Ask Me Anything: We're Talking About Watermarking Henna Photos, How to Find a Studio Space for Your Henna Business, and Why Henna Artists Should be Blogging!
Ask Me Anything!
You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers!
In today’s Ask Me Anything!, we’re tackling the following questions submitted from hennapreneurs like you:
[03:42] Watermarking henna photos. What are the best apps to use and the best placement?
[09:01] How do I find a studio space for my henna business? Do you have any helpful hints and things to be aware of? Is there anything that you would have done differently?
[15:56] Why are hennapreneurs blogging? Is this something that needs to be done?
[18:44] How do you manage your time with family and henna?
Got a question about how to become a henna artist?
Ask me anything about starting, growing, and maintaining your henna business!
By the way, you’re totally invited to join me and other high-aspiring henna artists inside of the private Hennapreneur Community on Facebook! There we connect about henna, about business, and about all things related to crushing it as a henna professional.
+ Read the transcript here
Chelsea: Hello! Hello, guys! Welcome! We are live for our Ask Me Anything... Ask Me Anything! session. This is our last Ask Me Anything! session for the month of August. So if you'll bear with me one second, I'm going to share this feed over into the Hennapreneur community - you guys already know how we do - and then we will jump right in. Today, I am answering all the things henna, business, branding, as per usual; but you've also caught me with my hands a little in the mix. I've got some fresh henna that I'm going to be finishing off so I figured, why not do it while I'm here live with you guys because y'all are my people! Hey babe! So glad to see you here. Loving it. All right. Let's see...
Okay.
Ahh! Alright. Now we've got this shared over. Perfect. So, how are we doing, guys? Okay. You guys, there's a couple of things... We have a couple of questions that came in for our Ask Me Anything session. Before we jump into questions, I do want to also give a quick shout out to Kaitlin Wells. Kaitlin won a recent comment, uh, a recent comment contest here. I don't know if you guys saw, we had a little fun where, um, I had you guys describe what we do really, really badly and Kaitlin won the contest. So if you're a member of the Hennapreneur community, inside of the group, you would have seen that - I think it was yesterday - she shared a photo of the Hennapreneur swag that she was able to win. It was pretty exciting. I was so thrilled to see it! And if you guys didn't know, Kaitlin is actually, like, she is opening a place. Like, she's opening up her own henna studio. Super psyched about that!
Like, you guys, hennapreneurs are killing it right now. Like, who opens a place in the middle of the pandemic? Hennapreneurs do. That's who does. That's who does. So, she is opening up a space soon. And so I was really thrilled to see that her a hennapreneur swag arrived to her in time for her to wear it to her grand opening. Super excited for her! Um, also I, uh, just sent out the scariest email of my life. So if you're on the Hennapreneur email list and I look a little bit flustered, know that that is why. Because the email that just landed in your inbox has me feeling a way. Um, but you know what? I love you guys. And so I had to share my heart with you inside of that email and I hope that I hope that it's well-received.
That's all I can say. All I can do is show up and be me, right? So, let's dive into today's questions. First things first, if you're new here, if you're new to Hennapreneur - Hey, my name is Chelsea Stevenson. I am a professional henna artist and business strategist based here in Baltimore, Maryland, and I help henna artists all over the world to start, grow, and scale their henna businesses because that's what I'm really freaking good at. So if you're new to the community - Welcome! We're super happy to have you here. And I cannot wait to see what you grow and what develops in, and around, your business as a byproduct of you being with this awesome community that is us, right? So, questions that we have today... First- Well, I'm going to go first off of the questions that we have from inside of the community,
okay? And then I've got a couple others that came through. So the first one that came, uh, is actually is from my babe, Alyssa, who I see is live here with us! So, Alyssa said, "Watermarking photos. What are the best apps to use and the best placement?" So I am probably in the less popular camp when it comes to watermarking photos. I don't do it. I used to do it. If you look back at my older images, I used to watermark everything. Now I just don't because, as someone who's constantly creating digital content, I know how easy it is to remove or cover or otherwise get rid of a watermark. And so the extra step of labor, for me, just doesn't seem worth it. Um, honestly, I also kind of ascribed to the camp that once you create a piece of art for someone else it's out in the world and it belongs to the world.
So that might be a little bit loosey goosey for some of you guys. But for me, I- once the art is done, I snap the photo. The photo is there and the art belongs to the wearer. And I just kind of move on. Now, if you don't subscribe to that same thought process and you prefer to watermark your photos, there are a couple of apps that actually I do really like. My favorite app is called "Word Swag". Um, so... And you can use words fine to put text on anything, right? So not just watermarking, but also if you were to create, like, if you're creating text components, you could do that. If you want to have things web based, let's say you're creating content and you're wanting to like, regularly process images, but you're wanting to do it from a laptop or from a desktop -
you can do it on your phone as well, but I prefer accessing this particular tool on a computer - and that's Canva. And so, um, both with Word Swag and with Canva, you can create the watermark, adjust the transparency on the watermarks, so that it's on your image how and where you want it, um, and all that jazz. Canva is free. There's a paid version as well. Um, and Alyssa, you and I are going to be working with Canva a lot in The Accelerator. So if you're not using it already, now's a great time to check it out. Um, those of you guys who are not working inside one of the programs - Canva is definitely a good resource to look into! I welcome you, encourage you, to check it out. Um, and Word Swag is not free. I want to say that Word Swag was like, I don't know, $3 or $4 for a year's license in the app store.
So... But I really love that. I know that there are other apps that are out there that are available for doing watermarking, and I'm sure that many members of the community could give you other suggestions. But those are the two that I really like. And those are the two that I use. Now, in terms of the best placement for watermarks, a lot of times I'll find- I'll see that henna artists will like, put their watermark kind of like off to the side of their image. Like, you think about Instagram and how it's a square image and they'll have it like, kind of on the corner. Um, that's great and all, but if you're going to take the effort to watermark your images, then put it, put the watermark somewhere that people also don't, um, have it so easy to remove. And so, what I like to do is put, um, I would put just the text watermark down a finger.
So when you see a picture, like, when you would have that image of the hand with henna on it, I would have that finger... Like, I would have the watermark going right in here where there's that shadow where the hand is like, above the table or whatever. I'd put the watermark right in there along a finger so that it's close to the design. It's not overlapping the design. It's not massive. It's not taking away from the design, but it's present and you can definitely see it. It's a little bit more tricky to remove a watermark that's placed in an area like that. And especially depending on the opacity of the watermark itself, um, you know, it can be more "secure" if you will. Um, but... Um, this is how I used to watermark my
images. If you go look back and see how I used to watermark, that's how I did it. Um, another things to keep in mind, um -and this is something that if you're very serious about watermarking your images I would certainly suggest - is, have one watermark that's very visible and have another watermark that's not. Because the people who are going to take your image and remove the watermark, they're going to go for the one that's just immediately visible. And the first thing that they're going to think is, "Okay, here it is. I'm just going to take this one off," and they're not going to do the additional digging. But me, when I did watermark my images, I would always put two. One that was very visible and that was normally there against the finger. And then one somewhere else on the image, normally somewhere within or around the design.
So that person is not going to crop, you know, through the design entirely. And they're also not going to put their own watermark directly over the design because it doesn't make very much sense. So if you have a smaller watermark, it could be very tiny in size or it can be very light in opacity, but so that it really blends in, you have that second piece. So that in the event that you do have someone who is ripping off your images, you can say, "Really? That's mine." And when they say, "No, it's not." You can say, "Look right here. Zoom in right here." And boom, there you go. So, um, there's that? So I hope this helps. Okay, next up! Gina asked about finding a studio space and any helpful hints or things to be aware of. Is there anything that you would have done differently?
Um, maybe the size, the layout hidden costs, et cetera. These are really good questions. Okay. So, um, yeah. Yes. So, in retrospect, looking for a henna- when I was looking for my henna boutique, I was actually... This, this was a really big move for me. Um, and I was really nervous about finding the right place. And so, um, I did a lot of looking, but I didn't realize that the looking that I was doing was actually very late. Um, when you're looking to have a retail space, when you're looking to have commercial real estate, you need to look, at the very minimum, six months in advance. Okay. It's hard, really hard, to find a property that's perfect for you within less than that timeframe. So if you're looking to find a location, that's my very first piece of advice. Start looking like, before you think you're ready.
Start looking soon. Start looking early. Um, the other thing - oh my gosh, there are so many lessons in this one - Um, people will not... People will not get back to you on time. Um, there were so many places that I contacted that were not responsive. The real estate person was not responsive in getting back to me. And so, um, the story that I would tell myself was that they were not taking me seriously when I told them what sort of business I owned. Um, and so I stopped sharing that information on my initial inquiry and waited to hear back from them. A lot of times, what I would hear, um, was that, you know, they- either the place was booked already, there was already contract pending or whatever, but that goes back to the other piece. You want to really start looking early. Um, in terms of things to be aware of, there are definitely hidden costs.
There are definitely hidden costs. Um, if you're- if the only experience that you have in real estate is looking for, um, a place like your residential home, there are some things that are different. So when you're looking at commercial space or retail space, um, there are definitely fees that are going to be associated with that. There's fees related to the keys. There's fees related to signage. There's fees related to the deposits. There are definitely security deposits, um, and many times it's not just that month's rent. Um, it can be sometimes more than- it can be multiple months rent. Um, so... Which is another reason why it's so important for you to plan ahead so that you can put money away to have those things available. Often... It's not uncommon also for real estate people, property managers for retail and commercial spaces, to anticipate that you are actually not going to just pay that first month and whatever that deposit is.
Um, it's very common for businesses, when they move into space, to actually pay for their rent for months at a time, if not for the entire lease. So, um, depending on where you are, you might find that that person who you're dealing with, that real estate person, that property manager, they may actually be expecting that you're going to pay three months down, six months down, or even pay for the entire year. Um, that was something that I didn't know when I walked in. And so, thankfully, I had the additional funds to be able to dump into my location, but I remember feeling very embarrassed actually, because I didn't know that that was, um, that that was like, industry standard. Um, things that I would have done differently also... Uh, I think I really wanted to go big. So I have shared with you guys a little bit about my story when I first opened up the henna boutique. My goal for the henna boutique was actually to have almost like a coworking space for beauty service providers.
So I wasn't just going to be working with myself. I actually wanted to have other people, and I wanted to be able to rent space out to lash techs or nail techs or hair techs, whatever, um, to have more of a community space there. And, um, because of all of the things, the fact that I hadn't looked in advance for a property and the fact that I didn't have the additional funds together to pay so many months in advance and whatnot. Um, when it came actually time for me to find a place, I shied away from that and I decided instead to just find a location that would suit me. Um, and actually my husband, I have to give him credit. He's the one who found it. And, um, then I went to go see it afterwards. He recommended it to me.
Um, in terms of size though, I think that it's super important for you to consider how many people you actually want to be servicing at a time. Like, for example, if you want to host henna parties, if you want to have the capacity to host henna parties, then you need to have a space that's going to be large enough to do that. Versus if you know that you're only going to be working at private appointments, or you're only going to be seeing people one on one or very small groups, then it's not necessary for you to make the investment for a full retail space, you know, that's in the main plaza, for example. It's just not, it's not a requirement. Um, so for you, I would strongly encourage you to consider what actual services you're going to plan to be offering in that space.
Um, and that also will tie to the layout. Um, of course, if you're hosting parties, it's not gonna make sense for you to rent out a space that has multiple rooms attached, right? You would want to have something that's more open concept. Um, in which case, finding a location, that's more like a salon space, right? Or if there's something that's more open that would make much more sense. There are a lot of different, you guys, there are a lot of different opportunities for you. If you're looking to have a retail space, if you're looking to have a physical location, there are so many different options out there. Um, I don't necessarily recommend that everyone goes in and signs a contract, you know, a lease for a full retail location. Uh, if you don't have the client base to support that yet, don't feel like you have to do that in order be "successful", right?
Like, I want you to find what works for you. So if that means renting out a room at a local salon, if that means renting out a booth at a local nail shop, if that means, um, you know, finding an office inside of your community center, if that... Like, whatever that means to you, I would encourage you to find the location that pushes you and stretches you a little bit. Um, but don't feel like it has to- like, what you're doing has to look like what anyone else is doing, including me, right? Do what feels good and what feels like a good stretch to you. Um, and know that while it's going to be scary investing in that first physical location, um, once you've made that commitment, you will be successful because you're going to be so motivated by this new place that you're in,
okay? So I want to share that too. It's just a little, a little bit of, I guess, uh, my own experience that once you push through that fear and make the commitment, um, that's really where you'll start to see growth in brand new ways. Okay. So another question that came in, um, and this one actually came to my inbox. I found it- I found it interesting. So Monday... On Monday, yesterday, I posted inside of the group asking you guys what you were doing, um, what tasks you were doing this week. If there was one thing, like, what was one thing that you needed to cross off of your list for yourself and for your business? And I loved, loved that a couple of you guys mentioned, a couple of the members of the community, mentioned that they were going to be writing blogs.
Well, one of the things that showed up in my inbox then was a question about why are hennapreneurs blogging? Like, is this a thing that you guys need to do? And so here I am saying: let me break this down a little. So you guys know there's a whole lot of weight behind your social and online presence, right? You want your business to be as Googleable as possible. You want your business to be as visible as possible in the online space. One of the easiest ways, and free ways, that you can do that is by dedicating time to blog regularly, to create content on your website. As you are blogging, you are using specific keywords relative to your location, the service area that you are working within, and all about henna, right? So you're just sharing. You're sharing information.
Do you have to blog forever? No. You don't have to blog forever. Do you have to blog regularly? I would encourage you to blog pretty regularly, especially if you don't have any traction currently behind your website. Every time you post new content to your website, Google on the backend has all of these spiders, right? They go and they collect data and they review, if you will, the written copy - the content - that's on your site. And so every time you provide fresh content, the spiders go and they take inventory. And then when someone later on comes and starts to Google "henna near me", "henna my city", "what about henna," whatever, your blog will then show up. And that's because it is geotagged. It's location based, right? And so a lot of times people will ask me, like, how do you manage to have to keep up so much traffic - um, local traffic that is - on my website. And now, to be frank, I don't blog often anymore, but I used to blog much more.
And I've kept those higher performing blogs on my website. And still, if you look for certain keywords, those are the ones that come up first. And so this is one of those ways that you're able to improve your presence online and establish your business as a more credible one, okay? So I wanted to go ahead and tackle that. I thought it was a really interesting question. I was like, well, let me just go... I'll go ahead and address it because why not? Okay. Um, I saw a question came in here from... From Raniyah. Of course! So, um, how do you manage your time with family and henna? Let's talk about it. You guys always love to- look, you guys always love to ask me this question and, um, and I guess...
All right, let me be clear. Let me be clear also, I do not have it all figured out, right? Like, everybody has a home life. I do not have it all figured out, but what I do have figured out is how to manage as much as possible through automation. So one of the things that I teach my students is to automate as much as possible, okay? This is like one of the key components of my framework for success. You have to learn how to automate things within your business. Why? Because then you don't have to have your hands in everything. I think people often don't believe me when I say that Cardamom & Clove Henna runs by itself like 90-95%. And that is not an exaggeration. I literally wake up every morning to an email from my systems that tells me how many bookings I have, that tells me if any contracts were signed,
that tells me if there's anything on my to-do list, to move things forward. But there are very few things that I actually manually do inside of my business. My clients receive their emails, their confirmations, their invoices, their contracts, everything, digitally. Everything is done electronically. And I do none of it manually. My system does it for me. I have talked about automation with you guys in the past and I feel like a lot of times when I mentioned it's like I'm speaking Chinese. Like, I'm totally speaking, French or Greek or whatever. And, and, or... Or what I often hear is, "Chelsea," like, "Sure you're doing that, but like, how can I do that?" Or, um, that the thought or the expectation is that it requires a lot of time or a lot of money to have automation in place.
And that's just not true. I have been automating things inside of my business since before I knew what automation actually was. I remember when I first, like, very first started full time - so this would have been around 2014 - um, at that time I was using a Google form. I used a Google form to allow people to do online booking. And it was as automated as I knew how to do. If you guys don't know Google forms, it's totally free. I created a form. People could submit their information. Once I got the email with their information, I would then put them into my calendar. And then I would copy and paste a confirmation email back to them. Um, and that was not fully automated, right? But it was pretty freaking automated compared to the texts back and forth between them and me to figure out when we can fit them and what they need and da, da, da like, that's- I cut all of that.
With that said, automation today looks a lot different inside of my business. I have invested in other systems. I have invested in, um, inside of the Facebook group earlier this week on that same thread about "what are you getting done this week?", one of the hennapreneurs mentioned that she's learning how to incorporate Dubsado. This is a system that I'm teaching her because Dubsado is so useful. Dubsado manages so much of my automation. And the beauty about automation is, once you have the system set up, then the machine just runs in the background and all you have to do is show up to the appointment. Um, and so that's how I save myself time. Um, and I think that a lot of times people when, when, when... I mean, you guys know I'm a homeschooler, right? I've got all of these other obligations as well.
And so oftentimes when I hear this question, how do I manage time with family and business? Um, it really does come back to having created those systems. You want to build a business that's sustainable, right? You want to build a business that's going to allow for you to live your life and not one that your life has to revolve around your business, right? Otherwise you could just go work for someone else. So for me, leaning into automation has been incredibly useful and helpful. And if there's one piece of advice that I could give anyone as you're getting started, or as they're especially looking to scale, it's to check your systems and check your automation and see where there are gaps. The more you can lean in there, the more time you put back in your pocket, okay? So, uh, with that, I think that's all the questions that we have here live, but I want to show you guys because I'm finishing up some henna paste for myself for this evening.
Um, I know, uh... Oh! I meant to mention, and this is why I was like, oh, I needed to be sure to tell you guys - the 2020 crop of henna is now in. So if you guys are needing new henna, if you need fresh henna powder, let me know. It's now available. Now, when you put the order in for henna in the Hennapreneur shop, it's the 2020 crop that you're getting. Um, and so that's, that's pretty exciting. So I'm going to be using some of this paste for my own clients this week. Um, and it already looks so, like, rich and I'm excited. Like, the dye release on this bad boy has been serious. Serious! So I'm excited to get to play with it. Um, okay. So I'm going to wrap up for now and I want to encourage you guys, if you have any questions that come up afterwards, you can pop them in the comments here, or you can place them in our next prompt for our next Ask Me Anything session. Otherwise, I love you all, and I'll be talking to you really, really soon. Alright, bye.