New make up artist, how much to charge?

[IndiaRoisin]

Hi all, I'm going to be doing a complete make up training course this week with The Beauty Academy and I was wondering if anyone knew what would be a good rate to charge clients after I've completed? I know some people do discounted rates so that they can build up a portfolio, is this a good idea? Thanks!

 

[AcidPerm]

Personally, I wouldn’t ever discount as that can make your services look cheap.
Initially, better to offer a free service in return for photos advertising your work.
If you’ve only been doing a 1 week course, you’re likely to need to practise a lot more before you can charge industry standard prices unless you’ve done previous beauty work.
Also, you need to ensure the photos for a portfolio are excellent. Poor quality images won’t give a very good impression.
Are you a decent photographer? Do you need someone else to take the pictures?

If it’s a decent course, they should be giving you some advice about how to get started and build a portfolio.

 

[IndiaRoisin]

Personally, I wouldn’t ever discount as that can make your services look cheap.
Initially, better to offer a free service in return for photos advertising your work.
If you’ve only been doing a 1 week course, you’re likely to need to practise a lot more before you can charge industry standard prices unless you’ve done previous beauty work.
Also, you need to ensure the photos for a portfolio are excellent. Poor quality images won’t give a very good impression.
Are you a decent photographer? Do you need someone else to take the pictures?

If it’s a decent course, they should be giving you some advice about how to get started and build a portfolio.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I don't want to look cheap! What you suggested sounds like a better idea, I will deffo be getting in lots of practice with friends and family. Luckily my sisters a very good photographer and she has a DSLR so I will put her skills to use! Thanks for your advice