Expectations and reality when learning Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or M

Background

This article draws from several research projects conducted between 2018 and 2023, many of which are continuing. A large majority of the artists and students involved in these studies were based in EU countries (79%), with the next largest group in the UK (15%) and a smaller percentage in the US (6%). There were no notable discrepancies in the findings across different countries. However, it has been observed that the expectations of many new students have become more grounded over time, particularly after 2023. This shift in perspective has humorously been called the "PMU Apocalypse" by some industry leaders, reflecting a significant change in the industry's outlook and approach.

Expectations vs. Reality Starting a career as a brow artist often presents a challenge that isn't about failing artistically. Rather, the issue lies in the mismatch between what people expect and the reality. Next, let's explore some of the most common expectations about becoming a brow artist and then balance them with a more sobering picture of the actual situation.


Financial success

Expectation 1: I'll Become Rich Many brow academies, especially those offering Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, and microblading training, use so-called "income models." These models aim to show students their potential yearly income. This approach harkens back to sales tactics used in the mid-20th century. Take, for example, the sale of a pricey washing machine that would cost around $500 back then—or close to $4,000 in today's money. Salespeople would ask potential buyers how long they planned to use the machine, and then they'd claim it would last for 10 years. The daily cost? Just 13 cents. "What can you get for 13 cents a day? It's a no-brainer!" they'd exclaim, making the sale.

Be cautious with such outdated sales techniques. Similarly, many academies tout inflated earnings, employing these questionable methods. They'll say the procedure costs $500, takes about two hours, and you can complete three procedures daily. Then comes the grand reveal: "$500,000 a year, you'll be a millionaire in two years! It's a no-brainer!" However, such projections are often misleading, exaggerated, and downright manipulative. The reasons for this will be explained next. Stark Reality: Less Than 19% of Students Work in the Field After Two Years

Between 2018 and 2023, over 1700 students and artists have participated in research projects studying that. The sobering fact is that only 18% continue offering Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or microblading services after the first 18 months. This translates to four out of every five students quitting and no longer making money with the skills they gained during training. Interestingly, this also clarifies why trainers can make such high-income projections. If a large percentage of students don't actually offer these services long-term, it artificially inflates the projected market size for Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, and Microblading by nearly five times.

A Closer Look at Those Who Do Make Money For those who stick with it past the 18-month mark, there are key insights to be gleaned. No matter how we interpret the data, one principle remains consistent among these artists: the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 20% of the artists earn 80% of their income. Despite ongoing research by the team at powderbrows.io to find any shifts in this trend, the ratio has remained incredibly stable over the years. Putting it All Together: About 3.5% of Students Get Almost All the Money.

When you take a closer look at all the students training to become potential artists, the numbers paint a vivid picture. Only 3.5% of all students capture almost all (over 80%) of the earnings in this field. In simpler terms, out of 100 artists, about 4 individuals are at the top of their game. These few dominate the market, getting the lion's share of all the money made from Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, and microblading in their area. Sure, there might be some ups and downs and personal variations, but this pattern holds strong overall.

Can You Become Rich? Yes, But Only if You're at the Top So, if you're wondering whether it's possible to become wealthy through Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or microblading, the answer is a resounding yes. But there's a catch—you must break into that elite top 3.5% students. Artists who've managed this feat confirm its accuracy. They've made enough money to secure their futures, invest in real estate, and more. Yet, they typically only know a handful of peers from their initial class still active in the field. And even fewer have Powder Brows, Hairstrokes or microblading as their primary income source.


Skills equal clients

Expectation 2: Learning the Skills Will Bring in Clients This is a common myth we've discussed in several articles. Many artists think that mastering technical skills automatically means clients will start knocking on their doors. Unfortunately, real-world data from various countries doesn't back up this assumption. Having less-than-average or basic technical skills can influence future client inquiries. But this impact is far less than what most artists anticipate.

Inbound Queries Rely on Reach, Not Just Skills Recent updates to Meta platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, have significantly reduced organic reach. We've analyzed multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts of brow artists. We found that standard organic posts may reach only 0.5-2% of their followers. Here's what that means in practical terms: To get enough client inquiries to sustain your business, you'd need a follower count of at least 75,000 that is largely credible. Even then, without using paid advertising, you'd need to produce 50-100 posts a month to achieve the required reach, which is roughly 50k per one million population in a country.

Large Competitors Have Multiple Inbound Channels Big accounts aren't solely dependent on one platform, like Instagram, for client inquiries. They also use other online platforms and offline marketing and gain high-quality leads from Google. This multi-channel approach is their advantage. If you're starting and hoping to get all your inquiries from Instagram alone, you face an uphill battle. Without a large target audience following in the tens of thousands, it's virtually impossible to get enough queries without investing in paid ads. And these ads can cost you a good chunk of money, around $500 to $1000 per month.

A Large Targeted Following Trumps Skills, Sadly Consider this example: A student with a following of over 50,000 people, primarily consisting of target demographics (like women aged 25-34, 35-44, and so on), has a 76% chance of becoming successful, even with average or weak skills. Conversely, a highly skilled artist has only a 16% chance of success if she doesn't have the digital assets to reach the right audience. The difference is nearly five times!

Unrealistic Expectations are the Issue Many students don't succeed despite acquiring excellent technical skills due to their unrealistic expectations. They underestimate the importance of reach. To be considered a top artist, you need a monthly reach of 50,000 to 300,000 people, depending on the country's population. If they don't have a sizable organic following or affiliated accounts, their only real option is paid advertising, which can cost between $500 and $3000 monthly. If they're not willing to invest in ads, there's no magical way for clients to appear.


Personal brand is optional

Expectation 3: Success is Possible Without a Personal Brand Some people believe they can succeed without creating a personal brand, and that's partially true. The good news is that you can become a successful brow artist without making your name a brand. But there's a catch: even if you don't brand yourself, a brand still plays a role. The real question is: who owns that brand?

The Importance of Brand Ownership If you don't want to build a personal brand, your only other successful route is to work under an existing brand. What does this mean? You align yourself with a reputable brow brand to reach customers. If you've graduated from a well-known academy and can legally use their brand, that's a great option. Your identity becomes connected to that existing brand.

Alternatives to a Personal Brand Creating your brow brand is another path. While using your brand isn't mandatory, offering Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or microblading services without any brand is far from ideal. Based on many examples, we've found that this reduces your chances of success by more than three times! Your odds of succeeding drop significantly if you're not tied to any brand.

The Solution is Clear So, what should you do? You can develop your brand, create a unique brow brand, or align yourself with an existing brow academy brand. Some artists manage to do multiple of these at once. Operating without brand affiliation puts you at a distinct disadvantage, regardless of your choice.


Happy clients become promoters

Expectation 4: Satisfied Clients Will Promote Me What is the real link between client satisfaction and promotion? We've examined over 3720 cases to study the relationship between client satisfaction and their willingness to promote Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or microblading services. The findings are eye-opening.

Client Promotion is Less Common Than You Think Believe it or not, satisfied clients rarely promote their artists. Depending on where you are and the type of clients you have, only about 11% of satisfied clients actually talk about your service. But here's a twist: if you get a verbal agreement from the client to promote you, this number almost doubles to 18%. In plain terms, even if you do an amazing job and the client is happy, only one in five will actively promote you if you get their verbal commitment.

Verbal Confirmation Can Silence Complaints Now, if a client has some issues with their brows but finds you pleasant and your salon professional, they're less likely to complain. In fact, complaints drop to under 1% if the client tells you they're okay with their brows. Interestingly, most of these clients come back for more. What's the takeaway? If you're kind and professional and get a nod of approval on the brows, you can get away with average work and keep the client. And guess what? You control all these factors.

The Real Deal: Artist Actions and Client Promotion The true connection seems to lie between what the artist does after the procedure and how much the client promotes it. If the artist engages the client in a conversation, asking leading questions that prompt them to voice their satisfaction, it's more likely that the client will then market the artist on social media.

Clients Convince Themselves What's interesting here is that promotion from the client isn't necessarily tied to how happy they are with their brows. Satisfaction can change over time and is not a straightforward yes-or-no matter. The real factor is asking for the promotion directly from the client.

An Interesting Side Note People are complex. Our studies showed that clients seldom share their true feelings if they have any issues with their brows. If the artist is nice and the service is professional, clients often confirm they are happy with the results, even if they're not. They first refer to the artist and then to themselves in plain language. Interestingly, saying it out loud often makes them feel better about their brows over time.


Brow business is low cost

Expectation 5: Brow Business is Low-Cost for the artist Many students come in with the belief that brow services are a goldmine. They often calculate the net cost of one procedure to be in the low double digits. Then, they subtract this from the client's price and multiply it by the estimated number of treatments within a given timeframe. These calculations tend to be overly optimistic.

Most artists have a false gut feeling about their net cost. Our research paints a different picture. The actual net cost per procedure can easily exceed $200. Many artists underestimate the costs associated with finding new clients. They also often overlook their fixed costs, which should be distributed across all procedures. This leads to inflated expectations about how profitable the business can be. Calculate the net-cost

If you want to set yourself up for success, you must be more conservative in your calculations. Figure out the true net cost per procedure. You'll usually find that it's much higher than you expected, which means your expected profitability will be much lower.


Conclusions

New artists often start with rosy expectations that don't always align with reality or with what our research shows. Here are five common myths:

• Expectation: Becoming rich is easy if you learn Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, or microblading. Reality: Only 3.5% of students rake in the big bucks after 18 months. So yes, becoming rich is possible, but it's a tough climb to be among the few who do.
• Expectation: Do great work, and clients will show up. Reality: Attracting clients is about reach, especially in populated areas. To put numbers to it, you need a reach of 50,000 for every million people in the area. Unfortunately, a talented artist without followers will have very few incoming inquiries.
• Expectation: Success doesn't require a personal brand. Reality: If you don't build and promote your brand, you must affiliate with a well-known brand or create your own to succeed.
• Expectation: Satisfied clients will freely advertise for you. Reality: Our research says otherwise. Only one in ten clients actively promotes the artist. If the artist asks for a verbal commitment, that number goes up to about 20%. You have to ask clients to spread the word actively.
• Expectation: Powder Brows, Hairstrokes, and microblading are high-profit due to low costs. Reality: Our research reveals that almost 90% of artists underestimate the true costs, hovering around a steep $200 per procedure.