With everything that’s been going on in the world these past few months, it can sometimes be easy to forget that eventually, things will go back to normal. Work will pack back up, and the economy will begin to recover. In certain areas around the globe, we’re already beginning to see the first stages of this!
So, what does this mean for your makeup career?
Well, for starters: if you’re a freelance makeup artist, don’t worry – there will still be plenty of opportunities to book clients! You just may need to take a few extra precautions and adjust some of your strategies, that’s all.
What exactly do we mean by this? Let’s take a look…
Target the bridal community
One of the downsides of COVID-19 is that a lot of engaged couples have needed to postpone their wedding day, due to social distancing rules. But once those rules are lifted, they’ll only be all to quick to get right back on track!
As a makeup artist, this can mean a lot of potential clients for your business. If you’re already skilled in bridal makeup, you can make this a shining focus of both your social media content and your professional portfolio.
Research popular wedding-related hashtags in your area, and incorporate them into your posts. This could easily help draw the attention of brides who have resumed researching into vendors and suppliers for their big day!
Don’t know much about bridal makeup? Then now’s the perfect time to start learning! Begin your research, take an accredited makeup course that teaches bridal makeup, and practice on yourself as much as possible. Better yet, practice on any of your friends or family members who are willing to be your model!
(Just make sure social distancing has been lifted first, or that you already live with this person in an immediate environment. Otherwise, it still won’t be safe enough yet to put your hands all over someone else’s face!)
By mastering your bridal makeup skills now, you can be ready to start booking clients as soon as life returns to normal!
Amplify your online presence
Once businesses start opening back up, people are going to be flocking to the internet to see what’s available to them and what isn’t. When they do, you want YOUR name to come up on their radar!
If you don’t already have an online presence for your freelance makeup artist business, start there ASAP. Build a website, create social media pages, research into marketing analytics and strategies, etc. These days, you can’t afford to NOT to market your business online!
If you already have these things established, then it’s time to now build on them. Ask yourself:
- How can I improve my social media channels?
- How can I increase my visibility?
- Can I strengthen my website in any way?
- Can I put out ads to target potential clients in my area?
Right now, you want your online presence, and the content you put out there, to be relevant to people’s current wants and needs. If someone is hopping online to search for a local makeup artist who can properly (and SAFELY) do their makeup immediately after social distancing has been lifted, you want them to not only find your freelance business – you want them to think to themselves, this is the MUA for me!
ALWAYS keep things clean
Logically, the best place to start is to always ensure that you’re keeping your makeup products and tools proper sterilized. This is a given, and definitely something you already should have been doing anyways. However, recent events have made it only too clear that it’s more important now than ever!
Clients will be far less likely to work with you if they see ANY sign of you being unsanitary, your work station being in total disarray, or your tools not being clean. All you need is one client to spread the word about uncleanly habits, and your reputation as a freelance makeup artist could quickly take a dive.
We know you don’t want this!
Pro tip: Since it’s that time of year, why not utilize your time at home right now to Spring clean your professional makeup kit? This will help make it much easier to maintain your kit going forward!
Have safety protocols ready
Let’s move onto the clients themselves. In the beginning, you may encounter some people who want to get their makeup done, but are still hesitant about coming into such close contact with strangers. One great way to combat this is to extend your sanitation practices to your appointment etiquette!
For example: for the first little while after social distancing rules have been revoked, maybe you can take extra care to always ensure that only you and your client are allowed to be in such close proximity to each other. Your business can have a maximum occupancy rules in effect, wherein only the client is allowed to attend their appointment.
Alternately, if you’re working in an environment where you can’t escape there being more people around, you can set up some type of perimeter around your work space, so that others know not to come within 6 feet of you and your client while you do her makeup.
These are just suggestions, of course. If you’d like to read more about keeping yourself and your clients safe (during and after COVID-19), keep reading here.
Ultimately, whatever measures you choose to take are entirely up to you. All we’re saying is, if you can reassure your client from the very beginning that you have a safety plan in place to continue to keep her safe while working with you, she’ll be much more willing to book!
Reach out to current and past clients
No, you don’t need to touch base with each one of them individually. (Though, hey, if you want to, by all means!) Rather, you can rely the email campaigns you’ve already set up for your freelance business, and utilize those.
There may be customers you’ve worked with before who would like to work with you again… and soon! Problem is, when the time comes that you re-open, they might not necessarily know. Even if you announce it on social media, they may not see it.
A better bet would be to send out a mass email to everyone within your client database. Chances are much better that this won’t go unnoticed! In it, you can let them know that you will be resuming your services (either by a given date, or at the present time).
You can also take this opportunity to lay out those safety protocols we discussed above, and include them within the email itself. If there is any other pertinent info you feel they should have, feel free to include that as well. Just don’t make the email too lengthy, or your audience may gloss over the more critical information.
You may be surprised at how many past clients wind up reaching out to you to book appointments! And even if they don’t, they may know someone who is in need of your wonderful services. Next thing you know, you’re being contacted by a brand-new client, thanks to word-of-mouth!
Remember:
There’s been a LOT of negativity getting thrown around ever since COVID-19 started. Even though much of it has been justifiably warranted, don’t let it fool you into thinking that this pandemic means the end of your makeup career.
It’s not.
Yes, it may require a bit more time and even more dedication than usual. You may need to be patient at first. But hard work does pay off! While things may feel a bit shaky at first, eventually, things will go back to how they used to be.
Before you know it, you’ll be booking more jobs for your freelance makeup artist business than you know what to do with! So, go forth and shine. We believe in you!
Im ritu verma Im a makeup artist. I live in noida sector 122. Makeup booking ke liye contact kre my contract number is 9580839356.