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5 Tips for Medical Aesthetic Business Marketing

So I’ve done my Botox Training…now what?

Gaining thorough, high-quality training in medical aesthetic treatments like Botox, Dermal Fillers, Dermaroller Therapy and Skin Peels is only the beginning. Once you have these skills and are confident that your techniques are sufficiently advanced to be competent providing treatments to the public, what now?

Time to start Marketing your Business

Whether you already have an established practice and are adding medical aesthetic treatments to your repertoire, or are starting your business from scratch, your skills and expertise will never translate into profit without a fantastic reputation – or brilliant marketing! Both of these factors are interlinked: as your client base grows, they will start to spread the word amongst themselves and so your reputation will grow, too. But first you need to attract the initial streams of patients.

Marketing can be a daunting prospect if you don’t know where to begin. There are many business sharks out there, eager to profiteer from the common knowledge that medical aestheticians are not necessarily marketing and technology savvy.

Marketing and Technology savvy?

Yes. These days, the two are well and truly interlinked.

Whilst some forms of offline marketing – adverts and features in local magazines and newspapers, fliers or posters – may serve you well, the wider market is lurking online. You have the potential to reach much greater numbers, further afield and at a lower cost. If you get it right.

Where to start?

There are a few bog-standard basics that Cosmetic Courses recommend for delegates looking to market their medical aesthetic business:
1. Create a brand, not just a business
Spend time choosing a catchy name and slogan, design an eyecatching logo and be consistent with colour-schemes from stationary to sites. The objective is to establish branding instantly recognisable and so compelling that prospective patients choose you over your competition.
2. Get socialising:
Social media is a very powerful tool for networking, creating your brand image and engaging prospective patients. First you need to identify where the majority of your patients ‘hang out’ – is it Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube or Google+? Very few small business owners have time to juggle all these accounts so maybe just focus on one or two for best results. Each has strengths and weaknesses unique to the medical aesthetic industry – look out for more on this in a future Cosmetic Courses blog!
3. Don’t just say it, Blog it!
A blog is a great way to create a more personal voice for your company, let patients know what is happening, what offers you are doing and what you are thinking.
4. SEOk
SEO (or search engine optimisation) is vital to making sure your website works to pull in patients. Combined with social media and creating lots of new content through your blog and on your website pages themselves, SEO involves researching keywords to see which are most popular with your patients when they search online. You then need to make sure all your pages frequently mention these words: in a natural-sounding way! There’s quite a knack to this and there are many hints’n’tips tutorials online…or you can get Cosmetic Courses to give you some training!
5. Make Links
Inbound link-building can boost the visibility of your site on search engines and help you network with other sites. There are lots of ways of getting links to your site…but you need to be aiming for high quality, relevant links, not tons of cheap ones from sales sites that are nothing to do with yours!

These 5 business marketing pointers are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using digital for your medical aesthetic business. There are also many factors specific to the cosmetic industry which need to be borne in mind.

If you would like some training in business marketial traning for your medical aesthetic business, why not consider a business marketing training course with Cosmetic Courses? With expert guest speakers, hints and tips a-plenty and lots of ongoing support after the initial training, it could be just what you need to get your business off the ground! Contact us on 0845 230 4110 or [email protected] for more details about upcoming dates and availability.

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Cosmetic Courses’ Libby Stewart studies the Pix-L Cannula Technique

Cosmetic Courses Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner and Trainer, Libby Stewart, is always keen to further her development and frequently gets invited to some of the most exclusive training events in the industry: testament to her skill and reputation. Following on from her recent Juvaderm Voluma training, Libby recently attended training in the innovative new Pix-L Cannula Technique, held at the Q-Med headquarters in London. She is fortunate to be amongst the first UK aesthetic nurses to be trained in the use of this new technique from Restylane. In this Blog, Libby shares her experience and tells you a bit about the Pix-L Cannula Technique…

The Pix-L Cannula Technique

The Pix-L cannula technique is a method in which individual treatment areas or a full face can be treated with filler from one injection site.

It is best known as a “blunt technique” and there has been quite a lot of excited publicity about this bluntness because an obvious benefit of using blunt cannulas is that the treatment can be more comfortable for the patient. There is less inflammation, discomfort and chance of bruising and swelling. Psychologically, patients who are squeamish of sharp needles might feel happier. There is even thought to be a better aesthetic result with a higher safety factor.

According to the official Q-Med site: “The Pix’L™ cannula has a blunt tip which does not cut through the tissue but pushes it gently to the side without injuring it. A lateral outlet enables the injection to be precise, and a special inner surface layer allows optimum flow of the hyaluronic acid. The unique replenishment of volume is only attained with the combination of the Pix’L™ cannula in the correct cannula size for the corresponding gel particle size of hyaluronic acid in Restylane.

To provide maximum control and high quality instruments – every Pix’L™ needle is precisely tested after every manufacturing step. In total there are 12 test phases as well as a test under microscope in order to satisfy the most demanding customers. A Haute Couture treatment result requires an ultra precise tool for you, the practitioner – the Pix’L™ micro cannula.”

The fact that these Pix-L Cannulas can treat large areas of the face at a time whilst causing less pain and bruising (physically and psychologically!) to the patient is just so exciting. The treatment is being hailed as the ‘liquid facelift’ and is sure to become huge. At the moment, however, only certain highly qualified specialists (like Libby!) are being invited to train in this technique.

For more information on the Pix-L Cannula Technique or any of Cosmetic Courses’ other training courses and services, please contact us on 0845 230 4110 or [email protected]

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Can I start my Cosmetic Courses training at Advanced Level if I am an experienced nurse, doctor or surgeon?

I am already an experienced doctor or surgeon: can I skip the foundation level course?

At Cosmetic Courses, we frequently receive enquiries from potential delegates wanting to know whether they can skip the foundation level medical aesthetic training (botulinum toxin training with an introduction to dermal fillers) and go straight to the advanced level techniques (such as brow lift, Nefertiti neck lift, platysmal bands, hyperhidrosis etc.) This question is usually posed by doctors or even surgeons who are very highly qualifed, so feel that the foundation course might be too simple for them and cover ground they already know.

However, we do strongly believe that all our medical professional delegates, regardless of sector or experience, need to start with the Foundation course. This is not to say that the Foundation course you do cannot be tailored specifically to your level and ability. We have good logic for this reasoning, which we shall explain in this Blog:

  1. Although you may be very experienced within your own field, medical aesthetics is quite a different approach (technically and theoretically) to other medical professions. Quite often it is the most highly trained doctors who find they need to go over the groundwork in skin structure again! Sometimes you might have covered the necessary theories, but a long time ago during your initial degree or you may have approached them at a different angle to the way you will need them for aesthetics. Having a refresher can only benefit your understanding and ability to deliver fantastic results to your patients.
  2. There is a much wider gap between the Foundation Level course and the Advanced Techniques course than many initial enquirers realise. It is only when we begin to explain the extent of the techniques and theories that we cover on this course that they see there may actually be a need for some homework in between the two in order to be confident enough with the required theory and methods to achieve good results. In fact, many of our delegates choose to attend 1-1 courses with Cosmetic Courses in between their Foundation and Advanced courses, to brush up on techniques they are unsure of before taking the next big step.
  3. Cosmetic Courses do actually certify you in competence after each course so we have a duty to know that each of our delegates have the Foundation grounding in place before we can progress you to the next level. Whilst the vast majority of our delegates are entirely honest, highly qualified and skilled practitioners, there are always those who will try to claim they have more ability than they do. Therefore, we have to assess this level of medical aesthetic competence in order to be sure that we are certifying fantastic injectors to go out into the world and practice!
  4. Cosmetic Courses have a reputation for excellence and very high standards of training. This benefits you in that the delegates we train are also associated with high standards of medical aesthetic ability. In order to maintain this, however, we need to be very rigorous about our training procedures and ensure that everybody follows each step of the courses.
  5. We do not want anybody to be frustrated, however, by material which they already feel they know or to believe that they are wasting time and money. Please be assured that Cosmetic Courses are experts at tailoring courses to suit individuals’ needs. If you feel that you are at a higher level than a typical Foundation Level delegate, simply give us a call on 01844 390 110 and explain your experience and knowledge. We can then work with you to put together a tailored foundation level package incorporating new angles, theories and techniques or focusing on areas which you feel you are less confident about.
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5 Things to Consider Before Travelling for Training

Coming to the UK for Cosmetic Training Courses? 

If you live in a country outside the UK and have decided to embark upon a career in medical aesthetics, you are probably well aware already that an English certificate in Medical Aesthetics (Botulinum Toxin, Dermal Fillers and other techniques like Genuine Dermaroller Therapy) is seen as, somehow, prestigious.

This could be due to the very rigorous standards of training and the insurance, facilities and product laws here in the UK. Or it could be because the UK is at the fore-front when it comes to new techniques and theory in aesthetic medicine. So you would be choosing a great place to come for your training, not to mention a very beautiful and friendly country.

However, the same rigorous laws and strict policies do mean that there are a number of things you need to take into account if you are considering travelling to the UK for your Botox or Dermal Fillers training. You also need to think carefully about the practicality of returning to your own country afterwards and setting up your cosmetic business – will this industry be sustainable in your native country?

  1. Is your level of English (speaking, listening and reading skills) adequate enough to fully get the most from your cosmetic training course? Medical aesthetic training is not cheap, so it is important that you can fully understand all that is being presented in your training lectures, read the material in any slides or folders and talk to your trainers and models. You will need to be able to communicate with the trainers and models on the day in order to perform successful treatments to be awarded your certificate. It is important to remember that the type of vocabulary used will be technical, medical aesthetic jargon so may not be the basic language you have learned at school or on a linguistics course. You may wish to spend some time before your training revising key terms to help with your training.
  2. Have you arranged your accommodation & sufficient money for your stay? Your training provider may be able to help or advise regarding where to stay. It might be cheaper to try and share with other delegates, or perhaps you have relatives you could stay with? Remember to find out about exchange rates and factor this into your budgeting.
  3. Sort out your VISA in plenty of time if you need one. There is no point arranging and paying for your course, only to find that you cannot get the right type of VISA from your authorities. Your training provider is unlikely to arrange this so it will be your responsibility.
  4. Check about Insurance and Governing Bodies necessary to practise in your own country after training. In the UK, you must be currently GMC, NMC or GDC registered in order to practise. Legislation varies widely from country to country but if you do not follow the correct protocols for your country you may not be able to practise at all….even if you have been certified in the UK. So it is worth finding out about this and the costs involved beforehand.
  5. If you are a nurse considering cosmetic training courses, you also need to find out about prescribing legislation in your country as this varies too. If you are a different medical professional (doctor, dentist etc.) you will still need to consider where you are going to source your products from and the costs involved with this. Again, you may want to consider doing this research before you invest in cosmetic training so that you can be sure your medical aesthetic career is financially viable in your country.

We hope this information has been useful. Cosmetic Courses do train a large number of delegates from non-UK countries every year and can provide help and advice on the necessary process for coming to train in the UK. You can book your course online with us here (if you are abroad, you simply need to send your certificates to us via post or email scan for verification after booking) or call 0845 230 4110 for more advice.

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Ring Around the Rosacea Risks: Treating Clients with Contraindications

There was a really interesting LinkedIn Aesthetics & Beauty Group thread recently about how best to deal with clients with rosacea.

We thought this discussion could be of benefit to our delegates at Cosmetic Courses as it is a relatively common ailment presented in clinic and quite tricky to deal with. As a potential contraindication, rosacea impacts upon many skincare / medical aesthetic treatments which you are offering.

Interestingly, one LinkedIn user opened the discussion by wondering how often “Rosacea” is actually misdiagnosed. True rosacea is estimated to effect about 1 in 10 people. It is characterised by:

  • episodes of flushing
  • outbreaks of spots
  • persistent redness of the skin
  • Visibility of small blood vessels
  •  Thickening and enlarging (especially around the nose area), but this is in more severe cases

It is counted as a chronic, long-term condition which is made worse by a number of trigger factors including extreme weather exposure, stress, certain food/drink.

Because there are so many different aspects to these symptoms, Broken Capillaries on the face are often wrongly diagnosed as Rosacea…so are papular / pustular acne break outs with a large degree of redness and even tendencies to flushing may be labelled Rosacea too! On the other extreme, some patients may have been given an official rosacea diagnosis by their GP but hide telling you for fear you won’t treat them or due to the connotations with stress / alcohol consumption.

It is good practise (as agreed on the LinkedIn thread) that, when dealing with rosacea only a doctor or dermatologist should make an official diagnosis. If you do have suspicions that your patient is suffering from this condition, you could gently try and persuade them to make an appointment. However, you should never share your own diagnosis with the patient.

Where does that leave you, with treating a potential Rosacea patient?

Lovely as it would be to “fix” every patient’s skin problems, as one LinkedIn thread user admits, it just isn’t possible. Rosacea is a long-term problem without a known cure and certain treatments are actually proven to aggravate and make the condition worse.

If the rosacea presents with active acne, for example, then you should react as with any other active acne case and avoid treatments like Genuine Dermaroller Therapy, botox to the area and microdermabrasion which could spread the acne or cause infection. You will not need to mention rosacea to your patient: you can just cite the active acne as your reason for being unable to pursue this course of treatment and this is an ideal excuse to refer them to their GP who may identify the rosacea at the same time.

For rosacea patients with particularly irritated, red skin and blood vessels very close to the surface, treatments like abrasive peels and microdermabrasion should be avoided.

However, your rosacea patient may still be able to have some treatment. If no active acne is present, use your experience to decide whether a gentle L-absorbic acid type peel might be suitable (for example) and Genuine Dermaroller, too, is fine on non-irritated areas. It is all about really getting to know your patient, doing a very thorough skin history assessment with them and using your professional discretion. If in any doubt, refer to a GP first and remember you are within your right to gently suggest it would be better not to treat – rosacea is a recognised contraindication.

We hope this has been helpful to you. For more advice, please do not hesitate to contact Cosmetic Courses on 0845 230 4110.

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Sun Exposure & Flying after Azzalure treatment: Advice for Your Patients

Question:
Dear Cosmetic Courses,
Can you go on holiday to a very hot country 4 days after receiving Azzalure treatment?

The product information says to avoid direct sunlight for a week: how necessary is this and do you have any reassuring advice or tips for patients?

Cosmetic Courses Answer:
Thank you for your really good question about whether you can use Azzalure and then the patient go off on holiday.

Our general advice is that it should be absolutely fine. At Cosmetic Courses, we do get asked questions about people going up in planes following Azzalure treatment but this isn’t really a problem: lots of air stewardess’ have Botox and Dermal Filler treatments.

Regarding sunshine exposure on the small incisions where the needle went in, again we would advise that this is fine but we would advise patients to wear a Clinical-strength sunblock (Cosmetic Courses recommend the Heliocare range for maximum protection) on their face, which they should be doing anyway if they are going to a warm country.

Overall, not a problem at all performing Azzalure on people that are going abroad 4 days later: it is quite commonly performed. Sunblock is a good idea but in the first 74 hours following Azzalure treatment we encourage them to refrain from anything that raises their blood pressure too much, so travelling immediately after the injection wouldn’t be ideal.

Thanks very much for for sending in such an interesting Frequently Asked Question.

The Cosmetic Courses Team

If you are a medical professional interested in training to treat patients in Azzalure, Cosmetic Courses are one of the top UK medical aesthetic training providers. Contact us on 0845 230 4110 to discuss your training with our helpful team.

Or, if YOU have a question you would like our team of experts to answer, why not call our 24/7 Sipgate Helpline on 0870 4907385 for a personalised answer like the one above!

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Can you learn to perform a “Botox Facelift”?

The procedure hailed the “Botox Facelift” is actually a more modern technique using Botox treatment to improve the jaw line and give it a better definition.

Botox works by weakening muscles and it is possible to selectively weaken muscles which pull down the jawline producing an elevation and tightening of the jaw line.

Typically small injections are given just below the jaw line into the muscles which pull down the skin of the jaw. A real improvement in the jawline using this technique has been developed in the last few years, known as the Nefertiti Lift (after the Egyptian Queen with the famously slender and beautiful jawline).

This form of treatment is extremely effective in treating the jawline areas and a very popular treatment amongst patients. You can learn Advanced Botulinum Toxin techniques like these (and more!) on Cosmetic Courses’ Advanced Level training, or on a bespoke 1-1 course focusing on areas like this. Call us on 0845 230 4110 for more information, or book your Advanced Course securely online today.

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Correcting Difficulties Smiling After Azzalure

Question :

Dear Cosmetic Courses,

I attended your basic and advanced courses in 2005.

I recently treated a 37 year old lady using Azzalure 3 x 0.1ml (15iu in 0.1ml) bilaterally to her orbicularis occuli. I performed my usual technique, injecting into the sites I usually inject into, and making sure I did not inject too low down on orbicularis occuli.

She came for review 2 weeks later, complaining of a heaviness over her cheeks making smiling difficult, more so on the right side.

Could you advise on any intervention that may alleviate this?

I have heard of practitioners advising stimulating the muscle using an electric tooth brush?

Answer :

It does sound like some of the Azzalure may be affecting your patient’s Zygomaticus Major or Minor.

This would cause the symptoms which you describe and is usually caused by the lowest of your crows feet injections.

We have seen this once before and it was caused by Dysport- there is some evidence that Dysport and Azzalure may disperse more than Botox making side effects like these more likely.

Unfortunately, there may not be much you can now do to alleviate it other than being supportive.

The electrical toothbrush trick may work and is certainly worthwhile trying, to both muscles 3 times a day for 5 minutes.

Good luck with this case and let us know how it goes.

The Cosmetic Courses Team

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Non-surgical & Surgical Procedures: Producing a harmonious youthful appearance to the face

The main factors that age the skin are sun damage, active lines (wrinkles), gravitational change from ageing and volume loss.

Each of these should be treated independently to produce a harmonious youthful appearance to the face.

Prevention is always better than cure and preventing sun damage is very important as this will maintain the quality of the skin. So make sure you tell all your clients to invest in a top Suncream like the Heliocare range…there’s no point paying out for regular Botox or Dermal Filler treatments, only to go and burn their skin causing sun spots, collagen loss and skin cancers!

Botox treatment is best used when active lines are beginning to form in the forehead crows feet and frown areas, normally at the age of mid 30’s. Botox is not so effective once the lines are actually formed.

Vaughn Changes can be treated with Dermafillers from mid 30’s when volume loss starts to appear.

If the volume loss is treated directly as it occurs much less dermal fillers are required than treating well established lines and a more natural look can be achieved.

Regarding ageing changes,  when these become too extreme for non-surgical treatment, these can be treated with surgery and in our opinion surgery should be reserved for most people from the age of 45 onwards. This is when the main gravitational changes to the face seem to occur and ,similarly, with dermal fillers small procedures preformed slightly more frequently give the best results to produce a natural harmonious appearance without dramatic changes to your client’s face.

Complimentary surgeries for people over the age of 45 include a MACS facelift (short scar facelift) to just elevate the cheeks and neck area in a natural fashion with minimal scarring.

Eyelid surgeries are very dependent on the appearance of eyelids: heavy upper eyelids can be treated anytime and produce a revitalized appearance to the eyes in a subtle fashion. Lower Eyelid surgery likewise can be very effective.

Overall if all 4 elements of facial changing / ageing are assessed separately and treated appropriately, facial ageing can be slowed and clients can achieve a very natural appearance rather than some of appearances we’ve seen from very un natural stretched facelift surgeries.

The overall message is prevention is better than cure and earlier treatment is better than late  treatment.

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