When it comes to starting a business, makeup artists need to be extra creative in both their image and name. You need a business that’s unique, professional, and on trend. So how can you make your business boom when you’re just starting out?
Follow these 6 tips to level up your makeup business, and keep clients rolling in!
Find a graphic designer
First of all, your image as a makeup artist can be the difference between a customer choosing you or choosing a competing business. Makeup is about appearance and first impressions, so you’ll need to put a good amount of resources into creating your logo. You don’t want to be stuck with an outdated, pixelated image representing you in the years to come!
The worst thing is looking back and asking yourself, “How could I have ever used such a bad logo?”
Let’s avoid this altogether – either recruit a friend or hire a local designer to create a small logo for you. Even better, if you have access to Photoshop you can make your own. Hiring a graphic designer can be costly, and when you’re starting a business you probably don’t have much extra cash.
So, investing in Photoshop can be a big advantage – not only for your logo, but for your portfolio and photos of your work moving forward. A small upfront cost can save you hundreds when you need to start compiling images of your work into a professional collection!
Make your website work
The one thing that makes everyone forget about a business? A useless website. Make sure your website is up and running smoothly. All links should work, all images should load quickly, and there shouldn’t be anything that can annoy a visitor – like 7 pop up ads!
When you’re testing your website, keep your backgrounds light and simple. This will lend an air of professionalism and efficiency to your business image. Don’t make your web pages too crowded or with too many animations – it can be easy to go overboard.
Also, make sure you test your website on your phone. Mobile-friendly websites are a priority in today’s world, since nearly everyone will be checking out your business on their phone. Think about it: if you invest a lot of resources into building up a social media following, they’ll likely click a link to your site from one of your profiles. Social media, and your website, should be ready for mobile screens!
Be easy to contact
Just as a glitchy website can ruin your credibility, so can being unavailable. Customers will set aside time to look into multiple makeup businesses and will want information as soon as possible. If you’re not quick in your response time, you could lose out on a big client!
Whether it’s on your website, social profiles, answering machine, or all of the above, be sure to tell inquirers that you’ll get back to them within 24 hours. They should know to leave a phone number or email so you can easily contact them. Make sure you do get back to them! There’s nothing worse than people thinking you’re a sketchy makeup artist…
Always have a contact page on your websites and social profiles. Customers would rather get information straight from you than having to read through your whole website. Be available, be easy to contact, and be prepared to answer all questions!
Expand your area
Once your business is up and running, you’ll be rolling in a steady flow of cash and clients. So, why not expand your business into new areas? This is as simple as being open to travel an extra 20 minutes outside your locality. Listing locations on your website will give customers an idea of where you can travel to, and where you might be willing to go to meet them. Always list your business location, and the areas you cover to bring in more potential jobs.
But remember, with more area comes more competition! Try not to step on any toes by stealing other artists’ clients. Do a good job, be honest and professional, and be friendly to all of your customers. This will be enough to bring them back (and to get you some referrals!).
Pro Tip: Expanding your makeup services can bring in more clients, more income, and more experience!
Find a business partner
Building up your business, you might find that there are a lot of appointments and paperwork to do for just one person. Things can get overwhelming if you’re not used to multitasking as a business owner. Now, this comes with practice and experience, but there’s also another option to make your business run smoothly…
Get yourself a business partner! Whether it’s an administrative assistant, an assistant makeup artist, or another professional makeup artist that would like to join your business, plan to collaborate. This will make it easier for you to focus on your customers and appointments, without letting anything fall through the cracks.
If you’d like to go the route of hiring an employee, you should speak with an accountant to ensure you have the income to pay their wages. Be responsible with your business – refer to professionals when you’re not entirely sure how to deal!
Track your reach
A great feature of social media nowadays is how easily you can track your reach and business potential! If you have a business page with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter, you’ll be able to track who is sharing your posts, how many people you reach, and if people are engaged with your posts (likes, comments, clicks). This will give you a transparent look into how your business is performing when it comes to client intrigue!
Moreover, you should also consider promoting your posts. If you have a large following on Facebook, then your reach will be quite high if you decide to put some money behind an ad. You can make it a fun post or a serious post, and then track which performs best. Filter your audience by who you want to reach, like friends of people who like your page. This will help you find more clients with the added value of social credibility.
