The role of the portfolio is very important in the beauty industry. It shows the aesthetics of the beautician and allows potential clients to assess the effects of her work before arranging the service. A well-designed and presented portfolio can be one of your best tools to drive sales of services.
Why?
First of all, it is able to convince your potential clients interested in a given service to make an appointment
Secondly, it effectively attracts the attention of people who have not been interested in your services so far, but due to the wow effect caused by the photos, the salon begins to arouse their curiosity
Thirdly, it inspires confidence in you as a professional, shows that you are proud of the results of your work
Fourthly, in many cases, it activates the operation of word of mouth – links to photos of a good metamorphosis are passed on to each other by internet users, and you build your brand in this way
The most important role in the portfolio, apart from the skills of the beautician, are good photos. Many people who decide to publish the results of their work, unfortunately, do not care about the aesthetic side of these presentations, which means that the website publishes low-quality photos from the phone, often underexposed. This work is complemented by amateur graphic processing or the use of built-in filters that are supposed to smooth out the photos, and instead give a kitschy effect that has nothing to do with naturalness.
What do we need to pay attention to when taking photos of our work?
The key is good lighting and controlling what is in the background. It is best to photograph the client against a plain background in a light color, so that her face does not blend in with what is behind her, it is evenly illuminated. It is ideal to have a photographic lamp.
It is best when we have the client’s consent to capture the effect before and after, which additionally emphasizes the result obtained by our work and gives a greater understanding of the aesthetics of the person performing the service
If we are going to publish the client’s photos on social media or a website, it is good to get her consent in writing. This will allow us to avoid unpleasantness in a situation where the client, after giving her oral consent, changed her mind and stated that she had never given us this consent.
First of all, it is good to prepare a transparent gallery on the salon’s website. In addition, periodically publish photos of metamorphoses on social media. By setting up a page on fb and having more photos at your disposal, you can of course immediately upload a few examples of treatment results to the gallery, but later, in order to build interest, it is best to post a new entry with photos, e.g. 1-2 times a week. It is important to do so regularly. Thanks to this, more people will see each of the latest posts and thus the material from the portfolio will serve us longer.
It is worth taking care of your own portfolio not only if you are the owner of a beauty salon, but also when you work for someone or are just starting your professional career. It can help you pass the recruitment process for your dream position, or it can help you get started when you decide to open your own business. Building a rich portfolio is a long-term process, so the sooner you start documenting the results of the services provided, the easier it will be for you to reach potential clients.
