Your Next 3 Steps
- Define what inspires you — what drives you to do better? Family, a situation, someone's story, a loss? Get a journal and write your goals out; make a vision board.
- Build a brand kit — primary and secondary colors, theme, icon, logo, brand name, slogan, vibe, and experience.
- Create your marketing game plan — business cards, flyers, booking system, events to attend, and building your Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Google My Business.
Build a Mission
Knowing your purpose and inspiration helps you create a compelling brand mission — and keeps you motivated on who you'll inspire. (Lash Lab's mission: increase the number of women and minority entrepreneurs in the Portland metro area, inspire students to break generational cycles, and bring financial freedom and happiness into their lives.) Your mission may change over time, and that's okay.
Your brand name should be influenced by your mission and where you see the business evolving. To find it: name companies or people that inspire you and what you like about their branding, then imagine where your business could go with no limits.
Build a Brand Kit
Your brand kit makes you distinct. Hundreds of brands sell tissues, but we all know Kleenex. We all recognize "Tiffany blue" and McDonald's colors anywhere in the world. Your brand is your vision for your work: how you show up, the space you create, your website, photos, attire, products, aftercare kits, and business cards. Let it evolve — logos grow over time.
Canva is Ms. Hood's favorite resource for content and marketing material: IG posts and stories, flyers, business cards, presentations, videos, and reels. Make an account and build your brand kit free. (See the Canva guide.)
Tell Your Story & Show Your Face
- Get professional photos — you can take them yourself. Good lighting, be natural, post them. People want to know who they're working with.
- Create a Google My Business so your info and booking appear when people search. (See the Google guide.)
- Business Instagram — use your logo as the photo; add services, booking link, location, and contact in the bio.
- Facebook business page.
- Carry something tangible. Business card must-haves: name, business name/logo, phone, email, booking link or QR code, services, and location.
The 7 C's of Communication
Make sure every company communication — business cards, social posts, ads, booking systems, flyers, speeches, emails — illustrates these seven points:
- Clear · Concise · Concrete · Correct · Coherent · Complete · Courteous
It's Not Just Marketing That Attracts Clients
- Your raw skill — be good at what you do and deliver what you promise.
- Customer service — patient, kind, empathetic, authentic.
- Customer experience — make something different that sets you apart from other local artists.
- Booking system — with a deposit to keep clients accountable and on time (and be punctual yourself). Ms. Hood recommends GlossGenius.
Marketing Terms Every Entrepreneur Should Know
The vocabulary behind the strategy — pulled from marketing fundamentals, in plain terms for beauty pros:
Brand Identity
The visible elements of your brand — name, logo, colors, typography, and voice — that make you recognizable and distinct.
Target Audience
The specific group of people your services are designed for. Knowing yours sharpens every post, offer, and price.
Value Proposition
The clear reason a client should choose you over anyone else — the specific benefit only you deliver.
Call to Action (CTA)
The instruction that tells someone exactly what to do next — "Book now," "Text LASHGIRLY," "Tap the link."
Conversion
When a follower or visitor takes the action you wanted — booking, subscribing, or buying. Your "conversion rate" is the percentage who do.
Lead
A potential client who has shown interest — followed you, joined your text list, or inquired — but hasn't booked yet.
Funnel
The journey a stranger takes to becoming a paying client: awareness → interest → decision → booking. Each free resource and post moves them down the funnel.
Engagement
How much your audience interacts with your content — likes, comments, saves, shares. High engagement signals to platforms that your content is worth showing.
Reach vs. Impressions
Reach is how many unique people saw your content; impressions is how many total times it was seen (one person can rack up several impressions).
Organic vs. Paid
Organic marketing is free (posts, SEO, word-of-mouth); paid is advertising you pay to run. A healthy business uses both.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Optimizing your website and profiles with the right keywords so you appear higher when clients search "lashes near me."
Content Pillars
The 3–5 recurring themes your content revolves around (e.g. before/afters, education, behind-the-scenes, promos) so posting is consistent and on-brand.
Brand Consistency
Using the same colors, fonts, voice, and quality across everything, so clients recognize you instantly and trust builds.
Retention Marketing
Marketing aimed at keeping existing clients coming back (rebooking, loyalty perks, follow-ups) — cheaper and more profitable than constantly finding new ones.
Word-of-Mouth / Referral
Clients recommending you to others — the most trusted and cost-free form of marketing. Referral incentives amplify it.
Build a Brand That Books Itself
Branding and marketing are part of Lash Lab's business training — learn to build the brand behind the lashes.
See Why Students Choose Ms. Hood →