DERMASCOPE Magazine's 40th Anniversary Issue

DERMASCOPE Magazine interviewed Dasha Saian for their 40th Anniversary issue, asking to share some business advice, as an industry expert. Here is the full version of that interview: 

Do you have any advice for newbies? What advice do you wish you had been given when you began in the industry? 

What I wish I had known is that building a brand isn't only about the quality of the product, but about the knowledge of the educators, and the language of the marketers. Keeping it simple and explaining it well is the key to success!

Tell us about your history with DERMASCOPE. Any great stories or fun facts readers would find interesting?

My first article, co-written with my mother, came out in the May 2010 issue of DERMASCOPE, and my first solo article came out in the July 2010 issue of DERMASCOPE Magazine - exactly 5 years ago! Ever since then, I have been blessed to be a part of this wonderful publication! I am so overjoyed and proud to have been able to start contributing at such a young age, and can assure you that I will never run out of content, topics, fresh information, and inspiring stories in the coming years! My work is my passion and pride, and I am committed and dedicated to share all my knowledge and experience with DERMASCOPE readers!

What product innovation do you feel paved the way for today’s must-haves in our industry?

Natural products without chemicals and parabens are among the most popular and revered in the industry today, and rightfully so! Health and beauty go hand in hand!

What do you feel is the one thing that has made the biggest change in the industry?

More and more professionals are now taking the time to research ingredients, to make sure they are choosing the right products for their clients. Gone are the days of relying on ads and promises - estheticians want results, and invest their time in finding the best products out there!

What is the one advancement that is needed the most going forward?

Education is the most important element which must be present to be able to advance! Taking workshop classes, watching tutorials, webinars, listening to podcasts, reading trade magazines such as DERMASCOPE, that's what it's all about! If you feel you know everything, you close yourself off from learning more.

Why I Dislike the Word "Follower", and You Should, Too

As a business person, and a lifetime student of mentors and influencers, I often think about simple marketing flaws that companies make, and completely miss their mark because they underestimate the size of their audience. All messages that come out of your account, be it twitter, Facebook, blog, YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest speak to MILLIONS of people, even if the majority of your audience seems to have a very small following. Many companies and public figures refer to their audience, customers, and fans as simply "followers". I dislike the word "followers", and make sure it doesn't creep up into my lexicon. 

Let's look at twitter. My biggest mentor and influencer, Gary Vaynerchuk, for example, has 126K tweets • 1796 photos/videos • 1.12M followers, and follows 7,624 people. I am one of his 1.12M followers, and (amazingly so) he is following me back. In fact, Gary Vaynerchuk and I follow each other on Twitter  since I met him at his #jjjrh book signing. My personal twitter has 1.3K subscribers, and my business twitter has 10.5K, but I don't like to call these people "followers", I prefer to call them "like-minded people". Every time you say a word, or write something, you are connecting to "like-minded people", who gravitate towards you because something you believe in resonates with them. I don't see a reason anyone would subscribe to my blog, Pinterest, or Twitter, other than receiving information they believe will resonate with them, and that is why these connections matter. 

Businesses and public figures who connect with their audience on a human level are always more successful and more influential than those who send out generic messages to "followers" and never reply to fan comments and questions. We are all people, when you connect with like-minded people, they will feel compelled to re-tweet, re-post, or otherwise share your content with their group of like-minded people ("followers"). Someone finds out about your philosophy or product from a friend, or someone they are subscribed to on twitter, they like it and re-post to their network, and all of a sudden you are exposed to a whole community of people who think what you have to say is valuable to them and their audience. This is how things work on social media - it's just like the old concept of "word of mouth", but this time, you are reaching millions of ears and making valuable connections no ads can rival with.

How To Become The Biggest Small Company

Trade shows are always wonderful, because my team members and I get to connect with other skin care professionals and vendors. Even though I have been participating in trade shows for the past 8 years, they never annoy me, or wear me out. Sometimes I hear vendors say they don't do trade shows anymore, because they feel they have outgrown shows, and don't want to spend the time and money. I don't agree with this philosophy, because as a professional brand, we owe it to the industry to show up, and give support to the estheticians. Isn't it great to receive free training, samples, discounts, demos, get answers to your questions, compare products, or just get to know the company philosophy and team? I think personal interaction is the best advertising, and maybe this is the reason my brand, SAIAN Natural Clinical Skincare,  is often referred to as "the biggest small company"! I want to give you some advice that will help you better understand what it means to be "the biggest small company", and how this will work for your advantage!

Oh, and this is me being interviewed by the amazing team of SpaBooker about my company's social media success! Which brings me to my first major piece of advice: 

Pay It Forward

This is a simple, yet majorly underestimated, and underutilized way of doing things, and you know what they say: "how you do anything, is how you do everything". It cost me absolutely zero dollars to mention SpaBooker in my blog, and give you a link to their site http://www.booker.com where you can sign up for scheduling services for your spa, salon, vet's office, or any other appointment-based business, and they paid me absolutely zero dollars to do this. Why did I just give them exposure? Well... you may also wonder why they interviewed me about social media, if I paid them nothing, and  they got nothing out of it but content. Content gets out there, people click on photos and videos, and do further research on things that they deem interesting and useful. It just so happens that some of their fans and customers may see me and become interested in what I have to say, and many of my readers will click on this link and see what awesome services SpaBooker can offer for their business. Magical, isn't it? Quite!

Respect Your Competition 

When we were little, we have always heard our parents and teachers say: "respect your classmates, play fair, etc.", but what happened to some of us once we grew up and established our own companies? Sadly, many people still don't believe in "playing fair", and outwardly put down other brands' philosophy, ingredients, practices, or anything else that they can think of, only to look better on that dirty background. Don't go down that drain, I beg you! Respect is something we owe to each other, as competitors in the same field. You surely feel how hard it is to wake up every day and go to work, try to make your current customers happy, gain new ones, spend money on ads, put out social media content, send a million e-mails, have issues with engineers or chemists, deal with UPS, pay the bills, make sure employees are saying the right things over the phone, and a plethora of other things we, as business owners, do. Respect your competitors as human beings, and that is all. Human beings who are also trying their best to succeed in a world of competition.

Offer Amazing Customer Support

We have friendly personnel in the office M-F 9am-5pm, ready to take your phone call, greet you with a delicious cup of cappuccino, or send you an e-mail signed with a happy face, and when the day is over,  another nice person is ready to answer your questions live on our site http://www.saian.net. Why is this important? Why do we keep answering your questions, even after you have placed the order, and completed the transaction? Why do we walk you through the steps of a collagen facial for an hour, even if you haven't completed the transaction? Human reasoning - when you know you're not alone, you feel empowered to use the product! You have help, you have support, and you know you're not a number. Our staff gets to know the customers, and remembers their preferences, and their favorite items. It's amazing to see our regular customers at the trade shows, and get to take photos with them! Several women have told me they always try my quinoa recipes, and love them! What a wonderful way to be a someone's favorite brand - teach them the way you eat, and they will always remember you, even at meal time! 

Don't Sell Out

I know it sounds quite ugly, but the message is plain and clear - if you wish to stay cozy and small, there is no need to become a giant conglomerate. Everyone wants financial freedom, the ability to place bigger orders with vendors, more global distribution, an easy and beautiful life, going to the bank and depositing money. That's great, but what is your passion? Mine is every single one of my products. They proudly bear my mother's last name, and that is what makes them my biggest passion... I don't want my passion on the shelves of Walmart, or a copy of my passion in Luohu mall in Shenzhen, somewhere between the fake MAC mascaras, and plastic spray-painted J'Adore bottles. I will stay small, stay true, and stay authentically professional forever. This is my promise to my mother. 

I hope you will find your passion, too, and I will support you 100%!

Selecting a Moisturizer

Is the overwhelming amount of moisturizers on the market causing you confusion? When to apply a creme? What about a serum? When to apply ampoules? What about a collagen spray? Do you really need all that "stuff"? 

Before making any recommendations, I like to conduct a client consultation, to analyze my client's skin. For anyone with dry, and very dry skin, I always recommend to start with a moisturizing milky cleanser twice a day. This way you know that all steps in your daily routine are designed to hydrate.

When it comes to moisturizing the skin, a serum always comes first! Remember, a serum has a watery, oil-free formula, that is easily absorbable by the skin. This type  of product is ideal for application around the delicate skin if the eyes, and the nasolabial folds. Most serums tend to be ionizable, and can be penetrated with a galvanic machine. This is a great way to get the best results from the active ingredients in the product! You don't need any big professional equipment - there are a number of hand-held units available on the market, that work as well as the large machine, and sometimes even better! Here is a link to a previous blog entry about the hand-held machines.

After applying a serum, it's best to apply a creme. The reason for this, is that a creme creates a barrier that helps keep the serum from evaporating. Since serums don't have oil, they penetrate quickly, but don't feel like they are moisturizing enough. Most of the time, serums leave a tight feeling on the skin. After application of creme, the skin will feel softer, more shiny and moisturized.

Ampoules and extremely liquid serums are best used under masks, especially collagen masks. Never wash the face after removing that product - remember, you are penetrating nourishing ingredients, so everything will stay on the skin after application.

20 Minute Activities That Will Nourish Your Body and Soul

As a business woman, writer, and an EXTREMELY simple person, I have developed (purely by accident) some easy-as-pie strategies for showing yourself love and support! These 20-minute activities will give your body, mind and heart, the emotional boost to release tension, think more clearly, make rational decisions, and balance your life. Here is a short list of activities that will be beneficial to you. Whenever you have trouble throughout your day, do one of these, or a few!

1. Read a book. A good book!
2. Stretch your body. Don't neglect your neck. Massage your tense shoulders.
3. Write, be creative, start a blog, a book, and commit to it!
4. Draw something! Anything! Use your imagination!
5. Take a walk outside.
6. Learn a phrase in a foreign language you can use daily. Next time learn a new one! Keep going!
7. Dance it OUT! Put on some music and jump!
8. Prepare a beautiful and healthy meal. Focus on the small details, plate it like you're on Iron Chef, and it's judgement time!
9. Clean the closet and let go of the things that no longer serve you, and would be more useful to someone else. Donate directly to those in need, or take to the midnight mission. Remember, good will sells the donated clothes, and ships them to Africa for resale. You want your things in the hands of the ones who need them, free.
10. Ask who needs your help. Helping others is our birthright and responsibility.

If you wish to come with me and my friends to Casa Hogar Sion

The next volunteer trip to visit the orphanage in Mexico is December 6th! I know many of you have shown tremendous interest after reading the blog about Corazon de Vida Foundation, so here is the link to sign up, and the link to donate!

Sign up for bus #2 if you wish to come with me and my friends to Casa Hogar Sion. There are only a few tickets left, so you may want to do this ASAP. -----> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bus-2-december-6-2014-cdv-holiday-bus-to-the-casa-hogar-sion-orphanage-tickets-13102643359?ref=ecount Also, here is a link to donate for CDV 12th annual pledge drive. https://www.crowdrise.com/DashasCasaSionFundraiser/fundraiser/dashasaian

Book review of "Rework" by Heinemeier and Freed

Flip the pages of "Rework" and you will be pleasantly surprised by the black and white drawings that grace every other page. It is a bit unusual for a business book... When you start reading, you will realize this is an unusual type of book, giving unusual advice. Did I mention it is great advice, because I truly believe so!

"Rework" takes business outside of the box by making it available to everyone. One of my favorite concepts is getting rid of the word "entrepreneur", because it is dated. The writers suggest throwing away traditional ideas of what a business person looks and dresses like, and just making and selling a product or service YOU would want to buy. The book mocks workaholism, and gives many reasons as to why anyone can be successful by working normal hours.

The writers emphasize the importance of doing what works for your business, as opposed to doing what everyone else does to get ahead, ie: hiring more people, spending more on ads, acquiring more territory. You can't please everyone, so make sure you know what you're selling and who your customer is, and you will do great.

The most wonderful advice anyone doing any kind of business will benefit from, is to become educators. Let's "out-teach" the competition! Anyone can sell you a scarf, but the companies that take the time to make a video and show you 20 ways to tie it really stick out of the crowd. This is a brand that creates fans! This is the way I have done business for the last 8 years. Educating not only shows my professionalism and knowledge, but encourages customers to try to copy my technique and treatments to do better and make more money! A wonderful example of this in the book is comparing brand educators with chefs who openly publish their recipes and secrets. 

I love this book, it was a quick and pleasant read, and surely, very informative. I would definitely rate it as one of the year's best in business.