I'm exhausted and frustrated trying to make my new business work

[strugglingspmua]

I am a semi permanent make up and microblading artist, been qualified almost a year and have my own home studio.

I absolutely love my work and I hope this doesn't sound big headed but I know I'm good at it. Clients are happy and I'm happy with my results. But I'm exhausted with the constant never ending hustle to get clients. I have to be on social media all the time I'm not working, making posts and trying to encourage people to engage with my posts so in turn my posts get seen. Interacting with people so they in turn see and interact with my posts. It's so fake

I also feel really pressured to portray a really successful lifestyle on social media etc. based on what I've seen This seems to be the done thing if you have a beauty / aesthetics business. And I feel the need to appear really busy so I look like I'm in demand, so when I do get clients I feel I have to make out I can't fit them in for ages

But I actually work 3 part time jobs including my business. But I keep the other jobs a secret from most people (apart from family and mates) as I don't want my clients knowing I need to do other jobs. Last week a lady came to me who works for a company who I do office cleaning for on the side so I almost got caught out 🤦‍♀️

It's so frustrating as if I could get even one new client a day I'd earn really well and not need my other jobs.

I've never once looked at the social media of a beautician - only at their websites and on Treatwell. I consider the price and some before/after pictures before booking somewhere. I would highly recommend an informative website with price list.

I don’t know if you need to branch out in the long term as the woman who does my microblading told me she cut out all other beauty services as she makes enough from the micro blading/powder brows as it’s higher skilled/better paid although it might be a way to get people in the door initially. She only works part time though.

I found her recommended on a local mums FB group. They also do a weekly post where anyone can link their own business which might be good?

All her SM pictures are before and after pics which was the most important thing for me in finding the right person. She also does some reels about misconceptions about MB and about the recovery process. No flashy lifestyle posts though. She does have a good website with all the example pictures and a booking online feature which you need

Good luck OP!

I get your point but clicking like takes half a second, it's basically zero effort but can potentially really help your friends

I do it for my friends and for businesses which I have used and been impressed by .

Dont make people wait ages for appointments if you have them available. Dont fake a flash lifestyle.

Definitely do offers for personal recommendations- my hairdresser gave me 2 cards with a "recommended by..." box on it, she wrote my name in so I couldn't use them myself, gave a discount to a friend i gave it to. I handed them over to 2 school mum friends who were looking for new hairdressers. No effort on my behalf. I know one has definitely been for a cut and used the card.

And yes to some bread and butter services, like waxing or nails or eyelashes, something that a customer comes back for regularly and when they are with you, you can upsell the more profitable services.

Agree with those who say u need a website but also there are two ways I have found local tradespeople/service providers who I’ve ended up using regularly. One is ads placed in our free local monthly magazine. But I recognise that not everywhere has such mags. The other is small professionally printed advertising leaflets—can be a fraction of size of A4 sheet—delivered through the door. They just give details of the service, a testimonial or two, name, address, tel no and email. I agree with the PP who said online booking form is a plus. You can choose the area targeted with a local delivery company, tailoring to your budget, or deliver your own (good way to get exercise).

Definitely this!

My school colleague started her own business around 2018. She did my lip augmentation in 2020. Before it started bringing her full time income, she kept working as a nurse in a hospital. Also, from what I can see, she does a lot of networking- invites over PMU artists, doctor who does botox etc., they tag each other on social media a lot, she attends lots of different trainings etc. I must say, she looks fantastic and she also puts pictures and stories on instagram/facebook like she's having fantastic, instafriendly lifestyle, but I spoke to her and I know she's like any other person- has to pay for mortgage and childcare. Ah, I also know she used to do a lot of offers as she was new in business. Lots of 20% off until end of this month etc. or black friday offer and stuff.

I also agree- don't pretend to be busy. If you are available, you might actually bring on more customers, like client recommends you to a friend. Reply to messages quite promptly etc.

I girl I know does eye lashes. It's not my thing, but she's always posting funny lash related memes. She also posts updates..

Lady's don't forget to book in your refills. My diary is now open for "July/august" I'm only working 1 weekend this month... bla bla bla.

Lots of simple posts but a few a day.

Have you thought about asking your clients to share/post about their treatment, in return for small discounts? Or entry into a price draw for a free treatment?

Refer a friend discount?

It's a myth that you need to do tons of engaging/asking friends to engage etc. Although good content creates the snowball effect its self. The type of Instagram tactics you are using are exhausting and as you say feel disingenuous.

That said, social nedia is a great way to be seen. You should be using Reels as the best way to get the biggest reach.
You content should be valuable to the people who are seeing it

'My top 3 products for caring for your brows/lashes'

'My favourite beauty product to highlight eyes'

Etc etc.

Schedule your weekly content -
A transformation
A tip
A product
Your studio

Repeat

Every piece of content should come back to your services.

Schedule a plan that works for you and don't burn out.

Puregallussocial does a lot of good reel tips

You need a website with a booking feature. My beautician said that when she got hers all the little holes got filled.

You need to think a bit more long term about marketing. Where are your customers? On fb or insta? When is your peak season and best chance to get new customers? You need to prepare your promotion beforehand.

Is there a local business advisory service that could help? Im not in the uk so i dont know if they exist.

Why would an evoque get you noticed?

Because real Range Rover owners laugh at them or something else?

Not sure I have ever noticed or even seen one. Is it a thing?

Just to be clear I do not have a white evoque ...each to their own but they aren't my cup of tea. 😆😆

Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies and help I really appreciate it

I think I'm just going to take a big step back, do the bookings I've got and stop advertising and plugging and posting all the time as it's soul destroying. I've got my other work, I'll see what comes in organically if anything then perhaps revisit in a month.

One thing I've deffo taken on board is I need a website and I'm going to get that sorted once I've had a little break.

I'm lucky as my husband is a high earner and I actually don't "need" to work as much as I do. But I feel he has carried me for years while working his ass off in a stressful job while I've been part time due to our 3 dc. and I need to start earning serious money and actually contribute.

I would get a website - you can get a Wix website and do it yourself for very little money and if you keep it simple it is not at all hard to make it look nice.

Having somewhere to put all the contact info, booking info and testimonials etc in one place is still a good idea, I know you can use instagram for this, but you will be cutting out a good portion of clients who will simply NOT look for or go to a business that only uses FB/Insta/Tiktok.

Do the SM, but link it together with IFTTT so one post is posted to all. Post twice a week with a nice photo and comment, it should be positive and engaging, ask a question - but DONT bullshit, its so very fake and see through now.

Do keep on top of your hashtags but otherwise, don't worry too much about SM, as long as you have a presence that is up to date, clean, bright and shows what you do, that will do.

Then have all the SM platforms point people to your website. That gives everyone a chance to find you and what you do - websites feel like 'home' and stable and dependable, whereas insta/fb/twitter feel very temporary and unstable.

Advertising wise - I would not pay for FB advertising, you will spend money reaching people who are geographically far too far away no matter how you set the settings, it isn't a good use of your money.

I would pay for decent business cards that can be given to people you meet (personal touch) and also special offers like recommend a friend or discount if they use one of your other businesses - 'third clean get 10% off your microblading or gift this card to a friend' (just have biz cards made with a blank section on the back where you can hand write a code, and keep a note of hte codes you've given out) - or whatever works for you.

Or.. focus on the other business for a bit and get some more related skills you can use to keep clients coming back to you - facial waxing, nails (whatever, I literally have no idea beyond having done some logo design for a friend who is a waxer).. any way you can keep clients coming back, is good really!

I'd get qualified in a "HD Brows" type thing and false eyelashes / lash lifts. More people get this done than SPMU. Offer discounts to them in exchange for an email address. Now you have a client list you can start trying to warm up to SPMU. You can also start things like offering your SPMU clients "Brow Club" - so £X a month gets your eyebrows every month and a yearly SPMU top up.

I have mine done and it's a yearly thing to keep them looking good. But it was a big decision initially. I followed the woman on Insta for about 6 months because I did not want someone to fuck up MY FACE for an entire year!!

You could try stuff like giving your client a voucher for a free lash lift if they refer a friend for SPMU. Once mines were healed I had a few people asking about them - people who had never even considered it before.

Basically think outside the box. Social media is pretty overrated these days - the algorithms are fucked and unless you're on TikTok you'll rarely see organic traction.

Are you following other salons and providers? What are they doing and could you incorporate some of it?

Also as PP suggested get yourself a website and investigate integrating something like Klarna etc.

Good luck!

@ringalingling what do you mean by the algorithms are fucked ? I honestly don't understand all this stuff 😳

Thanks for some fab ideas, also I'm so glad you spent a long time following your artist on Insta etc. a lot of people just go for the cheapest artist. then they usually end up in my studio asking if I can fix it 😬 often I can't

@WiddlinDiddlin thank you for all that but what is IFTTT please ?

ifttt.com/ you can link up your insta, tiktok, twitter, fb etc accounts so you post on one of them, it will automatically share that content on the others. It does much much more than that but I haven't needed more.

If you don't like the SM side of things, would you maybe be happier working for a salon rather than self employed? Then you wouldn't have to worry about it.

“I'm lucky as my husband is a high earner and I actually don't "need" to work as much as I do.”

Interesting, because that’s very close to what I said I’d assume from someone doing this work and showing off a “lifestyle” on Instagram.

I would take a step back. You don’t need to work, so therefore you don’t need to build this business at a rate that causes you exhaustion and stress.

This thread shows that there is loads of helpful stuff out there for you to know about digital marketing. So why not let your business grow organically word of mouth referrals whilst you focus on doing that learning? Then start your ramp up when you have a clear and un-exhausting plan to manage that?

That would be good but in my industry it's unfortunately not really an option. The nearest I'd get is renting a room in a salon for extortionate prices

Oh god really

That makes me cringe 😬 I'd absolutely hate for people to think that. Altho H is a high earner I've earned very well at times with this and that's why I've got my car. I also paid for my own course and also for my studio (it's a garden office) Some days I earn £600 in one day. Although admittedly those days are few and far between, it's not uncommon to earn that in a week in only 3/4 clients so 8-10 hours work maybe

I think this is what frustrates me so much - it has the potential to earn absolutely amazing cash and I feel it's just out of my grasp. And I KNOW I'm good at it as well

But what you say makes total sense and I think that's what I'm going to do, just take a step back for now

is it an Audi TT 😂😂

The salon I use their is a lady that does semi permanent make up
but you book with the salon and she comes in to do the treatments
so she’s not renting a room as such but more of an agreement with the salon to do the treatments when required

£600 in a week for 8-10 hrs work is pretty good already.
It feels like your DH being a high earner has made you less aware of average incomes.
I'd also be aware that the cost of living crisis is going to impact non essential spending so perhaps your low numbers are reflective of that.

It takes time to build up a business and get a consistent level of clients.

But you say you can earn £600 in 10 hours? So why on earth are you running yourself ragged trying to earn more? That's amazing money.

I would invest some time in learning about social media and marketing, join some Facebook groups for other professionals and build up a network. Get some advice and just be patient.

I'm self-employed and while my first few customers came via social media, nowadays it's pretty much 100% word of mouth, but that's taken 2.5 years - unless your area has a huge gap in the market, it won't happen overnight so you do need to be patient.