E5. How Showing Your Face Turns Followers Into Clients

If you’ve ever felt nervous about showing your face online, this episode is for you. In a world where so many beauty businesses rely on social media to attract clients, hiding behind photos of your work might actually be holding you back.

In this episode, I’m breaking down why showing your face is one of the most powerful ways to turn followers into paying clients. When people can see the person behind the business, they start to trust you and trust turns into bookings.

I’ll also talk about how to build the confidence to start showing up online, even if you feel awkward, uncomfortable or unsure where to begin. Plus, I’m sharing a simple strategy you can implement right away to start connecting with your audience on a deeper level and converting viewers into loyal clients.

If you want your content to do more than just look pretty and actually bring clients through the door, this episode will give you the push you need to start showing up.

Don’t forget to rate this podcast 5 stars ⭐️

Follow us on Instagram ⬇️

https://instagram.com/blossominbusiness_

https://www.instagram.com/royalblossombeautysalon/ 

Follow us on TikTok ⬇️

https://www.tiktok.com/@blossominbusiness  

Have a topic you would like covered on the pod? 🌸

Send through your request on our website here: https://blossominbusiness.com/pages/blossom-in-business-podcast 

Want to be our next guest speaker? Apply here: https://forms.gle/CNjjMm4YnAPLY7LG7 

Become one of our sponsors: Email contact@blossominbusiness.com 💌

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone and welcome to Blossom in Business, the podcast for all things beauty, business, mindset, and more. My name is Monique and I am the owner of Royal Blossom Beauty, a beauty business based in Melbourne, Australia. I offer nail, lash and brow services as well as nail and business education. I really hope you enjoy this episode and let's get into it. Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of the Blossom in Business podcast. Today I'm talking about something that I'm sure so many of you avoid, and that is showing your face online. So not just posting your work, not just posting the before and afters, not just showing your salon, but actually showing you. And in this episode, I'm gonna be breaking down why you should be showing your face online and how to start showing up online even if you're shy and you're not the most confident. Because I'm gonna give you some hard truth. Your work can be so beautiful. Your nails, your lashes, your brows, they can be so beautiful. But if you don't show your face online, you're making it so much harder for your clients to trust you. So beauty is a personal service. They're sitting in your chair or they're on your bed for like one to three hours, maybe more. That is a long time to be one-on-one with someone. And when people are looking online for a business to go to to get their nails done, their lashes done, their brows done, to get whatever done, there's a few things they're asking themselves. If they just see a logo or not many photos of work or not many photos of even the person behind the business, they may be wondering, is this even a real business? Like, is it like a scam? Is it like legit? If you're maybe someone that works from home, they don't even know how professional you are. They don't know if you have the most good quality services. You may have gorgeous sets, like gorgeous lashes, gorgeous nails, but they don't even know if they're receiving the most professional service. They don't know anything about you, they don't know what you look like, what you sound like, they may not even know what your name is, they don't know if you're friendly, or if there's someone that they can even feel comfortable with, especially for services like not only just like nails and lashes, but if someone's getting a Brazilian wax or maybe something like even a facial where you're so close to that person, like lashes and facials, you're so close to their face, they might not even be comfortable with you. And with Brazilians and things like that, you're showing a whole lot of you, a whole lot, no pun intended, but like it is so personal, so personal. So trust is so important. People aren't just gonna go everywhere. You may have some clients that just genuinely don't care and they'll go to any nail salon for a Brazilian wax, like any shopping center salon, they'll legs out, everything ready to go. But some people do need the extra trust. In fact, most people need to trust the person that they're going to book with. And for some clients, the work that you post may be enough. For some people, your referrals, your reviews, they may be enough. But you do need to build a connection with your audience, and that is exactly how you can turn people that just follow you into actual paying clients. Just photos of your work alone cannot answer the questions as to whether or not they think you're friendly, as to whether or not they can feel comfortable with you. But showing your face can, showing your personality can, giving them a bit of insight into who you actually are. You don't have to tell your life story, you don't have to say what you do all day, you don't have to be an influencer, you don't have to vlog everything, but just show up. It can be as simple as just a photo of you introducing who you are, what you do, why you do it. Even just jumping on stories every now and then and updating people about changes in the salon, like that's honestly better than nothing. Just show up. I don't know if anyone's noticed this, but especially with Instagram, it's no longer just a platform where you can post pretty pictures of nails and lashes or whatever, and maybe some aesthetic photos in between. It's not just for the aesthetics, it's not just perfecting the grid. You actually need to show up. You need to showcase more of your business than just the work that you do. Clients book with a person, not just a logo. And clients don't just book a service, they book with the person behind the service. Now, I want to talk psychology for a second because you may not realize it, but psychology actually plays a huge part in whether or not a client is going to book with you. The more that we see someone, the more familiar they become. Now let's say you go for a jog in the morning, right? And throughout that jog, you run past this lady with a pram, and let's say she has a Pomeranian, right? You run past this woman, you don't think anything of it, right? But let's say the next day you go for a run again. You run past, again, this lady with a pram and a Pomeranian. And let's say this keeps happening every single day. You start to become more familiar with that person. Maybe use it even giving each other a little greeting when you pass each other because you just see each other so many times. You start to recognize them and you become so much more familiar with them as they do to you. And even though you know absolutely nothing about this woman, other than the fact that she walks this same route with her Prem and her Pomeranian every single day, you're so familiar with her. And this is the exact same. If you were to show your face and show up online to represent your business, having one photo of your face on your feed or maybe just having it in your profile picture isn't enough. By showing up consistently, your followers are gonna become so much more familiar with you. You don't have to share super personal information, but you just have to show up. And the more familiar you are to them, the more that they're gonna trust you. And they're less likely to feel any hesitation towards booking an appointment with you because they see you, they know you, they know you're the person behind the business, they know that you're the person performing the service. And this is the same, like if you have staff and stuff in your salon as well, I would highly recommend having some sort of post that's like introducing the staff or maybe do some like funny videos with staff, like really showing the followers who's actually behind the business, not just the founder, but who else is actually in the business that's going to be performing the service. I also feel this way with ads as well. Like, you know, when you see an ad online, the first time you see it, you just see it. Like you probably don't even think anything of it unless it's something that genuinely interests you. Let's say you saw an ad for motorbikes, but you don't care about motorbikes, right? But then you see it a second time and you're like, oh, this is the same ad about motorbikes again, or it's the same company promoting motorbikes again. And then you see it again and again, and it becomes so much more familiar. So now it's gonna be in the back of your mind when you want to buy a motorbike or you know someone that wants to buy a motorbike, you think about that ad, you think about that business. Because the more times that that shows up for you, the more familiar it becomes. So just automatically, not even having read any reviews, not even having done your own research, you automatically trust that motorbike brand so much more than any other motorbike brand. Really weird example, but that's just the first thing that came to my mind. Not only that, but if that same motorbike brand had an ad with a person in it, maybe it was the owner of the company or maybe an employee, and you see that face popping up all the time, you're gonna build so much more trust. So, with your business, when you show up so much more often, this is what your client's gonna think, right? So they, for example, let's say my business, when I show up online, they're like, Oh, that's Monique from Royal Blossom Beauty because they've seen me so much, I show up so regularly, I still feel like I could show up more, like I feel like I don't show up enough. Like people know it's me. If they see my face enough, they can put my face to the brand, right? And also I'm in my profile pictures, that makes it so much easier as well. So when people book a service with me, they're like, I'm booking with Monique from Royal Blossom Beauty. Her name's Monique, this is what she looks like, this is what she sounds like. Here are some fun facts about her, like they know something, they recognize me, they're familiar with me, and they're so much more likely to trust me. You don't have to share the most personal things online. You can just share a few fun facts, maybe your favorite hobbies, maybe something random, like how tall you are, what your favorite meal is. Like it doesn't have to be like, you know, I lost this person when I was younger, I had this happen to me, I went through this. Like you can share personal to an extent, but it doesn't have to be personal. It can just be super like lighthearted, like surface level information. My name is Sarah and I have three kids and I live in whatever if you don't work from home. Like I live in this place, but I work from this place. I started my business because of this. Like I love to provide this, my favorite services it, like you know, things like that. Like it doesn't have to be deep, it doesn't have to be personal. And when this client actually books the appointment and walks into your salon, whether it be a home salon, a commercial salon, anywhere, they feel so much more comfortable. They're not gonna be scared because they know what they're walking into. They know the person they're about to see. It's not like they've booked with a logo or like a big corporation that like doesn't have a face to the brand, and they're like, who am I gonna see today? Is this person gonna be nice? Is this person like this tall, looks like this, like whatever? They get to feel so much more comfort in knowing who they're actually going to receive the service from. Honestly, there's even so many other content ideas that you can post without even having your face in it, even though the whole concept of this episode is showing your face, there are some other content that you can post to build trust with your audience without even showing your face. So even if you can't show your face every single day because like sometimes we're not looking our best, sometimes we're not feeling our best, sometimes we just genuinely don't have the time, there's other content that you can post to build trust with your audience. So this can be things like cleaning your tools. So that builds trust because the client knows that your tools are sanitized and all of that. Like that's just not only showing the behind the scenes of your business and showing a little more than just what the person sees during the service, but also gives them another reason to trust you. Even just showing your setup, like what does your nail desk look like? What does your lash bed look like? So that can make the person trust you before they even book the appointment. They know what to prepare for. They come into your salon knowing kind of what it looks like. They're not in for a shock because especially with home salons, like I know some people do hesitate to book with home salons because they think it's going to be a lash bed in the middle of someone's kitchen, you know, and there's screaming kids and dogs and things everywhere. So having a photo of your space can really build trust without even showing your face online. Same as if you have like a whole home salon or a whole commercial salon, do a little salon tour, show them, you know, the flowers you bought for the salon this week. Showing little bits and pieces of your space can build so much more trust and convert followers into clients. Another way I'd recommend building trust with your audience and showing up online a bit more is with content like aftercare or any sort of advice about the service, preparing for the service, taking care of your results, what to do during the service to get the best results, like things like that, like any sort of advice, instead of just having one still image that's like your brand colours and your brand logo that says everything, just film a video saying it. Like just film a video saying these are things I'd recommend doing after your nail service to prolong your result, like something something that sounds better than that, but you know what I mean. Like instead of making it all a carousel text posts, like just with your logo and colours, like you can do that as well. But another way that you can show up without really having to think of anything is to change the content that you already have into something with your face in it. Show up without creating any sort of unique content. Tell the person what they should be doing after their service. Don't just have a big bunch of text for them to read. And that way, showing your face, they're probably a lot more likely to even follow your aftercare advice because you're telling them. They're not just reading it off the screen, you are physically telling them like this is what you should be doing. So this is why photos of just nails or photos of just lashes or you know, random Pinterest or Google stock images on your feed don't work anymore. You can get clients, but if you want to really elevate your results and take them to the next level and really get full with bookings, not just bookings that people are paying like a lot less than what you should be earning, but actually keep your books full for prices that actually cover your overheads, you need to be showing up online. Trust me, it makes such a difference. I'll tell you later in the episode about how it changed my business, but for right now, you need to get that in your mind that you need to show up online. You don't have to be an influencer, you don't have to post, you know, vlogs like day in my life every single day. You don't have to be personal, you just need to show your face. Even if it's just in your profile picture to start, even if it's just an about me post to start, it doesn't have to be anything too crazy, you don't have to be in your influencer era, just start. Please, just start. I'm telling you, you will notice such a huge difference. If you're just posting nail photos, there are so many other nail technicians out there. There are thousands, there are so many nail technicians just in like a 20-minute radius. So you need a point of difference. What makes your service different to all the other nail techs? If you're just posting photos of your work, it's all just nails. Like it's all just off the nails. Like what's the difference? The difference is you, but they don't know that if they don't even know you, they don't even see you, they don't hear you. So from an outsider's perspective, if you're just posting photos of nails, that's all they're gonna see. So why wouldn't they just go to someone else? What is it about your business that's actually going to bring the clients in? Because so many nail techs can do gorgeous nails. You need something different, and that's your energy, your personality, you as a whole. Because pretty nail photos, they do get likes. A lot of people, you know, like, save, share them, especially for inspo. Like people from across the world could be saving your nail photos for inspo. But likes and followers do not always equal bookings. That's why with social media it's important to post stuff that converts your audience and not just gets you followers, because being viral isn't the goal. It doesn't matter if you go viral. You could have 300,000 followers on Instagram, but still be looking for clients to fill your books because you can go viral in America, but you're offering in-person nail services in Melbourne. Like, how are the people in America gonna buy from you? They're not, they're just gonna follow you. So you need content that yes, gets you some followers, but also converts those followers to clients. So you need people that are actually going to book the service with you. You can have thousands of followers, but still not get consistent bookings because social media metrics are not the same as an emotional connection. And no one can connect with you if they don't know who they're connecting with. Now, I know a lot of people hear about showing their face online and they get so scared and so nervous, and they think they've got to put in so much energy just to show up. But you don't have to have, you know, a full face of makeup. If you don't wear makeup, don't wear makeup. Like you don't have to. And you don't always have to show up in the most like professional setup. Like you don't have to have a fancy ring light and a fancy camera and everything like that. You just have to show up. Like, especially with like stories, they're so casual. They're so casual. You can be like filming and like taking yourself around your house and talking, especially with stories, it's like not that deep. Like it's really just showing up that matters. You also don't have to be the most loud, extroverted person. I'm actually super shy. Like, if you've met me in person, I'm a mouse. But put me in front of the camera by myself in a room all by myself, I'm good to go. So I can show up online because I'm confident in front of the camera. I'm still working on confidence in real life, but we're getting there. We have to start somewhere. You also, again, don't have to overshare. You don't have to share the intimate details of your life. Not everything has to be super polished. You can just film videos in your kitchen, in your car, no makeup. You don't have to be wearing a blazer, you can literally just wear whatever. There's different kinds of content out there. For some content, raw is better, authentic is better, showing up in sweatpants is probably better. There is a time and place for really polished professional content where you're wearing blazers, you have a good camera or like good iPhone camera at least, you have clear, crisp audio, perfect lighting, maybe some makeup if that's what you want. There's a time and place for polished content, and there's a time and place for raw content. But what you need to worry about is just having some sort of content with you in it. So if that's just by starting with the raw content, start with that. Now showing up online doesn't have to be something that's super planned out. You don't have to add it into your schedule. It can be so quick and so easy. It can simply just be going on stories before you take your first client of the day. It can be like a, you know, happy Monday, hope everyone's having a good day, just a reminder to book your appointments. Like it doesn't have to be something crazy, like it doesn't have to be like a whole like essay, it doesn't have to be super scripted, it can just be something like reminding them to book. It can just be something like a salon update. It doesn't have to be super thought out, it can just be just jumping on. And if you do have some sort of story time or some other way that you can build a connection with your audience, even better. Share that. You don't need to be an influencer, you just need to show up. And trust me, it makes a huge difference. And if you go on TikTok, I'm sure you've seen a lot of small businesses out there, whether it be, you know, beauty salons or e-commerce businesses, they have a lot of founder content. They have a lot of staff content. So a few examples of this, you have Britney Saunders from Fate. Obviously, she's showing up online all the time, she has videos with her staff, and those not only go viral, but they bring brand awareness. Same thing with Alice from Ava Active. She's the founder of the brand and she does content with her in it, a lot of content with her in it, a lot of content with her staff in it, and she's selling the product. The same thing that you can do with your salon is sell the service. People connect so much more with a brand, with a business by seeing the people behind it. So, for example, a lot of these e-commerce businesses, they don't just show, you know, a tripod like filming their hands packing an order anymore. Like those still do well for some businesses. With other content, those can still do well, but they do warehouse videos, they do packing with them in it, like watch them pack an order. They even do fun little challenges, like Britney Sauners does a lot of fun challenges that aren't even related to her business, but it builds the connection with her audience. So the customers aren't just buying the product, they're buying the product by her. They're buying into the business by her. So when you're filming videos in your salon, like say it's a watch me work or watch me do a set of nails, watch me do a set of lashes, you can still have those videos that don't directly have your face in it doing the service the whole time, but you can have the video showing the nails, showing the lashes up close, but just like have a one-second, two-second clip at the start, whether it's you waving to the camera, you putting your gloves on, you putting your tools on the table. Trust me, when I started doing this for my content, it was a game changer. You don't have to always show up online by doing sit-down talking reels or voiceovers and you know things like that. You can just post some of the same content you're already posting, but post you at the start, like literally a two-second clip. Another example is come watch me do a five-client day. Like you're already probably in it, maybe you're doing a voiceover, but have like a little like video, like even if it's in the mirror, like waving to the camera, show a little bit of you setting up, like show the behind the scenes. You don't have to have, you know, your camera facing you and the client the whole time that you're doing their nails. You can just have, you know, the camera where it normally is, just like sitting recording the nails, recording the lashes, but have like a little glimpse of you at the start. Trust me, that makes a huge difference, and it's so low effort, so low effort. It takes two seconds to put your phone, like lean it against something. You don't even need a tripod for that. Lean it against you know your lamp and get a video of you putting your gloves on. It's so easy. If it's like a day in your life kind of thing, like instead of just showing the nails or the lashes that you do, apart from showing the setup and things like that, you can also show a clip of you eating your lunch, a clip of you packing up at the end of the day. If you want to make it a little bit more personal, show like you know, you cooking dinner, like it doesn't have to, you know, just be in the salon. You can show other things too, like you can show whatever you're comfortable with. Now I know what some of you may be thinking, especially if you haven't really shown up online before, you may be a little bit nervous, you don't want to be cringe, you may not like the way that you look or present on camera, you may feel like really awkward. I know that I did and I still do sometimes. I still feel super awkward. Sometimes, even just filming the podcast, I kind of have to like hype myself up a little bit. Like it's not easy showing up on camera confidently, but you're not gonna become confident unless you start trying. Confidence comes through experience and repetition. You're not gonna set up your camera or your phone and start feeling confident straight away unless you're just naturally the most confident person. It comes over time, it comes with actually doing it. And I know so many people that maybe that they're not the most confident in real life, but they're super confident on camera. Like me, for example. By myself, I'm so confident on camera. But then you have people in real life that are super confident and they're super extroverted in person, but then you put a camera on and they're like a mouse. Like I'm just the opposite of that. But you have some people that are super confident in real life, and then on the camera, that's where they struggle. It's not something that comes easy to everyone, even if you're the most outgoing person normally. It can be scary showing up in front of a camera, it can be scary talking to a seafull of strangers. And when I first started, I used to be like, I don't like the way I look, I don't like the way I sound, I don't like the way that I'm talking, like I just I don't like this, that, and the other. And I was so scared that people were gonna judge me. I was like, oh, the people I went to school with, they're gonna be watching this and like cringing at me because I'm doing this. And now, like, I'm sure the people I went to school with, if they're watching this, they're like, damn, it's got a whole business going on. Like, you know, I get applauded every time I go to some sort of like social gathering kind of thing. Because if you can get past the idea, the fear that people are cringing at you and that embarrassing feeling, people aren't going to cringe at you. They're gonna be like, damn, she's confident, she's you know, like she knows her sht. So if you feel cringe, if you feel embarrassed, it's completely normal, but don't let that hold you back because you will get past it. Trust me, you will get past it so much. The more that you do it, the more that you film, the more that you show up, the easier it becomes. Like I remember when I first started, I was so shy. I still sometimes, like, if I'm just not in the right mood, I may be talking very scripted, very like, you know, this like not the greatest, but it gets easier. Trust me, it gets easier. So you know how you can tell those people that are just like super confident on camera? They might not have even started that way. They are that confident because they've been doing it for so long, they've done it so many times. And you don't even have to like post everything that you film. If you want to just practice, practice like talking, practice filming, you can do that. I again am someone that's so shy, I'm so quiet, I'm an introvert, I don't go out, I don't like socialize. Like, I'm the kind of person, like, if I'm at a social gathering, I find it really hard for me to approach someone and talk to someone. I feel really awkward talking to people. I have a lot of social anxiety. So I tend to practice talking a lot in the car. I think I mentioned this in the first episode, but I talk to myself a lot, and it's kind of like practice for talking to someone else. I do the exact same thing when I'm filming, like even with the podcast, with my course, with you know, reels, even conversations with people, I practice, like I practice everything because it just helps you become so much more confident, and like also you kind of have an idea of what you're saying. So if you're in the car, if you're walking around this alon cleaning, just start yapping. Like, really, just start yapping. Trust me, like you build up so much more confidence. Like this morning, I was supposed to start filming this podcast at 9 a.m. I started this at 11:30, maybe like 11.15, because I was yapping. I was I thought of another podcast idea, and I'm like, I just need to, like, how am I gonna present this? Like, I just started yapping, and now I feel so much more confident in what I'm gonna say. And I feel more confident having said it rather than having just written it down. That's why I love I'm a voice notes person, I love voice notes, I love like voice to text. Like, I just it just comes out, ideas start flowing. So if you struggle with, you know, talking to strangers, if you struggle with filming yourself talking a lot, just practice. You don't have to post everything. Like you can just practice the talking without the camera. Pretend you're talking to a camera, but you don't have to actually record it. And if you want to start practicing filming, film a video, but you don't have to post it. If you're not happy with it, you don't have to post it. You can just keep doing that until you become more and more confident. And then you want to be so confident when you actually start posting. You don't have to throw yourself in the deep end. You can film a video first and then watch it back and be like, mmm, I don't really sound like I know what I'm talking about. Like I sound like, you know, maybe you should use some cuticle oil. Like, no, like you should be using cuticle oil. Like, how can you change what you're saying? Like, you know, make changes to the way that you present yourself, the way that you talk, because it can be scary doing that for the first time. So don't feel obligated to just, you know, start today and start, you know, filming videos and post all of them. You can just start practicing. You can just start practicing. And if you're worried about people judging you like in your personal life or clients or anything like that, most of the time they probably don't care. Like they really don't care. Like, I get so worried, like people are gonna look at like the way my mouth moves when I'm talking, they're gonna look at you know my skin texture, they're gonna look if my hair is not perfectly straightened. Like, I think of that, but realistically, unless I point it out like I have right now, no one's going to notice. Like, no one's going to notice any of that. And if they do, they've got way too much time on their hands. Like they've really got way too much time on their hands. And the way I think of it is if someone's got time to hate on you, whether it's, you know, just in their head or you know, leave a comment or reply to a story like something hateful, they've clearly got something going on in their life to make them so negative and so mean. So if you ever did get any sort of hate or anything, like just think of it like this. They've got it worse. Like, they have got it so much worse. So don't even like, don't even bat an eye. Like, honestly, it's not that deep, I promise. We are our own worst critics. So, you know, if you film a video and you're like, oh, I don't like the way I look, everyone else thinks you look fine. Like, everyone else thinks you look fine. It's not like you have to be a supermodel, you can just show up. No one cares about how you look. They care about your personality, they care about what you bring to the table, what you do to represent your business. If you want premium clients and you want client loyalty and you want consistent bookings, you have to be visible, you have to show up. And when you show up online, I want you to be yourself. You don't have to put on a facade. Like, I definitely talk a lot differently to the general public than I do family. That's completely different. So just be yourself, be authentic. Because if you're fake, everyone's gonna see right through it, and no one's gonna want to book with you because they don't trust you. And that's another thing, transparency is so important. So, like things like raising your prices and like other things in your business, like even if you make a mistake, take accountability for that mistake because it's so important. Because otherwise, clients will lose so much trust for you, and if they don't have the trust to begin with, they're not gonna book. If they lose trust for you, they're never gonna re-book. So, transparency, honesty, authenticity is super important. And guys, I am not lying to you. Showing my face for my business, both salon and education, completely changed the way that my business has grown. I noticed not only a big difference to followers and engagement, but also salon bookings, education inquiries, like it's just made a huge difference. And the first thing that I did, and I really noticed a change, was simply by changing my profile photo. Like it sounds so silly, but just changing my profile photo to a photo of me changed everything. Again, now I pair that with actually showing up in reels on stories and everything like that, but one minor shift was just changing my profile photo from my logo to a photo of me. And let me tell you, that got me so much more bookings. Like you would not believe, like something so simple and so minuscule literally changed how many bookings I got. It was just crazy. Trust me, it makes a huge difference, and I know how scary it can be posting yourself online, especially if it's the first time if you've never really posted anything with your face in it. But it makes a huge difference, and I know it's scary, but just do it anyways. Now, I don't want you to finish this podcast episode and be like, great, she said showing up online helps my business. Not gonna do anything about it, but it's nice to know, right? I actually want you guys to get results. I actually want you to get more bookings, I want you to have as much of a successful business as you can. Like that's the whole reason I made the podcast, is so that you can grow your business, not just stay in the same place. So when you listen to these episodes, don't just listen to what I'm saying. Don't just listen to me, yeah. Although if you don't have a business, you can absolutely do that. But I want you to actually implement what I'm telling you. Everything that I'm going to be teaching you is things that have helped me get to where I am now. So trust me, I don't expect you to do a full 180 on your business after this episode, but make small changes, right? You can start with the profile photo and then you can just show up online gradually. You don't have to like go all at it at once. You can just do it very bit by bit. Especially if you are someone that needs a little bit more time to become more confident, do a few things and then start implementing more and more. So again, the first thing that I would change that you can do right now is to change your profile photo instead of having a photo of nails or lashes or your logo to a photo of you. Now, if you don't have one that you want to use, then this is the time that I would make sure to organize one. It doesn't have to be a professional photo. You don't have to get a photographer, you don't have to wear a certain thing, it can just be a selfie, honestly. Like anything is better than nothing. You want it to be a photo of you that still represents your brand. So I wouldn't do any mirror selfies, I wouldn't do your logo, I wouldn't do anything that's heavily filtered. So I love a good Snapchat filter, but we don't want the flower crown, we don't want the puppy dog ears, we want something that's professional enough, right? It doesn't have to be a photo shoot, but it has to be something presentable. You can literally just take a selfie with a plain background, right here. Selfie, perfect. That's perfect for a profile photo. Or you can get your partner or your sibling or your parents, take a photo of you against the plain wall. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. You don't have to look super businessy with the black blazer and all of that. Just look however you feel comfortable representing your business. You don't have to have fancy poses with an e-file in hand or an L file or tweezers, like you can just be like plain. Like you can just be simple. Another thing that I would highly recommend changing is to make your Instagram name, it doesn't have to be your username, but your actual name. So this is the part above your bio to include your name. So you can still have whatever searchable name that you want, but have your name at the front of it. So mine says Monique. I had to put my last name so I could be verified, but I have Monique at the front of mine. That way when people inquire with you, they know who you're talking to, they know your name. Because you'd be surprised how many people don't actually know your name. Like, even when I first started, I didn't have Monique written anywhere on my business. This is back when I was just doing the clients. So I'd have clients come in and they didn't even know my name. And it's not even like they just saw it and forgot it, like didn't take notice. It wasn't listed anywhere. Not only did they not know what I looked like, but they had no idea what my name was. Like they knew nothing. And once I started putting my name out there, like my actual name, and actually showing me, my bookings literally skyrocketed. But even just starting with just that profile photo, having a photo of you in it, can build so much more trust, and people know who they're inquiring with. They know who they're booking with. They feel like they're talking to a real person, not just a logo or a photo of nails or lashes or whatever. Next thing I'd be doing is popping up on stories at least once a week. The type of content that you post is completely up to you. It can just be something so simple, like announcing that you know, my May bookings are open. Like it doesn't have to be like a super scripted, like 10-minute video. You can just pop up on stories, like, hey guys, hope you guys are having a good week. Just wanted to let you know that my bookings for May are now open. Like you can start so simple. If you're not the most confident on camera, like appearance-wise, you can pop like a very simple filter on. Like that's something I'm still struggling with myself. I'm acne prone, so if I just jump up on stories, I'm like, oh, skin texture. Like again, like no one else is gonna notice, like no one's gonna care. But for me, just to make it more likely for me to show up, sometimes I do just use a little Snapchat filter. Nothing with flower crowns and puppy dog ears, and nothing that it's like a catfish filter where it changes my face and some sort of simple skin smoothing. If that makes you feel more confident, do it. If that's going to be what makes you show up, do it. There's nothing wrong with it. The only filters that give me the ick are like the ones that are like full-on, like fox eye, lip filler, peeps of blush, like anything crazy. If that's what you need to start, go for it. But long term, the more raw you are, the more authentic you are, the more clients will trust you. Like I try not to film my podcasts and reels with filters or anything like that. If I need to, I'll do a little bit of skin smoothing in editing. But the more raw and authentic you are, the more people are gonna connect with you. But if you do need a very simple skin smoothing filter to ensure that you show up on stories, do it. I do it, nothing wrong with it. I also do this because it allows me to show up more because I don't wear makeup every day. I only wear it when I have events, which is like month once a month, maybe not even, or when I'm having actual content days specific for filming reels, filming the podcast, filming for my course, anything like that. I normally don't wear makeup and again acne prone. So for me, I don't feel confident showing up on stories in my natural state, right? So sometimes just having a simple filter can make you show up. So if I didn't use filters, I would not be showing up on stories at all. Like just to be real with you, or I would have to go out of my way and do my makeup and then show up. That's just me. That's like again, no one probably cares about my acne, but I do. So I know that I'm not going to film anything without makeup or without a filter. So if you just need that little boost, whether it's a little natural filter, a little bit of makeup to make sure that you actually show up, just do it. Just do it. So profile photo and showing up on stories at least once a week. Your next step that I would really recommend doing is start showing up in your feed. Because when you have a new person discover your account, if those stories that you showed up in are expired, they still need to be able to see who's behind the business. So again, like I mentioned earlier, instead of having like a single text post with the pink background and your logo showing aftercare information, which you can still do, also have a version where you're sitting down or maybe even doing something if you want it a bit more casual, and you yourself are talking, explaining the aftercare of the service that you provide. Have some sort of content where you show up. And also being this educational kind of content, that alone builds so much more trust with your audience. Like even the aftercare advice without even showing your face, like that Canva post, can build so much more trust because educational content. So pair educational content with you, like it's people are gonna book with you like so fast. Now, before we end this episode, I just wanted to remind you that it's okay to not feel confident online. It's okay to hesitate a little bit. It's completely fine, it's normal, but feeling uncomfortable and going out of your comfort zone can actually make you grow. Some of the most successful things that have happened to myself and other business owners only happened because we really pushed ourselves and like forced ourselves out of our comfort zone. I'm not, you know, the most outgoing person, especially in person, I'm super shy. But by forcing myself to go to events and go to little like network industry things, by forcing myself outside of my comfort zone, I was able to meet so many great people. Showing up online, filming this podcast, by forcing myself out of my comfort zone, I was able to get more bookings, get more enrollments, get more this, that, and the other. I promise you, no one really cares what you look like. No one really cares what you sound like. And if they do care, they've got enough to worry about. Like, just don't even worry about them. I know it may seem cringe or embarrassing, but you really just have to go for it. Again, I find it so much easier just talking to a camera than I do face to face. Like I'm straight up yapping to my phone all the time, or yapping in the mirror, or yapping to literally no one while I'm driving. I find that so much easier than talking to a person. But if you're the opposite and you're super confident in person and you struggle with online, pretend you're talking to a person. Pretend it's not a camera, pretend it's an actual person there. And if you're filming a real, a story, anything, it's not live. If you f up, you can cut it, you can stop and try again. It's not like everyone's watching you make mistakes. You should see the amount of cuts that I make in this podcast because m some sort of tongue twister and like I just say words that don't exist, like the amount of cuts that I have to make because I stuff up, which I could leave them in and I'm sure no one will care, but it's not live. No one's like correcting you. If you f up, you can fix it. Like you can just say the same thing again and then cut it, edit, like whatever you need to do. Or if you film something and you hate it, like generally hate it, not just being hard on yourself, but actually hate it, refill it. You don't have to post it. You can't even just practice before you even start posting. It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to start. I truly believe that showing up online completely shifted my business. And I do not think I would be where I am today if I didn't show up online. And you, yes, I'm talking to you, you probably wouldn't have even known to listen to this podcast if I hadn't have shown up online. Because would you be listening to a podcast by some random account that has the logo for the profile picture that you know nothing about, and you're thinking, who is she to give me business advice? Like, I don't even know who she is. Like, is she a she? Like, you don't know, like you don't know. So, me showing up online is exactly why you're even listening to this podcast in the first place. Because you've seen me on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, someone else saw me and told you about this podcast or your client, like you wouldn't know unless you've seen me in some capacity. So if that's not proof enough that this works, I don't know what is. Like, I don't know what to tell you. So if this episode helped you, motivated you, inspired you in any way, shape, or form, please post it, tag me, leave a comment, whatever you want to do, wherever the spirit's moving you, let me know. I would love to know that this actually helped someone. Let me know what your biggest takeaway from this episode was, and I'm really excited to bring you guys so much more content. I have so much planned. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to rate it. Let me know that you love it. Remember, baby steps. You don't have to show up in every post, but you do have to show up. I'll see you in the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode of Blossom in Business. If you enjoyed this episode, I would love if you could give the video a thumbs up on YouTube or rate the podcast five stars on Spotify. If you don't want to miss an episode, make sure to hit the notification bell so you get notified every single time a new episode drops. If you want to follow along on my journey, make sure to follow me on socials at Royal Blossom Beauty. And if you have any requests for certain topics or story times or anything else you want covered on the podcast, or you want to apply to be a guest speaker, click the link in my description and you'll be taken to my website with all the information. And I'll see you in the next episode.