How to build a strong portfolio & and find job opportunities even if you’re just starting out?

You know the circle - when you are just starting, to book new clients you need a portfolio, and you can’t build a portfolio without new clients, right?

That’s the usual concern of everyone starting their career in the beauty industry.

If you’ve just finished your microblading career, it can be challenging to build a portfolio and present your expertise right at the beginning.

However, some steps can help you build your portfolio and showcase your skills and find job opportunities - even if you don’t have a lot of experience.

Today, we’ll discuss:

• What makes a great beauty artist’s portfolio
• How to build a strong portfolio even if you have just started
• Tips for guaranteeing your success

What makes a great beauty artist’s portfolio

Simply put, a microblading portfolio is a collection of images and information that showcases your stills in the microblading area. It typically includes information about your education, certification, your services, your experience, and clients’ testimonials.

Some specific things that a microblading artist’s portfolio includes:

-        Before & after photos of completed treatments. Forget about featuring only beautiful images after you’ve completed the treatments. Considering the number of photoshopped pictures we see on Instagram and in magazines, we’ve become immune to it. It’s in human psychology to seek comparison. Your clients need the previous state to be able to appreciate the result.

That’s why before and after photos work so well.

-        A range of different brow shapes. Showcasing the wide range of brow shapes shows your versatility and creativity, and assures the client that you’re not creating the same eyebrow shape for everyone.

-        Testimonials from your clients and mentors. This is an evergreen technique that will help you build credibility and trust. It’s even better if put in a video format.

-        A list of services you offer.

-        Information about your training and certification. Besides it makes a significant difference if you’ve had worldwide recognized experts as your mentors, people DO judge a book by its cover. You’ll get instant credibility with “big” names on your certification.

How to build a convincing portfolio even if you’re just starting out

As time passes by, your portfolio will become better and better, but here’s what you need to do to make your beginning as smooth as possible.

With these tips, you’ll have a great career start, whether you’re starting your own business, or looking for your first job as a microblading artist.

1. Practice with friends and family: If you are just starting, practicing with your friends and family can allow you to gather photos of completed treatments. For sure, they are (probably) not your paying clients, but it’s definitely an investment you should go for.
2. Take photos of your practice sessions: If you are a PhiAcademy student, you’ll have a lot of practice sessions that you can take photos of.
3. Seek out opportunities to gain experience: Look for opportunities that will help you gain experience in the field. Be it an internship or apprenticeship, this will help you build your portfolio.
4. Think about building your online presence and your personal brand the moment you start your training: If you are sharing your journey and start showcasing the skills and procedures you perform even when you are learning how to do it - it will help you immensely.
5. Get feedback from your mentors: Collecting testimonials from your mentors (especially if they are recognized experts) will help you even if you had 0 paying clients. They are the ones most qualified to talk about your expertise.
6. Your network = your net worth: Surround yourself with experts and like-minded people, and your success is guaranteed.

Guarantee your success

As our founder, Branko Babic likes to say:

“We’ve built a system where it’s impossible for our students not to succeed”

Yes, it’s a strong claim, so we’ll explain how can we support it:

Building a network and building a portfolio from day 1 is one of the hardest tasks for all beginners. Not to mention marketing themselves, building their brand, and having a name they can brag with.

The reason why this is so hard is that none of the existing academies offer this. They focus on practical skills only.

At PhiAcademy, besides educating our students on the theoretical part and providing practices for microblading skills, we are educating students on:

• Offering the first class service
• Using social media to market their services
• Building a portfolio and their reputation

Moreover, we provide a huge network of recognized experts and microblading artists that they can turn to at any time. They will be there to remove blockers, but also to refer their friends to you. Which is, you’ll agree, a great starting point.

What’s even better, all of our students who complete our training get to use the PhiBrows name and reputation.