Promoting a nail artist on Instagram: practical tips

Thanks to his subtle humor and high level of skill, Max’s Instagram account is incredibly popular among specialists and clients in the CIS countries. That’s why we turned to Max for useful tips for nail artists that will help take your Instagram page to the next level!

Moreover, Max is a member of the jury of our new project Pro Beauty Battle , which is already waiting for your work.

Max Kuchmar, a master with seven years of experience, teacher, speaker at various marathons, regularly conducts online courses for masters around the world, and has also collaborated with more than 20 brands of manicure and pedicure products (Russia)

Maxim, tell us a little about yourself. How did it happen that you decided to become a manicurist?

I have been in the profession for seven years now. It all started when my girlfriend Sveta decided to take manicure training.

At that time, we were university students, and it was an opportunity to work part-time in our free time, and it was just interesting to try something new for ourselves. We were always inseparable, studied in the same group and almost never parted. Therefore, when Sveta started looking for information about nail schools on the Internet, I also took an active part in this.

We found OleHouse, a school that was very popular at the time, and they were going to have an open day soon. Sveta didn’t want to go alone, and, of course, I went with her for company under the guise of a potential student.

As a result, we were the only visitors at this event, and we were told interesting things about beauty salons, about how great it is to be a successful master, that men also master this profession, and were shown workplaces with beautiful multi-colored jars and bottles.

After that, I became interested in the profession of a nail technician and even wanted to undergo training, but I did not have the money. Asking my parents for this was a disastrous idea; at best, they would have twisted it at their temples.

But unexpectedly, Sveta’s mother offered to pay for the tuition for both of us. That’s how it happened that during the summer holidays, from morning to evening, we were doing extensions, manicures and pedicures. The mother-in-law's investment has long since paid off. (Smiles.) And my parents at first didn’t even know what I was doing.

After the course, due to our studies at the university, we could not fully work in salons, so we took on temporary part-time jobs. At first I was not good at it, and from time to time I gave up on my nails, but eventually I came back again.

And when we received our diplomas, I invited Sveta to open my own office. That's when things started to work out for me. Later I started a blog and started teaching.

And Sveta is always there now, she helps create content, promote the blog and develop courses. We do everything together.

What is your strength? Name the top 3 main qualities.

The first is hard work. I don’t think I’m gifted with talent from above, as many people say. My first jobs were terrible, but I still worked hard to hone my skills.

The second is determination. If I really want something, I will achieve it no matter what.

Third, openness to everything new. I'm not afraid to look funny by wearing a wig and lipstick. If I am invited to participate in an interesting project, I never refuse.

Let's move on to the topic of the material. How important is it for a master today to have an Instagram page? Approximately what percentage of clients come to you from this social network?

Very important. I believe that if you are not on Instagram, then you, in fact, do not exist at all. Thanks to the page, you can show your portfolio and tell about yourself. A modern client does not go to a master without looking; first he carefully studies the work, the workplace, and, ultimately, the appearance of the person to whom he trusts his beauty.

A huge plus of Instagram is that it is free advertising. Only a fool would not take advantage of such an opportunity for advancement.

I almost completely built up a client base from this social network; about 90% of the audience came from there. The remaining 10% is word of mouth and information directories such as 2GIS.

Where should you start creating your own work account?

It's worth starting with a nickname. It should be short, readable and memorable. For example, @anastasiaivanovanogti9362648694 is not perceived at all, but @ivanova_nails is a good nickname.

The avatar is also very important. Many people put all sorts of nonsense on it, such as flowers or ugly photographs of nails. The best option is a photograph of you that is not full-length, in which your face is clearly visible. It is important to smile on your avatar. The background should be plain and neutral.

You must fill out your profile description, briefly telling about yourself and capturing your professional credentials - this attracts clients and creates a first impression.

Surprisingly, many masters do not even have a location indicated. Where to go for a service - in the center or on the outskirts of the city? There is a difference.

The topic of the price list deserves a separate discussion. It must be there; it is best to anchor it in relevant stories. If a new client doesn’t see prices, it’s easier for him to start looking at another page than to ask and wait for an answer.

Also, don’t forget about the link for quick communication in the messenger; it’s very convenient and makes signing up for the service quick and comfortable.

How to find those “tricks” that will be remembered by the client and attract him? How to build a personal brand based on them?

In order to find your “trick”, you need to listen to yourself. What do you like? Maybe draw? Or are you crazy about macro photography, showing off your perfect manicure? For example, my “trick” is humor. Thanks to funny videos, I gained the bulk of my subscribers. When I shoot a new video, I feel joy and it gets a good response.

Once the “trick” has been found, you need to regularly post content to your profile. And don’t be afraid that you’ll have to stay late after work or call models. Making content is hard at first. For example, filming the first video took me all day, but now I can do it in an hour, including all the editing.

Photos or videos – what content should there be more in 2021?

Definitely, video is the trend on social networks now. For me, such content almost always gets much more likes and comments than photos with captions. Nowadays, many people don’t want to read long posts; it’s much more interesting to watch a video. By the way, TikTok is a new social network built entirely on video, and it is gaining popularity every day. This says a lot.

How to make quality content? What equipment and knowledge/skills will be needed?

Making quality content is not as easy as it might seem. The first thing you need to have is a modern phone with a good camera. For example, I specifically bought the tenth iPhone in order to shoot content for Instagram, and it more than paid off.

I also have several tripods, a macro lens, a photo box, a professional photo phone, and I’m also planning to buy a ring lamp.

In addition to the equipment, you need to understand video and photo processing applications - some of them are free, some cost money.

In general, creating content takes no less effort and time than doing the main work. This is not easy work.

How to increase your audience? Is it better to set up targeted advertising yourself or trust professionals?

In order to gain subscribers, you first need to prepare a profile. The last nine publications should be such that the person becomes as interested as possible, and he immediately wants to subscribe.

Then we drive traffic. There are a lot of promotion methods - paid and free; you can create an entire course on this topic.

I'll tell you about mine. First of all, this is getting into the top. I have a whole system for how to post a post so that it gets into the recommendations and tops. This method is free, but quite complicated; for it you need to be able to create bomb content. He brought me the bulk of subscribers.

Mutual PR also works well. You find a profile with a similar focus and with approximately the same statistics as yours. Ideally, this is a person you follow and whose content you like. Then you agree on mutual advertising and recommend subscribing to each other’s accounts. Good mutual PR brings me several hundred subscribers at a time.

Another free way is marathons. Most often, teachers and bloggers promote this way; ordinary masters do this extremely rarely. The method is good though. Several accounts of the same focus unite and conduct useful expert broadcasts. It's great if there are some prizes at the end. When marathons first appeared, they brought a huge number of new subscribers and clients. Now this method is not so effective, but it also works.

Paid methods include targeted advertising. I started using it on a regular basis for promotion quite recently; I gained the first 25 thousand subscribers with almost no investment. I believe that you can set up a target yourself without hiring a specialist. Moreover, a nail service specialist does not have such a large turnover that it would be profitable to pay a good targetologist, and this could be 15 or 30 thousand rubles a month.

But to set up advertising yourself, you must undergo training, otherwise it will be long and painful, and a lot of money will go down the drain.