How to get the most out of Miali: setup, sharing, and repeat clients

Welcome to Miali! You've just joined beauty professionals in more than 20 countries who are taking back control of their time. It's more than a booking app. It's the front desk you never had to hire.

Here's how to get the most out of it, from the first settings to keeping clients coming back. Follow these steps and the scheduling back-and-forth gets a lot quieter.

Set up services, hours, deposits, and reminders first

Before you share anything, get these four things right. Everything else builds on them.

• Services. Go to Studio → Services. Add each service with a clear name, price, and real duration. Include cleanup time in the duration. Doing home visits? Add a travel fee to the service and list the towns or areas you cover.
• Hours. Go to Studio → Hours & booking. Set your open and close times for each day and mark days off as closed. While you're there, set how much notice you need, the break between appointments, and how late clients can cancel or reschedule.
• Deposits. In Studio → Payments & deposits, turn on deposits if you want them (they're on Pro and Business), as a fixed amount or a percentage of the service price. Choose how clients pay you: M-Pesa Till, Paybill, or phone number, Cash App, Venmo, Zelle, Revolut, PayPal.me, or your own instructions for bank transfer or mobile money. The client pays you directly, enters the payment reference, and you confirm it. Miali never holds the money.
• Reminders. In Studio → Reminders & alerts. The WhatsApp reminder goes out 24 hours before by default, and you can set anything from 1 to 72 hours. Miali sends one more 2 hours before. Clients with an email address get email reminders too.

Share your booking link everywhere clients find you

Your Miali booking link works 24/7, even while you're asleep or in the middle of a long hair session. Clients open it in any browser, with no app and no account, and can book several services in one go. Returning clients' details are remembered, so booking again is quick.

• Instagram and TikTok: Add your booking link to your bio right away. A clear "Book now" link means fewer "how much?" DMs and fewer clients who give up waiting for a reply.
• WhatsApp: Put your link in your WhatsApp Business profile and post it on your Status. It saves you the "Are you free at 2pm?" back-and-forth.
• In person: Studio → Share kit has a QR code for your booking page, plus ready-made messages for WhatsApp and Instagram. Print it for your mirror or station.
• Google: Add the link to your Google Business Profile as your booking or website link.

Test your booking page in two minutes

Before you send the link to your regulars, try it yourself:

1. Open your own booking page on your phone.
2. Book a test service using your own phone number.
3. Check that the WhatsApp confirmation comes through.
4. Open Calendar to see the booking, then cancel it.

Reminders go out at the time you set, so you won't see one straight away. On the free plan, one test booking is enough, since tests can count toward your 10 online bookings for the month.

Make your page look trustworthy

A stranger deciding whether to book you has only your page to go on.

Upload your logo or headshot

Go to Studio → Profile and upload a professional logo or a clear headshot. Clients want to see the face behind the work. Add a short bio while you're there, and your address and WhatsApp number in Studio → Location & contact.

Show your portfolio

Don't just tell them you're good, show them. Go to Studio → Portfolio and upload 3 to 5 of your best results. Shoot in natural light, keep the background clear, and always ask the client first.

Under each photo, pick the service it shows. Clients then see those photos right next to that service when they book. You can also add photos as you go: when you complete a visit, tap Snap the result, and it's added to that service's photos with a ready-made post to share.

Complete your services and prices

Clear pricing stops clients hesitating. Make sure every service has a clear name, duration, and price.

Collect reviews from every client

Nothing gets a new client to book faster than good reviews from real clients.

• After an appointment, send a review request from the client's profile in Clients. Miali emails them a link where they can leave a rating and a comment.
• Reviews appear on your booking page with the client's first name and the service they had, which gives first-time visitors a reason to trust you.
• Review requests go by email, and email is optional when clients book. Ask your regulars for their email so you can send one.

More on this in the portfolio and reviews guide.

Keep clients coming back

Getting the first booking is the hard part. Getting the second one should be easy.

• Client profiles. Every client has a profile with their appointment history. Add notes, colour or service formulas, allergies, and their birthday.
• Birthday heads-ups. For clients with a saved birthday, you get a heads-up before the day so you can send a message and offer a slot.
• Due for a rebook. Today's rebooks, on your home screen, lists clients who are due by their own usual gap. Tap Message and WhatsApp opens with the message already written and a link straight to their usual service. Clients also shows who's overdue and who has gone quiet.
• Book your next visit. When you mark a visit done, clients who left an email get a thank-you with a button to book the same service again.
• Unfinished bookings. If someone starts booking but doesn't finish, they show up as a lead you can follow up with.
• Loyalty. In Clients → Rewards, set up punch cards, loyalty discounts (1 point per visit), or prepaid packages. Punch cards and loyalty discounts show on your booking page, and packages are sold from the client's profile.
• Bring a friend. Add a loyalty discount and choose Bringing a friend. Clients get their own link to share, and both they and the friend they bring get the discount.
• Messaging. Email a message to a group of clients, or message clients on WhatsApp one by one.

For ready-made follow-up messages, see the rebooking script.

Run your day from the dashboard

• Walk-ins and phone bookings. Tap the + button to add them, so your calendar stays complete. For regulars on a fixed rhythm, set up a recurring appointment. Need time off mid-day? Block it.
• Running late. Send a "running late" message on WhatsApp in a couple of taps.
• Aftercare. Send aftercare instructions on WhatsApp after the appointment. You can also add prep and aftercare notes to each service, and they're included in the client's emails.
• Payments. Record what each client paid at "Pay & complete."
• Summaries and alerts. You get a morning summary with the day and the week ahead, and a weekly summary of the week before in Monday's morning email (and a push on Sunday evenings), plus alerts about appointments that haven't been confirmed.
• A monthly goal. Set the amount you want to earn each month on Today, and see what you've earned and what's already booked.
• On the go. Add Miali to your phone's home screen, or use the Android app. Recent calendar and client data stay available on your phone, even on a weak connection.

Pick the right plan

• Free: 10 online bookings and 10 reminded appointments a month. Walk-ins you add yourself don't count toward bookings. Good for testing and part-time work.
• Pro ($4/month): unlimited bookings and 100 reminded appointments a month.
• Business ($10/month): up to 5 bookable team members and 350 reminded appointments a month, staff profiles with a photo and specialties that clients see when they pick who to book, and staff commission estimates in your reports.

Each appointment counts once toward your reminder limit, even though it gets two reminders. If you hit a monthly limit, online booking or reminders pause until the next month starts or until you upgrade. Plans are billed monthly in USD, and Miali takes no commission on your bookings. See pricing for the full details.

FAQ

Do my clients need to download Miali? No. Your booking page opens in any browser, and clients don't need an account.

Does Miali take a cut of my deposits? No. Clients pay you directly through your own payment method. Miali never holds or processes the money.

Can clients book a recurring appointment themselves? Not online. You can set up recurring appointments for them from your dashboard.

Can clients reschedule or cancel on their own? Yes. Every booking comes with a link where the client can pick a new time or cancel, up to the cutoff you set in Studio → Hours & booking. You get a notification either way.

The bottom line

Get your services, deposits, and reminders right, share your link everywhere, and test it once yourself. Then let Miali handle the confirmations and reminders while it tells you who to follow up with, so you can spend your time on the work clients pay you for.