5 Tips for Beginner Spray Tan Artists

Are you an emerging spray tan artist prepared to embark on the journey of becoming a new bad azz beauty biz babe? Congratulations, Glow Boss! You’re about to start down the exciting path that is encompassed within the world of sunless beauty, setting yourself up with incredible potential to build the future that you truly desire. To put you on the right track as you begin your sunless biz venture, we’ve compiled a set of five tips that are sure to help you place the right foot forward when growing your beauty business. Whether you’re new to the sunless industry or interested in learning new ways to enrich your existing beauty business with expert level tips, these recommendations are exactly what you need!

1. Prioritize Customer Experience

Your customers are the core of your business! Therefore, creating an exceptional client experience is pivotal to building a brand of loyal clientele that can’t wait to tell all of their friends and family about the fabulous, 5-star quality service that you offer. From the launch of your business, it’s extremely beneficial to dedicate special attention and energy into building a client experience that sets you above the rest and makes you stand out amongst other sunless artists in your town. Creating a 5-star client experience can be done through personalized touches, including:

Client Follow-Ups:

Following up on client appointments allows them to know that you care about how their experience was beyond the time spent with you at the actual appointment. This may seem like a simple gesture, but your commitment to their satisfaction communicates your willingness to resolve any issues they may have encountered and allows you to build a level of rapport and trust that will encourage them to think of you when they are in need of your services. 

Personalized Greetings:

A personalized greeting accompanied with a warm smile can go a long way with putting clients at ease. We know that spray tan clients typically feel a bit nervous during their first appointment. Through the use of a warm greeting, you’re able to make them feel more comfortable with the appointment, and as we mentioned earlier, this type of rapport will allow clients to be more open to trusting you as a service provider because you're putting special effort into personally acknowledging them.

Consistency is Key:

Ensuring consistent service quality during every single appointment establishes your reputation as a dependable expert in your field. Clients appreciate the certainty of receiving the same high-quality service each time they book with their beauty professional. Always stick to your routines, never cut corners, and keep on top of your inventory to ensure client expectations are met consistently. 

Clear & Concise Instructions:

It’s important to remember that you are the expert in the relationship between you and your client. That’s why it’s crucial that you provide clients with straightforward instructions that educate them on how they can do their part in receiving optimal results. Most spray tan clients aren’t aware of all of the pre and post tan steps that are necessary to get the most flawless glow. Even if they think they know what to do in order to prep their skin, they’re memory of past spray tan experiences may not align with your personal recommendations. 

Opt for Premium Products

The caliber of your work is directly linked to the products you decide to invest in and use on your clients. As spray tan artists, we must factor the health and wellness of our client’s skin when using products in order to deliver the most natural-looking, long-lasting results. Achieving the best possible results for all clients means that we must also incorporate premium products into our service that are sure to moisturize and nourish the skin. Researching and testing new products to find which ones work at the highest level for the outcomes you’re wanting to provide in your business and paying attention to the ingredients that are included in the products you choose will allow you to be confident in the level of service you bring to the table for an experience that goes above all the rest. 

2. Network Like a Boss!

In a competitive industry, visibility is crucial! Here’s how you can establish yourself as the premier spray tan destination right from the get-go:

Generate Leads:

Unleash your creativity, think outside the box, and explore various avenues to generate new leads! You can do this by attending local events, establishing a presence on social media, and interacting with potential clients online. As your business flourishes, you’ll be able to tell which strategies are providing you with the most optimal lead generation so that you can focus on those strategies moving forward as you grow your business. That’s why it’s so important to try different things, pay attention to where people are finding you, and which activities are yielding the most leads. For the expansion of your business, it won’t do you any good if you’re putting time and energy into activities that are not generating revenue.

Spread the Word:

Now is not the time to be shy or nonchalant about your goals! Broadcast your business in every avenue that you can. Cultivate an online presence and take advantage of local advertising opportunities. When growing your business it pays to be assertive by looking for opportunities to get your name into the conversation. After all, no one can book your services if they don’t even know you exist, right!? While many beauty business owners tend to put extra energy into marketing online, don’t discount the value of getting out into your community to spread the word about your services. Make an initiative to introduce yourself to local businesses, distribute business cards, and seize every opportunity to get in front of your ideal target audience.

3. Collaboration Over Competition:

Teaming up with fellow business owners can help you tap into new audiences and broaden your reach. Seek out collaborations that align with your brand and target demographic! For instance, if you’re catering to bridal clients, create partnerships with other businesses that are involved in the wedding industry, such as makeup artists, florists, photographers, bridal shops, and more. Many business owners are open to collaborative efforts, because these types of collaborations are meant to be mutually beneficial to expanding each other’s networks and put new eyes on both businesses' offerings.

4. Focus on Email Marketing

Your journey as a spray tan artist is just beginning! You want to do your best to stay top of mind to current and potential clients. Through the use of email newsletters, you’ll be able to build a list of individuals that are excited and interested about the work that you do, while growing deeper connections that help expand your business. Here are a few email marketing pointers for your growing beauty empire:

Stay Top of Mind:

Being consistent with your email marketing efforts ensures you’re staying top of mind, which then encourages repeat business, and therefore, helps with client retention. Retaining existing clients costs far less in comparison to what it takes to acquire new ones. This means it’s imperative that you do your best to stay on the radar of the client’s that have trusted you with their service and loved the results! Not to mention, email marketing is more personal and conducive to relationship-building than social media marketing because you already know that the subscribers that sign up to your email list are inherently interested in your offerings. Through your email newsletters, you can create deeper connections, share narratives, and develop a sense of trust that cannot be replicated through social media marketing efforts—ultimately transforming email subscribers into paying clients.

Start Early:

Getting your email list-building journey up and running from day one will suit your goals well in the long run! Establishing relationships and trust with potential clients early on enhances the likelihood of converting them into die-hard supporters down the line. Additionally, launching an email list from the beginning of your business ensures a solid foundation to expand your email marketing strategy as your business grows, allowing you to experience the benefits that email newsletter marketing can bring to your revenue goals.

5. Embrace the Journey

Beginning down the path as a beauty entrepreneur is sure to pose both challenges and rewards. Although from time to time we see wild success stories from beauty biz owners growing their new business to a million dollars in revenue in just 8 months, the fact of the matter is that any level of success with your own business will be accompanied with several obstacles to maneuver. As you embark on your journey in the sunless industry, remember to acknowledge your advancements and accomplishments along the way. Even the small wins should be celebrated while building your dream business because the decision to go out on your own is a difficult one that takes perseverance and strength. Recognizing the effort you’ve invested into cultivating your beauty business will allow you to continue down the path of success even when you encounter challenges along the way. With that being said, remember to give yourself grace with the goals you set and enjoy the journey without fixating so heavily on a specific destination. 

Starting out as an aspiring spray tan artist is sure to award you with an exciting adventure. By prioritizing customer experience, investing in premium products, networking like a boss, excelling in email marketing, and celebrating even the smallest wins, you’re well on your way to constructing a thriving beauty venture that leaves an undeniable impression on every client that trusts you with their service. For further insights and advice on sunless tanning and the beauty industry, make sure to subscribe to the Beauty Business Babes Podcast on iTunes or Spotify!

Xoxo,

Kelly