5 TIPS TO MAKE MORE MONEY AS A MAKEUP ARTIST
Hi gorgeous!
I love getting the opportunity to do an edition of my newsletter just for YOU!
I'm excited to go over some ways for you to make more money! It doesn't take a math wizard to figure out that weddings make up 50-55% of my total makeup artist income. If you are in the wedding industry, you are likely there or even closer to 70%. There have been years where I've have loaded up on other makeup clients, such as seniors in high school, boudoir family photos etc, and even though I'm working my tail off, it is nowhere near what weddings bring in. My highest revenue producing months out of the year are typically September, October and then June for me. Mid November through March can easily be crickets if you are not actively driving your business. That is where we start this conversation. How can you balance your income throughout the year without such dramatic highs and lows financially? I know after wedding season, we all love a good break. Full on sloth mode? Yes please. I don't want to be broke either. I'd rather work a moderate amount in all the months and be able to take vacation during wedding season and not sweat it! I want to share HOW to do that! The key is to diversify your services and layer in things that are not tied to a specific season. There isn't much in the first 3 months of the year, so you need to create it.
I call a bridal trial a “Preview," because I find “trial” to feel negative. Preview makes me feel like I am going to slay the makeup and they are here to be wowed. LOL. You have heard me say that before. I don't do Previews on the weekend. That is my time with my family or to earn max revenue at a wedding. I try to avoid anything in between. I outline in my very first reply to an inquiry, that the Preview is optional, and I only do them on weekdays. No surprises. I want all my Previews to fall in Jan-April. It is the slowest season, so I like to pad it with items that could really happen at any point in the year. When I book my brides, I either schedule their Preview at the same time or plant the seed that we should shoot for Jan- April. I don't wait for them to reach out to me. Of course this doesn't always work for every bride, but I typically do 70% of my total Previews during this timeframe. If you haven't reached out yet - do it now! If they mention they are bringing their mom or MIL, offer to do a Preview for them too!
Next to weddings, my number two revenue generator as an MUA, is the makeup lesson. It's friggin' brilliant for so many reasons. Tell me how many times you have heard: “OMG I LOVE my makeup!!!! I could NEVER do this at home!” Ding, ding, ding!!!! I bet at every wedding you hear that at least twice. Every single time you do makeup period, there is an opportunity to book a lesson. “Let me teach you how to do this at home!”
The other wild thing is, almost every makeup lesson I do, within a week or so, I get an email from their good friend who heard about it and now wants to do it too! This is not a seasonal service! It's perfect to pad your downtime!
I was super intimidated on how the hell to execute this. Like how professional and buttoned up did I need to be? I saw another MUA on IG have a gorgeous, professional looking booklet for notes, etc and was like oh man, I don't want to do that much work! LOL. My makeup lessons are basic AF. And they work. And I'm booked out for the next 5 months. Don't over complicate it. Here's what you need to do/think about:
I like to schedule 2 hours. Whatever you charge for a 1 hour makeup, double that and that is your lesson price. Unless you are dirt cheap and doing makeup every 30 min, then you may need to quadruple that price to reach 2 hours.
Ahead of time we establish what they want to learn. Most of my clients, want to learn how to feel their best, in a routine that takes them no more than 10-15 min to accomplish at home. Super doable in 2 hours. If they want a FULL beat with learning to do lashes, contour, yada yada and have no real skill set, that may be 2 makeup lessons or they may have to pay additional money at the hourly wage if they want to do in one shot, as that is more than the normal scope of work. They should also bring ALL of their makeup and brushes with them. Anything they don't have you will supplement from your MUA kit.
I have my MUA kit all set up + a set of brushes on hand, and my laptop open. I have a template I typed out on a google doc that I copy and paste for each client. I wrote out my order of makeup application and any relevant tips I want to remind them of. I tailor that order of application for each product and reference their products and brushes, but it saves a lot of time not to generate this from scratch every time. The client will leave with their google doc emailed to them. They will have their order of application and a shopping list of the products they need. With my affiliate links BTW which I'll expand upon shortly.
I have a hand mirror and a standing mirror (I like this one for different magnification options as a nice touch!)
They lay out all their stuff. We walk through their full face. The goal is for them to recreate this look at home. Typically, I do half the face and they do the other. Not for every single thing, as that can take forever. Brows, shadow, liner, complexion - they for sure do their half. Shadow primer, blush, highlighter, lips, brow gel etc. I just do and they watch in the hand mirror. I make sure to not do something way outside of their skill set obviously. Most people really want basic and it's so fun to watch their eyes light up as they learn how to do it! I help them figure out what to toss, keep (sometimes they have great stuff and don't even realize it!) and they have a shopping list and list of instructions emailed to them. I also offer that once they get their stuff and practice they can send me pics and I can give them feedback. Additionally, people love this so much that they come back later to learn new things. Then I book as an hour appt at my hourly rate.
Another great option that is NOT seasonal! Back in the day, you used to be able to go to a makeup counter to get help choosing products and feel confident in the recommendations. This has become a lost art. Now people are getting sent home with foundation that doesn't match, not getting to see how something looks on and feeling like they just wasted their hard earned cash. If you have clients that find the financial point of entry of a makeup lesson to be high or they don't want all that - this is a great option! I have so many clients, that book 1 hour with me to help them find a new foundation color, lipstick etc. I keep track on a google doc, but it's faster than the lesson. I'm doing it without passing the brush and it isn't a full on look. Again with commissionable links. People love this and feel so much more confident that they aren't throwing away their money on things that are not right for them. This is a makeup consultation and a very easy service to offer that isn't tied to a season.
It is totally normal to question if you are “good enough” to be teaching others. You know so much more than you give yourself credit for. If you are a new MUA getting your feet wet in the industry, I urge you to go get a PRO lesson from another makeup artist you see as successful. Maybe you admire their skill, maybe it's the way they run their business or maybe it's both. It is a great investment. If you are not new, then offer this service yourself. There are so many eager MUA's that want guidance. Throw it out there on social and tailor a lesson to their needs. I often find 3 hours to be the sweet spot for this. It typically includes a 2 hour demo lesson, then time for discussion on their kit, feedback or their list of questions. I charge 3x my hourly rate for this + a small amount in addition. I know I am adding so much value to their future business that I feel my time is worth that.
Just because you freelance for yourself and you aren't at Nordstrom, does NOT mean you shouldn't get credit for your product recommendations! Earning commission on the back end of a link you provide, is also referred to as an affiliate link. There are several ways to do this. The first is a random brand offers you a code for your client to use at check out, and you earn commission from them based off these sales. I do not like that kind of thing. I want my recs to be organic and tailored to whom I'm working with. Like to Know it or LTK used to be a really big thing and I find it to be a HUGE pain in the ass. AND I feel like my clients (and me!) don't like the run around of clicking on an influencers link and having to bypass through all the LTK shit show.
My absolute fave (highly recommend) and super simple to use is Shop My. You can use it 3 different ways:
1. You can create “Shelves” of your fave products for clients to peruse. I don't generate much off those, but it is fun to create.
2. You can generate lists for social media posts you do, so client's can shop your posts. For example, if you post a before and after, and list out the products, you could create a way for them to shop your post like these:
3. Finally and the most useful, is to generate a commissionable link plain and simple. It's easy to do on the spot, because Shop My has an app. So let's say you are doing a bridesmaid's makeup. She says: “WOW! Love the foundation! I can never find one I like.” You say: "Want me to send you the link and your shade?" She is like: “OMG that would be so great!” You just earned on average of 10% commission and provided amazing customer service! What about a your bridal Preview, when you bride wants to purchase all the lip products? Send her all YOUR links! That makeup lesson and ALL your customized product recommendations? What if you provided a link for every one of those? On average this is an additional $30-$50 of commission after the lesson is over. Shop My, is the easiest to use IMO to generate links, but it is also SUPER easy for your client to use. If you gave them a link to sephora it takes them right there, no shit show. Of course I tell every client I earn a small % of commission and it is SMALL. But it does add up! You don't need to be a social media influencer to do this. You can check it out and apply here (it's easy and quick) if you are interested!
When you seek out to diversify what you offer, you can start your year off with a bang. Growing these segments of your business may be a slow start, but you will see exponential growth the more you organically talk about it with your clients. Feel free to reply to this email if you have questions! Or other topics you want to learn more about! XO