If there was ever a nail artist with a perfect nickname—Naja Nail Guru is that professional for so many reasons. People across the globe are familiar with her unmatched talent behind the chair. But she humbly states that her marketing strategies gave her work the attention it deserves.
Naja moved to Los Angeles, California almost two decades ago with only a few hundred bucks and the desire to express herself creatively while marketing herself professionally. That dream turned into a reality. And today she’s recognized for her work as a Booksy Ambassador, online influencer, educator, platform artist, and celebrity manicurist.
Her nail designs have been worn by Mary J. Blige, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Fergie, Mariah Carey, Pink, and Miranda Lambert—just to name a few. And she’s created cutting-edge designs for household names like Covergirl, Target, Levis, Old Navy, Lexus, Honda, and TJ Maxx.
At this point in her career, her brand is without a doubt well-established. So, Naja spends most of her time opening up doors for industry professionals who share her passion and dedication. To best serve beauty and grooming experts across the country, Naja created a short yet effective list of marketing strategies designed to help others put their best foot forward.
Take a moment to learn several proven marketing strategies from a bonafide guru. Find out why so many people have come to know and absolutely love her designs. Then apply her tried and true techniques to make sure your business not only reaches its goals but takes things to the next level, just like Naja.
Naja started sharing advice about marketing strategies by encouraging industry experts to get into the habit of truly selling themselves. In particular, she said beauty professionals should spend a little less time absolutely mastering their craft. Instead, they should make sure to consistently spend a dedicated amount of hours each week on marketing.
During her travels across the globe as a nail educator, Naja has seen talent at the highest level. Apparently, many beauty experts are passionate about their craft. But according to Naja, very few of those same professionals put down the tools of the trade to really market themselves.
“The technique is there and if people practice day in and day out, they’re going to get good at the technique. But what I see is a tremendous lack and an open gap for marketing,” Naja said.
Naja recommends that professionals at every level should try to spend the same amount of time on perfecting their technique that they spend on marketing. And if that specific time commitment isn't possible, an industry expert could devote 60% of their time towards getting better at their craft and 40% of their time on marketing. Regardless of the percentage, the important part of this strategy is to spend a consistent amount of time on marketing.
Creating an elevator pitch is one of the most important tips for both industry newcomers or experienced professionals. During her educational classes, Naja uses her 20 years of professional experience to teach people the importance of creating an engaging elevator pitch.
Naja said it’s necessary to make a solid first impression on a potential client. Unfortunately, in most encounters, you only have about 30 seconds to talk about treatments or services. And that means it’s necessary to have an impressive elevator pitch ready, because it can go a long way.
“Most people in sales and marketing know about an elevator pitch. But somehow this strategy is skipped over in the beauty industry. And beauty professionals are the people who need an elevator pitch the most, because there’s no guaranteed paycheck—if beauty experts don’t have a client, there’s no money coming in. So, they need to create an elevator pitch,” said Naja.
After carefully creating an elevator pitch, it’s time to properly apply this valuable tool in the right situations. Beauty professionals should use their elevator pitch to introduce themselves. And it should also reveal how their experience and skills could potentially benefit a client.
But it’s important to talk to the right people, said Naja. Make use of that elevator pitch to best promote your services by getting out into your neighborhood. And instead focusing all of your energy going after individual clients, talk to professionals in other customer facing industries.
Speak with bank tellers, bartenders, and fitness instructors because they may see 20 or more people per day. Sharing your elevator pitch and your services with these people will help expand your brand. It lets you market your work to people who heavily interact with a host of potential clients, said Naja.
“It's necessary to develop a more expansive mind when you know that a paycheck is not guaranteed to come every Friday. And when you start to get busy, then you don’t have as much time. So, you need those people out there constantly talking about your services,” said Naja.
When it comes to collaborating with other industry professionals, this can be one of the more rewarding marketing strategies, said Naja. Throughout her entire career, she has collaborated with a wide range of professionals in the beauty and wellness industry. Overall, Naja has worked with podiatrists, yoga instructors, hair stylists, makeup artists, and estheticians.
Naja said none of those industry professionals are in competition with one another and none of them are trying to find the exact same clients for the exact same services. But those professionals can all work on the same one client who wants to pay for beauty services.
“Everything that people see me accomplish and even the stuff they don’t see—everything that I’ve done on television or any of the celebrities that I’ve worked with—it all came from collaborations. And that takes networking with other beauty professionals who are not in your field,” said Naja.
Booksy Nail Sessions: Interview with Naja
Setting realistic marketing goals first begins when a professional takes the time to examine their schedule and their number of booked clients. And anyone who doesn’t have a completely full schedule should have plenty of time to set realistic marketing goals, she said.
More specifically, a professional can set a goal for how many clients they want to service in a day. The next step is to start implementing marketing strategies on at least double the number of clients that the professional eventually wants to service—whether it’s reaching out via social media, passing out business cards in person, or going to other businesses in the area.
Have a clear, specific number of people that you want to reach via your marketing strategies. Naja reminded industry experts to use their elevator pitch while talking about services to new clients to be able to attain the number of clients they eventually want to service.
Another one of the marketing strategies that Naja mentioned was to reach out to marketing professionals for help with creating quality pictures and video content. But instead of paying a large sum of money, consider exchanging services with that visual artist or marketing expert.
“A lot of beauty professionals don't understand the gift that they really have. If you can do a beauty service, you have the best bartering tool—ever. You can say, ‘hey I’d like to offer you three haircuts or a couple of pedicures in exchange for these things that I need: I need three photos, I need a flyer, I need a graphic design,’” said Naja.
She elaborated by stating that even if it's an informal agreement, make sure to get that arrangement in writing. A simple yet well-crafted email is a great way to make sure that each party understands exactly what they are bringing to the table to make sure everything is transparent and that both people fully understand the agreement.
The last of the marketing strategies that Naja discussed was to introduce clients to your services through different, in-person introductory meetings. To attract more business and better market her brand, Naja remembers showcasing her work inside high-end, Los Angeles based nightclubs on the weekends. And for a few hours, she would offer nail art for an introductory rate to market herself.
Using this strategy let Naja meet a wide range of potential clients in just one sitting. During those introductory meetings, she would use her elevator pitch to talk about the salon where she worked and the services she offered.
“‘I would say, ‘oh I have a salon down the street. You should come and see me.’ I still think that was a good tactic. It’s an introduction to your services. For another example, a nail tech could also go to a local car dealership and draw Honda signs on people’s nails on Saturdays to really get a large crowd to notice their work,” she said.
