If you’re going into the field of cosmetology, you’re probably wondering how you can earn as much as possible. No matter whether you specialize in hairstyling, skin care, nail care, lashes, or advanced makeup, there are strategies for earning up to your maximum potential. Succeeding in cosmetology takes hard work, planning, strategy, and execution. These are some of the best tips for long term success as a cosmetologist.
Know The Numbers You Need to Reach Your Goals
Cosmetology is an exciting career because your revenue, to some degree, is correlated to your ambition, hard work, and planning. Part of reaching your revenue goals is understanding exactly what steps you need to take. Can you make six figures a year as a cosmetologist? Let’s say that your overall goal is to earn 100k per year in gross revenue. (Remember that gross pay is your revenue before taxes, and net pay is your take home pay after taxes and deductions.) You need to know how much you need to earn to reach your target goal.
In this example, if you work five days a week, that leaves you 260 working days in the year. To earn 100k a year you need to earn $8,333 per month, which is about $1925 per week, and about $385 per working day.
If you see 3 to 4 clients per day at $120 per client appointment, this will get you to 100k per year.
Now obviously, this is a goal that you must work towards, and your services, your skill, your branding, your positioning, and the client experience must all match this pricing in order to make it work.
Be sure to understand what your monthly, weekly, and daily goals need to be to reach your overall annual goals.
Location and Local Economy
Some cities have a larger population and more high-end clientele. In each city, there are different types of salons, with varying degrees of expectations for services and pricing. There are high-end salons where clients expect to pay more, but they also expect a high quality of services. It may take a few years to build up your technical skills and your clientele to be able to charge higher rates.
Give it Your All With Every Client
To grow your client base, you need to set your standard high and give your best effort to every client. Your clients are paying you for great results, and they always get your best effort, they will keep coming back.
Cosmetology has a lot of big-ticket services. When your clients know they will look amazing, and they get good customer service from you, they will continue to book appointments, and that is how you grow your book of business. Always give it your all and continue to improve so your clients are always impressed with your work.
Improve Your Craft, Hone Your Skills
Clients come to you for one reason, for your skill at making them look more beautiful. Hairstylists, nail techs, and estheticians all help their clients look incredible. To level up the quality of your clients, you must stay up to date with techniques and trends. Every week, you should be working at elevating your techniques, getting better, faster, cleaner with your skills. When you get better at your technical skills, month after month, your clients will be repeat customers and tell their friends and family about you. No matter what branch of cosmetology you are in, your skills are what your clients will keep coming back for. Work on perfecting your craft, never stop improving.
Don’t Cut Corners with Clients
Never get complacent with your clients, and don’t cut corners, even when it’s busy. Your clients are striving for perfection in their hairstyling, nail care and cosmetology - you should aim for that perfection too. Keep your standards high, so word of mouth continues to spread and elevate your name.
Keep Name and Number of all Clients for Marketing
You may have heard this saying: “Your network is your net worth.” This sounds like a cliché but it’s true. This is one of the most important things you can do to grow your client bookings - keep the name and phone number of every client you set an appointment with. Add these names and phone numbers (and email addresses) to a spreadsheet that you can use for marketing purposes.
There are services you can use for text-based marketing or email marketing. Periodically you should send your client list specials and/or promotions via text, email, or both. You are more likely to retain your existing clients and get additional bookings if you remind them of your services and offer a promotion. Staying top of mind with legacy clients is so important. You’re competing with all the other cosmetologists in your city, and your clients need to be reminded you’re still there. Don’t give them a chance to be distracted by other cosmetologists. Nurturing client relationships is a crucial part of developing your client base and growing your revenue.
Use Client Appointments to Create Content
One of the most important tools you have for promoting your work is social media. Photos and short videos are a powerful means of self-promotion. Instagram is one of the first places that potential clients look for hairstylists and cosmetologists in your local market. They go to look for inspiration, and when they see a style they like, they will contact that cosmetologist. TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube are also places you can promote your work. So what’s the best way to do that as a burgeoning cosmetologist?
Whenever possible, record client appointments on video and edit them later for social media. Remember, you must ask your clients ahead of time for permission to record them and distribute the video. Many marketing-savvy beauticians edit the raw videos, add voice overs, and create tightly edited, highly polished videos for YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Note: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok videos are all in portrait mode (where your phone camera is positioned taller than it is wide) and YouTube regular length videos should always be recorded in landscape mode (phone on its side, the camera positioned wider than it is tall).
As you continue to develop your technical skills and showcase your best client work, promoting your skills on social media platforms will be a powerful tool for growing your business.
Maintain Integrity in Your Business
If clients are unhappy, make it right. It’s not worth losing a long term client because of one disappointing appointment. If and when it's appropriate, don’t hesitate to give a refund. Whatever it takes to make sure that people leave happy and will return in the future. There’s a saying that clients are more likely to spread negative experiences than positive ones. So be sure to create memorable customer experiences that leave people spreading good words about your cosmetology services.
Develop Multiple Streams of Income
Many cosmetologists use their position as social media influencers to create multiple streams of income. Beauty influencers on YouTube who build a big enough viewership can earn ad revenue and attract product sponsors. A handful of beauty and hairstyle influencers create product lines, tutorial courses, or e-books to teach beauty tips. The potential is there to grow your business in ways that aren’t limited by geography. Think like an entrepreneur and put in the work to create content and assets that can scale to give you additional sources of revenue.
Take the First Step Towards Your Cosmetology Career
If you’ve dreamed of becoming a cosmetologist, Paul Mitchell the School at Campus Sacramento has a world-class cosmetology training program to help you start your career. Training is done at our Sacramento facility and our instructors are some of the best in the industry. For more information on start dates, flexible class schedules, and financial aid, contact our Admissions team and they can give you all the details.