Your first 100 clients: a marketing plan for a new beauty business
The first 100 clients are the hardest — and the most important, because they become your reviews, your photos and your referrals. Here is a plan that costs time, not money.
Weeks 1–2: foundations
- Booking page live with prices and 10+ photos (borrow from your training portfolio if needed)
- Google Business Profile complete with booking link
- Instagram bio: what you do, where, 'book below'
- Tell every friend and former colleague — personally, not a broadcast
Weeks 3–6: the founding offer
Run one clear opening offer (e.g. 20% off first visit with a coupon code) for a limited window. Post it three times a week with different work photos. Ask every happy client for a review and a story share before they leave the chair.
Weeks 7–12: compounding
- Rebook in the chair: 'shall I put you in for four weeks?'
- Referral nudge: bring a friend, both get £5 off
- Post before/after twice a week — consistency beats brilliance
- Answer every review, every DM, same day
By client 100 you should see 40%+ rebooking and a review base that does your selling for you. The whole plan runs on a free Slotora page, coupon codes and the reports dashboard.
One thing week one assumes and a brand-new business rarely has: ten photographs of your own work. If your portfolio is thin, the quickest honest way to fill it is to work on models rather than to wait for clients. A model sitting is a real person, a real result and a real photograph, and it costs you materials and an afternoon rather than a marketing budget — and the people you practise on are the likeliest first entries in that hundred. Post a model call and fill your portfolio
