How to Make Money as a Cosmetologist: 17 Clever Ways to Earn More Money

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If you’re looking for how to make money as a cosmetologist, you’ve come to the right place.

As a cosmetologist, you are a service provider. This implies that you make money by serving people.

But does that mean you cannot make money when there are no clients? What happens when you don’t have clients? What other ways can you make money as a cosmetologist?

All these questions will be answered in this article. In this article, I will provide clever ideas that you can use to make money as a cosmetologist with and without clients.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

1. Sell Gift Cards

One of the ways through which you can make money as a cosmetologist is to sell gift certificates. If you have loyal clients, there’s a high chance that they will buy gift certificates that they can use to make purchases later.

You can get started by using Square Appointments and Acuity Scheduling. These are free appointment schedulers that will help you in selling gift cards.

Website: squareup.com/us/en/appointments

2. Offer Your Beauty Services at Your Client’s Home

It’s not compulsory to offer your services in the salon every time. You can also offer mobile beauty services by visiting your clients at home. This will allow you to charge extra due to the travel expenses.

3. Engage Your Audience on Social Media

You can also make money as a cosmetologist by engaging with your clients on social media pages. This is a great way to make money with your social media followers. You can do this by sharing Do-It-Yourself tips on your social media platforms.

Also, you can guide your existing customers via the phone anytime they need grooming assistance. You can also earn by providing online training to grooming professionals.

4. Beauty Writing

A clever way of leveraging your experience in the beauty industry to make an additional income is to become a writer. The beauty industry is huge and there are lots of blogs and magazines that need the services of writers with experience in the beauty industry.

As a writer, you can earn between $15 and $35 per hour. You can easily find writing gigs on Upwork. Simply visit the website and register as a writer. Complete your profile and bid for beauty-related writing jobs.

5. Rent Out Your Beauty Salon

If you have a salon, you can rent out your space when you are not using it. Your earnings from this depend largely on your location amongst other factors.

6. Sell Beauty Products

You can also make money as a cosmetologist by selling beauty products. One of such products is a home color kit. You can produce home color kits so that your clients can do their color touchups on their own.

Simply formulate the home color kits and also send them the tools they need to do the touchups for an additional income.

7. Get Loans

If you are in the United States, you can apply for SBA loans. These loans are available at good rates and are aimed at helping small businesses scale through the financial hardships caused by the pandemic. You can use Fundera to compare the rates of various SBA loans.

Also, you can visit the SBA to learn more about SBA loans.

Website:  fundera.com

8. Start a Blog or YouTube Channel

Content marketing can also help you make money as a cosmetologist. When you create content (such as how-to videos on hair or nail) and you publish it on your YouTube channel or blog, you can easily earn additional income.

However, this is a long-term strategy. You need to be consistent and persistent to reap tangible results from this. You must publish content for nothing less than 3 to 6 months before you even think of monetizing your channel or blog.

These platforms can make you money through advertising and other digital marketing tactics. Once your blog and YouTube channel are up, they can earn you passive income for years.

9. Sell the Things You Don’t Need

Get rid of the things you don’t need from your storage and sell them off. This may be necessary if you have a huge inventory of beauty products. You can sell these items on Amazon and eBay.

If you record success with this strategy, then it can be an indication that you should set up an e-commerce business.

10. Sell Beauty Photography

Do you know that you can also make money as a cosmetologist by selling beauty photography online?

If you have documented beauty-related work (such as nail or hair) over the last years, you could have access to photography that you have the right to sell.

Selling these photographs on stock websites can easily earn you between 15% and 60% of what the platforms sell the photos for. Even photos taken with smartphones are good enough for you to resell.

You can resell these photos on Adobe Stock, 123RF, and Deposit Photos.

SEE: Tips for Making Money with Photography

11. Teaching

You can teach cosmetology to make money as a cosmetologist. As a professional, you can share your knowledge and experience with others while you get paid for it. This can be done either online (through the use of teaching platforms) or physically.

Skillshare and Udemy are some of the websites through which you can make money by teaching online.

SEE: Strategies for Making Money with Online Courses

12. Join Focus Groups

You can use your expertise in focus groups to make money as a cosmetologist. As a beauty professional, many companies want you to share your feedback and opinion on their business and marketing plans.

You can earn from these companies by joining focus groups and sharing your opinion. Some focus group websites include C2 Research, 2020 Research, Accurate Data Marketing, and AccuData.

The above websites can help you earn up to $100 in one day.

13. Become a Virtual Assistant

As a cosmetologist, you can earn additional income by helping other businesses as a virtual assistant. You can do tasks such as checking mail and other assistant tasks.

This may not fit your expertise as a cosmetologist, but it’s a great way to earn more income. You can work and make money as a virtual assistant, irrespective of your background, by finding virtual assistant jobs on Upwork.

14. Complete Online Surveys

Another way to make money as a cosmetologist involves answering questions online. This is the easiest way to make money online, but the income potential is low.

Some websites that pay you for completing surveys include American Consumer opinion, Qmee, FocusLine.com, and Harris Poll Online.

SEE: Best Sites for Making Money with Online Surveys

Other Ways You Can Make Money

15. Invest Your Time

If you don’t have many clients now as a cosmetologist, you can invest your time to build the kind of future you want.

This may not be an idea that will help you make money as a cosmetologist, however, it’s an eye-opener to saving money for the future by doing more now.

Some of the things you can do to achieve this include:

  • Designing a salon website yourself (instead of hiring a professional). See this guide on creating a website like a pro.
  • Create an email newsletter for your beauty salon. This will help in maintaining relationships with your client even if you don’t have clients at the moment.
  • Use the free time you have now to go over the strategy for your beauty salon so that you won’t lose focus when clients start trooping in.

16. Assist People with Their Daily Tasks

If you enjoy doing favors for other people, you can get paid for it. You can do things like grocery shopping, gardening, and home repair.

Although these have nothing to do with cosmetology, they are things you can do in your spare time to earn more income.

More so, you can use apps (such as Thumbtack and TaskRabbit) or self-advertise to sell your skills to those in your community.

SEE: Legitimate Ways to Make Quick Money in One Day

17. Open an Online Store that is Not Related to Beauty

If you love antiques and vintage items or maybe you want to get rid of items that you don’t need from your home, you can sell these items online to earn some money.

As a beauty artist, you can sell the items on Etsy. eBay and Amazon are also great options. Check out this guide to discover how you can make money on Etsy.

How Much Can You Make as a Cosmetologist?

As of 2019, cosmetologists earned a median of $12.54 per hour (about $26,090 per annum). The lower-paid and high-paid cosmetologists earned $18,430 and $51,870 respectively.

Is There a Growing Trend in the Demand for Cosmetologists?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an extra 63,900 jobs will be created in the beauty industry over the decade. This is due to the increase in the demand for beauty professionals like hairstylists, barbers, and cosmetologists.

How Can You Make Your Existing Beauty Business More Successful?

What leads to success differs from one cosmetologist to another. Some cosmetologists simply want to expand their practice to different areas. Others want to have more celebrity clients and also want to be featured in magazines.

Irrespective of what your definition for success is, you must be able to measure and quantify it. You can use metrics such as positive cash flow, long-term goals, client retention, increased revenue, and mentions in the media to measure your growth.

These ideas will make you more successful as a cosmetologist:

Increase Retail Sales

You can boost your revenue by increasing retail sales. Go over your sales strategy and see how you can generate more sales in your business.

Create a shopping experience for your customers by arranging your products in the center of the retail area in your salon or store. You can also encourage repeat business by including bounce-back coupons in every purchase.

Increase Client Retention

Instead of spending money on finding new customers, channel your resources to retain the existing ones. It is cheaper and more effective to market to your existing customers.

You should also improve pre-booking. This involves booking an appointment while a client is in your salon. This practice makes customers loyal to your brand.

More so, ensure you follow up with your clients after rendering your services. You can send postcards with follow-up messages and bounce-back coupons.

Use Social Media Marketing

Social media provides a platform where you can easily interact with your customers. Develop your existing communities on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook by keeping your timeline updated with new beauty-related content and seasonal specials.

FAQs

Do salon owners make good money?

Salon owners in the United States earn an average annual salary of $67,000. The actual earning depends on different factors. The most successful salon owners can earn at least $120,000 per year.

How can a cosmetologist earn 6 figures?

To earn 6 figures as a cosmetologist, you need to price your service accordingly, work on your networking and connections, be consistent and punctual in delivering your service, and don’t stop learning.

Which states pay cosmetologists the most?

The states that pay cosmetologists the most are Washington, Idaho, North Dakota, Hawaii, and Oregon.

What benefits do cosmetologists get?

Sick leave, medical and dental benefits, and vacation credits are some of the benefits that full-time cosmetologists that earn salaries get. Part-time cosmetologists and those that are entrepreneurs need to purchase their health and dental insurance.

Conclusion

As revealed in this article, there are many ways through which you can make money as a cosmetologist. Since most people want to look good (especially women), there is a huge demand for cosmetologists.

You can also use the ideas shared in this article to earn in your spare time. There is no limit to what you can do to make money as a cosmetologist as long as you have the zeal and the capability.

If you like sharing your knowledge with others, you can create a blog or set up a YouTube channel where you can educate your audience on beauty-related topics. Create DIY content in areas you know your audience will be interested in.

This option will not only help you earn more, but will also portray you as an expert in your field.

You can also work as a beauty writer. There are tons of clients (such as fashion and beauty companies, magazines, and lots more) that you can work for. You can also find jobs on Upwork and other freelancing platforms.

This guide will also show you other reliable ways to make money with writing.

Thanks for reading.