that tends to complicate the process,” says the 53-year-old skin care veteran, whose always makeup-less skin is flawless.

“I graduated from skin care school in 1985. Unfortunately, back then, they weren’t teaching us much in school. It was incumbent upon me to study on my own to find out the true workings of the skin and how to take care of it. I think schools nowadays are giving a more complete education, which will definitely benefit the client.”

Ash opened her first Carolyn Ash Skin Care salon in Dallas, Texas in 1994 after working for The Spa at the Crescent (also in Dallas) for over seven years. It was at The Spa that Carolyn discovered she had a unique talent to communicate seemingly complex ideas about health and skin care into easy-to-understand steps and procedures. She also learned what to do and what not to do to run a successful business. 

Carolyn Ash does it her way
“I always knew I wanted to have my own business. I like having control over all aspects of how my office(s) run. This way I can be sure the customer is getting the very best service possible. Not too long ago a client came in for a facial and was telling me about a spa she had been to recently. ’I felt like I was just a number there,’ she said. I told her the only number she is at my salon is #1. I like that, and I truly believe that is how everyone feels once they leave my office.” It is a very personalized service offered at Ash’s salons. They aren’t big spas; they are comfortable environments that are set up to be one-on-one with the client. If you are interested in great skin and a wealth of skin care advice, Carolyn Ash Skin Care is the place to go. 

Carolyn Ash emerges as a popular writer and talk show guest
Ash turned her passion for skin care and education into a popular first book entitled Timeless Skin: Healthy Skin for a Lifetime. Her writing efforts have gotten her notoriety in Dallas, Chicago, and in her current hometown, Boulder, Colorado. In the past Carolyn has written for national publications such as Natural Health Magazine and American Baby Magazine. She was also featured on TV, whether on local morning shows, or national programs like The Iyanla Show. In 2004, Ash published a 2nd book: Skin Care from A to Z. This second effort explores reader’s email questions along with case studies of clients from her salons. 

Carolyn Ash: educator and public speaker
After being discovered through the publicity from Timeless Skin, Carolyn Ash has enjoyed educating people all over the country. She has been hired as a public speaker for various skin care companies and has traveled around to salons, helping to educate employees on the Carolyn Ash facial technique. “What I love about public speaking is reaching a lot of people at once versus one person at a time—in a facial for instance. I also love going into a salon and, even though they don’t necessarily use the products I do at my salons, I am able to impart important information on how to give a great facial and how to set up the business to ensure 100% client satisfaction.”

The Carolyn Ash Skin Care mission

The mission at Carolyn Ash Skin Care is to give helpful and honest information on achieving clear and healthy skin...for a lifetime, whether to a client in one of her salons or a person ordering products by mail. Ash states, “If you don’t have clear skin, it will require diligence and discipline to achieve it. But clear and healthy skin is absolutely possible—for everyone. I just want to simplify the process so you can get on with your life!”

UPDATE: I had a complete overhaul of my website in November 2015. I decided to take out these pages and publish them on my layperson’s blogsite, ageless beauty, timeless skin. I recently posted the equivelent of this skin expert page: About Carolyn Ash—skin care expert. Also see:

• Carolyn Ash Skin Care website gets a facelift

Website ideas: Salon Hours + scheduling ideas

The Hours page on my [older version] website.

Availability & Hours

Appointment availability: Tuesdays—Fridays

• Business hours are BY APPOINTMENT. Please call to set up your best appointment time
• General hours of 1st & last appointments: 11am - 5pm
• Salon is closed Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays; product pickup IS available on Mondays
  
• Please call ahead for product pickup
• There is no waxing at the salon
• If you are sick or feel like you are getting sick, please call me to reschedule your appointment
  

To schedule an appointment, request product pickup,
or to purchase a Gift Certificate please call 303.330.6161

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Letting your clients know the hours your salon is open is obvious, but crucial. It’s not the end of the world if a potential customer has to call to find out your hours, but to me it’s not preferable. This information should be readily available, whether on the web or on your salon door or spa desk. Since facials are by appointment services, having your hours readily available for potential clients to see just makes thing easier.

As you can see I have a shorter, 4-day work week (Tuesday-Friday) and not a long day (10:30am to potentially 6:30pm, with first and last appointments at 11am and 5pm). This lighter schedule has come from 30 years working as an aesthetician. I’m still in the game, don’t get me wrong, but I will say without a doubt I am not the workhorse I used to be. This more relaxed way of being coincides with my mental state as a now almost 54-year-old person. I loved having drive and ambition. Now I have experience—a seasoned aesthetician as someone once called me. So don’t take my schedule as lackadaisical, see it as something to strive for perhaps after you have put in your “time.”

When I first started my business in 1994, I worked every other Monday and every other Saturday. This meant that one week I worked Monday-Friday with Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. The next week I’d work Tuesday-Saturday with only Sunday off. This, however, gave me two Saturdays off per month, something I hadn’t experienced for years, along with 3 days off in a row every other week.

Other years I worked a straight Tuesday-Saturday schedule, with Sundays and Mondays off. Toward the end of my time in Chicago, I gave myself three days off per week, working Wednesday-Saturday. Now, as you’ve read, I work four day weeks, Tuesday-Friday. I have a volunteer shift at a horse rescue every Saturday, and I never (never) have worked on Sundays.

Also, now I simply don’t like to work early in the morning. My first appointment is 11am. My previous, normal first client would be 10am—for most of my career. I also would offer as late as a 6pm facial. I preferred this get in later, leave later schedule. You may be different. Or you may have children, so you’ll need to be at home earlier.

With the exception of my Chicago storefront, I have always lived relatively close to my salon spaces. Therefore I haven’t ever really been “stuck” at the office if I have long breaks between facials. I can leave, run errands, go walk my dog, or be home writing if I have a cancellation or if my schedule simply isn’t completely full or I have long breaks. This may not be possible for everyone, but living close to my office is almost a must for me, giving me flexiblity with my by appointment schedule. 

You will be the determiner of your schedule. Working Mondays can be beneficial since many salons and spas are closed Mondays. You, then, can catch a lot of business with people who want Monday facials. Don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works best for you. Without giving different schedules a try, you might not know what will truly work best for you and your clients as well.

This page on my website gives a potential client the basic guidelines for my business. As I’ve said, currently I don’t work in the early morning nor super late at night. In previous years my 1st appointment was at 9:30am or 10am and my last availability was a 6pm facial. Up until recently I always worked on Saturdays, a key day for all the Monday through Friday 9 to 5ers. You will have to come up with whatever hours work best for you in your life. Experiment. You may come up with a schedule you love that you hadn’t considered before.   

If you are sick or feel like you are getting sick, please call me to reschedule your appointment. As you will see as you go through my website pages for salon information, I have this line repeated throughout. It’s repeated because it is important. I would not go into my work environment if I was sick because the potential to get a client sick is high. And I do expect the same respect from my clients. Most are very conscientious and would never put me in harm’s way, but there are always those who just don’t get it. I have had too many sick clients come in for their facials and get me sick. So please, just don’t do it!

Also see:

• When a client comes in sick

Website ideas: Services explained

In the blog post, Take Aways/Take Ones, I show a physical promotional piece a potential client can take home to see what my business and services are all about. Below is the [older version of the] Services page from my website. It has similar information, but not exactly.

The Services page from my website.

SALON/Services
Yonka Facial Treatments

Yonka Signature Facial $115

* Thorough cleansing
* Detailed skin analysis
* Soft gel peel (gommage)                                     
* Micropeel (gentle secondary exfoliation)
* Manual extractions as needed
* Relaxing facial massage with botanical treatment creams and ampoules
* Therapeutic mask with aromatic compress to ensure calming of any skin type                                               
* Finishing cream plus eye and lip treatment
 

Yonka-Paris One-Hour Facial $95

For most of my career I have given the Signature Facial, which is a bit more involved than this 60-minute treatment. However, in this climate of trying to stretch a dollar further, I have found the 60-minute/$95 facial to be a wonderful and popular alternative for those looking for a great treatment at a lower price.

This version of the Yonka Signature Facial is highly effective and beneficial for all skin types. With this hour-long treatment you will receive:

• Thorough cleansing

• Detailed skin analysis

• Soft gel peel (gommage)

• Manual extractions as needed***

• Botanical treatment creams and ampoules designed for each individual’s needs

• Therapeutic mask with aromatic compress to ensure calming of any skin type

• Finishing cream plus eye and lip treatment
  

***If you have “no-problem” skin, I can do a first-time client in an hour. HOWEVER, if you have problems and need a lot of extractions, your initial/first facial needs to be longer and therefore the Signature Facial is what you’ll need to book with me***

Although I try my best to keep to the “60 minute” or other timeframe for each facial, I am not a clock! And some days, depending on your skin’s needs, I go over the time allotted and sometimes I may go under. The times are a guideline and not set in stone.

If you are sick or feel like you are getting sick, 
please call me to reschedule your appointment. 

Call 303.330.6161 to set up your appointment,
and I look forward to seeing you soon!

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Most of this is self-explanatory. I’m just letting the potential client know what she can expect from her facial treatments with me. She can spend as much time as she wants on my website reading about me (in the About Carolyn section), the products I use, as well as all the things listed under the Salon button, including my services. Before I go to see a new practitioner of any vocation, I like to look on the Web and see what he or she is all about. The proof is always in the actual physical interaction with the professional, but giving new clients an idea about who you are and how you run your business can be very beneficial.

You may have already read on other posts where I explain my feelings about clients who come in sick. This is an obvious point, and I have it listed—highlighted in yellow for impact—on every page in the Salon section of my website.