The Untapped Superpower in Community-Driven Growth
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Daniela Warner
Welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy, a podcast for spa owners who want to step up their leadership and business skills and step into the role as spa CEO. I'm your host, Daniela Warner, CEO of Atto Aesthetics and founder of the Growth Factor Framework program, where we teach, coach and guide spa owners in scaling their spas to the next level of growth and unlocking freedom in their life and their business. I'm so glad you're here Now. Now let's dive into the show.
Hey, Daniela here and welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy, the podcast where we share actionable strategies for aesthetic professionals to grow their businesses without stress and hustle. We like to work smarter, not harder, around here, and that's why you've been hearing me talk a lot about AI and how we can use it to tighten up our operations. Today, we're diving into the untapped superpower in spa growth, and that is community, my dears. Because, let's be honest, community isn't just a feel good concept. It's one of the smartest growth strategies that you can implement in your business. So many spa CEOs miss this opportunity because they are buried under a list of to dos and plain and simple, they're exhausted and overwhelmed by the end of the day. I want to change that for you. So my guest today believes in the power of community, and she has a pretty incredible story around how community and relationships helped her take the next right step and then the next right step in her very successful journey into aesthetics. I'm joined by Kim Pazetti, the Director of Practice development at Cartessa Aesthetics, to explore why authentic relationships are the real currency of business success. Kim's sharing her give something, get something philosophy on how you can start building powerful local partnerships that drive referrals without breaking the bank. So if you're ready to be the mayor of your town, as you guys have heard me say so many times before, and position your spa as the go to into your community. Keep listening. Let's go ahead and play that interview.
Kim Pazetti
All right, Kim, welcome to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast. I am so excited to have this conversation with you today because over the past few months, as we've been getting to know one another, as we've been having our own conversations and building our own relationship, one of the things that we have discovered is that we both deeply believe in the importance of community. That has been something that really helped both of us get to where we are in our careers. It's affected our success in the different roles that we've played. And I Think it's just such an. An unspoken thing that we really need to start to normalize and get out there of just how important it is to have this skill of relationship and community and connection, because it truly does open so many doors. And even the relationships that it's not opening doors for, it just makes you happier. It makes you. I mean, like, plain and simple, right? Like, it makes your life more pleasurable to know incredible people, to know people, to laugh with people, to connect with people. I feel like it's part of the human experience. So thank you for coming on and getting into this today.
Yeah. Well, I can't tell you how excited I am to be here, number one. And number two. Yeah, it's just. It's been fun to just grow the relationship with you. And again, it's like it kind of goes back to community. Like, how did we get here? Daniela. Right? And you just, you. You just said something that I, I guess I didn't think of it that way. And I think it's so powerful to say it just makes you happy. And I think that's key in how you just approach life in general, whether it's business or professionally. And I, I guess you even think about it, like when you walk into an establishment and if you just simply say, have a great day to somebody who's not expecting it, you spark something that you don't know where it could potentially go. Right. And so I think if you think about that, and that's. I think that's the power in all of this, is just having these great conversations and it might go somewhere and it might not, and that's okay. But I love that you just said, but it makes you happy. Because I know I always feel better when I say something to somebody and they smile and they walk away like, oh, gosh, I wasn't expecting that. That was great. So.
And I think it's like the, I mean, there have been, you know, the, the study that Harvard did, that's like the longest going study of all time, the Happiness Project. Happiness Project, Yeah. So there. And it's like the answer is people that have community are happier. And you can look at all these people that have made millions and millions and billions of dollars, and if they don't have community, if they don't have family, if they don't feel connected and like they belong, they're not happy. And so when we spend so much of our time in the workplace, so much of our time doing something that we ultimately are wanting to help make people's lives better, we're wanting to help them solve a problem. And in spa and aesthetic space, you know, I mean, what a joy. What a. What an incredible industry to work on, work in. One of the first physicians that I worked for, Dr. Staley, he. He would always be like, we're not curing cancer here. And it's such a. Like, to make it so light and to make it like we get to help others build their own confidence and feel better about themselves. What a joy of an industry to be in. And. And I wanted to kind of go back there because it was at Dr. Stahli's office that I met one of my best friends in the whole world. Nya. Nya has opened so many different doors and been a friend since 2009. So, I mean, a really, really long time. And she was the one who introduced me to you, and she had so many positive things to say about you and Kartessa, the company that you are working for right now, that. That really, it built the trust, it built the. The ability for me to come to our conversations. You and I open and. And just ready to connect. So I want to know about you, like, tell me kind of your origin story in esthetics. Like, you didn't always start out in the aesthetic space, but you got into the esthetic space and like, tell me that journey. But also, like, add the connection piece. Like, how did these doors get opened for you?
Yeah, I love that. So it's funny, right? If you go like, way, way back. The way back machine, right? Because I'm now dating myself, start to go to school. I thought I wanted to be an accountant. And I was like, yeah, no, this is not for me. So I steered left and I got into marketing and then, you know, fast forward. I've always been in business development some sort and. Or marketing. But back in. My goodness. So what year was this? It was 20 2009. When you met Naya? 2009. Like, there's this. This common thread here. I went to a work. I went to work for a company called Doc Web, which, believe it or not, was a digital marketing agency. We were owned by a physician who was also an aesthetic med spa owner. And his whole thing was his talk.
About being ahead of your time.
So crazy.
I mean, I was like twisting arms, like, can we please have a social media page?
Right.
Got a digital agency.
Yeah. So it was digital marketing. And it was funny because he was a core, just gp, but he had his med spa. And I think through the process of building a website for his med spa, he Got so agitated by the fact that these people were trying to build websites and then own them and then, you know, kind of like kind of take people for a ride in that space. And his brother in law at the time, John, who was, who hired me, he was a digital guru, knew how to build websites, had a connection and he's like, well, we can build this company and we can provide physicians that are looking to get into the med spa space. These websites, at the time we were calling them micro sites, right? Because they still had their core website for everything healthcare based, you know, to be able to do all of the HIPAA compliant, all of that fun stuff. But now they're in a world of aesthetics, so we've got to build these microsites. So we were, you know, literally working the basement of his practice, which I find funny. Like, I think at one point my desk was an exam table because we were in between. I was like, this is kind of weird, but it worked. And then they. So because he had the med spa space, there was a connection to at the time it was Cynosure. And so what happened was.
Which is up in New England too, right up in there.
They're based out of Westford, mass. So literally 35 minutes from me met Chris Aronson. And as we were working through this, he's like, hey look, we would love to kind of bring you in and speak at our conferences across the country to teach these doctors how to market themselves, right? Because they were of this mindset, I'm a doctor, if I build it, they will come. Well, we knew that wasn't the case when it came to the cash based side, right? So now they had to learn how to market themselves. So I traveled for Cynosure as part of Doc Web and we would go in very educational, right? Like, here's what you have to do. Here are the basics. And then they would include our services when they would sell a device. Kept those relationships, but helped build Doc Web from basically, I think I remember when we were starting, you know, maybe $150,000 a year to over $2 million in about 12 months. And I attribute that directly to the relationships that I nurtured that I fed that I again was like trying to just make sure that I kept in line. And then fast forward from there. We grew too fast. It was what it was. I went on, I started my own consulting company in this med spa space as well. And. But I always kept my relationships intact. And then I saw Gabe Lubin who's now our, he's our CEO and founder here at Cartessa. And I could see he was starting this thing called Cartessa aesthetics. Nobody really knew what it was, but I reached out one day and I was like, hey, what's happening over there? Like, it looks like you've got some really exciting things happening. And he's like, kimberly, when are you coming to work for me?
I was like, well, how did you, how did you meet Gabe, though? Was it when you were.
Sorry. He was with Cynosure at the time as well. Okay, so Dina Shore acquired Palomar.
Yep. I remember that because I was Palomar trained and it was so hard for me to like, wait, what's happening?
Yeah, yeah. So I met him briefly at a couple of shows, but my connection was mostly. Chris met him at a couple of shows, but just always kept that, you know, relationship and felt as though, because I built that relationship, I could reach out, which was like, lovely. Right? Like you, you know, that you have that ability to do so and not like, hey, I'm only reaching out because I want something. I was just really curious and, like, excited for what you could see that he was building. So then I. I've been here for six and a half years. And what's interesting is I think three years ago, Chris ended up coming over to Cartessa as our cco. So then I ended up reporting to him again. So it's kind of like this full circle loop that came back together, which is.
And I think what's interesting about that is when you have that established relationship, like, sure, there's always. You've got to remember what hat you're wearing. Like, is this my friend hat? Or is this my employee hat? Or like, what hat is going on here? But I think it, it creates a much more open dialogue for real conversations. When the, when you're in that like, CEO employee role, you can have and you're part of the leadership team there, but you still can have like real conversations rather than. And that's probably what they're looking for from you rather than someone that's just going to be like, sure, whatever you think. I'm a. I'm a. Like, you want to be a team player, but you need that, like, challenge as a leader to be able to see where your blind spots and where the, where are the opportunities that I'm not seeing. And I think you get that when there's that established relationship and trust.
No, absolutely. And that's, that's the interesting thing. I think it was maybe, I want to say, three years ago when we had our leadership meeting and Gabe, you know, always kicks off our leadership meetings, which is fabulous. He says, but you know what I'm going to do today is I'm going to actually go around the room with all of my leaders and tell my story about how we're connected. And he had a story for every single one of us in that room that went back years, not months, like years, and in many cases decades. Right. So it was kind of a testament to the connections that you make and that you continue to nurture and how it's really helped him. I mean, we are a $150 million company now, right. That's crazy to think when we're like eight and a half years young. But he will attribute. I mean, obviously he is a mastermind, but I think it's what, you know, it's all of those relationships that he kept in place too to help build this company. So it's pretty interesting. So it's, it's been a fun ride. But I love the fact that I've been able to continue to build relationships and partnerships as well. Because as part of my role here at Cartessa, not only do I run the practice development program, but I also kind of keep tabs on our third party vendors. And it's really gotta be to your point, like we have this conversation all the time, right. Danielle is like, there has to be a culture fit because not everybody fits our mold and what we're trying to deliver to our customers. So it's something that we take very seriously, or I should say not light hearted, because we want to make sure that it's that culture that we're delivering to our practices no matter what. And as wonderful as a service might be, if the culture isn't perfect for what we're looking for, you have to move on and find the next one.
Yeah, I, I so agree. So you guys, you have this theory that we were kind of talking about that, that I love the title, it's called the Give something, get something theory. So talk to me about that in like, because you, you know, when you think about networking for somebody, I don't know about you, but like, I don't do great in like huge rooms of people. I feel nervous. I like I can stand on stage and talk in front of a thousand people no problem. It's the, like, the small talk that happens after that gives me the most incredible anxiety. Like it's so hard for me and I've worked at it and all those things, but when I used to think about networking, it's like, you think about those, like, crazy LinkedIn messages that people are just sending, like, that you've never met this person before, and they're like, here's all the things. Like, it's. It feels transactional. Right. So how are you the. Give something, get something. It sort of feels like leading with generosity, leading with how you can help and support. If I'm. If I'm guessing that. Right. But I would love to hear kind of your approach.
No, I love that. And it's. It's funny because I. As I was writing this to you, I was like, this is just something that I always speak to when we're talking with. With some of our clients that were, like, coaching. Right. So we always get into this. We call it, like, sometimes we call it grassroots. It's community. What does that look like? And I just. I kind of. It just dawned on me with one of our customers in particular, who's based out of Colorado, and we were kind of walking through, like, look, we need to have some sort of community ambassador, like, within the practice that goes out and builds these relationships. So we kind of put them on task, like, here's what we want you to do. And I guess maybe we didn't put enough parameters around it. So when we met the next week and she came back and she said, oh, yeah, I went out to, you know, 50 different locations. I dropped off these little baskets of goodies. I put my business card in there. I put like a page in there.
She's a type A action taker. She just needed a little more.
And I was like, wait a minute. We need to go in and we need to offer them something, like the owner, the manager, somebody like, maybe, hey, I'd like to invite you into my practice for free treatment, whatever that might be. It could be this treatment, that treatment. Or maybe, like, maybe we have just, like, three treatments that we select from because we don't know what their skin type is yet or all of that fun stuff.
Well, and also, like, highest perceived value, lowest consumable cost. Like, let's.
Exactly, you know, so you can't just go in dumping and expecting them to now promote your practice to their members because you gave them a basket. Like, in my mind, that's not really truly giving them something. That's giving them homework. So you need to invite them in for something and take care of them first. And it is. It's building that trust, build that relationship. And then once you get past that, then you're in. And you might even find out, too, that they're not my culture, they're basis of my culture. I'm not. I'm maybe going to have unhappy customers. So maybe this isn't what I want. So you use it as kind of this testing ground of sorts. So I feel like when we you do it that way, that kind of leads us into like that more intentional, right? It's that more intentional side of the business.
So two things are coming up for me. First, what's the quickest way to get rid of a laser salesman? By a laser. Okay, so but how cool is it that you guys as a company have an entire division dedicated to educating your internal clients, to helping to support them to grow. I don't know any other companies that have such a developed program for their internal staff that's not only teaching tactical but also relationships. So kudos to you guys for that. That's incredible. But the to go back to what you were teaching around the relationship piece is someone can't recommend you authentically if they've never had a service from you. And so it's there. Think about the difference in the testimonial or the referral that they're going to be able to give. As I walked in and it smelled like this and they were right on time and my skin felt amazing and they followed up with me and they did, you know, it's like. And they had the water with the cucumbers and strawberries in it and you know, you get the little details that's actually painting a picture rather than they came in and brought me some bagels and gave me these cards that I'm supposed to give out. But I have no idea. How can I recommend my people if I don't know what the experience is going to be like? That's going to look bad on me if I am sending someone there and I've never been there before.
Right, right.
Because when we're asking someone to refer, that's a huge. That goes on them too. Whether it's a good experience or a bad experience, it goes back to that person. So we want to make sure that we are doing things to make them look good in the eyes of their friends, colleagues, clients, whomever they are referring to. So it's such an important piece and I like to look at like you know, we. I want to get into this budgeting piece because you have listed out here like how much should you spend on this relationship building aspect of marketing in your business? And the consumable cost, especially if you're doing an energy based device is going to Be pretty low if you take that consumable cost out of your marketing budget. Like, what a better way, What a higher conversion can you get than to just really looking at, like, hey, if we can get somebody on our table and then we can sell them into a series and then they can refer people. I mean, that's a way higher return than some of these other marketing strategies.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and when we talk about the reason why I throw budget in there, like, and you're going to laugh at me for this, is I don't think you need to have a budget. To your point, it might be the cost of a consumable if that's the treatment that you so choose to highlight with them. Because maybe that's like the latest, greatest, greatest, you know, and most popular treatment that you have. But I mean, I would say less than $500 a month. Like, and that's really just kind of looking at your time and maybe you are creating a few things. But that's the beauty of the community side of this or the relationship building side of this is I always, like, it's funny when I hear my team start to repeat me, they're like, low cost, no cost, right, Kim? Like, yes, but what can't. Because this is truly something that is next to nothing for you to do aside from like some elbow grease and getting out there and just putting the time in. Right. And then I think when you have a practice that maybe has a little, you know, maybe you're beyond a solopreneur, because I know solopreneurs might be become a little bit overwhelmed. But that's why you do it in digestible chunks. Right? Like, identify one. Just identify one within the next two weeks that you want to go and start to try to build a relationship with. But if you've got a bigger practice, then maybe there's somebody within your practice that you know, you know, kind of oozes your culture and maybe they've got some really deep ties in the community. Tap them to be your ambassador of sorts. Right. One of the practices we worked with in the Carolinas actually had. Didn't realize it as we went around the room, there were so many of their team members that were involved in some form of community group or like charity. Like, they, they just, they had this pile of gold that they had no idea until they started asking the questions. Right. So I think it's also, it's key to also understand who your team members are and what they do in their spare time, because you can potentially use that to Your advantage as well.
So I want to go back to this budgeting thing. We do believe in having a budget, but I agree, I agree quite a bit with what you're saying around the strategy with it and what I. So According to the SBA, you want to have anywhere between 8 to 10% of top line revenue for your budget. So if you just say like an easy just to maintain what you're doing, if you want to have a 10% marketing budget, how many practices do you know and I know on our end, the dollars are going towards fulfillment. They're putting all of their dollars on back end on services, on all of this stuff. When I ask somebody how much do they spend on marketing and advertising, it's. It's very rare that I'm finding a practice that spends more than $500 a month on paid ads. If they are. And maybe they're doing like an ad in a newspaper or like a local magazine or something like that. But if you want to build a sustainable business that's growing, you do have to have some sort of advertising budget. And I think that if you start out with this strategy, Kim, that you were suggesting, which I think is brilliant, you start out with that and you say, okay, if we're doing 50,000amonth, then maybe we're going to give five, we have $5,000 to play with. In terms of budgeting. If you break up your consumables, you can say we have however many treatments that we're capable of giving away, which then to your point, would almost be unlimited. If you're like, if something cost, you know, with, with payroll, maybe the consumable is 40 bucks, 50 bucks. You divide that, there's going to be more treatments that you have capable of giving away than you can fit on your schedule. If you're looking at what your actual budget is. And that should really put the CEO at ease and saying like, if we're looking at our marketing dollars of what we're going to be doing, of what the SBA or other, you know, says, and we're con, and we're looking at it like this, we truly can. We have so much possibility if we're not yet ready or not, don't have the desire to do paid ads or to invest in SEO. This is one of the best ways that you can really start to market in such a meaningful way where you're building those relationships and getting word of mouth and getting reviews and all of those things. And then you can go into ads and then show them all the case studies. All the testimonials, all the reviews of people in your local community. So it's really brilliant to start out with the strategy that you just recommended, Kim, and then move into the other spaces. But you've got to start thinking, and I do want to call it a budget because I want them to start realizing you do have to put investment into growing. And there's different, like, are you just wanting to maintain? Are you wanting to grow? Are you wanting like hyper growth? If you're kind of in your first five years of practice and all of those are going to have different budgetary amounts of your top line revenue that you would allocate towards, but it really doesn't have. This is one of the easiest ways to get started with marketing your practice. Yet so many are just like holding so tight. Like, I don't want to give things away for free.
Right? Yeah. And I think you're so spot on with all of that. So I use this as kind of a stepping stone. Right? Like this is your stepping stone for those practices. But I also feel like the bigger practices could invest more time in this avenue because they might be misappropriating some of that budget because they might say, yeah, I'm spending 10%, but I'm not getting the return. So let's look at like, so let's flip the script and say, what's our return on the investment that we're getting? So if we got, say it's $5,000 a month, maybe it is more in those free treatments versus Google AdWords because we're not seeing the leads come through like we thought. So. Yes, I think you're spot on. Right. So it's, you have to spend money to make money. We all know that. And you just have to basically figure out what your percentage is based on where you're at in your growth process. Right. So we're actually getting ready to work with the new pro, new practice here this week actually. And like her, it's like, it's a little scary to me. Like her number one goal is like, she's like, I want to get from 1.5 million to 3.1 million in about 12 months. But she recognizes too that I've got to spend money to make money. So she's investing in coaching, she's investing in, you know, marketing dollars. So it is, you have to recognize like, what are your biggest return on investment? And I think the bigger piece is like, even when you look at the community side of things, Daniela, like, you're the queen of this. Right? We have to track it. We have to track how those spreadsheet.
Honey, give me a spreadsheet. I got you.
But it's so true. And then it's just like all of these aha moments pop up, right? You're like, oh, that partnership. Actually, although I think in my heart it's doing well, it's actually not because the numbers are telling me differently. So it's just taking a few extra minutes to use one of your wonderful spongies and say, what does this look like for us? So, yeah, I think that that's. Yeah, you have to have a budget, but I do think if you think about how you invest it in your community, the dollars go further, potentially. So.
Yeah. And I'm just going to throw out another little tip here in this, like, community building piece. Something that we see so much around September, October, when every spa is inundated with donating things to charities and donate. Like, can you donate a gift basket? Can you donate a what? You know, like, and it's always like, they want free services. I tell our people to say, sure, we'd love to donate if you send this email out to your entire list. And so we want proof of the email. We want proof of getting in front of those people. And then you just got free advertising. So one, you get one client out of that, then what is your lifetime customer value? And so. And you're getting exposure to their entire list. Track that. And then you can give bigger to less organizations in the following years because you can see the ones that actually come in and redeem the gift certificate. You can see the ones that are serving your people. You can also ask your existing patient base, what are the charities that they support? And similar to what you were saying, Kim, if you have staff that is involved in community, what are the ones that they support that you have a direct connection with that is going to really understand? Like, there's so many ways that you can go about this and really make it a win win situation. But your local community, if you are the CEO, I want you out there being the mayor of your town, I want you out there being visible, building relationships, going to charitable events, going to your local BNI or Rotary club or chamber, whatever organizations you decide to visit, which is what this gal that you have this practice that wants to go from one point whatever to 3.1, she's got to get in the community. She's got to be. She's got to be out there building the relationships. And that seems counterintuitive because it's like, get out of the practice. That's what you need to do. But that's what she needs to do. She said, get out those partnerships.
Yep, absolutely.
Okay, what am I missing? Let me look at this list, this golden list here. Okay, so you said, in the world of aesthetics and med spas, what is community? So specifically, I want to talk about that internally from a professional network as well. Because I think that what we see, if you're in the industry long enough, it just gets smaller and smaller. And there are really great individuals that are with company A and then they move to company B. You know, and it's like, that can also be a really beneficial thing for you as a practice owner to maintain relationships with your vendors. To re. You were just saying. I was. I met them when they were cynosure. It brought me to. You know, it's like those relationships opened up so many doors. So I think really being aware of these people that are trying to build relationships and yes, ultimately do business, but sometimes it doesn't work. And just because you're not doing business with a particular company doesn't mean that you still can't support or provide value or build relationships with those. So what's your kind of take on building your professional network in the aesthetic space?
Yeah. So when we say professional, like internally with your vendors. Yes. I 100% agree with that. Right. Because this world is small. It's kind of crazy to me every. Every time I think that it couldn't be any smaller, it ends up being smaller. Right. So there's that piece. And then when we think about, like your professional network as a business owner within a community. Right. Because you're in your community. Community. I think some people kind of start to shut doors when they think about, oh, well, it's got to be wellness related. It has to be. You know, maybe it's like we always kind of go back to this, like Orange Theory Fitness, the Pure bars, the hot works, like, everything that is kind of like tying back to somebody's overall wellness. But I think you can take it further than that. Right. So when you get into community, you. I mean, yes, Charities, yes. That's a whole nother piece. But I attribute this to a conversation I had with actually one of my local aesthetic practices that I worked with. And it was funny because they're like, we are having a hard time literally pulling from the other side of town. We don't know why we've advertised in their local Greet that town, Greet Bedford. And we're not getting any traction. And I was like, well, what about the coffee shop that is the hub of the community over here? Like, all the moms go there. Like, all the business professionals go there in the morning and have meetings. I said, what if you just bought like coffee sleeves and threw them on their coffee cups until they were out of them? It cost them $48. Right. And said, enjoy this coffee and call us for a consult. And it was one of their best marketing campaigns that they'd had to pull, like this new market. But again, it was going in and meeting that owner. We all know who Hillary is because Hillary is out in the community. So if everybody knows who Hillary is, and now all of a sudden Hillary is talking about our med spa, then Hillary must know something that we need to know, right? So I think it's understanding that there are different avenues of different business types that you might not always just think of. So. And it could go to, you know, maybe it's a fence company that you just see. Like, they're all over. Like, everybody knows who they are. So it's like understanding who the people in your community that have some. I guess I'll call it celebrity status. Right? Like, it's one of those things when I run into people like, what do you mean you don't know? So and so they, you know, they're.
They're micro influencers is what they are. They are. Who are the micro influencers in your community? Who are the Hillary's in your community that you can locate and build relationships with? And sometimes it takes, you know, six months to a year to really build a true relationship. And it's, it's finding the points of connection. You don't want to just go in and lead with the transaction. It's like, do your kids go to the same school? Do they play the same sports? Do you have any hobbies in common? Do you work out at the same gym? Do you, like, what are the things that you can do and how can you help their business support the things that they care about without, like, expectation of what is going to happen after? Right?
I think so. There's a. Sorry for interrupting, but there's a practice that did this really well, actually in Dover, New Hampshire, and you. Do you think about the reciprocal where they actually highlight another small business in the community within their practice? So when you check in, like, they'll have. They would have like a whole coffee station set up and it would be compliments of the inside scoop. And sometimes they do that just to kind of build that knowledge. And maybe they don't even know Hillary yet, but they're like, hey, but I recognize everybody loves your coffee, so I'm going to highlight you as a small business that I, like, am proud to support, and everybody else is proud to support. And then there's this, like, you. You create this reciprocal before you then get to their Pratt. To their business to be able to make that connection. Right. So there's a lot of different ways to go about it, but I always thought that that was cool. I'm like, that's lovely that you're just. You're a small business owner and you're just, you know, celebrating the other small businesses in your community that you might not even really, truly know, but you enjoy what they. They bring to the table. So I think there's a lot of different ways you can do it.
That's really cool. I love that. That's a great idea. All right, Anything else that you want to add to make this episode feel complete?
Oh, my goodness.
What am I not asking?
I don't know. I feel like you've asked it all. I don't. In this. With this topic, I think we've touched on the biggest points that there are, and I think it is.
It's just consistency.
Yeah. Like, we were just talking as we got to start. We got started. Lori Harder like the. The cop. The title of her podcast is earn your happy. And I think you. You hit it the nail on the head as we got into this. Like, earn your happy because you're gonna. When you start to showcase other people's successes, it makes you feel good, and then it's gonna make your life so much easier as you build your own small business within your community. So, I mean, I think we've touched on all of it. Daniela.
Wonderful. All right, so I want you guys to take action. I want you to really put community at the forefront of your marketing strategy. Reach out to your network. Understand, like, first understand who your network even is. You know, like the story that you were telling about all the connections that you already have in your location. It's such an important thing. Kim, where can all of our listeners find you, follow you, get in touch with you? If they want to learn more?
If they want to learn more, they can shoot me an email, which we can put that in the. Yeah, we'll put all the mouthful. Kposity@cartessaesthetics.com But I'm with Kartessa Esthetics. Like I said, we are eight and a half years young. Or you can follow me on LinkedIn. Kim Pazetti and I'D be happy to connect with anybody and everybody that wants to connect.
Wonderful. Thank you so much. So, so much. Love this love community aspect. It's such an important piece to have as your foundation of marketing and career growth. Thanks again for listening and we'll catch you on the next episode.
Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast: Episode SMME #431 – The Untapped Superpower in Community-Driven Growth
Release Date: April 28, 2025
Host: Daniela Woerner, Licensed Aesthetician
Guest: Kim Pazetti, Director of Practice Development at Cartessa Aesthetics
In episode #431 of the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast, host Daniela Woerner delves into a crucial yet often overlooked strategy for spa growth: community-driven marketing. Daniela underscores the significance of building authentic relationships within the community as a foundational element for business success.
Daniela Woerner [00:30]:
"Community isn't just a feel-good concept. It's one of the smartest growth strategies that you can implement in your business."
Daniela emphasizes that many spa CEOs overlook the power of community due to being overwhelmed by daily tasks. She introduces the idea that fostering community connections can lead to sustainable growth without the stress of constant hustle.
Daniela Woerner [00:30]:
"So many spa CEOs miss this opportunity because they are buried under a list of to-dos and plain and simple, they're exhausted and overwhelmed by the end of the day."
Kim Pazetti shares her professional journey, highlighting how her background in marketing and business development seamlessly transitioned into the aesthetics industry. Her story illustrates the pivotal role of relationships and community in her career advancement.
Kim Pazetti [06:59]:
"I attribute that directly to the relationships that I nurtured that I fed."
Kim discusses the "Give Something, Get Something" philosophy, advocating for generosity in networking. She stresses the importance of offering value first—such as inviting potential partners for free treatments—to build trust and foster meaningful connections.
Kim Pazetti [15:24]:
"You can't just go in dumping and expecting them to now promote your practice to their members because you gave them a basket. That's not really truly giving them something."
The conversation delves deeper into Kim’s strategy for effective networking. She explains that genuine generosity leads to authentic referrals, contrasting it with the often transactional nature of conventional networking methods.
Kim Pazetti [16:37]:
"It's having these great conversations and it might go somewhere and it might not, and that's okay. But I love that you just said, but it makes you happy."
Kim and Daniela explore the financial aspects of community-driven marketing. They discuss allocating a portion of the marketing budget to relationship-building activities, emphasizing that such investments often yield higher returns compared to traditional advertising.
Kim Pazetti [23:55]:
"According to the SBA, you want to have anywhere between 8 to 10% of top-line revenue for your budget."
Daniela Woerner [15:24]:
"What a better way, what a higher conversion can you get than to just really looking at, like, hey, if we can get somebody on our table and then we can sell them into a series and then they can refer people."
Both speakers highlight the importance of tracking the effectiveness of community marketing efforts. They suggest using spreadsheets to monitor referrals and understand the return on investment (ROI) from various partnership activities.
Kim Pazetti [29:22]:
"You got to track that. So it's pretty interesting. So it’s been a fun ride. But I love the fact that I've been able to continue to build relationships and partnerships as well."
Kim elaborates on maintaining and expanding a professional network within the aesthetics industry. She emphasizes the value of staying connected with vendors and leveraging these relationships to enhance business opportunities.
Kim Pazetti [33:44]:
"Who are the micro influencers in your community? Who are the Hillary's in your community that you can locate and build relationships with?"
The discussion includes actionable strategies for integrating community-focused marketing into spa operations. Kim shares examples such as partnering with local businesses, participating in community events, and highlighting other small businesses within the spa to create reciprocal relationships.
Kim Pazetti [37:08]:
"When you check in, like, they'll have like a whole coffee station set up and it would be compliments of the inside scoop. And sometimes they do that just to kind of build that knowledge."
Daniela wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to prioritize community in their marketing strategies. She urges spa owners to actively engage with their local networks, attend community events, and build lasting relationships that can drive referrals and enhance business growth.
Daniela Woerner [39:16]:
"I want you guys to take action. I want you to really put community at the forefront of your marketing strategy."
Community as a Growth Strategy: Building authentic relationships within the community is essential for sustainable spa growth.
Give Something, Get Something: Lead with generosity by offering value first to foster trust and encourage referrals.
Budget Allocation: Allocate a portion (8-10%) of your top-line revenue to community-driven marketing efforts for higher ROI.
Tracking Success: Use tools like spreadsheets to monitor the effectiveness and ROI of your community marketing activities.
Professional Networking: Maintain and expand your professional network within the aesthetics industry to open new business opportunities.
Practical Implementation: Engage with local businesses, participate in community events, and highlight other small businesses to build reciprocal relationships.
Daniela Woerner [00:30]:
"Community isn't just a feel-good concept. It's one of the smartest growth strategies that you can implement in your business."
Kim Pazetti [15:24]:
"You can't just go in dumping and expecting them to now promote your practice to their members because you gave them a basket."
Kim Pazetti [16:37]:
"It's having these great conversations and it might go somewhere and it might not, and that's okay."
Daniela Woerner [15:24]:
"What a better way, what a higher conversion can you get than to just really looking at, like, hey, if we can get somebody on our table and then we can sell them into a series and then they can refer people."
Kim Pazetti [33:44]:
"Who are the micro influencers in your community? Who are the Hillary's in your community that you can locate and build relationships with?"
Episode SMME #431 of the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast offers invaluable insights into leveraging community as a powerful tool for spa growth. With expert advice from Kim Pazetti, spa owners are equipped with actionable strategies to build meaningful relationships, allocate budgets effectively, and create a thriving network that drives referrals and business success. By prioritizing community-driven marketing, spa professionals can achieve sustainable growth and create a life they love.
Connect with Kim Pazetti:
For more insights and to connect with Kim Pazetti, Director of Practice Development at Cartessa Aesthetics, listeners can reach out via email at kpazetti@cartessaesthetics.com or connect on LinkedIn by searching for Kim Pazetti.
Stay Tuned:
Tune in to the next episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy for more strategies and expert interviews to help your spa thrive.