🖤 You trained them to wait

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. 😊

I'm thinking about putting together a free starter website for tattoo artists. I set it up, you just swap in your name, logo, address, and photos.

The only cost is hosting. It’s around $50/year, paid directly to the provider, not to me.

A lot of you opened that email. Not many voted.

Takes 2 seconds. Would you want that?

Dropping your prices when bookings slow down is a trap.

Understandable. But still a trap.

When your calendar gets quiet, the instinct is to make yourself more accessible.

Lower the minimum. Run a flash sale. Drop the rate just for this month.

It feels logical.

Lower the barrier, more people come in. Calendar fills up.

Problem solved.

Except it's not solved. It's deferred.

They learn your rate is negotiable.

They learn that if they wait long enough, a deal will come.

So next time they think about booking?

They wait.

Why pay full rate today when there's probably a sale in a few weeks?

You trained them to do that. Not intentionally.

But you did.

They were already shopping around for the cheapest option.

Those aren't the clients you were trying to attract.

They found you because you got cheaper, not because they wanted you specifically.

Your calendar fills up. But with the wrong people.

And you're working harder, earning less, and wondering why nothing feels like it's moving forward.

It's a visibility problem. Or a trust problem.

It means the way you're showing up isn't reaching people who'd book at full rate without needing a reason to.

Dropping your rate doesn't fix that. It just puts you in front of different people.

Artists with full books at rates they're proud of aren't necessarily more talented.

They've built an audience that trusts them enough to book without needing a discount.

That trust comes from showing up consistently. From saying the right things to the right people.

When someone follows you for months, sees your work, reads your captions, and feels like they know you, they book because they want you. Not because you ran a sale.

So what do you do when things get slow?

Ask yourself: who am I actually reaching right now, and is that the right person?

Look at what you've been posting, what you've been saying, who's been engaging.

If the answer is "people who ask how much for a small simple tattoo," that's a content and positioning problem.

Fix the message. Not the rate.

Discounting occasionally is fine.

A flash sale on your terms, for the right reason, is totally valid.

But doing it every time your books slow down keeps you working harder, charging less, and never getting ahead.

You don't need to be cheaper.

You need to be clearer about who you are and who you're for.

That's a wrap for this week. If this resonated, hit reply and let me know.

I read every single reply.

See you next Friday.

Matt

P.S.
Genuinely curious: have you ever dropped your rate during a slow period?
How did it go? Hit reply and tell me.