🖤 I used to think highlights didn't matter

Hey, it’s Matt.

In today's issue:

👀 ICYMI

🗞️ Industry News

Want your work featured next week? Reply to this email with a link to your Instagram post. I might pick yours. 😊

A lead comes in on Instagram. Another on Messenger. Three more on SMS.

Your team switches tabs, repeats answers, and loses context while hot leads wait hours for replies. At 2am, nobody responds at all.

That’s not a people problem. It’s a process problem.

Wati brings Instagram DM, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and web chat into one AI-powered inbox. Automations instantly respond, qualify leads, and route conversations to the right person, 24/7.

Your team stops firefighting. Your leads stop waiting. Your pipeline starts moving.

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Most artists have highlights.

Most highlights are useless.

Faded covers nobody clicks. Titles like "misc" or "2023." Old content from two years ago that doesn't say anything about who you are today.

Here's the thing, highlights are the first thing a new visitor reads after your bio. They land on your profile, they look at your grid for two seconds, and then they check your highlights to figure out if you're the right person to book.

If your highlights don't answer their questions fast, they leave.

Simple as that.

I audited over 100 tattoo artist Instagram profiles earlier this year. What I found: most artists either skip highlights entirely, or fill them with random stories that don't serve any purpose.

Only 43% had four or more useful highlights.

That's a huge missed opportunity. Because done right, highlights are a 24/7 sales tool that works while you're in a session.

Here's exactly what to build.

This is the most important one. Full stop.

A new visitor wants to know: How do I work with this person? If they can't find the answer in ten seconds, they'll go find someone else.

Your "How to Book" highlight should include: your booking process step by step, where to send their inquiry (form link, DM, email), your current availability or wait time, and a quick note on what info you need from them (style, placement, size, reference photos).

Keep it simple. Three to five slides max.

Make it impossible to miss.

This one is the most underused and probably the most powerful.

Fresh tattoos look incredible in photos. But clients aren't just buying fresh ink. They're buying something that lives on their skin for the rest of their life.

They want to know what your work actually looks like six months later.

Most artists never show this.

Which means if you do, you immediately stand out.

A healed work highlight builds trust faster than anything else you can post. It shows confidence in your craft. It answers the question clients are thinking but not asking out loud.

Start collecting healed shots now.

Ask clients to send you a photo a few months after their appointment. Even five or six good healed photos make a huge difference.

This one drives impulse bookings.

Flash designs are ready to go, no back-and-forth, no custom consultation, just pick one and book.

A highlight showing your available flash creates urgency. People see something they like and they want it now.

Update it regularly. Mark things as taken when they're gone.

Scarcity sells.

If you don't do flash, you can swap this for Availability, a simple highlight showing your current open dates or a waitlist CTA.

Yes, your grid shows your work. But highlights let you organize it.

If you do multiple styles, create a highlight for each one, Realism, Blackwork, Fine Line, whatever applies to you.

A client who wants a fine line tattoo doesn't want to scroll through 200 posts. Give them a shortcut.

If you only do one style, use this highlight for your absolute best work. Your top 10 to 15 pieces. The stuff that makes people stop scrolling.

Quality over quantity. Always.

People book people, not just portfolios.

A short "About Me" highlight gives your profile a human face.

It doesn't need to be long, a few slides is enough.

Who you are, how long you've been tattooing, what you love about the craft, maybe a photo of you at work.

This one builds connection fast. And connected clients are loyal clients. They come back, they refer their friends, and they leave reviews.

Don't skip it just because it feels uncomfortable.

Showing up as a person is a competitive advantage.

Go check your highlights right now. Ask yourself:

Delete anything that doesn't serve a purpose. You don't need ten highlights. You need four or five that actually do a job.

That's it. Thirty minutes of work, max. And your profile will be ahead of 85% of tattoo artists out there.

If you want to go deeper than just highlights, your bio, your name field, your pinned posts, your link, I put together a complete playbook that covers all of it.

It's built on data from auditing 100+ real tattoo artist profiles. Every fix is specific, practical, and takes less than 30 minutes total.

That's a wrap for this week.

If this made you realise your profile needs more than just a highlights fix, your bio, name field, pinned posts, and booking link all matter too, I've got you covered.

Fix Your Instagram in 30 Minutes is a $15 playbook built on data from auditing 100+ real tattoo artist profiles.

It tells you exactly what's broken and exactly how to fix it.

Fast.

See you next week.