TattooNOWs Building a Great Tattoo Business (Empire State)

Saturday July 16th 12 - 3  2.5 hours with .5 hour Q&A

Being good isn't enough, be GREAT! To be great you must organize your talents, work, and businesses for success. If you are tattooing for a living then you are a small business. If you don't understand the nature of business, then you are spending more energy and getting less out of your hard work. In this seminar artists, managers, studio owners, and apprentices will learn to think about all the details of a professional business plan as it relates specifically to high quality professional tattooing. Topics covered will include clearly defining your mission, how to build a strong business foundation, determining keys to success, assessing your target markets, establishing branding, comparing competitors, clearly defining your services and products, sales and marketing strategies, advertising and public relations, responsible selling strategies & creating demand, human resources management, and how to track your vital statistics to insure your businesses fulfills its potential. We have watched and helped artists in all stages of careers, from aspiring artists and managers to artists of exceptional influence, and are happy to pass on the great ideas that have helped us achieve our goals time and time again. For $200. Seminar will be a 2 hour talk/slideshow with 20-30 minutes of business questions and answers from attendees.


For over a decade Gabe Ripley has been immersed in the business of tattooing. After a freelance computer programming career in the US and Europe, Gabe first stepped into the tattoo business world in 2001 by creating TattooNOW, a technology business that currently powers over 100 tattoo industry websites around the world and has since helped tattooers generate millions of dollars in business. In 2005, based on the success of TattooNOW's websites, Ripley opened Off the Map Tattoo. By constantly improving the studio's business practices, it now boasts over 50 guest artists a year, and a growing business in a slowing economy. Not one to settle, in 2008 Ripley started using the same business practices to produce two yearly events, the Paradise Tattoo Gathering and Paradise Artist Retreat. These events are focused on four days of responsible tattoo and art education and have earned an international reputation. Gabe presented this seminar to over 200 artists at the first Worldwide Tattoo Conference in Rome in October 2011. "Everybody gave me good feedback because you gave to the artists good, easy, and interesting suggestions!" said Alex DePase the conference's promoter of the business seminar.

 
Each attendee will get access to a google docs folder including the following:

• Sample Tattoo Studio Handbook.
• Sample Daily and weekly checklists
• Sample management action plan.
• Sample marketing materials (postcards, bi-folds, goodie bags)