The skin-care industry is competitive--and it gets more so every day. When I opened my first skin-care spa and launched my skin-care line in 1991 (at the age of 21), it was easy to get new customers, retain existing customers and increase sales.

But now, even with 18 years of knowledge under my belt, it's more difficult than ever. I believe that's because baby boomers are getting older and wanting to look younger, and an abundance of doctors have now embraced the cosmetic side of the industry as a means of increasing revenue. I don't feel threatened by this new competition; the awareness and credibility it brings to my industry are certainly welcome. But working smarter and harder is a must.

Every year since 1991, my skin-care company has profited and experienced growth, but around 2006 growth had leveled off and I knew I needed to rethink my strategies.

My skin-care company has two components: My two skin-care spas (located in Dallas and Plano, Texas) offering facials, chemical peels and acne treatments, and my skin-care line of 70 products sold exclusively through my spas and online store at ReneeRouleau.com.

With these two major advantages, I decided to focus on three strategies that would cut costs, increase sales and build our client base.

Celebrity Strategy
Using the power of association, I developed a "celebrity" strategy that established me as the "go-to" esthetician in Dallas. Having had Jessica and Ashlee Simpson as our clients (which gained us lots of magazine writeups and TV mentions), I knew the power that having celebrity clients could bring in terms of increasing sales. When a celebrity trusts you with her skin, it's the ultimate endorsement. So I focused on getting more.

How to get a celebrity client
Scour local and regional newspapers and society papers for news of when celebrities are due in town. Example: Many celebrities are featured speakers at nonprofit charity events, all of which are publicized in newspapers weeks ahead of the actual event.

Contact the event chair and ask if you can provide your services or products (at no charge to the charity) as a gift from the charity to the celebrity. This is a win-win situation; the charity looks good for thanking the celebrity with a generous gift at no charge to the charity, and you gain the endorsement of the celebrity as he or she experiences your service or product. This builds credibility and gives you instant social proof.

Another opportunity for this kind of exposure is when celebrities are in town for concerts. Contact the local concert promoter and offer your gift through the promoter. In either case, always ask for permission to publish any and all promotional photographs. This simple element shows celebrities that you value their look and brand just as much as you value your own. There are online services that offer subscriptions to access the contact information of a celebrity's publicist. When a celebrity uses your products or services, you can (with permission) use the individual's name in your marketing materials and press releases to the media. Bottom line: You don't ask, you don't get! So start asking.

As a result of my Celebrity Strategy, my spas now have endorsements from: actresses Lisa Rinna (Days of our Lives, Dancing with the Stars), Melissa Rycroft (The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Good Morning America), Eva Amurri (Saved, Californication; she's also the daughter of actress Susan Sarandon) and more. Several months back, our anti-cyst treatment (a skin-care product used to treat cystic acne) was featured in Star Magazine and endorsed by Lisa Rinna. Normally we sell 60 units of that product on our website per month. After the magazine hit the newsstands, we sold more than 1,000 units in one month.

Building Our Customer Base Online
I started my shopping website in 1998, at a time when e-commerce was just beginning. Recognizing that the internet could increase the reach of my brand, I launched my site in hopes of increasing sales. To get exposure, I sent my product line to various noted beauty product reviewers to have them test my products and post their reviews online. We had many positive reviews, and this brought tremendous traffic and sales to my site. It wasn't difficult to build an online business, but I never really focused on it and it still grew every year, despite minimal effort on my part. I knew that if I made it a priority and focused on it, I could really build sales, so that's what I did. By collecting client e-mail addresses for monthly e-mail newsletters; sending products to beauty bloggers for reviews; and writing skin-care articles for beauty websites, Twitter and Facebook, my online business has grown to account for 40 percent of my company's overall revenue.

If you have something to share, not just to sell, then I think it makes sense to spend your time on social media. But remember that most people on social media are not in shopping mode; they're in social mode. So the last thing you want to do is become a salesperson. You'll never get any followers that way. I believe it's important to share knowledge and thereby position yourself as an expert. I give a "skin care tip of the day" on Twitter (@ReneeRouleau) and on our Facebook fan page (Renee Rouleau Skin Care), and Twitter is the fifth-ranked referrer to my site. In the four short months that I have been on social media, revenue has increased 10 percent.

Off-line, we expanded our customer base by creating referrals relationships with hotels that don't have spas. Hotel guests today demand such services, so the hotels benefit by being able to give referrals to local spas. One hotel even offers complimentary transportation to the spa.

Cost-Cutting Strategies
This past year, I've cut my debt 33 percent and reduced my overhead by 5 percent. My cost of revenue has decreased by $21,000 primarily through a reduction in payroll expense. Instead of using the traditional print shop that I used for years for printed marketing materials, I now use an online company that specializes in bulk printing for less.

Through Twitter, I've tapped into a network of work-at-home moms whom I've hired as freelancers to do social media, graphic design and personal assistant work. I was paying $125 an hour for a New York graphic design firm and now pay $40 per hour to a freelancer who can mimic my existing design. I hold the copyright to the design. The reduction in payroll expense was directly due to outsourcing some in-house work to freelancers.

For every expense you are incurring, ask yourself "Is it a nicety or a necessity?" It's amazing how many expenses aren't necessary. You can also find less expensive ways to achieve the same result. I now run my company lean. When given the opportunity, I hire freelancers over employees because costs are lower, and I have fewer obligations. You never know how employees are going to work out until they get in there and start working. If you have a lot of employees, you spend lots of time and resources on training and managing them, which is extremely costly. When people want their business to grow, they think they have to hire more staff to do that. Wrong. You don't need to have someone working under your roof to have her do a good job for you. And just for the record, I only hire freelancers who work in the U.S.

I also found a cheaper solution to renting expensive Dallas warehouse space when we outgrew a back office in one of our skin-care spas that served as our packing/shipping operation. I decided to build a 600-square-foot warehouse on 40 acres of land I own in the country. It's been far more cost-effective and convenient to run the operation from there.

In addition, I opened a Dallas spa in February 2008 at the prestigious One Arts Plaza in downtown Dallas. It's open by appointment only for payroll savings. I have two estheticians who give facials and an off-site concierge who makes the appointments. Clients have to check in at a security desk, which lends an air of exclusivity to the service.

So despite an economy where the beauty business--a luxury business--would ordinarily tend to decline, I'm happy to say that I'm working smarter and harder--and growing!

Renée Rouleau is a Dallas-based celebrity esthetician whose skin-care products and facial treatments have been helping both women and men attain healthy, beautiful skin for more than 20 years. She can be reached at ReneeRouleau.com through the "contact us" form.