Finding Your Brand Voice (When You Are the Brand)

If you’re a solo salon or clinic owner, chances are your clients don’t just come for the facial, the brows or even the skin needling.

They come for you.

Your expertise. Your energy. Your “yep, I can see that milia, and no, we’re not pretending it’s not there” honesty.

So when it comes to your copy — think website words, captions and emails — it’s not just business. It’s personal.

That means it has to sound like you. Not the brand of serum you stock. Not the aesthetics franchise down the road. You.

Writing as a person vs. writing as a business

Now, when I write for a solo operator and/or personal brand (spoiler alert: that's you!), it’s a completely different ball game to writing for a skin clinic with a team, a skincare brand, or a beauty device company.

The secret sauce is you. You are the brand. We're finding your brand voice.

People don’t just want to know what you do; they want to know what it’s like to work with you. They want to feel like they’re already in the treatment room, chatting to you about their skin goals and love life before they’ve even hit “Book Now.”

The tone. The cadence. The weird little sayings. The dry humour. The no-BS advice you’d give your best client. That’s the stuff that builds trust and connection.

Because of this, I can’t just 'guess' your tone. I can’t stalk your Instagram and assume that’s the whole story (although, yes, I will scroll for research purposes). I have to become you.

That’s why my briefing form is... robust, let’s say. Recently, a client told me it felt like filling out their ABIA awards submission. Another said it was like therapy, but with fewer tears and no existential crisis. I’ll take it.

I ask questions. Lots of them. We’re talking:

• What do you order at the bar?

• What was on your Spotify Wrapped last year?

• What words do you love? What words make your skin crawl?

• What do your favourite clients say about working with you?

• If you were side-by-side with a salon that offered the same services as you, why am I booking you?

Yes, it gets intentionally personal because the more I know about the real you — the human behind the gua sha and the LED mask, the one who dived headfirst into solopreneurship and is now investing in her brand — the more I can sound like you. The you your clients love. The you they come back for.

With your t̶h̶e̶r̶a̶p̶y̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ briefing form, I step into character. Not in a weird method-acting way (okay, maybe just a bit), but in a “read this back out loud while pretending to be you” kind of way.

Yes, really. I’ve spoken before about my little writer’s trick — reading drafts out loud, trying to talk like you, act like you, and channel what your best friend would say if I asked, “Does this sound like her?”

Do I get weird looks? Yep.

Do I care? Absolutely not.

Because it works. It’s how I ensure your copy feels real, conversational, and, most importantly, authentic.

Okay but what if I’m writing my own copy?

Even without me in your corner (yet), there’s plenty you can do to bring more of you into your brand voice.

✔️ Don’t default to ‘professional = cold’

Just because you run a business doesn’t mean you need to sound like a boardroom pitch. You can be results-driven and real. Technical and warm. Clinical and human. If you’d never say “synergistic service offering” to a client, don’t write it either.

✔️ Write like you talk — then clean it up slightly

Are you known for swearing like a sailor, but with a serum in hand? Let it show. Are your facials half skin transformation, half woo woo energy healing? Say that. Clients want to know what makes you you. Give them a taste in your copy.

✔️ Use your real tone

If you're warm, conversational, and a little cheeky IRL — let your words reflect that. It builds connection before they step into your treatment room, and it filters in the right people who are going to love you for exactly who you are.

✔️ Make it about them

Yes, your copy should sound like you, but it should still resonate with them. Your dream client wants to know:

• Can you solve my problem?

• Will I feel safe, confident, understood?

• What’s different about this clinic over the one down the road?

Show them. Use your words to paint the picture of what they can expect when they walk through your doors — not just the treatment, but the experience. That’s your magic.

When your copy shows off who you are, it becomes more than just words. It becomes your connection tool, your point of difference, your magic.

Need help finding your brand voice? That’s my favourite bit. Click here to learn about The Write Treatment.