So there you are… entertaining the idea of becoming a Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) practitioner and you would like to hopefully be successful in this endeavor. So you start doing your research (because you’re smart) to find the right information and/or tips & advice on how you can up your chances of doing well in this relatively new & lucrative industry… Well my friend, you’re reading the right article. Read on to get a major tip that will start you off on the right foot.
I understand the range of emotions that you must be feeling right now if you’re mentally preparing yourself to jump into a new career field. You see… I work at a corporate job where I lead a high-performing team riding the bleeding edge of technology. It’s an exciting and challenging job where I get the opportunity to work with some of the world’s brightest minds where we produce high quality products and I loved being part of a company that is always in the limelight. There is also a “cool” factor to being part of a reputable company but there is a part of me that want something else, something that I could call my own (plus I’m tired of defending the CEO’s tweets). Maybe you’re in a similar predicament.
Knowing first-hand how much SMP positively impacted me 4 years ago (your mileage may vary because it doesn’t solve all your problems), I took up training to become an SMP artist and haven’t looked back since. I’m on a never ending journey of learning how to improve my marketability to potential customers.
Like you, I have doubts & fears… Like you, I want to make sure that I can be successful in this career move. Like you, I want to be able to provide for me and my family. But let’s be real…
Table of Contents
The Truth
Do you want the cold hard truth? Well, let me give it to you now before you read any further. Some of you will fail in this business endeavor because most will give up as soon as they hit a road bump and/or don’t make the amount of money that they were hoping for (or promised). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) “approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open. 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years.” Running any kind of business can be difficult and with it comes many challenges, not many things in life that are worthwhile comes easily.
I don’t mean to be crass but the truth is that many of you will invest time, money, and energy into becoming an SMP technician and will not do well in this industry. Excuses will run the gamut: it’s saturated, expensive to market, and/or customers are hard to find. Forget the six-figure or seven-figure lifestyle that top tier artists are pulling in, you just can’t seem to book enough clients to keep the lights on. The good news is there is one thing you can do to dramatically increase your chances of succeeding in this industry if you’re a newly budding SMP artist.
GoHighLead
I have an almost useless undergrad degree in business but I would like to think that I have at least an elementary level of understanding in marketing thanks to formal education. Additionally, I’ve spent about 15 years developing websites & online marketing campaigns for small businesses as a side gig. From my own research on marketing systems that currently exist for SMP artists, one stood out well above the rest. GoHighLead (to be transparent, this is an affiliate link… you pay the same, I just get credit).
Sure, take my advice with a grain of salt but all I want to tell you is this… Do yourself a favor, schedule a demo session with the people at GoHighLead. If you’re not already an established artist or come from a trade where you already have a list of clients to pull from (will still be 10x the result even if that’s true)… marketing will take up a large portion of both your time & money, expect that.
Even if you’re running north of $2000/month for your SMP clinic on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, etc., if you do not have a system in place to capitalize and capture/nurture your leads… you will lose a lot of business & potential businesses. GoHighLead is a powerful lead generation system that was developed by Chris Helms, a fellow SMP artist, that will give you the competitive advantage over everyone else, trust me. Let’s take a look at 3 of its features that I love (and they have many).
Unified Messaging
No matter what platform or communication channel your potential clients contact you on, everything is housed in one place. GoHighLead merges everything from text messages, FB messenger, GMB messaging, Instagram, etc. in one convenient place so you no longer have to exhaustively switch between different platforms to keep up with your clientele. It gets confusing if you’re talking to more than a handful of people at once.
Automation
This is the bread and butter of GoHighLead, this alone is worth the value of what they’re asking for. At the time of this post it’s currently $197/month with a $300 setup fee unless you sign up for an annual plan where you get 2 free months and the setup fee is waived.
Here’s a scenario that happens way too often: you’re currently working on a client or are busy when a “lead” has contacted you (via contact form, phone call, text messages, chat etc.), with GoHighLead your lead will be contacted automatically with carefully crafted responses that are designed to exponentially increase the chance that they’ll book a consultation with you without ever having to lift a finger. This is analogous to having your own personal secretary.
Award-nominee Dennis Romero of Vanguard SMP talking about the system.
Built-in CRM & Pipeline
Want to know what stage of the consumer buying process your lead is in at all times? Want to have an organized database of all of your leads? Want to be able to message all of your leads in one place at the same time? Want to convert more? Want to automate review requests from paid customers? Their Customer Relation Management system is top tier stuff, book a demo and request to see it on a live account and you’ll see how powerful it is.
Barely Scratched the Surface
There are many, many other features & functionality that GoHighLead offers that I haven’t mentioned such as reputation management, missed call text back, email marketing, workflows, reporting, etc. Just do yourself a favor, book a demo with them, mention Elegant SMP so I can get the affiliate credit (thanks) and you can thank me later. If there was only one advice to give to any new SMP artists that want to make it in this industry, it’s to make sure you get your marketing down pat. There will be many SMP practitioners out there offering their services, but when you have a powerful system that is GoHighLead behind you… you’ll be the one in the forefront of people’s minds. Again, just book a free demo with them and make your own decision, it’d be the best decision you ever made for your SMP career.
Conclusion
We all want to live a life where we experience true freedom. Free to do whatever we want with our time, and free from financial restraints. Starting a career in scalp micropigmentation could definitely bring that kind of lifestyle to you, but make no mistake… it requires hard work and a lot of time. However, most of that time can be mitigated by enrolling into a marketing system that works. Since time is money, and money could buy time… wouldn’t you want to spend your money wisely so that you’ll have more time for yourself?
Thanks for reading, peace!
