How To Build Confidence For More Effective Communication

Communication plays a crucial role in our lives. Either when we are looking to meet someone, a job interview, being able to express our opinions about a subject, talking in public, and educating our clients about skincare and products, among so many other forms of communication are an integral part of our lives.

However, some people are just shy or not confident enough in their ability to communicate with others. So, how can you overcome this obstacle? How can you build confidence for more effective communication?

Here are 3 tips that will help you gain confidence in yourself:

#1: Body Language

The truth is that your body language says a lot about you. If you tend to walk with your head down, don't look at other people's eyes when you're talking with them, being nervous all the time, especially when someone talks to you or asks you a question, others see you as someone with lack of confidence. So, they will tend to not even hear what you have to say or simply ignore you.

When you enter in a room make sure that you walk straight like if you have a book on the top of your head. When talking to someone, look directly at this person's eyes, speak but also hear what others have to say, and always smile.

#2: Use The Power Of Visualization

Even though you may be one of those people who doesn't believe in the power of visualization, just give it a try. But do it as it should be done. There's a good reason why most successful people and athletes use visualization. Visualise yourself being the most informative and inspirational beauty expert. When you see this, how do you walk, how do you talk, what do you say? See your customers responding with enthusiasm and excitement.

When you have a goal and it seems that you'll never get there, visualization can be a key factor since it will serve as motivation.

#3: Cut Out The Negatives

The truth is that even when you see someone looking at you, you always end up wondering what is wrong with you instead of feeling good about yourself. One of the things that tend to hold people back when they are communicating (or trying to do so) is that their head is full of negative thoughts. All they can think of is that their comments or remarks won't be appreciated, no one wants to listen to their opinion, among so many other negative things.

Beauty practitioners especially can have negative thoughts when it comes to talking to their customers about products and services. They are thinking: “What if they can’t afford it? What if they are not interested? What if they think I don’t know what I’m talking about?”

The result of this kind of thoughts will reflect on yourself. You'll be nervous, distracted, stressed out. So, just try to block all these negative thoughts on your mind. Here are some strategies you can use to change the way you think to help you overcome these negative thoughts: How to change your attitude - Changing your attitude can change your life

If you would like more tips about overcoming your fears to help you boost your confidence, this will help: HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF SELLING

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How to Stay Motivated at Work

Most of the people find it difficult to stay focused at work. Motivation seems really a far cry at such times. So, we have brought you some simple tricks and ways to keep your attention from diverting and stay committed to your work.

1. Set up Goals

Setting up goals is a very important step towards staying motivated. In today’s digital work, this task has been simplified and amped up further to keep us focused on the digital reminders and alarm systems. Set a target of how many clients you will rebook today, how many products you will sell today, how many clients you will contact you haven't seen for a while. Turn it into a game, set up some charts and try to beat your best target. When you do, give yourself an award, enjoy a nice cake or your favorite food that day.

2. Commit to giving your best shot

Motivation can also be achieved by trying to do your best at work. When you stay committed to working your best and achieve good outcomes, motivation follows naturally. Commit to making someone smile today. Give your clients an unbelievable experience they will rave about. Try something different and unexpected that will surprise them.

3. Take short breaks

Try to incorporate short breaks in your work routine. Simply walk away from your desk for a few moments or add a tea break to give your mind a rest. This will help to refresh your mind to get focused again. Get out of the salon during your lunch break, get some fresh air and try and find a local park or some greenery you can enjoy. A bit of sunshine and nature will recharge and revitalize you.

4. Reward yourself

Set up a reward system for yourself in order to keep yourself motivated. Treat yourself with kindness and get an occasional ice-cream or anything you love to have to keep your motivational juices flowing. When we had a busy day at work, we would put a lolly jar or cookies in the staff room to enjoy in between clients. If you reach your monthly target, why not reward yourself with a facial or massage?

5. Hang out with your Co-workers

Spending more time with your co-workers might seem weird but it is a good idea to create a friendly atmosphere at work. This way you would have good feelings for each other and enjoy working together. If you have the chance have lunch together or if the team reaches a target have dinner or enjoy a high tea together.

6. Jazz up your wardrobe for work

Go shopping for work and amp up your wardrobe by getting something refreshing which would make you feel good about yourself. Jazzing up your wardrobe will jazz up your mood for better. If you are wearing a uniform, find some nice jewelry, shoes, hair accessories or a new lipstick that will give the uniform a lift.

7. Read industry publications

Stay up to date with the latest technology and refresh your skin knowledge by reading industry publications. Keep the magazines in your lunch room so you can have a little read whenever things are quiet or while you enjoy a tea break. You will get some good ideas to discuss with your clients and keep them in the loops with the latest trends. Staying informed and refreshing your skin and product knowledge will help you give more value to your clients.

So, now say goodbye to the Monday blues that seem to stretch on all week long at work. Incorporating these simple tricks into your work life will help you a great deal in staying motivated and feeling accomplished throughout the week.

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Tips For Growing Your Beauty Business in The Next Financial Year

Happy New Financial Year!

July 1st brings a new year in business. This is a good time to start with a clean slate. Review your past year performance, assess what worked, what didn't work and make plans for the future to improve your performance and grow your business.

In business, there is no such thing as staying the same. Your business is either growing or falling behind. As the market grows, your competitors grow, inflation grows and the cost of living grows. Your business needs to grow in order to stay viable and stable. So what will you do this next financial year to help your business grow?

There is only so much you personally can do. There are only so many hours you can put in. If you are running a business at capacity, there are ways to increase revenue over the next financial year.

There are ways to grow your business. First, you need to decide on a strategy, write down your goals then make a plan on how you will achieve your goals. Here are some tips on growing your business this new financial year.

To grow your business you either need to increase the number of customers you service, bring new customers to the business, have existing clients spend more with you by seeing you more frequently or buying more products and treatments, or you can raise your prices.

If you personally cannot take on more customers then you need to hire people to help you in the business or outsource tasks that take too much of your time working on your business. By hiring people you will bring in more revenue as your people look after more customers that you physically could not do. The next step to think about is then, how will you bring in new customers?

Another strategy is to free yourself up by outsourcing tasks that take you away from servicing your customers. You need to free yourself up to bring more revenue into your business. Work out what value you bring to your business. If you bring in $100 per hour, and it takes you an hour to do your bookkeeping, then it's going to be cheaper for you to pay someone one hour to do the bookkeeping for you. Think about what you can outsource and make it happen to boost your revenue.

Another way to increase revenue is to have your existing customers buy more from you. This can be done with add-on treatments,  purchasing products with treatments and increasing the frequency your customers purchase from you. Do you need to bring in another service that can be used as an add-on to help increase your revenue? Do you have existing services you can package up so that your clients will spend more with you during their visit? Are there upgrades you can offer your clients?

How are your retail sales? Retailing is the fastest and easiest way to increase your revenue. How can you increase your retail sales? Do you or your staff need training? Do you need to have more products available for retail?

Finally, how can you increase the frequency of your clients purchasing from you? Do you need a loyalty program, a customer club or point system? Do you need to offer incentives and rewards to have customers buy more from you? There are so many ways you can boost your business revenue and your income through retailing in the salon or spa.

The final way to increase your revenue is to raise your prices. If you have already implemented strategies I discussed above, or if you have not raised your prices for some years, it may be time to have a conversation with your accountant. Time to look at your services menu and assess what you should be charging your customers to increase your revenue and grow your business.

As you close off and wrap up another year in business, it is time to sit down and make some plans on how you can increase growth in the new financial year. You need to look at your business and decide which strategy or a combination of these strategies will work for your business best. Make a plan, set some goals and take action early. The earlier you start the sooner you will start seeing results.

If you need help in strategic business planning or need advice on how you can grow your beauty business send me a message and let's have a chat. I am available for business coaching and I can help you find ways to grow your business, make some plans and set some goals.

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Believe in yourself, believe that you can help your clients

People dream of having a great skin. People want to have a healthy, youthful, clear, problem-free skin. It boosts their self-confidence.

They way people feel about their skin affects every aspect of their life. I watch my daughter when she has a breakout, how she feels self-conscious because kids at school are cruel. They ask her "Why do you have a red skin? Eww, you have pimples on your face!" She hates it. When her skin clears up, she is so happy.

I was working on a beauty counter in David Jones many years ago, and a lady came by asking about her skin. I offered to give her a mini skin treatment and a makeup application to try the products. She looked and felt amazing afterward. She purchased her products and on the way out I watched her as she stopped several times, looking at her skin in the mirror, smiling, touching her face gently with her fingertips. It was as if she was surprised and delighted how good she looked. My heart burst with happiness for her. I was so grateful to be able to help another person feel so good about themselves. I couldn't wait to do it for someone else. Helping others look and feel great about themselves is incredibly rewarding.

You know what it takes to get a great looking skin. It's not just the professional treatments, it's the products they use at home to support the professional treatments that make the ultimate difference. You, as their skin care coach, need to teach them how.

To teach, you need to discover what your clients want to learn, then tell them what they need and how to achieve these results. Show them which products they need to use and educate them on how to use the products effectively to achieve results.

If you don't know, find out. Learn from your peers, read product information online, learn from your suppliers, attend regular training, read industry publications, attend post graduate courses online and offline. There are so many resources out there. You just need to pull your finger out and do it. Do it to boost your confidence. Do it so that you believe in yourself. Do it so that you can be of help to others.
You have the power to change peoples lives for the better. If you really want to.

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DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO RUN YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

Not everyone is cut out to run a small business. Some people are followers, some are leaders and some are entrepreneurs.

It's my experience that most people who own and operate a small business, have never had any formal training or experience in the business. They just decide that because they are really good at what they do, they are qualified to open or buy and operate their own business. They do not realize that it takes far more than being good at that they do, to operate their own business. This is why it becomes so stressful for them when they eventually venture out, and most new businesses (or new owners of businesses) fail, close shop and lose their money in the first year of operating a business.

They don't understand what it takes to own and operate a small business. To own and operate a small business, you may or may not have the skills in the services you provide (such as a beauty therapist) but you certainly have to be educated and qualified in running a small business (such as investors, I know of a few beauty salon owners that are not from the industry, but have extensive knowledge and experience in running a business).

Skills required to own and operate a small business include:

- Financial management such as bookkeeping, payroll, tax obligations, ability to read and understand financial reports and financial planning. Most people in the beauty business are weakest in this area. They simply do not understand the financial figures of a successful beauty business. They take money out of the register for coffee, incidentals, meals etc. not realizing they are out of control in their finances.

- Marketing: most beauty business owners are reluctant to do any marketing for their business, fearing it will cost "a lot of money". They make this assumption on the cost of advertising, not doing the numbers on what the advertising will bring to them. Most small business owners make this HUGE mistake. That marketing is expensive. Most marketing costs nothing at all. Let me repeat that. Most of the marketing will cost you no extra cash. Just your creativity, your mind and your time. It takes knowledge to do that. There are many ways you can grow your business without spending a single dollar.

- Retail sales: Most small business owners, especially in the beauty industry, have no control of retail sales or significant skills in sales. They assume I build a salon, open the doors and they will come. I will be fully booked from the very beginning. Most assume I do not have to do anything to sell the products, people will buy,  it will happen on its own. Most are disappointed when they open their doors, there are no customers in sight. Then they panic because they have not set any funds aside to live off while the business is established and grows. Smart and experienced business owners accept that they have to have other income to support them for 1-2 year while the new baby gets off the ground.

- Customer service: Sadly, many people that set up their own business do not understand or possess the necessary skills of good customer service. They have little experience and knowledge on how to grow their business through business networking, marketing, retail sales, managing inventory, dealing with customers and solving problems.

-  Business communication and negotiation are a whole new ball game. It takes patience, tact, experience and business intelligence to deal with insurance brokers, banks, suppliers, vendors, clients, and employees.

- Team Leadership is probably the most important part of owning your own business. Your staff is your business. When they are unhappy, customers will be unhappy. If your staff does not support you in your vision, your business will fail. If your staff is treated like your friends, your business will suffer. If your staff is poorly trained, badly supervised, not encouraged, not motivated or supported, your business will fail. The delegation, time management, recruitment & staff training, staff appraisals and staff motivation are essential to running a successful small business. Staff needs strong leaders, they need direction, they need to be inspired and motivated.

Most staff are only in it for a job. These are the hard facts. Their main priority is themselves and their family. It’s up to you, as an employer, to make their job enjoyable for them, otherwise, they will not perform, or worse, give up and leave.

- Project management and planning. If you want to succeed long-term in business, you need to have a vision and a plan. You need to know where your business is going for the short-term and the long-term. You need to have the skills, financial resources, and support to be able to effectively manage business resources, keep the business looking fresh, modern, safe and competitive, and continue to grow your business offer with new products and treatments.

It really takes a lot more to run a beauty business that basic services. It takes knowledge, skills and experience in running a small business.

Here is an excellent book I recommend people read before they contemplate buying or setting up a new business. It's an eye opener.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81948.The_E_Myth_Revisited

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IS YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS PRESENCE BRINGING YOU MORE CUSTOMERS?

How visible is your beauty business online? Can people find you easily and what do people do when they visit your website? Do your prospective customers engage with you on social media? What impressions do people get when they try to learn more about your business?

My husband and I are planning a short getaway. I researched the area where we will stay to book a day spa experience for myself and a facial for my husband. I found the whole process quite revealing which is why I decided to write this article. 

Here is what I learned from the perspective of a consumer when looking for a beauty business online, and my suggestions for you to help your beauty business stand out.

• Get professional photos of your business and proudly display them on your website, Facebook, Instagram, Google places, and True Local business listing.

• Make sure your website is up to date. It has to look fresh, clean and must be easy to navigate. Fancy slideshows, music, and graphics are not necessary, they can slow down the website and frustrate the user experience. It's easier to just hit the back button if the website is too slow.

• Have social links clearly displayed so people can connect with you on social. Your social posts should be about you and your business. Make it fun, engaging, relevant, interesting, educational and informative. Give value and be generous with your information, for every promotional or sales post you do, you need to give four info-valuable posts. 

• The blog on your website is essential for SEO (search engine optimization) and to keep your clients engaged, informed and educated. SEO means how high up does your business display in Google search results. Top search results give the impression of the business being more popular. When you are competing with dozens of beauty businesses online, first impressions make a huge difference. Make sure your blog has weekly updates to keep Google happy.

• Include personalized posts on social media and on your blog. People would like to get to know you and your staff, to make that connection. It’s a great way to break the ice and to build rapport so when your new clients come to see you, there is already an element of trust and connection. 

• Your website’s home page is the front window of your business online. Make it easy to read, uncluttered, beautiful, fast, and tell a story of why customers should choose your business. 

• Share great content on your blog and social media, useful information, interesting tips, and more information about treatments. Your social media needs to be updated at least twice a week and your blog weekly. Google loves content and displays websites with fresh and engaging content higher in search results. 

• There is nothing worse than trying to read information on mobile devices that is designed for a large screen. Your website must be mobile-friendly. Google gives preference to mobile friendly websites and "punishes" those that and not optimized for mobile by displaying that website further down in search results. 

When was the last time you tested how your business visibility rates online?

During my research, I googled “beauty salons” and the area where we plan to stay. Over 100 beauty businesses were listed near the area I was looking at. Pages and pages of search results. So I refined the search results to “spas” and of the 100, only 9 came up on Google. Eventually, I refined my search to 7 spas who had a website, and I looked at these to determine where I would like to go.

Of the 7 websites I have visited, 3 look tired with old information, poor quality images or no images of the salon whatsoever. Only two websites had interior and exterior images of the salon/spa and both were blurry and of poor quality. Other websites I looked at had fresh and bright stock images which made the website look attractive, but it's clear they were stock images which tell me nothing of the beauty business itself.

I was looking for something I felt I had a connection with, so displaying a gallery of salon images on your website is essential. I wanted to see the reception and the rooms as well. I was looking for an example of where I and my husband would be relaxing and enjoying our treatments.

Next, I checked out the location of each spa on Google. I wanted to see where the spa was located and how the salon/spa appeared from the outside on Google and if any of the spas had customer reviews. Out of the 7 places I was researching only one had excellent images on Google. Images of the spa interior, and exterior and also had some customer reviews. The rest of the spas were not listed on Google business.

I then looked at the salons' social media pages, most were on Facebook and some on Instagram which was great. It helped me get to know the business a little better to help me decide where I would like to go and visit. The social pages had nice images of motivational quotes, and some products, but no images of treatments or interesting beauty related content. Nothing to tell me about what the spa offers, except specials which were now irrelevant as they were posted before Christmas.

Social media management and managing your online presence in this competitive market is essential to make sure your business rate highly on Google. Promote your business online and let people know what you offer and where customers can find you. Long-gone are the days when all you needed was to place a single listing every year in the Yellow Pages for people to find you. Today, people search online and on their mobile devices so it is important that your business is highly visible online with fresh, new and interesting content.  

Let me help you with creating an engaging online presence to boost your Google ranking. Email me for a price list.

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