Makeup Artist Series: How to Book Clients and Collect $$$

Hi Bellas,

I'm back with another installment in my Makeup Artist Series!  It's been too long and I think that part of being a professional MUA is knowing how to handle your business - including scheduling and booking clients, taking deposits, payments and contracts.  I definitely drop some jewels in this video that took me 10 years to learn as a working MUA.  I also share you some apps that make your life easier.  Shout out to Booksy for sponsoring this video!



Check out the video!

Part 1: Scheduling Clients
  • Email - Use a customized email for customers to contact you vs gmail or yahoo.  For example, a professional makeup artist email would be info@makeup.com which sounds much better than makeup@gmail.com .  You can sign up for Google Suite and pay a small monthly fee to get your custom domain or if you have a website it usually comes with an email package linked to your domain.
  • Phone - Use a separate business phone number such as Google Voice that can ring to your phone and have a business voicemail.  It's better to keep your personal and professional separate.
  • Website - Use a customized contact form so customers can refill their preferences like date and time of service and you'll get an email to you with information up front before you contact them back.
  • Booksy - Customers can visit your profile and check your calendar and book an appointment based on your openings - quick and easy without contacting you.  It's also convenient for you to block off vacations and times when you're not available. You can integrate booksy into your social media like Instagram or Facebook with a simple booking button.  It also works for Google, Yelp and your website.  




Part 2:  Taking deposits and payments

  • Deposits - Request deposits up front so that customers are less likely to not show up.  I use PayPal to send them an invoice of 30% of the total makeup appointment cost up front.  Customers who pay a deposit get the spot first and I have a strict cancellation policy so that they lose the deposit if they try to cancel last minute.
  • Card Readers - Have a card swipe that attaches to your phone so you can take payment at any time with the customer.  Square and PayPal has them.
    • Booksy has a payment system built into their site so customers can pay directly online or via the app, and it also integrates popular payment tools like square for no extra fee.  You can also make notes of when cash is received so that you still have an accurate capture of your revenue.
  • Keep track of Revenue - Make sure to keep track of your cash in and out for tax time - this could be via excel spreadsheet, quickbooks online, or your scheduler app booksy does this all for you.


Part 3:  Contracts
  • I recommend you create a custom contract with your own fine print and wording.  Make sure that you send your customer a locked copy that can't be edited such as PDF or through a program like Docusign.  This document is separate from a PayPal invoice.  You need their signature on a separate document to protect you in case of legal issues.


Part 4:  Customer Management
  • The Booksy app helps you keep track of clients by creating profiles for them.  You can enter their makeup preferences and even send them email marketing.  
I hope you guys found this installment in my Makeup Artist Series helpful.  I hope these tips help you to not only a great Makeup Artist but an awesome entrepreneur and business owner.  If you're interested in signing up for a business account on Booksy, check out my referral link and QR code below!



FTC Disclosure: This post has been sponsored and I am being compensated. As always these are my honest thoughts and opinions.