Time is Money – 7 Tattoo Artist Tips

The tattoo industry brings in over one billion dollars alone in the United States which means tattoo artists have never been busier. When you are a tattoo artist that is constantly booked and working hard, occasionally your overall productivity can slip which is bad for business.

Your time is valuable so finding ways to incorporate time-saving tricks into your routine will hopefully boost business.

Here are 7 easy tattoo artist tips to help save both time and money.

1. Tattoo Artist Tip: Utilize Free Social Media Resources

Tattoo artist tip number 1 starts off with creating a free portfolio using a social media site like Instagram. Instagram is a very popular social media site that works well for marketing visually stimulating businesses like tattoos.

One way to attract locals to your tattooing services would be to use the location ability on Instagram when you post photos. This will make sure that anyone who is looking specifically in that area at posts will see your pictures.

All the sudden you have people who weren’t aware of your business looking and interested in what you have to offer.

Using the appropriate hashtags will increase the number of people who will be able to look at your work. Play around with hashtags like #tattooartist, #tattooart, and #tattooideas.

2. Book Clients Online

If you’re still using a paper scheduler to book all your tattoo appointments and consultations, you’re wasting precious time. Our second tattoo artist tip would be to invest in a simple software. This can save you lots of time as a quick way to schedule your appointments.

Software like Inkbook can help you modernize the way you book appointments. It’s affordable and allows you to schedule any appointments you make and also drag and drop them if times or dates change regarding that appointment.

There are even mobile apps to make booking appointments even easier by allowing you to remotely manage your appointments. Customization by color coating and display types will make this perfect for your business.

After the client has left, Inkbook can even manage to send out follow up emails with loyalty discounts to keep those people coming back to you for more services. The program will alert them when any discounts are available to encourage repeat customers.

Inkbook software will even help you make your check-in process quicker, so you are wasting no time during your busy day worrying about all the paperwork.

3. Save Tattoo Inspiration on an Image Board

Learning how to quickly save an organized image board with all your tattoo inspiration will save you a lot of time. Sites like Pinterest are perfect for creating organized lists, and you can easily find what you want to look at.

Using the search function in your pins is an easier way to find what you are looking for than printed out paper or other traditional methods of idea keeping.

Pinterest is also a way to post pictures of your work to share with other users. During consultations, this could be a handy tool to be able to pull out and show clients to help come to a design decision.

4. Use Appointment Reminder Technology

Tattoo artist tip number 4 would be to invest in a software that has Appointment reminders and confirmations.They are an easy solution to minimizing no-show appointments which will save you time, money, many headaches.

You won’t have to bother taking time out of your day typing or calling people who have made appointments with you. Most appointment reminder technology can remind clients by either texting, email, or send both types of messages out to them depending on your preference.

You can customize these reminders for your specific business, and you can even automate the messages to send out after the appointment for any follow-up advice as needed. Because you are a tattoo artist, you can make these messages talk about what the client will need to do to care for their new tattoo.

 

5. Start Taking Deposits

Tattoo artist tip number 5 could save you lots of time and money! Consider adding a required deposit when booking appointments online. This is one way to cut down on the number of no-show appointments that some tattoo artists experience.

No-show appointments can quickly take up your time when you wait for them and therefore can lose you money in the long run. If the person doesn’t want to pay the required deposit, that leaves that appointment slot open for another potential client.

It’s up to you to decide if this deposit will be refundable or not depending on what makes the most sense for your business. Some shops make this fee refundable if the cancellation occurs within a certain amount of time like 72 hours.

This will stop and weed out the people who will try to say something creative to get out of committing to their appointment.

6. Look Into Disposable Tattoo Supplies

Disposable quality tattoo supplies are one way to stock your business with equipment that is affordable and more cost-effective.

You can get all your normal equipment like grips, tubes, and metal and plastic tips this way at cheaper costs. There is a lot of customizable elements available, and the selection of products and options it might surprise you.

For tattoo artist tip number 6 look into companies who make these unique disposable products like Presynergy to purchase these supplies at wholesale prices.

7. Build Up Your Client Base by Working for Free

Tattoo artists tip number 7 may sound like crazy talk, but working for free when you are first getting started is essential to building up your portfolio and steady client base.

When you are just starting out as an apprentice, you have to work on real-life people and not various fruits to earn experience. You will be able to book many clients by offering your services for free or at discounted rates because of your inexperience.

While this isn’t the greatest for making money (in fact, look into second jobs), you will be able to gain invaluable credibility and word of mouth which is equally if not more important.

Streamline Your Business

A tattoo artist can do many things to streamline their daily activities in their business which will help save both money and time.

Inkbook Software has many modern tools to help your tattoo business thrive.

Take a look at our blog for more tattoo artist tips, advise and takes on tattoo culture.