Five Ways to Get More Clients (Without Burning Out or Guessing)

Growing a steady stream of customers is the foundation of any successful beauty business. Yet for so many beauty professionals, getting booked consistently can feel unpredictable, exhausting, or dependent on luck. One month you’re busy, the next month you’re questioning everything. I know this cycle well, because I’ve lived it.

My name is Barbie Patel, and I’m the founder of Beauty CEO University and Cinderella Bridez. Over the last two decades, I’ve built and scaled multiple beauty brands by combining artistry with strategy. What started as a service-based beauty business evolved into a global agency and an education platform designed to help beauty professionals grow profitable, sustainable businesses without relying solely on hustle. I’ve worked with thousands of beauty pros who are incredibly talented, but talent alone doesn’t guarantee customers. Strategy does.

The good news is this: getting more customers doesn’t always require reinventing your business or working longer hours. Often, it’s about implementing the right strategies with intention and consistency. Below are five actionable ways to attract more customers, build trust, and create momentum in your business, starting now.

1. Reach Out Directly and Start the Conversation

One of the most overlooked ways to get more customers is also one of the most effective: direct outreach. Many beauty professionals wait for customers to come to them, believing that if they post enough or wait long enough, bookings will magically happen. In reality, growth often begins with intentional conversations.

Reaching out directly through DMs, emails, or even text messages to past clients, warm leads, or engaged followers can reignite relationships and open the door to new bookings. This is not about spamming people or sending generic sales messages. It’s about personalized communication that shows genuine interest and care.

When someone has already engaged with your brand, liked a post, replied to a story, joined your email list, or booked with you in the past, they’re already warm. Starting a conversation can remind them of your services, invite them back in, and build trust far faster than waiting silently.

Beauty Pro Tip:
Before sending any message, review the person’s previous interaction with your brand. Reference something specific, a service they booked, content they engaged with, or a result they admired. Personalization signals professionalism and dramatically increases response rates.

2. Use Content as a Customer Magnet, Not Just a Portfolio

Content should do more than showcase your work, it should attract, educate, and convert. While before-and-after photos are important, they’re only one piece of the puzzle. Customers are drawn to content that speaks directly to their needs, emotions, and aspirations.

Value-driven content positions you as an expert, not just a service provider. Behind-the-scenes insights, client success stories, educational posts, and problem-solving content help potential customers understand not just what you do, but why they should choose you.

When your content is created with purpose, it becomes a magnet. Instead of chasing customers, your content begins to pre-sell your services by answering objections, building trust, and showcasing your expertise before someone ever reaches out.

Beauty Pro Tip:
Create content with one clear intention per post. Ask yourself: Is this meant to educate, build trust, inspire action, or drive inquiries? When your content has a clear purpose, your audience is far more likely to take the next step.

3. Run Paid Ads Strategically to Increase Visibility Faster

Organic growth is powerful, but it takes time. If you want to accelerate visibility and reach new customers faster, paid advertising can be a highly effective tool, when done strategically. Paid ads are not about boosting random posts or hoping for the best. They require clarity, targeting, and strong messaging.

Well-executed ads allow you to place your services directly in front of the right audience, at the right time, with a clear call to action. Whether you’re promoting a service, a limited-time offer, or a lead magnet, ads can help you scale what’s already working.

The key is understanding who you’re targeting, what problem you’re solving, and what action you want the viewer to take. Without those elements, ads can quickly become an expense instead of an investment.

Beauty Pro Tip:
Before running ads, test your messaging organically. If a post already performs well with your audience, it’s a strong candidate for paid promotion. Ads amplify clarity — they don’t fix confusion.

4. Leverage Partnerships and Affiliations to Expand Your Reach

You don’t have to grow alone. One of the fastest ways to access new customers is through partnerships with people or brands who already have your ideal audience. Strategic collaborations allow you to borrow trust and visibility without starting from scratch.

This could look like partnering with influencers, content creators, wedding vendors, photographers, salons, or complementary businesses. When done correctly, partnerships are mutually beneficial, you provide value to their audience, and they introduce you to potential customers who are already primed to buy.

Affiliate relationships, referral swaps, and co-created content can dramatically increase exposure while strengthening your brand’s credibility. The right partnership can bring in customers you may never have reached on your own.

Beauty Pro Tip:
Choose partners whose audience aligns with your ideal client, not just their follower count. Alignment matters far more than reach when it comes to conversions.

5. Turn Happy Clients Into Your Best Marketing Channel

Word-of-mouth referrals remain one of the most powerful forms of marketing, especially in the beauty industry. People trust recommendations from friends, family, and peers more than ads or content. A happy client is not just a repeat customer; they’re a walking endorsement.

Creating an exceptional customer experience encourages clients to talk about you naturally. From the first inquiry to the final follow-up, every touchpoint matters. Asking satisfied clients for referrals, testimonials, or reviews can significantly increase your customer base without increasing your workload.

You can also incentivize referrals through simple bonuses, loyalty perks, or exclusive offers. However, the foundation of referrals will always be the experience you provide.

Beauty Pro Tip:
Make it easy for clients to refer you. Clearly tell them how referrals work and what to say when recommending you. When clients feel confident explaining your value, they’re more likely to do it.

Why These Strategies Work Together

While each of these strategies is effective on its own, they’re most powerful when used together. Direct outreach builds relationships, content builds authority, ads expand visibility, partnerships extend reach, and referrals create trust. Together, they create a customer acquisition system, not a guessing game.

Many beauty professionals struggle to grow because they rely on one method alone. Sustainable growth comes from layering strategies intentionally and aligning them with your brand, goals, and capacity.

Final Thoughts

If your goal is to get more customers, the solution isn’t working harder; it’s working smarter. Every successful beauty business you admire has systems behind the scenes that attract, nurture, and convert customers consistently. Those systems are built with strategy, not luck.

If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure which strategies will work best for your business, you don’t have to figure it out alone. That’s exactly why I created my Expert-Led Business Strategy Program at Beauty CEO University. Inside the program, we focus on building strong brand pages, customer acquisition systems, content strategy, and scalable growth plans designed specifically for beauty professionals.

If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building a business that attracts customers consistently, I invite you to join us. Let’s turn your brand into a customer-generating machine, with clarity, confidence, and strategy.

Join me inside Beauty CEO University today at BeautyCeoUniversity.com.

Your future self will thank you.

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BarbiePatell, BeautyCeoUniversity, Luxx.Escapes, CinderellaBridez