Keep What You Earn

A packed office doesn't automatically mean a successful event. If you're spending on staff, marketing, and extras without a clear revenue goal or follow-up plan, you may be hosting a nice party instead of a profitable campaign.  In this episode, I sit down with Tami Vileta, founder of Pinpoint, to talk about event marketing for aesthetics practices. We cover patient appreciation events, VIP experiences, referral partnerships, and how to measure event ROI beyond RSVPs.  Start With the Goal, Not the Guest List  Decide what the event needs to accomplish before you plan it. Are you reactivating patients, launching a treatment, building membership loyalty, or generating consultations? Set the financial target first, then work backward into attendance, conversion, and budget.  Treat the Event Like a Campaign  A strong event has a before, during, and after:  Market early enough to build attendance   Capture contact information at RSVP and check-in   Make booking or purchasing easy at the event   Assign follow-up for anyone who showed interest   The event isn't over when people leave. Some of the best revenue can come from follow-up in the days after.  (00:04:27) Planning events with a purpose (00:13:47) Measuring event success and ROI (00:24:51) Building trust without hard selling (00:27:01) Budgeting for events (00:30:25) Turning follow-up into revenue  Patient Experience Comes Before the Pitch  People should leave feeling appreciated, educated, and excited to come back—not like they spent two hours inside a sales funnel. Use education, exclusive invitations, membership perks, and targeted offers to create value without making the event feel transactional.  Events Should Build Lifetime Value  Repeat events, referral partnerships, and thoughtful follow-up can improve retention and lifetime value while showing you what actually converts. As the practice grows, you want a repeatable event strategy that supports revenue, loyalty, and expansion—not another expensive line item you can't measure. About Tami Vileta:  Tami Vileta is the founder and creative director of Pinpoint Strategic Communications, with more than 30 years of experience in branding, strategic marketing, design, and copywriting for plastic surgery and aesthetic medical practices.  Through Pinpoint, she has worked with more than 400 practices and industry businesses across the U.S. and internationally, including medical device companies, skincare brands, software providers, and consultants. Her work focuses on patient experience and retention through branding, email marketing, patient education, events, launch campaigns, and other nurturing strategies that help practices convert and retain patients—not just generate leads.  LinkedIn: Tami Vileta | LinkedIn  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinpointcreativeagency  Website: Pinpoint Creative - Aesthetic Branding and Marketing Agency    Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn:    Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners.  Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/   Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein   Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn   Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/   The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.

Hiring is already expensive. Weak contracts, unclear roles, or the wrong worker classification can make it a lot more expensive later.  In this episode, I sit down with Sarah, a healthcare attorney and former med spa owner, to talk about the legal and financial gaps that show up as practices grow. We cover partnership agreements, W-2 vs. 1099 classification, job descriptions, expansion risk, and how poor documentation can hurt enterprise value.  Put It in Writing Before You Need It  Partnerships and employment relationships are easiest when everyone agrees. That's when you should document pay, responsibilities, expectations, and what happens if things change. Job descriptions should also match the work people are actually doing—not a generic template. If the paperwork says one thing and the practice does another, that's where risk starts. Fix the Legal Cracks Before You Scale  Before you add another location, provider, or partner, check the foundation:  Make sure agreements match the real working relationship  Review W-2 vs. 1099 classification  Update job descriptions as roles change  Confirm payroll and scheduling support the classification  If the first location still runs on workarounds, a second one will multiply the risk.  (00:04:35) Starting without the right paperwork  (00:11:39) Risks of expanding too early  (00:20:25) Why documentation matters  (00:23:59) Preparing for a smoother sale  (00:28:10) W-2 versus 1099 classification  "1099 Employee" Is Not a Thing  Worker classification isn't based on preference. Control, scheduling, exclusivity, and the actual relationship matter. Part-time doesn't automatically mean contractor, either. Misclassification can mean penalties, unenforceable agreements, and ugly surprises during due diligence.  Buyers Pay More for Less Risk  Clean financials matter, but buyers also look at contracts, payroll, staff arrangements, and how much cleanup they'll inherit. Tightening those areas now can make the practice easier to scale today and easier to sell later.  About Sara Shikhman:  Sara Shikhman is an experienced healthcare lawyer and entrepreneur with over 16 years of expertise. She and her team have assisted more than a thousand clients in navigating the healthcare industry's complex legal and regulatory landscape, negotiating contracts, protecting intellectual property, and obtaining funding. As CEO and COO, she has also led several multi-million-dollar ventures, including an e-commerce company that generated over $13 million in revenue in two years and a med spa that expanded from one room to 12 locations across multiple states, generating over $13 million in annual revenue.   Connect with Sara:  Website: https://lengealaw.com/  Free Consultation Booking Link: https://lengealaw.cliogrow.com/book/44df0ed4ba012f9e04d8565f2c9c9aa4  Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn:    Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners.  Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/   Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein   Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn   Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/   The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here. 

Per-unit pricing for neuromodulators feels logical because that's how you buy the product. But it can create billing anxiety, invite negotiation, and keep patients focused on units instead of results.  In this solo episode, I break down how per-area pricing can improve the patient experience and make revenue more predictable. We'll look at margins, EMR data, and how to price around outcomes without guessing. Patients Shouldn't Be Doing Math in the Chair  When patients have to calculate units during a consultation, price becomes part of the treatment decision. They may ask for fewer units to stay on budget, which can compromise the result. Flat upper face, lower face, or full face pricing shifts the conversation back to the outcome and lets the injector recommend what's appropriate. Build Flat Pricing From Your Own Data  Don't pick a flat rate because it sounds cleaner. Start with your numbers:  Pull average usage by treatment area from your EMR  Include product, labor, injector commission, and membership discounts  Calculate loaded cost and target gross margin  Keep per-unit pricing where precision treatments need it  Some appointments will run higher and some lower. What matters is that the averages come from real usage and the margin holds.  (00:04:35) Pricing concerns in cosmetic procedures (00:07:36) Managing patient expectations and value (00:13:22) Benefits of flat pricing (00:16:06) Shifting toward outcome-based pricing  Take Negotiation Out of the Treatment Room  Patients should be deciding whether the treatment plan fits their goals and budget—not negotiating units with the injector. Clear pricing gives your team more room to educate and recommend the right treatment. Predictable Pricing Makes Growth Easier  Price from actual usage and your full cost structure, and you'll get cleaner margins, more predictable revenue, and fewer cash flow surprises. As you scale, a repeatable pricing model is also easier to train and use across providers. Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn:    Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners.  Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/   Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein   Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn   Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/   The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here. 

People are one of the hardest parts of a practice. Even with careful hiring and a great culture, you'll still deal with turnover, performance issues, and the occasional wrong fit.  In this episode, I sit down with Amy Anderson of ACG Practice Partners to talk about when people problems are actually process problems. We cover retention, compensation, hiring, transparency, and the operational leaks that get more expensive as you grow. Make It Easier for Good People to Stay  You can't guarantee every great provider will stay, but you can make sure they understand their role, how they're evaluated, and how compensation works. Clear job descriptions, check-ins, and transparency around gross margin and pay can prevent confusion.  Before You Blame the Person, Look at the Process  If a different person stepped into the role tomorrow, would the same problem still happen? If yes, look at the system before replacing the person.  Before you hire again, review:  Job descriptions and onboarding  KPIs and compensation plans  Lead handoffs and manual work  Hiring criteria  Small inefficiencies add up fast as the team grows.  (00:05:48) Retaining good providers (00:25:56) Diagnosing people versus process problems (00:35:33) Improving hiring decisions (00:40:08) Finding workflow inefficiencies and revenue leaks (00:44:29) Building accountability into operations  Share the Numbers Your Team Can Actually Influence  You don't need to hand everyone your entire P&L. Give your team the metrics tied to their work, like gross margin, booking rates, follow-up, or conversion. Then performance conversations have something concrete to work from. Small Operational Problems Get Bigger With Growth  A small inefficiency can become wasted payroll, missed revenue, and unnecessary headcount as the practice expands. Start with what's costing the most time or money. Stronger systems help good employees work without the owner constantly stepping in, leading to better accountability, healthier margins, and less stress. About Amy Anderson:  As a nationally recognized expert and CEO of ACG Practice Partners, she brings over 20 years of hands-on, non-clinical experience in the aesthetics industry. Known for her practical leadership and human-centered approach, Amy has guided practices of all sizes, from startups to multi-specialty groups, on optimizing operations, building strong teams, and achieving sustainable growth. She is especially sought after for her ability to empower leaders and tailor strategies that fit each practice's unique culture. Amy is a frequent national speaker and trusted advisor to surgeons and their teams.   Connect with Amy: ACG Practice Partners: https://acgpracticepartners.com/amy-anderson/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyandersonmba  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyandersonmba/reels/  MedSpa Pro: https://www.medspaproevent.com/expert/amy-anderson.html  Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn:    Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners.  Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/   Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein   Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn   Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/   The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.  

This week, I'm turning the mic over to Audrey Neff, host of True to Form, and replaying the conversation she originally shared with her audience. Audrey put me in the hot seat with the financial questions medical spa owners need to be asking as they grow.  A full schedule can still produce weak cash flow, a second location can magnify problems that already exist, and a practice that depends on its owner for every decision will be difficult to scale or sell.  Audrey and I connect these issues by following the money from individual treatments through to the long-term value of the business. The Metrics Behind a Financially Healthy Med Spa  Free cash flow gives an owner choices. It can fund cash reserves, support a new location, reduce debt, or create an exit opportunity. Producing more of it requires a clear understanding of which treatments fill your schedule and which ones contribute meaningful margin.  In this episode, we discuss:  Why reviewing a P&L without interpreting it leaves owners with more numbers but very little direction  How revenue per hour, margin per treatment, patient retention, and customer lifetime value influence cash flow  Why injectables can bring patients through the door while leaving little room for profit when pricing, commissions, and discounts are poorly managed  How "Bed Bath and Botox" discounting cuts into an already thin injectable margin  The missed retail sales opportunities hiding inside treatment plans and patient conversations  Why a med spa should have four to six months of cash reserves before opening a second location  How to identify and reduce owner dependency by asking, "What breaks first when I leave?"  What buyers examine when calculating enterprise value, including cash flow, owner dependency, customer concentration, and operational risk  The Five-Part Financial Playbook  Here are the exact steps we use to evaluate a practice's financial health:  Core profit: Are your treatments priced to produce healthy margins?  Operating profit: Can your budget support the team and infrastructure required to run the practice?  Cash flow: What remains after your equipment, debt, taxes, and other obligations are paid?  Customer value: Are you retaining patients and increasing the value of those relationships?  Enterprise value: Can the practice continue producing reliable cash flow without depending on you?  Following the steps in order helps you identify the financial constraint that deserves your attention now instead of trying to fix everything at once. Get your free Playbook here. Add "True to Form" to Your Playlist  This conversation originally aired on Audrey Neff's True to Form podcast. Audrey brings candid conversations about leadership, operations, patient experience, growth, and enterprise value to the medical aesthetics industry.  If you own or lead an aesthetics practice, subscribe to both shows:  Subscribe to Keep What You Earn  Subscribe to True to Form  Get the free Financial Scaling Playbook for Aesthetics  Connect with Audrey and Aviva Aesthetics:  Audrey Neff brings more than a decade of experience in the medical aesthetics and wellness industries and currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Aviva Aesthetics. A respected marketing strategist and global speaker, she has served as a key opinion leader for several leading aesthetic brands and has taught for more than 30 medical aesthetic associations worldwide. Her thought leadership has been featured in publications such as PRIME Journal, The Aesthetic Guide, and PAN Journal. Audrey is also the host of True to Form, a globally ranked podcast exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of the aesthetics industry.  Website: https://avivaaesthetics.com/  True To Form podcast: https://www.instagram.com/truetoformpodcast/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreyneff_/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audreyneff/  Follow Shannon & Keep What You Earn:    Shannon Weinstein is the founder of a fractional CFO firm specializing in helping 7-figure aesthetics and wellness practices scale with clarity, cash flow, and confidence. She is committed to helping med spa owners understand, fix, and maximize their business's enterprise value, offering actionable advice and resources, including a popular free video series specifically for aesthetics practice owners.     Fractional CFO Services and Executive Financial Review: https://www.keepwhatyouearn.com/   Connect with Shannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonweinstein   Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@KeepWhatYouEarn   Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1580071347   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkweinstein/   The information shared is for educational purposes only and is not individualized financial advice. Aesthetics practice owners should consult a qualified professional before implementing financial strategies discussed here.