Getting first "real" clients after training

[Jess E]

Hi all.

I started my Creative training back in October and completed the Foundation course as Student of the Class . And my trainer said that I could easily go out straight away and charge for my nails, but that i needed to get my times down. I was very happy with the nails i was doing and felt quite confident until the trainer said this. She advised that do the Advanced application course or do a one to one with her, but I was (and still am) quite hard up for cash and couldnt afford it, my Dad had paid for my foundation course as a birthday present :hug: .

Anyway, after doing the nails of a few friends and family and discovering that i was getting a whole lot of lifting , i started to feel like giving up. My "practice models" were complaining about the lifting... rebalances were taking forever and i generally just felt like poo. I now dont do anybodys nails except my own!

I got Nail Class for xmas and had a read through, continued to do my own nails and am seeing major improvements. I now want to try doing somebody elses again. I dont really want to do them for free (for self-worth reasons, and the fact that my products are running low-ish and dont have much money to get more until i make some!)

Anyway... back to the point! How did you / do you go about getting first clients? I am still working to quite a long time, roughly 2 hours for a full set, and dont know what to do or how to advertise myself... any ideas or inspiration is much appreciated!

Jess x

 

[vicky2512]

Hi ya

Congratulations for deciding to carry on with nails, i was in a similar postion to you, except i did a course with Alida (the edge) back in october and its taken me ages to find my own self confidence to do a set, I advertised for Nail & Beauty Models, to help me build my nvq portfolio and have various treatments as a reduced rate, i advertised in the local newsagents in town and on the parenst board at my daughters school, i am also going to advertise in my loacl paper and see what response i get from it. Dont sell yourself to cheap though - its ok advertising model/training rates to get clients in but remeber you will still have to cover the cost of your advertising somewhere down the line, at the moment i £15 for a full set, but as of today since i have done my creative conversion i am going to raise that slightly.

I did my first client last night, and although she was over the moon, i wasnt happy with the standard of my nails, but now i have had my creative conversion course i feel that it has certainly filled a lot of 'holes' in my training and i feel so much more confident and am actullay proud of what i am able to achive.

Good luck with it hun

vicky xx

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

hi hun well done for continuing and not giving up ,
you do need clients , but dont do it for free ,
advertise in the local shop , chippy ect...saying mabey its for practice models at a minimum fee ,
set yourself a target date for your price increase ,and explian this to clients ,
that way there is no moaning when you increase them , as clients have been fully aware the whole time

you will find you probably get better each set , reasure clients ,if they have any breakages/lifting etc ...dont hesitate to contact you right away ,and you will sort it out for them ,
say mabey if its in the first week repair free of charge ,

yes you will have problems along the way ..but stick at it hun ..
one client will possibly tell 3 people about you , mabey 1 of them , may come to you , then they go on to tell another 3 people about you ...the pattern continues .,you will soon be producing top notch enhancements and have a full appointment book :hug:

 

[blossom]

Congratulations for getting Student of the Class, and good on dad for buying the course for you! What a fab pressie!

Well done for not giving up, I think we've all been there at some point.

When I started out I had 2,000 leaflets made by a local printer (think it was about £50, only use 1 or 2 colours, it keeps it cheaper), with a voucher at the bottom, and I hand delivered the lot. Good exercise (!) and I reckon for about every 100 I delivered I'd get one maybe two calls so don't expect it to be fast and furious. But it did work and it did help me build up my client base.

I also offered discounts at their next visit, to clients who recommended, to both them and whoever they sent to me. This works well too and word of mouth referrals are the best of all.

Thompson and Yellow Pages both work fantastically. So do ads in local shop windows and on school notice boards.

But it will (probably) be quite slow at first so don't be despondant if the phone doesn't ring much to start with.

In a few months' time your confidence will grow enormously and so will your pride in your work. Good luck with it hun. xx

 

[IllumeGirl]

Hi all.

I started my Creative training back in October and completed the Foundation course as Student of the Class . And my trainer said that I could easily go out straight away and charge for my nails, but that i needed to get my times down. I was very happy with the nails i was doing and felt quite confident until the trainer said this. She advised that do the Advanced application course or do a one to one with her, but I was (and still am) quite hard up for cash and couldnt afford it, my Dad had paid for my foundation course as a birthday present :hug: .

Anyway, after doing the nails of a few friends and family and discovering that i was getting a whole lot of lifting , i started to feel like giving up. My "practice models" were complaining about the lifting... rebalances were taking forever and i generally just felt like poo. I now dont do anybodys nails except my own!

I got Nail Class for xmas and had a read through, continued to do my own nails and am seeing major improvements. I now want to try doing somebody elses again. I dont really want to do them for free (for self-worth reasons, and the fact that my products are running low-ish and dont have much money to get more until i make some!)

Anyway... back to the point! How did you / do you go about getting first clients? I am still working to quite a long time, roughly 2 hours for a full set, and dont know what to do or how to advertise myself... any ideas or inspiration is much appreciated!

Jess x

first off don't worry about your timing so much (2 hours for a set isn't that bad) otherwise your prep and/or application may become a bit rushed..which will cost you time-wise in the end. remember your times will naturally come down the more busier you become..just concentrate on perfecting your skills and working to a set routine (if you don't have one already).
i think you confidence has been rocked big time..nail class will definitely get everything simplified for you..just hang onto that confidence Jess, always have gorgeous nails on..business cards ready to hand out to every person who even glances at them. x

 

[Jess E]

Thanks for your advice and encouragement everyone :hug:

I like the leaflets with voucher idea, and the recommend a friend thing.
Will have to get working on it all!

Also liking the advertising for models.

Must get some business cards made up!

My original plan was to do Mobile, but I have got a station set up at home with everything i need and dont have a table for when i am doing mobile yet, or even a box it can all fit into! (Must get one).

Do you think that these advertising strategies would work for doing it from home as well?

Thanks again, has cheered me up a bit

xxx

 

[DaddyWishFish]

Good on you hon for going for it, don't give up as everyone has said we have all been there at some point, the thing that worked for me was the model thing I asked five people to have there nails done and it did bring me clients and they were so happy to have them done for free (the models).
It does take a long time to get a regular client base, do charge for your work but explain why you are charging what you do, as for the lifting it does sound like your prep needs looking at it's the most important part and as for your time sounds about right for most of us we are all on about the same time also.

It will come in time hon dont rush it you will get there.

See Sassy's guide on pormoting yourself and Gigi has just done a thread on confidence, have a look.

I know the money aspect can be tough but for many it goes with the job at the beginning.

Good luck.

 

[Tiger Jay]

If you have a look at this thread it will give you a few ideas on how to build up your clientèle. HTH
http://www.salongeek.com/business/2...sing-your-business.html?highlight=Advertising

 

[Bettierae]

You could put a little ad in your local post office, and charge at a lower rate than you would normally, and work out how much it is costing you to do a full set.... products, files leccy etc.... and then charge around that figure. that way you will get clients in, they know you are a newbie and you are gaining experience and not losing out. hth x x

 

[Jess E]

*Goes off to check the threads mentioned*

Thank you all so much :hug:

Am doing my boyfriends Mum's nails tonight... she has horrid nails and really bites them, but hey, beggars cant be choosers! Am doing hers for free as she feeds me! LOL