How to monetise makeup - earning beyond your services
One of my most asked questions, other than “how do I get more bookings” has GOT to be about passive income. How do I get into it, how do I make it, what exactly can I create? So I thought this blog post would be a welcome addition, all about how you can monetise your business beyond just offering services!
So before we begin, there are 3 types of income.
Earned Income - This is the income you make from your job. AKA - doing makeup. Physically going and doing the makeup, or whatever job you do that gives you your main pay check.
Investment Income - This is income that comes from your investments. This can be stocks or from property and usually incrues over a period of time or until you cash it out.
Passive Income - This is income earned essentially when you sleep. This is when you do quite a bit of work up front, but then once the work is done, the product or service sells on autopilot, with no or very little attention required.
I believe all makeup artists should look into all 3 means of income, if they want to push through the glass ceiling of just earning money for makeup services rendered. Let’s look at 5 ideas you can incorporate into your business to get you earning more!
1) Play to your strengths
My first piece of advice when starting to think about additional income is play to your strengths. You don’t want to do be doing anything in business that you absolutely hate, so don’t start an SEO business if you loathe the technical side. Think about what you do love and write a list. This can be teaching, selling, or even if you strengths lie in doing makeup and being amazing at makeup, this can be further monetised than the services you offer now. Write a list, and remember this list doesn’t have to be makeup related. If you like baking, or are amazing at creating jewellery - not every “side hustle” has to be related to makeup.
2) Products or Services
Next we want to think about whether we want to offer a product, or a service additionally. If you LOVE makeup and want to stay in that realm, but perhaps are excited about having your own brand and love to sell, perhaps a product line would be suited to you. Think about genuinely, what excites your bones. If you LOVE doing makeup and want to do more of it - think about offering a wider service. Could you teach it? Could you create a course for newer makeup artists? Really think about what you have to offer and what you can offer.
3) Do NOT worry about over saturation
This word makes me eyeroll every time a makeup artist says “but the industry is so saturated”. Did Apple think this when Microsoft was killing the game? Did Fenty beauty look at the makeup market and think “nope, I better not, its a bit saturated”. Of course not. Saturated markets are not impenetrable and not every brand is uniquely YOU. It always helps to have your business head on and be aware of the market strengths and weaknesses. It’s always easier to have a brand new idea and product but thats not to say that you can’t introduce more skincare into an already flourishing market. So don’t let a saturated market put you off, because what you offer can be branded differently, marketed differently and it’s always YOU. Nobody else can be that.
4) Just start
Don’t be a dreamer, be a do-er. If you want to start something, start it. Make the moves today. If you want to teach a masterclass, get your pen and paper and plan it. If you want to create a product, get on Pinterest and create a mood board. Research the heck out of it. If you want to start a podcast, but don’t know where to start, look at blogs, look at Youtube, find an editor. Don’t let the excuses and the fact you don’t know how stop you. Nobody knows the HOW to begin with, but we learn it.
I hope these tips have helped and inspired you with your own monetisation journey. You can monetise anything, just start where your strengths and passions lie and take it from there. I dabbled with writing a list of additional income streams you can add, but I have done that many times over on my Instagram. Instead of reading a list and picking an income stream, follow the advice here and follow your heart. It will be way more fulfilling and make you so much happier.