Why Hair and Makeup Artists Work with a Beauty Agency
Imagine a world where every brushstroke carries the promise of perfection, where every hue blends seamlessly into a masterpiece. The solitary hair and makeup artist embodies this solitary craft, their talent echoing in the silence of independent workspaces.
Being self-employed or in an entrepreneurial lifestyle can be very difficult at times. This is specifically true when you work as a hairstylist or makeup artist for weddings, editorial work, or other multi-media applications. As you enter the market as a new business owner or even a weekend moonlighter, the questions begin to flood your mind at night in bed: Where do I advertise? Do I need a website? How do I close business? Do I need contracts, legal support, accountants, etc?
The answer is yes. Yes to every question you may ask yourself.
Yet, isolation often weaves threads of challenge, and the solo artisan yearns for a tapestry of support and opportunity to display their finest work on the grandest of stages. The call for camaraderie and advancement whispers, persistent as the hum of a blow dryer.
In the realm of beauty, alliance aligns with success, and it's within this understanding that freelance hair and makeup artists find solace in beauty agencies such as WarPaint International Beauty Agency. A partnership that offers more than just a brush dipped in color, it is the canvas upon which careers are built and flourished.
“WPI Beauty Agency takes the entire business back end out of the equation so that Artisans can focus on what they love - building clients and doing artistry.”
Expanding Client Base
Within the vibrant beauty industry, freelance hair and makeup artists continuously seek avenues to broaden their reach and elevate their professional stature. Collaborating with a beauty agency, such as WarPaint International Beauty Agency, provides the indispensable opportunity to augment one's clientele. This partnership opens doors to a diverse array of events, from weddings and photo shoots to high-profile galas, connecting artists with clients who value and seek out an unparalleled caliber of beauty services. Consequently, freelance artists are able to amass a more robust, eclectic, and discerning client base, thereby enriching both their experience and portfolio of photos.
Expanding Client Base
Within the vibrant beauty industry, freelance hair and makeup artists continuously seek avenues to broaden their reach and elevate their professional stature. Collaborating with a beauty agency, such as WarPaint International Beauty Agency, provides the indispensable opportunity to augment one's clientele. This partnership opens doors to a diverse array of events, from weddings and photo shoots to high-profile galas, connecting artists with clients who value and seek out an unparalleled caliber of beauty services. Consequently, freelance artists can amass a more robust, eclectic, and discerning client base, thereby enriching both their experience and portfolio of photos.
Steady Stream of Opportunities
Freelance artists often encounter variable workloads—times of feast and famine—that can be mitigated by aligning with a beauty agency.
Under a beauty agency's expansive network and marketing prowess, freelancers gain access to a consistent pipeline of assignments, which are often of a higher caliber and prestige.
Associating with a beauty agency offers a semblance of stability in a notably erratic industry—transforming sporadic gigs into a continuous succession of professional engagements.
Work with WarPaint International Beauty Agency
If you live and work in Minneapolis/St. Paul (Twin Cities in Minnesota), the Chicagoland area, or Jacksonville Florida area, consider working with WarPaint International. We contract high-talent artisans for bridal and wedding party hair and makeup, editorial hair and makeup, corporate beauty, and even consumers just going out for the evening.
We also travel wherever in the world a client may want to have reliable and talented hair and makeup artistry professionals. One service we offer is Destination Weddings.
Diverse Work Environments
Freelance hair and makeup artists encounter an eclectic array of workspaces, each with unique constraints and requirements that require adaptability and a refined skill set.
Beauty agencies mediate these dynamic settings, ensuring proper coordination and optimal working conditions for their artists.
Moreover, agencies understand the nuances involved in different venues, from the rigor of a wedding day to the fast-paced demands of a commercial set.
They address logistical concerns, providing artists with the necessary information and tools to execute their craft with proficiency.
Partnering with an agency helps artists navigate the intricacies of various events, safeguarding their ability to deliver exceptional services irrespective of the ambient challenges.
With WarPaint International, artists are equipped not only with opportunities but also with the guidance and support needed to excel in these environments.
Enhancing Professional Growth: Benefits of Contracting with a Beauty Agency for Artists
Freelance hair and makeup artists often grapple with the challenge of self-promotion and securing continuous work, which is critical for their career advancement. Aligning with a beauty agency, particularly one as distinguished as WarPaint International, can provide a structured path to professional development. Artists gain exposure to a broader clientele, ensuring a steady stream of engagements that contribute to their growth and reputation.
Once your career of being a freelance artist - hair or makeup or both - is underway, you’ll be presented with numerous opportunities and options to take work. One of the biggest mistakes all freelancers make at some point in time is accepting work at numerous different agencies or groups of artists needing help with their party or event. The decision is usually driven by financial needs; you need money so you accept as many jobs as possible from different sources. This can lead to burnout. Many teams and agencies all keep separate calendars and different methods of communication so it can become daunting to keep track of everyone’s policies and schedules to accept the work.
Meanwhile, many artists also want to develop their own brand and be their own rockstar while working for other teams. In our experience of not only starting our own business as a single freelance artisan and building it into an agency over the past decade, our advice to you is to pick an agency that you are loyal to and work hard for you and for them. Numerous benefits present themselves when your focus becomes targeted and your time becomes maximized.
Scheduling
When working with an agency like WarPaint International, your focus can turn strictly to one on-site beauty booking system, one professional calendar, and, one channel of communication. The days of fielding your own inquiries, managing 3 or more calendar systems with different teams, and, having to be responsive 7 days a week and 18 hours per day - are gone.
If you place your loyalty with a professional beauty agency and open your availability, they will reward you with more consistent work. If you work with 3 agencies total and also take your own work, you are limiting the number of opportunities that can be offered to you in every channel. Many Artists do this though. The dilemma that is caused in the freelance industry is that agencies are forced to seek more talent, thus diluting the work available to each Artisan. Those artists then look for supplemental work elsewhere and the cycle continues. Everyone is working for everybody and no one can keep a calendar straight.
Wedding Makeup by Artisan Torie & Jen.
Photographer. Breeanna Farmer - Breeannakay.com
Liability
A professional agency will support you and require specific things from you as a contractor. Every Artisan that contracts with WarPaint International is required to carry personal liability insurance. New Artists and business owners may turn an eyebrow at this small monthly expense, however, when the insurance is needed, it will be very much worth the investment. In our own business, we have veteran Artists who use heat-proof mats for their irons and gear and because the client’s table or surface may have been temperamental, the residual heat burned the finish leaving a dark mark. The job an artist may have accepted for $50-100 that hour turns into a $5,000+ liability. You can mitigate this with personal liability insurance. If you don’t have insurance you can add it to your auto policy or home/rental policies with any instance agent or you can use national companies that specialize in the beauty space. At WarPaint International we offer an agency discount with Beauty & Bodywork Insurance. If you’re on our team, your liability insurance can be as affordable as it comes.
Legal support
Any beauty agency worth its own salt will have a legal team behind them. At WarPaint International, we have partnered with a law firm that specializes in our space. So that means that our contracts for on-site beauty service for the wedding space and corporate event space are rock solid. Over the years, we’ve spent endless time and tens of thousands of dollars on legal work to ensure that our clients and our team have the best possible contractual experience and have systems built in to protect both sides.
Get paid when someone cancels
For example, our clients can rest assured that their beauty team will show up on time and complete their contracted services with high skill and great service. From the Artists’ side, however, if a client cancels their event within 30 days of the date, YOU, the artisan, will get paid the full amount for the services even if you are sitting at home. The ability of an agency to replace your work in that period of time is little to none. The ability for you to scramble and replace lost income in 30 days or less is also very frustrating so we’ve taken that fear away and get guarantees from our clients with events or large groups.
Continuing Education and Resources
Enhance skills with advanced beauty education programs.
WarPaint International facilitates ongoing growth for its artisans. The agency's commitment to professional development means access to exclusive workshops, trend analyses, and product knowledge sessions, key to maintaining a cutting edge in the competitive beauty sector. These resources are vital for staying abreast of the latest techniques and industry trends.
Stay current with the latest hairstyling and makeup artistry industry standards.
WarPaint recognizes the dynamic nature of the beauty industry. To ensure its artists remain at the forefront, it provides them with cutting-edge training and information. Whether it's mastering new styles, understanding innovative products, or adapting to evolving beauty protocols, WarPaint equips talents with the knowledge that keeps them progressive and informed.
Navigate the industry with a wealth of expert guidance as a professional beautician.
The agency goes beyond technical skills - it fosters a holistic approach to career success. In addition to providing artistic training, WPI Beauty cultivates its artists’ business acumen with resources for branding, client relations, and financial management, laying a foundation for sustainable entrepreneurship within the beauty realm.
Marketing and Brand Exposure
Consider this example: if you drive for Uber, then your purpose as a driver is to accept jobs, build relationships, and build your book of business through Uber because they provide the infrastructure and support to make life easy. If you own a small car company, you are spending the bulk of your day marketing, finding leads, taking calls, closing deals, worrying about payment, submitting paperwork, etc and at the end of the day, you’ll drive some people around as well.
In the highly competitive beauty industry, being visible to the right audience is crucial for freelancers.
Enhanced Online Presence: A beauty agency's robust digital marketing strategies can elevate an artist's profile. At WPI Beauty, each contracted Artisan gets their own Artist Profile.
Access to Premier Events: Agencies often secure exclusive partnerships that open doors to high-profile gigs.
Industry Networking: Working with an agency connects you to a wider professional network, enriching opportunities.
Brand Alignment: An association with a reputable agency like WarPaint International Beauty Agency can enhance brand prestige.
Leveraging a beauty agency's resources can propel a freelance artist into the spotlight, attracting premium clientele.
Agencies like WarPaint International create a symbiotic relationship where both the artist's and the agency's brands flourish.
When you work with an agency, you’ll eliminate all the business owner stuff and you can focus on maximizing your time. Some WarPaint International Artisans have chosen the path of only working with us. What do they get in return? Business cards, a booking system, a bridal consultation team, contracts, legal support, marketing efforts, and, the ability to push their clients right into a system of processes that will mostly guarantee a smooth experience for everyone.
Know the Cost of Acquiring a Client
We’ve come to learn over the years, that many Artists will still take clients for themselves when they find them because they believe they are keeping more of the money for themselves. The time spent, however, on vetting, booking, marketing, communicating, collecting payment, etc far exceeds the value of relying on your team to close the deal for you. It’s as easy as saying “Great! I’m contracted exclusively with WPI Beauty. I’d love to schedule a phone call for you with one of my bridal consultants to answer all of your questions”.
Once they book, you’ll receive a referral spiff and you’ll get to work the job if you’re available and simply invoice for the services done. If you’re not available then you can depend on your agency to handle the client for you and provide a great experience no matter what.
Why clients should hire a beauty agency
What if you’re on the client-side? What benefits does an agency offer to you? The answer is numerous… A professional agency should be presenting contracts so to secure your work. Their team of Artisans should be interviewed, technically tested and, have experience across broad spectrum of skin tones and hair types. Just because someone worked on New York Fashion week or with a celebrity client, does not mean they are the best Artisan for your needs - however, our team has done those things as well.
Background checks for your safety
Sadly, background checks are nearly non-existent in our industry. These folks are entering your homes, hotel rooms and, event venues with private spaces where you trust that your personal things in view are going to be safe. That’s not always the case… At WPI Beauty Agency, we have passed on many artists after their national background check at Trusted Employees comes back not favorable. When hiring a freelancer, you’ll have no idea what their background is or who they really are.
If you are a customer looking to hire someone to do hair and makeup for your wedding, private event or just to go out on the town, read our article Top Reasons To Hire Beauty Professionals On Your Wedding Day to get some questions answered.