Maximing your Client Base

Maximizing your Client Base

The biggest obstacle I found to getting started is this business is that almost everyone knows someone with a spray tan horror story; too orange, dark palms, horrible smell, etc. . .. How can you overcome such a negative expectation?
The key is create a positive expectation in your circle of influence. I choose a few key people in my facebook network that I knew were influential to many people. Then I chose a few locations to do sprays and set up times and days with them. Then I went to work. I sprayed those influential people for free at my home, they were friends after all, and I sprayed the owners and workers of my locations at no charge. . . and they LOVED it!
The entire time I sprayed I talked about the virtues of a person tanning you over a machine and how far superior Golden Sol products were to anything else on the market. I commented on their lack of orange color and how wonderful the smell was. I talked about the story of Golden Sol, how I got into the business and how excited I am about this product. I told them how this can save you from skin cancer and give you real options for tanning. Then I sent them on their way.
Within hours my facebook page was lit up with thank you for their beautiful tans. I didnt ask them to post it but I knew they were facebook devotees and they were grateful for the free tan so I suspected they would. With each post came questions from other friends and calls for appointments! The grateful staff at my locations were also talking. They loved their tan and wanted to help me since I had tanned them at no charge. Those places started booking too!
Now here is the important part. With each tan I booked from here on out I had the client fill out a release form with thier name, email, and phone number on it. Not only did this give me protection from personal liability but also great info on my client. Each day I email the tans from the day before and check on how they are doing. Clients love that you care! When they write back a great note about how much they love it I post it on Facebook! More questions, more bookings.
Once a week I email everyone that has not been tanned for two weeks. . . more bookings! Within one month I have one hundred clients and tan between 5 -19 people a week.
One note: Be careful of discounts. Before I had the plan I implemented above worked out I offered deep discounts in order to get people to try it. Those who paid those low prices did not value the service and were not raving fans like my higher paying clients, also now they do not want to pay the higher price, which is necessary to make the business viable, so I have lost them as clients. Free or full price really is the way to go.

Tips and Tricks for Spray Tanning

Alligator Skin from Spray Tanning??
If you are starting to notice a look of alligator skin on yourself or your clients, not to worry, this is normal! Let me explain why...
The main ingredient in every sunless tanning product is DHA, Dihydroxyacetone, which is simply a form of sugar. The way DHA works is by attaching itself to your outer most layer of skin and mixing with the proteins and amino acids within you to create a color change in those skin cells. Our skin is many layers deep and when we obtain a tan from the actual sun, it actually tans our skin several layers deep...which is the reason you can get 2nd and 3rd degree burns from the sun. The deeper it goes, the more layers it is effecting. DHA is much different than the sun in that it can't go any further than the very top layer of skin. DHA also tends to have a drying effect on the skin cells, almost causing them to shrink and dry out more quickly than they normally would. This is why it is so important to moisturize your skin every time you get out of the shower or bath. In the winter and spring, our skin hasn't been exposed to several months of warm weather and thus we have no color on our skin. When you spray tan, you are coloring the top layer, but everything underneath is still very pale. As the skin cells shrink from their normal drying pattern, you start to see the fresh layers of skin underneath...which are very light compared to your spray tanned skin. In the summer and fall, we still have a nice base tan from the sun and the layers underneath our top layer have some color. You will not typically notice the alligator look during the summer, just because the skin underneath is darker.


So...how do we fix this?? Our skin naturally regenerates every 7 to 10 days and when you've obtained a sun tan or a sunless tan; your skin may even dry out faster and shed more quickly. When you start to notice the alligator look, it is time to exfoliate and get that dead skin off. Even if you can't get all of it to come off, getting the majority will help your next sunless tan look more natural. This is a great time to sell your clients an exfoliate and some moisturizing lotion! I suggest using an exfoliate as well as a cotton washcloth. You can suggest to your clients to either take a long shower or bath and wait until the end of the shower or bath to exfoliate. This allows the skin to become very soft and the tanned skin will be removed more easily. I personally like to use a white washcloth so I can actually see what is being removed from my skin.


The most important thing your clients can do before they get spray tanned is exfoliate! Even if they don't want to use a product, just a simple cotton washcloth works. I would recommend this over a loofah, it just works better. By exfoliating first, their sunless tan will look more natural and will fade more naturally.

Changes. . .

The realization that I am not good with change...

I have always considered myself a flexible person. If something had to be done, then I just added it into my day and got it done! If something had to be fixed, then I added it into my day and fixed it. I know…I know…I'm a textbook Type-A personality. And because of this, the challenge of “the unexpected” just helps me to stay on track and make things happen. Well, when an opportunity presented itself for my family and me to move down to South Florida and expand the Golden Sol enterprise, I jumped on it!
The decision to move was the easy part! The actual move, however…well, that generated a whirlwind of feelings that I've never been accustomed too, an unfamiliar feeling of UNCERTAINTY. New and complex decisions had to be addressed - Where we were to live? Where will my daughter go to school? Which is the best moving vendor? When should we leave? Who will our new doctors and dentists be? And the big one - is this what I really want?
I grew up in Miami, so the idea of going back home after nearly eleven years of Atlanta living was exciting! At least, those were my thoughts when it was a dream and not reality. The shocking, almost earth-shattering reality was that I AM NOT GOOD WITH CHANGE!! I am far too structured and set in my ways to handle such an influx of unknown variables. A daily routine is something I value and need. As a mother, a wife, and business owner this consistency is intrinsic to who I am.

After a few weeks of packing all my earthly belongings and slowly disassociating myself from my true feelings, it was time for the big move. As I made the 10-hour drive from Atlanta to South Florida, my heart felt heavier and heavier. It finally hit me that my entire adult life had been established in Atlanta. After college I moved straight to the ATL. I found my love, got married, had a child, made lifelong friendships, started new careers, and then BAM...I left it all behind.
As I pulled into my new home, I realized that life as we had been living it would be totally altered. At that point I couldn’t determine if this would be for the worse or the better; I just knew it would be different. I felt run over, exhausted, and home sick. It was then I realized that change is not my strong suit. I am such a control freak that the unknown shuts me down. The first week was the hardest, as I experienced episodes of near-anxiety attacks that seemed to strangle me. But as the next couple of weeks rolled by, I was suddenly engulfed with a feeling of contentment. I realized that this change is probably the best decision I've made in a long time. It has nothing to do with the location, distance, or career...but everything to do with letting go of my controlled environment and trying something new on for size; allowing new ideas, clients, friends, environments, and adventures to set in. I will never lose the precious bonds I’ve established and grown with my Atlanta friends, but I'm opening myself for the adventures to come! So as difficult as the revelation was that change is NOT my strong point, it opened a new page in the book called Natasha's Life.