The Artful Dollar · Client Onboarding

Your Story, Your Point of View, Your Brand

This is a writing exercise, not a quick form. Read the notes below before you start.

One heads up before you start: this one's pure writing, so it's worth doing on a laptop or iPad rather than your phone. Your answers save automatically on this device and browser as you go, but they won't carry over if you switch devices partway through, so it's worth starting on the device you plan to finish on.

What to expect: this form has 4 sections. Each time you finish a section, hit that section's submit button and you'll get a PDF of just that section emailed to you right away. Once you finish Section 4, you'll get one complete PDF with everything from all 4 sections combined. You can do all 4 in one sitting or spread them out over a few weeks, whatever works for you.

One more thing: everything you write here is confidential between us. Not all of it will end up in your content, and what does is completely up to you. Just get it all out onto the page, the more you give me, the more we have to work with.

Before You Start

A Couple Quick Details

Your name

Your email This is where we'll send your copy of everything you submit.

Section 1 · Week 1

Where You Came From / What You Actually Think

This is where we start, your story and what you actually believe. Once you're through this section, hit submit below and you'll get a PDF of it. Keep going if you're in the zone, or come back for the rest another day.

Where You Came From

How did you get into tattooing? Tell me the whole story.

Why do you love tattooing? Don't give me the surface "it's fun and cool" answers. Really sit with this and give an honest, thorough answer. If there's a story or two attached, share those as well.

What was the proudest moment of your tattoo career?

Was there ever a time you almost quit tattooing? Describe what happened.

What You Actually Think

What do you believe about tattooing that most artists would disagree with?

What's something about the tattoo industry that people outside of it would be shocked to learn?

What did you used to believe about tattooing that you've completely changed your mind about?

What do you find yourself explaining to clients over and over?

What are people unsure about, afraid of, or nervous about before their consultation, before they come to the studio, before they sit down in your chair, and what do you actually tell them to help them with this?

That's Section 1. Submit it below to get your PDF, then keep going whenever you're ready.

✓Section 1 submitted — check your email

Section 2 · Week 2

Who You're For / The Look and Feel

Time to get specific about who you're actually talking to, and how you want everything to look and feel.

Who You're For

Describe your ideal client. Be specific because you want your content to speak to one person, not everybody. This might feel limiting but I promise it's not, you will attract plenty of people that don't fit this avatar but getting clear on who you are speaking to will make everything you say much more potent and powerful. Example: "My ideal client is James, a straight man in his mid thirties, works as an architect at a large firm, has 2 kids and listens to obscure 70's metal on vinyl records. He reads a lot of personal development books, rides a Triumph cafe racer motorcycle and wants to cover his whole body in medieval occult, alchemical inspired tattoos."

Who is not your ideal client? Describe them and the tattoos they want to get that you absolutely do not want to do. Let yourself have fun with this one.

What do your ideal clients all have in common?

What do you want a client to say to their friend about you and your work the day after their appointment?

The Look and Feel

List 1 to 3 examples that have the look and feel you'd want your brand to have. This doesn't have to be a company. It can be someone's personal brand, a movement, an organization, or anyone with an audience and a following whose vibe feels close to what you want yours to be. No tattoo-related examples.

Pretend I'm blind. Describe to me what it is about the way those look and feel that resonates most with you.

Describe what those examples feel like, and what you want people to feel about your brand. Whole sentences or individual words, either is fine.

Name a brand, person, or presence online that makes you cringe, and tell me why.

What do you secretly want to be known for?

That's Section 2. Submit it below to get your PDF, then keep going whenever you're ready.

✓Section 2 submitted — check your email

Section 3 · Week 3

The Work / What It's Taught You

This is where the good stuff usually shows up. People who take their time on this section move the fastest once we start making content.

The Work

Why do you love tattooing the style of work that you do, or want to do more of?

Pretend I went blind yesterday and don't understand tattoo terms like "traditional, japanese, black and grey realism." How would you describe your tattoos to me? Example: "The fabric on her dress looks like it's about to start moving." "Images and symbols feel like they were pulled from a dusty book you found in the cobweb filled basement of a gothic cathedral." "The twisted gnarled branches look like they are reaching out to grab you and are slowly growing across your shoulders and down your arm." "Tattoos that look like they lived through world war one and then stepped into a bar to challenge the biggest guy in there to a fist fight."

What type of tattoos do you wish more clients would ask you to do?

If you could start a new tattoo trend, what would it be?

If I gave you $10,000 and said "tattoo anything you want on me," what would you do? Describe the tattoo.

What's the hardest tattoo you've ever done, technically or emotionally?

What's something you've never been asked to tattoo that you wish someone would ask for?

What insecurities do you still have about your tattoo work? Nobody sees this but me, and I've never had a client who didn't have an answer here.

What It's Taught You

What are the top 3 most impactful life lessons you've learned from your career as a tattoo artist?

What are the things you wish you knew on day 1 of tattooing that you know now?

Describe the worst moment or experience of your tattoo career and what it taught you.

If you could go back in time before you got your first tattoo and give yourself advice about getting tattoos, what would you tell yourself?

That's Section 3. Submit it below to get your PDF, then keep going whenever you're ready.

✓Section 3 submitted — check your email

Section 4 · Week 4

The People / Who You Are Outside the Chair

Last section. This is the most personal part, and it's where the final picture comes together. Submitting this one bundles everything from all 4 sections into one complete PDF.

The People

Tell me about the tattoo that mattered most to a client. What were they carrying when they walked in?

What's the nicest thing a client has ever said to or done for you?

What's the worst thing a client has ever said to or done to you? No names or identifying details.

Who You Are Outside the Chair

If you were not a professional tattoo artist, what would you want to be doing with your life if you could do anything except tattoo?

What is your favorite memory from your life? How old were you? Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing?

Who are your non-tattoo influences? Music, film, photographers, places, subcultures, anything.

What are you obsessed with that has nothing to do with tattooing? Don't just name it. Tell me why you're obsessed with it, why it matters to you so much.

How would your best friend describe you if you weren't in the room?

What is it about you that other people admire?

If you had to sum up your personal life philosophy what would it be? A single line is fine, so is a couple sentences or a full paragraph, whatever it takes to actually say it right.

What's true about you that nobody would know from looking through your social media? List as many honest things as you can, whether it's something a client would learn from sitting in your chair for hours or something you'd want people to know that they currently don't.

That's everything. Submitting this pulls together all 4 sections into one complete PDF for both of us.

✓All done — check your email