Ep. 83: Influencer Marketing for Your Beauty Business (What You Need to Know)
Influencer Marketing. Spoiler alert―it works.
Influencers are everywhere, right? It seems like everyone everywhere is having their product and their service promoted by influencers. And it seems like it's totally working for them.
Have you ever considered reaching out to an influencer and having them promote your beauty business? Have you done it yet? It can be a really intimidating world to jump into but listen. Influencers are beautiful. It's like part of their job description. And beauty comes in all different forms but you know those girls want to keep their brows and lashes on point. They totally do. Why can't you provide that service for them in exchange for some promo? You can. In this episode, I'll tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about influencer marketing and how to make it work for your beauty business!
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [01:49] I jump RIGHT in explaining how you can get influencers to promote your products and they don't even need to have MILLIONS of followers for it to work.
‣‣ [04:19] My key philosophy on influencers and influencer marketing.
‣‣ [05:27] How I grew my business at the BEGINNING.
‣‣ [06:40] Here I break down what to look for and what to consider when finding influencers to promote your products.
‣‣ [14:04] Let's break down HOW you can go about getting influencers on board with your idea.
‣‣ [14:55] Listen if you feel like you can't reach out to anyone to provide services because you're not in a "good enough" location.
‣‣ [19:31] The most important part about making a deal with any influencers.
I WANT INFLUENCERS TO PROMOTE MY BEAUTY BUSINESS (Listen Here)
You can follow me, Sheila Bella, on Instagram @realsheilabella!
Here are the links that were mentioned in the podcast!
Grow Your Gram
Online Course Workshop
FOR MY LISTENER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy this podcast by downloading it on iTunes here.
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FOR MY READER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
Influencer marketing, spoiler alert. It works. That's the end of the episode. Thank you. No, just kidding. Today is all about influencer marketing and how you can utilize it to get more bookings and promote your business. I'm going to break down exactly what you need to do so that you don't get gypped. You don't get gypped and it actually works for you. because I want your phone to ring right here on Pretty Rich podcast. Here we go.
You're listening to the Pretty Rich podcast where you are totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella. And I built a seven figure PMU biz without a degree, without a fancy website or a sugar daddy. And if you and I hang out here long enough, you're going to start to believe that you can do it too, because you really can. I know you think I don't know you, but I do. I really do because I am you. And I believe we're all on the same journey together. My perfect job didn't exist so I created it. The job I wanted wasn't hiring me. So I skipped the line and hired myself as CEO. Just like you can. So consider me your secret beauty biz BFF in case you need to be reminded that power is never given to you, you just have to take it. Are you ready beauty boss? Let's jump in.
Hey, what's going on you guys? Aren't you excited for today's episode? I am. Because getting an influencer with millions... You can, millions of followers to promote your business could be really big for you. Yeah, but newsflash, I'm going to skip ahead a little bit. It doesn't even need to be somebody with millions of followers. It could be somebody with just 3000 followers, just 3000. Do you know what 3000 people in a room looks like? You know what 300 people in a room looks like? Yeah, it's not about the number sometimes. Anyway, when somebody's huge on the social media spectrum, right? Publicly declares that they trust you with something as precious as their looks, that very thing that makes them money, especially if it's a model, right? It opens up several opportunities for your business that you would not be able to get otherwise. Think about it.
So let's say you have a really a hot Instagram model, come in and yeah, you do a trade agreement with her. She shouts you out and then you have her on your portfolio. You guys, there's some people in the business, and I know you guys know who these people are, who have nothing but pretty people on their portfolio. And I hope it goes without saying that beauty comes in all forms, right? Obviously. But there are certain Instagram accounts where you're like, are they all Victoria secret models? Why? And another thing. Why does everybody have lashes? Do you think that's a coincidence? Do you? It's not.
So influencer marketing is a live and well today in 2020. Just take a look on the gram and all of the different PMU portfolios where it's the ones where the girls look perfect and they all have lashes and beautiful interesting eyes. And they make me feel bad about myself. No, I'm just kidding. Anyway, sometimes it works. If that's your style, if your goal is to have those types of clients, this podcast can help you no matter where you live, okay. Don't be like, Oh, I live in like the middle of nowhere so I'm not going to listen to this one. You should listen to this one because it's actually going to be easier for you probably. I'm going to teach you how to find the influencers in your town. Listen, your pastor's wife is an influencer. Don't get it twisted.
Ton of ladies like see her face every day. And she's all up in the life groups and stuff, like you have. People talk. This is how referrals happen. This is how real referrals happen. So, okay. I'm skipping ahead. But think about it. Anybody who has followers that are full of your ideal client can be an influencer. Their followers will hit you up for services. And if it's somebody notable, it legitimizes your brand. If it's somebody well known in your town, it legitimizes your brand and you can be trusted all of a sudden, just from this one appointment. And not to mention magazines, networks, and other corporations of influence may reach out to you for a feature which can mean more exposure. Believe me, this has happened to me and I want to break down for you how you can make it happen for you too and make it work for you. Because it's really cool having sometimes somebody that I looked up to rocked my brows.
Pretty cool moment. Yeah. When Meagan Good came and Paige Hathaway came and Lori Harder came too. So I'm like, yeah. And now every time I see their pictures, I'm like, that's me. That's me up there. You see those two furry things on their forehead. Yeah, that's me. And that's not fur, that's Tina Davies. I love ink. So full transparency. The way I grew my business was mainly in the beginning through influencer marketing. I was doing free services left and right. And I felt like I was the eyebrow influencer model person in LA for several years. And if you were to add up all of the influencers I've worked on in the past and combined all of their followers, the total number of their reach is about 182.3 million. I did the math. That's so crazy if you think about it because potentially that many people have heard of me or at least have seen my work, right?
Even though they didn't know it. So it's pretty cool. But with that said, slow down, slow your roll. Do not get enamored by the number of followers somebody has. Okay. Because the number of followers somebody has is just a low resolution view of the full picture. What's really going on here. Think about it. So their goal right is to convert this trade, this agreement, this barter, this promotion, essentially into bookings, into sales. So rule number one, when choosing an influencer is to look at their insights. You can ask them if an influencer wants to work with you, ask them, may I see your insights? They'll screenshot it for you and see if their audience is actually full of your ideal clients. So I'm going to give you an example. I have a model friend/client who was a Playboy playmate. And the year I did her, she had 2.2 million followers.
She gave me her insights. It said only 475,000 of those followers were female. And most of her followers did not even live in the US. They didn't even live in the US. So I had a service that you needed to be physically in my shop, because it's a service based business, located in Los Angeles to receive it, to buy it from me. This wasn't like a download. You can't download a pair of brows from the computer. Okay. So I broke down the math, right? So 475,000 women, right out of the 2.2, who were following her. So let's say, and I'm just guessing now, because Instagram doesn't have this detail, but 475,000 of those were women. Let's say 100 K of them lived in the US, a 100,000. Okay. So basically she would be an influencer I would work with who had 100,000.
That's still pretty good. A 100,000 people in the US who were female, who would potentially see my ad. Is that true? What about if only 10 K live in Los Angeles? Oh, that's even less. All right, so, okay. So she's an influencer now. She went from 2.2 million to 10 K. Okay. So let's say 10 K females lived in Los Angeles. So what if she offers to post a selfie on her feed for me? Just a selfie on her feed. She didn't want to go live. She didn't want to do stories. She said, I'll tag you in a selfie. That's what she talks like to. As you guys know, if you've been watching me long enough, that if you post something on your feed, only 10% of your followers see your feed unless there's early engagement within the first 30 minutes.
And what I mean by engagement, it's not in the form of double clicks. No Instagram wants comments, they want saves, they want shares. Emojis to don't count as comments. They want unique characters that are four characters or more. So basically potentially if she offers to post a selfie on her feed, then only 10% of that 100 K would potentially see it. So yeah that's 10,000. And this is all assumption, right? Because the insights can only provide us so much information. So don't get super enamored by 2.2 million. You don't know. What if there was an influencer who was, let's say she was a trainer specifically for female booties. Okay. And she lived in Los Angeles and she owned a gym that was very busy. And she had like let's say 1000 people go to her gym and they're all female and they all care about how they look. And this girl not only agreed to post on her feed, but she agreed to go live. Everyone sees the live.
How many times you'll get a notification that somebody that you don't even follow or you forgot that you followed is going live. Tons of times, right? Live is where it's at. If you can get your influencers to go live. Yeah. The math changes.
Hello friend. Guess what? I want you on this show? I bet you weren't expecting that. Yes. I want you on this show. Introducing beauty boss spotlight, because you are the hero of the Pretty Rich podcast. You are the hero of the pretty ambitious summit. And I want to know where are you from? What's the most challenging thing you've overcome. What's your advice for how to live a Pretty Rich life. If you're up for the challenge and you really should be, go to sheilabella.com/beautybossspotlight. Follow the instructions. It's very simple. Don't overthink it. And remember you can be fierce. So do it scared. I want to feature you. I want to shout out your Instagram handle and get you some social media props. But more importantly, I want to get to know you for real. What are you all about. Again that's sheilabella.com/beautybossspotlight. Okay. Back to the show.
So an influencer like that would probably be a much better bet as far as bookings and conversion is concerned for you to partner up with. But Hey, it doesn't hurt still for different reasons to have a beautiful girl, like a Playboy playmate on your portfolio. It doesn't hurt, right? But if you think that this girl, just because she has a gazillion billion gillion followers is going to get you bookings, do not get your hopes up. And unfortunately, a lot of these influencers will take advantage of small businesses because small businesses don't know any better. They don't have a marketing strategist like me. You should pass this podcast onto them actually. So the first thing you need to do when choosing an influencer is to think about who you're trying to target. A lot of people just target whoever. Just whoever. And that's the thing. There's no aim. You know what happens when you just try to target whoever? Your day, your business is filled with clients that you don't want to work with.
They always complain. Your schedule may be full of people who want a style that you don't even really like or you don't even really offer. They don't want to pay your rate. It's really important, and I say this all the time, with any marketing strategy to start with the who. Who are you trying to attract? Because a permanent makeup artist who's done this previous work has amazing days at work. Her days, her books are full of clients who don't hesitate when she proclaims her price. She's done her homework. She's putting stuff out there that attracts this specific type of individual. There are those artists who have days like this, where their clients will tip well, they'll ask for the style that she just loves to do, and they're simpatico, you know what I mean? And speaking of which, if you're going to choose an influencer, make sure it's the type of influencer that is followed by your favorite type of client.
Okay. Now that you know, and have a better idea of who are the influencers in your town that you might want to start asking and reaching out to. We're going to talk about how to reach out to them. Okay. Before you even reach out, make sure that your product is actually good. Make sure it looks desirable and make sure you have women on your portfolio that look like the influencer that you're trying to attract. Make sure your first impression of your page of your website. If they Google you make sure it looks good. Have you guys Googled yourself lately? Because if you send a message to an influencer or somebody in your town who's a queen bee, they're going to do some research. So make sure you Google yourself and make sure what is on there is something that looks professional and desirable.
And for those of you who are like, I don't have a good location yet. I don't know what to do. Should I even start influencer marketing? If my salon or studio isn't presentable... Listen, work with what you have. It shouldn't stop you though from marketing yourself. Let me tell you guys a story. So for my husband's birthday one year, I think it was his birthday. I rented him a Lamborghini. I rented him a dream car, a Lamborghini for the day. And I got it from the Lamborghini club of Los Angeles. I think it's Lamborghini club LA, if they're still around. This was years ago. So the website was so beautiful. And then their Instagram was like on point and they had a lot of followers and I was like, Oh, cool. All right, cool. So Lamborghini club LA.
So I was expecting a showroom. Okay. Nope. Got the address. And I was like, this doesn't seem right. As we were getting closer and closer to our destination. So basically there was no showroom. There was no staff. It was like a kid. I think he was like, maybe like 19, 20 years old. Anyway, he met us at an elementary school. He came in with mesh shorts and just handed us the keys. And I was like, this is the Lamborghini club of LA. And he was like, yep. Listen, by that time, I didn't complain. I actually felt more comfortable because it was like no pressure, right? It wasn't like a hoity toity spot. I was really happy. Will was really happy. And the guy took really good care of us. We had great customer service and a great experience when we wrote them a great review.
So for those of you who are super insecure about your location, rest assured that it actually doesn't matter as much as you may think it does. As a matter of fact, Sheila Bella is in an industrial area, but Hey, Cindy Crawford was there. Meagan Good was there. Simone Biles was there and all of these other influencers were there and it really didn't matter. My studio is beautiful on the inside, but I don't have walk-ins typically. And these days I believe that social media and your website, that's the new storefront. Period. So once that's taken cared of, now feel free to reach out. Reach out to influencers. How? Direct message. Direct message them. You can send them a video even if you want to make it personal, send them an email. Listen, don't make it too complicated because they're just people.
And most of them, I'd say the majority of them, handle their own social media accounts. Sometimes they have an assistant and maybe they have like two or three people logged onto that account, but they'll see it. To me that's the best way. Some people may direct you to their email or perhaps you can try both. Send them an email as well as a direct message. And there are some accounts actually who, accounts with like a million followers or more or something like that, they get so many DMS sometimes. And sometimes this happens to me too, where it's hard to keep track of. So a good way to get their attention is through commenting. Comment a lot, squeaky wheel. Honestly, if you have a good product and your page looks amazing, you should be confident because these girls are going to be really lucky to have you, right?
At the end of the day if you can make her feel confident, first thing in the morning. So she doesn't have to do her brows or eyeliner her lips or her lashes, that's all she really cares about. So don't overcomplicate it. And as a matter of fact, I think if you look too professional, these influencers may charge you. I've never paid for an influencer. Actually, that's not true. That's not true. I paid this one girl, $1,300 one time and you know what? It wasn't any different. It wasn't any different. The bottom line is if you can do good work and prove it and show that you're competent and kind and humble, it ups your chances of an influencer agreeing and also not charging you, not charging you anything. These days I feel like you shouldn't have to pay unless it's Kim Kardashian but like anyway. Because you know what, your service is a currency. It's a gift. Here is yet another example of how community is so much better for business building. You guys know I'm a big fan.
Okay. Last thing, make sure everything is in writing. So it's clear. Is this influencer going to be going live or are they not? How many posts is this influencer going to have? Is she going to keep it up? If so, for how long? Is it going to be permanent or only for 48 hours? You have to protect yourself. Are you going to be able to approve what she posts? Do you write that caption? Or does she write that caption? Which brings me to my next point, everybody within Pretty Rich university, that is my insider's group, gets a trade agreement and also a script sample for how to approach an influencer. I have put together a template for the agreement as well as the script to make life easier for them.
And if this is something that you feel like you need in your life, you've got to check out Pretty Rich university. It is my year long mentorship program where you get access to all of my courses and we have a dive deep on it once a month. It has been so helpful for all of the beauty bosses within the group. And I love most of all the relationships that have formed within that group as a result of it. And I suppose that's what I'm most proudest of. We go through everything in that group from social media marketing, email marketing, this influencer marketing and all of the different ways that you can grow your business for 2020. And it's niche specific to beauty business owners, particularly permanent makeup. But I have to say, this will absolutely work for lash artists and nail technicians and estheticians. No problem.
So if Pretty Rich university is calling your name and you're tired of doing it alone and you want to fast track your way to success, then you got to come. You got to come and join us. Go to Sheilabella.com/PRU. It is the most comprehensive PMU marketing program out there because you need three things to level up your business. Number one, you need strategy, okay? Which we got down. You need skill and you need support. And this mentorship program is for one year. My goal is for you to not need me anymore in a year, but I have some people who re up because they love it so much. So if this is calling your name sister, join me on there. I want to learn with you and help you grow your business and answer the questions that you have on a monthly basis. That's it for today's episode. Until next time.
That's it for today's episode of Pretty Rich podcast. If there was anything in this episode that has impacted you in any small or big way, I want to know. You can reach me at realsheilabella on Instagram. And by the way, if we are not text buddies yet that needs to change. You can text my name sheila231996 and we'll be connected. I really love hanging with you guys on here. And one last thing before we wrap it up. I got to include my kids, right? #momfirst. So here are Beau and Grey to close things out.
Beau:
Hi my name is Beau. I'm five years old.
Sheila Bella:
Can you tell everybody what our family motto is?
Beau:
I can do hard things.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Now fill in the blanks. Hard is-
Beau:
Fun.
Sheila Bella:
Easy is-
Beau:
Boring.
Sheila Bella:
Good job, buddy. I love you so much.
Beau:
I love you the best [inaudible 00:23:04].
Sheila Bella:
Grey, say share with your friends.
Grey:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
Please review my mommy on iTunes.
Grey:
Review mommy iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
Thanks for listening.
Grey:
Thanks for listening.
