Ive noticed shops near me closing down and lots of discount offers from other shops. Think it might just be the back tail of the recession people are broke. Thanks for sharing
You’re not wrong, I’ve definitely took how busy i was for granted before, and now I’m really having to look at how i approach the business side of things more
ive tattooed nearly 30 years, we get by, the problem is in my eyes , all this youtube stuff, free info to every scratcher to have a go, it happens in most trades, now we have to deal with over saturation , this is what happens when a beautiful craft becomes nothing more than a content medium, we just have to roll wit it , good luck with everything
Yeh thats fair, you can learn anything on line now which i think is both a curse and blessing. For this industry it’s not great because you cant really get a good idea of how things work without being taught hands on. It’s why I stay away from actually giving tutorial on tattooing
Glad you're enjoying UA-cam man your videos are great and everything you talk about always resonates with me. I think you are right, things are changing and sometimes you wonder “Is it cause I’m shit now” “Am I not relevant anymore” “Is Instagram messing everything up” probably a combination of all these things agree. I do feel like unless you have your bits out or take the mick out of something or someone on the socials it doesn’t get noticed at all. A good example is the “Hey I messed up this tattoo” caption at the start of videos then it’s a video with the perfect tattoo afterwards. It’s like how can I shock people into looking at my video? To me it feels so gimmicky that I find it hard to get on board with it, then again I’m thinking if I don’t join in on it I’m going to get left behind. Food for thought!
It’s true, it’s easier to notice someone in with shock value because people are probably more likely to watch, but then at maybe just keeping it honest and playing the long game will be more rewarding 🤷 we’ll see. Thanks for the kind words!
Just found you through your post about John baizley. I'm in B.C. Canada. Was hoping to go to arctangent this year, but fell through. If I ever head overseas, I'll hit you up man. Hope things turn around for ya, your work is solid and you seem like a solid dude.
KEEP BEING YOU HOMIE!!! What you are doing on this platform will take you far. I love hearing your insight cause this is the same feeling I have inside
Obviously I can't speak on the tattoo industry but as someone who's self employed and who's work falls under "luxury" I feel this. I think those of us who's work falls into that category relies so heavily on people having disposable income and like you said, people either have it now or they really don't. My partner currently has a big tattoo piece on hold because other stuff took priority financially. All we can do is our best to push our work forwards but I've got a horrible feeling it won't really recover unless the economy for the every day person does.
Yeh, it’s definitely not just tattooing thats affected. I think accepting this si now the new way things will be and adapting is just hows it going to have to be. I definitely took it all for granted before, and took more liberties, now ive got to see the business side of it all more clearly
Themed flash days are super popular now! Like Friday 13th, Halloween etc. Parliament Tattoo did one for NEck Deep the other week and it was their busiest flash day ever! Not a consistent solution but might be worth a try from time to time
I saw that! The question was around the block, madness. It helps that they’re a big London studio tho, i cant see a neck deep flash day working in Bromley haha. Bit i agree on flash days, weve always done a big Halloween one and its always been fun
Wish I had the money to put into getting more work, I see your posts all the time and I'd love a huge back piece. I really hope it changes for you mate. Your work is epic and deserves to be out there in huge numbers. Best I can do at the moment is I've subscribed to patreon and bought a couple of t-shirts.
man i went from booking a month or two at a time, and now I'm down to maybe 2/3 bookings in that period and its kind of crazy to me to see all this stuff happening and everyone has been telling me "yknow the money is not there anymore", "Oh I've got bills cant afford that right now" ,"everything's so expensive right now" and its crazy ive noticed myself knocking down my prices and offering deals to match the budget but i see it aswell i feel like its fallen into that smaller tattoos for cheaper gets more for the buck type of thought(even though larger sessions do that) most people aren't stuck on that idea of falling in love with somethings as much as they were before so I've noticed its just been "I like this but can we do something smaller from it" its been crazy and its also making a lot of artists quit or take a second job even just to keep doing what we love.
Yeh it’s a shame you’ve got to suck it up and do more of what you don’t want to keep it up to making a living, but then I guess it’s just a job like every other then we’ve just been lucky enough over the last few years to not see it that way 100%, hopefully it’s just a passing thing
Nice man, here in Brazil, it's exactly the same. Everyone is definetly feeling the pinch, cost of living through the roof atm. Like you said, luxury is going to be put on the back burner lol all the best mate, I feel you.
I was so quiet from December til March. I started panicking cause a friend of mine had to apply for bar jobs alongside tattooing and had to move out of her flat. We came up with a little plan to do sheet of small tattoos, things we could bust out quickly but still in styles that we enjoyed tattooing. Posted them with a promotion on Instagram. Nothing crazy just £50 so the post reached a few people in our area. Within the first 24 hours I had 15 bookings and we’ve had a consistent few people a day inquiring.
That’s cool! Wicked you’ve picked up business from it. We’ve come up with a few ideas at Moth and flame, we’ve just got a get what you get machine (you know the toy machines, but sticking tattooing in the to balls instead) massive discount for anyone who uses it plus its a good reason to make fun shorts.
All the love from Mexico, don’t worry your tattoos are great, the thing is that the government is building a conspiracy against tattoo artists and all the tattoo industry 😢😢
If it makes you feel any better it’s the same here and the for my friends in USA as well. A lot of the busiest people I’ve worked with are all doin 1-2 a week. There’s some small amount of relief in just accepting that this is how it is for now. Focusing on all things we wish we had time for when we were busy as helps……but mostly…it’s the pits haha
Everything is just so much more expensive, it’s why I’m not booking tattoos as flippantly as I was, and they definitely hurt more now😂 but I find rather than adapting to small stuff, really focus on the bigger multi session pieces on fewer people, have them fewer people in regularly to chip away at big projects and it becomes a more steady income. I have a full wall of backpiece paintings right where I tattoo and it definitely gets people thinking about getting a backpiece themselves so often the smaller pieces turn into bigger ones. All about the repeat custom in my opinion
Such a good idea to surround people with inspiration for the next tattoo in your studio, not only that but it gets me in the mood to draw more designs when i see them all over the studio walls and yeh, i think your right, thats much more the direction id rather go, bigger pieces to chip away at.
Loved your take on this. I started noticing something about a year ago and slowly but surely work started changing and, for me, even the clientele. I think it’s a mix of over saturation of the business and a new wave of tattooers changing what “being a tattooer” means… it’s fascinating and scary at the same time. There’s so much stuff online, people tattooing on their couches and the ‘magic’ of the tattoo shop kinda vanished… not for me! I think that what worked for me was working on my art and illustration, studying, doing what sets me apart from others and what ultimately will be the reason somebody chooses me for their tattoos! The key is individuality and passion: these are the solid base of any good tattoo artist in my opinion ✨
I like that , going back to the fundamentals tom discover what sets you apart from the rest. I think you can get so lost in ‘tattoo designs’ that you forget what your passion is art looked like at the beginning.
I think it’s the combination of everything from everyone being maxed out on junk they’ve bought, to ripoff prices on everything especially food, the over saturation of everyone that wants to try can; the zero barrier to entry to tattooing now. You can literally hop online order all your gear, start watching UA-cam and rent out a space anywhere and start tattin within a single day. And no one’s gonna stop you. As with everything there’s a pro and con to this, it should get a bunch of crap ppl out, and the cream will still rise to the top. It will force ppl to get better. And slow the ego’s of others. Maybe. Either way life’s all about adaptation and constant change. Gotta bob n weave. I’m still booking a few months out and you’re better than me so you’re gonna be just fine lol. Cheers to the brave new world; may the strong survive 🎉🤘🩸
Your not wrong about how easy it is to get into tattooing now, its why i fall short of actually showing people how to tattooing on my channel, I’ve always thought that tattooing should be something learnt hands on, someone watching over you and teaching you in person, lessons from someone with experience. Times like this are very humbling for sure
Ive noticed shops near me closing down and lots of discount offers from other shops. Think it might just be the back tail of the recession people are broke. Thanks for sharing
You’re not wrong, I’ve definitely took how busy i was for granted before, and now I’m really having to look at how i approach the business side of things more
ive tattooed nearly 30 years, we get by, the problem is in my eyes , all this youtube stuff, free info to every scratcher to have a go, it happens in most trades, now we have to deal with over saturation , this is what happens when a beautiful craft becomes nothing more than a content medium, we just have to roll wit it , good luck with everything
Yeh thats fair, you can learn anything on line now which i think is both a curse and blessing. For this industry it’s not great because you cant really get a good idea of how things work without being taught hands on. It’s why I stay away from actually giving tutorial on tattooing
Yeah humans stupidness gone from art to a gimmick
Glad you're enjoying UA-cam man your videos are great and everything you talk about always resonates with me.
I think you are right, things are changing and sometimes you wonder “Is it cause I’m shit now” “Am I not relevant anymore” “Is Instagram messing everything up” probably a combination of all these things agree.
I do feel like unless you have your bits out or take the mick out of something or someone on the socials it doesn’t get noticed at all.
A good example is the “Hey I messed up this tattoo” caption at the start of videos then it’s a video with the perfect tattoo afterwards. It’s like how can I shock people into looking at my video? To me it feels so gimmicky that I find it hard to get on board with it, then again I’m thinking if I don’t join in on it I’m going to get left behind.
Food for thought!
It’s true, it’s easier to notice someone in with shock value because people are probably more likely to watch, but then at maybe just keeping it honest and playing the long game will be more rewarding 🤷 we’ll see.
Thanks for the kind words!
Just found you through your post about John baizley. I'm in B.C. Canada. Was hoping to go to arctangent this year, but fell through. If I ever head overseas, I'll hit you up man. Hope things turn around for ya, your work is solid and you seem like a solid dude.
I was aiming for the first day at least, baroness, explosions in the sky and red fang is more that worth the ticket.
KEEP BEING YOU HOMIE!!! What you are doing on this platform will take you far. I love hearing your insight cause this is the same feeling I have inside
Ahhh thanks dude!
You are right, don't worry times change or worry times change, it's how life is
It all comes in waves
Realizing I'm not on my Art profile xD but I'm glad you reached this one too Double Sub 😂
Obviously I can't speak on the tattoo industry but as someone who's self employed and who's work falls under "luxury" I feel this. I think those of us who's work falls into that category relies so heavily on people having disposable income and like you said, people either have it now or they really don't. My partner currently has a big tattoo piece on hold because other stuff took priority financially. All we can do is our best to push our work forwards but I've got a horrible feeling it won't really recover unless the economy for the every day person does.
Yeh, it’s definitely not just tattooing thats affected. I think accepting this si now the new way things will be and adapting is just hows it going to have to be. I definitely took it all for granted before, and took more liberties, now ive got to see the business side of it all more clearly
Themed flash days are super popular now! Like Friday 13th, Halloween etc. Parliament Tattoo did one for NEck Deep the other week and it was their busiest flash day ever! Not a consistent solution but might be worth a try from time to time
I saw that! The question was around the block, madness. It helps that they’re a big London studio tho, i cant see a neck deep flash day working in Bromley haha. Bit i agree on flash days, weve always done a big Halloween one and its always been fun
Wish I had the money to put into getting more work, I see your posts all the time and I'd love a huge back piece. I really hope it changes for you mate. Your work is epic and deserves to be out there in huge numbers. Best I can do at the moment is I've subscribed to patreon and bought a couple of t-shirts.
Ah man thank you, I appreciate the support and thats very kind. We’re all in the same boat at the moment tho so means a lot.
man i went from booking a month or two at a time, and now I'm down to maybe 2/3 bookings in that period and its kind of crazy to me to see all this stuff happening and everyone has been telling me "yknow the money is not there anymore", "Oh I've got bills cant afford that right now" ,"everything's so expensive right now"
and its crazy ive noticed myself knocking down my prices and offering deals to match the budget but i see it aswell i feel like its fallen into that smaller tattoos for cheaper gets more for the buck type of thought(even though larger sessions do that) most people aren't stuck on that idea of falling in love with somethings as much as they were before so I've noticed its just been "I like this but can we do something smaller from it"
its been crazy and its also making a lot of artists quit or take a second job even just to keep doing what we love.
Yeh it’s a shame you’ve got to suck it up and do more of what you don’t want to keep it up to making a living, but then I guess it’s just a job like every other then we’ve just been lucky enough over the last few years to not see it that way 100%, hopefully it’s just a passing thing
@@jasonjamessmithart yessir! back to how it was 10 years ago for me taking whatever they want and making them happy!
Nice man, here in Brazil, it's exactly the same. Everyone is definetly feeling the pinch, cost of living through the roof atm. Like you said, luxury is going to be put on the back burner lol all the best mate, I feel you.
It’s all very humbling for sure
I was so quiet from December til March. I started panicking cause a friend of mine had to apply for bar jobs alongside tattooing and had to move out of her flat. We came up with a little plan to do sheet of small tattoos, things we could bust out quickly but still in styles that we enjoyed tattooing. Posted them with a promotion on Instagram. Nothing crazy just £50 so the post reached a few people in our area. Within the first 24 hours I had 15 bookings and we’ve had a consistent few people a day inquiring.
That’s cool! Wicked you’ve picked up business from it. We’ve come up with a few ideas at Moth and flame, we’ve just got a get what you get machine (you know the toy machines, but sticking tattooing in the to balls instead) massive discount for anyone who uses it plus its a good reason to make fun shorts.
All the love from Mexico, don’t worry your tattoos are great, the thing is that the government is building a conspiracy against tattoo artists and all the tattoo industry 😢😢
Shut us down because we’re all to damn sexy!
@@jasonjamessmithart sexy tattoo artist isn’t good for the government 🤔🤫
If it makes you feel any better it’s the same here and the for my friends in USA as well. A lot of the busiest people I’ve worked with are all doin 1-2 a week. There’s some small amount of relief in just accepting that this is how it is for now. Focusing on all things we wish we had time for when we were busy as helps……but mostly…it’s the pits haha
😂 yeh it is the pits. 100%, accepting this is how it is, making it working and if or when it does get busier, it’ll be even bettter
Everything is just so much more expensive, it’s why I’m not booking tattoos as flippantly as I was, and they definitely hurt more now😂 but I find rather than adapting to small stuff, really focus on the bigger multi session pieces on fewer people, have them fewer people in regularly to chip away at big projects and it becomes a more steady income. I have a full wall of backpiece paintings right where I tattoo and it definitely gets people thinking about getting a backpiece themselves so often the smaller pieces turn into bigger ones. All about the repeat custom in my opinion
Such a good idea to surround people with inspiration for the next tattoo in your studio, not only that but it gets me in the mood to draw more designs when i see them all over the studio walls and yeh, i think your right, thats much more the direction id rather go, bigger pieces to chip away at.
Loved your take on this. I started noticing something about a year ago and slowly but surely work started changing and, for me, even the clientele.
I think it’s a mix of over saturation of the business and a new wave of tattooers changing what “being a tattooer” means… it’s fascinating and scary at the same time.
There’s so much stuff online, people tattooing on their couches and the ‘magic’ of the tattoo shop kinda vanished… not for me!
I think that what worked for me was working on my art and illustration, studying, doing what sets me apart from others and what ultimately will be the reason somebody chooses me for their tattoos!
The key is individuality and passion: these are the solid base of any good tattoo artist in my opinion ✨
I like that , going back to the fundamentals tom discover what sets you apart from the rest. I think you can get so lost in ‘tattoo designs’ that you forget what your passion is art looked like at the beginning.
I think it’s the combination of everything from everyone being maxed out on junk they’ve bought, to ripoff prices on everything especially food, the over saturation of everyone that wants to try can; the zero barrier to entry to tattooing now.
You can literally hop online order all your gear, start watching UA-cam and rent out a space anywhere and start tattin within a single day. And no one’s gonna stop you.
As with everything there’s a pro and con to this, it should get a bunch of crap ppl out, and the cream will still rise to the top. It will force ppl to get better. And slow the ego’s of others. Maybe.
Either way life’s all about adaptation and constant change. Gotta bob n weave. I’m still booking a few months out and you’re better than me so you’re gonna be just fine lol. Cheers to the brave new world; may the strong survive 🎉🤘🩸
Your not wrong about how easy it is to get into tattooing now, its why i fall short of actually showing people how to tattooing on my channel, I’ve always thought that tattooing should be something learnt hands on, someone watching over you and teaching you in person, lessons from someone with experience. Times like this are very humbling for sure
cost of living babe
Yeh, its probably just that