Stop Creating Content Pillars: A Simpler Approach for Busy Estheticians
I was consulting with a client who wants to get serious about her business. She has a vision for where she wants to be in the next five years, but she’s stuck with too many ideas and no clear guide. Which is why she reached out to me.
We started the way I always do…
coffee, comfy couches, life stuff first. Then we got down to business, and she hit me with the question: “What ARE content pillars? Everyone keeps telling me I need them.”
If you haven’t heard of content pillars, they’re buckets or topics you organize your social content under. Most social media advice tells you to choose three to five pillars and create content under each one, aiming to represent at least one pillar in your feed every week.
But here’s what I told my client: I don’t do content pillars anymore.
Her confused face said it all. So let me tell you why…
My Content Pillar Failure Story
When I started Quip Creative, I did content pillars. I had them all mapped out. I picked three because I was planning on posting only three times a week (one for each pillar). Easy peasy, right?
Well… not really!
I miserably failed to actually create content that fit my content pillars.
Here’s Why My Content Pillars Didn’t Work
Content pillars sound organized. But they’re actually stifling. They kill creativity. They suck the joy out of sharing. And because they feel forced, your content fails to connect. Here are my three content pillars and why they failed me.
This pillar was all how-to content. Frameworks, strategies, tutorials on staying consistent, using tools like Metricool, writing better emails.
But my audience didn’t engage. Because busy solo business owners don’t care about learning a new tool.
My audience cares about finding clients and filling their books.
They want less stress and more ease.
People chase outcomes and feelings, not processes.
(Remember this for your clients too, because it applies to them as well.)
This pillar was all about sharing different types of AI prompts, tool reviews & capabilities.
I posted about AI because I’m genuinely fascinated by it. I’d share a prompt that helped me write an email in five minutes, or a tool that could transcribe client calls. Stuff I thought was game-changing.
Crickets… ouch!
Why? Because my audience wasn’t ready for AI shortcuts.
They were still trying to figure out the basics…
like showing up consistently or at all.
Meet your clients where they are at, not where you hope they would be.
So for estheticians, this means explaining things to them as if they know nothing.
This was the hardest pillar for me to create. I felt awkward filming myself. I worried people would think “who cares what you’re doing?”
But that content… me getting lunch and talking about my mindset. Me sharing in the car about what I do and don’t do (boundaries). That’s the stuff that connected with my audience.
People didn’t want my best tips. They wanted to see ME. The person behind the business. The thinking behind the work.
They wanted connection, not just information.
As estheticians, that’s even more true for you.
You will be touching your clients, they need to know you and connect with you first.
So What Do You Do Instead of Content Pillars?
This goes to the heart of my entire message: Stop creating content. Start documenting your day.
Document your work. Your process. The moments between clients. The reason you chose that serum. The walk you take at lunch to reset. The question a client asked that made you realize something.
One of my recent posts that did well on engagement was me getting myself lunch, with text overlay that said: “This week I’m celebrating small wins… eating healthy and saying no to a meeting that was easily an email.”
Ever since I changed my direction from pillars and content creation to documenting my day and sharing authentically, something shifted deeply inside me. I started to enjoy posting. I started enjoying engaging with people because it was coming from a place of calm and sincere sharing—not a forced task on my to-do list.
If you’re posting because you “have to,” you’re missing the point.
Post to say something. To share something. To build connection.
Before you hit “post,” ask yourself:
Why am I sharing this?
How does this help my clients understand what I do or why it matters?
Would I actually say this out loud to someone sitting in my treatment room?
Here’s What Documentation Looks Like in Practice
See the difference?
One is CREATING content to fill a bucket. The other is DOCUMENTING what you’re already doing—and explaining the why behind it.
One feels like homework. The other feels like conversation.
The Result?
Your content becomes an extension of your client care, not a separate job. You show up more consistently because it’s easy. Your ideal clients see the real you and book appointments.
And you stop resenting social media.
Your Challenge: Start Today
Before your next client today:
pull out your phone
film yourself for 30 seconds explaining ONE choice you’re making in that appointment
Why are you using that serum?
Why did you adjust the treatment plan?
What made you recommend a different product this time?
Post it. Zero editing.
No fancy captions. Just you, explaining your work.
See what happens.
That’s the strategy. No elaborate planning.
No color-coded spreadsheet. No pressure to be perfect.
Just you, your expertise, and the story behind what you do every day.
Now here’s the truth:
Even the best content won’t fill your books if your client retention system is leaking.
You can document your day perfectly, show up consistently, and build a following… but if clients aren’t rebooking, if your referral process is nonexistent, if people ghost after their first appointment? You’re working twice as hard for half the results.
Most estheticians have three major “money leaks” happening right now. These are gaps in their booking flow, communication, and follow-up that are quietly costing them thousands.
Download my free guide: 3 Money Leaks Every Esthetician Has (And How to Fix Them) and find out where you’re losing revenue.
Ready to go even deeper? Check out The Full Books Blueprint, a complete audit of your client retention system with a clear action plan you can implement immediately.
Because the best content in the world won’t help if your systems are leaking clients.