How to get noticed as a make-up artist

Getting noticed in such a competative industry is difficult. It's not necessatily about being the loudest, constantly begging people to like your facebook page or RT you on Twitter. These things do indeed help to get you noticed, but not necessarily by the right people. It is far better to post rarely, but to post high quality imagery thay people will appreciate and want to share, than to bombard social media with half decent images. How you market yourself will differ depending on what kind of makeup you like to do. For example, film is my favourite genre for makeup. I have an eye for continuity and a lot of patience to get things right. I have a lot of time too and a huge love of film, so naturally moving image attracts me. I do however also love photography and fashion shoots as this often affords the makeup artist much more creative freedom. The trick for me is to market muyself as a bit of both. Film is where I love to be, but in the time between productions, I need to be able to work in still photography. Therefor, using social media becomes tricky.
firstly, you should set up a page completely separate to your personal account and maintain that page as if it were a shop window. It must be professional, even if you're like me and love a laugh and goofing around. People looking at your page may not know you, so keep the gags to a minimum.
Sell yourself with images. It's no good telling the world how great you are if you've no evidence to back it up.
Name drop where appropriate but don't overdo it! There's not much that's more off putting than someone trying to sound important, and you could come across as a bit of a diva. Keep that diva attitude, if you have it in you, to a minimum... that screams 'hard work' to any prospective employer.
practise your skills all the time. If you dont have anything booked in but still need publicity, grab your niece, nephew, son, daughter, sister, whoever, and do some face painting on them. I'm not talking cats and dogs, or spiderman, but something artistic, colourful, eye catching. Keep advertising yourself but only put up images you are proud of. If you have a half decent image and have the idea to put it on your page with a caption about how 'it didn't quite go to plan but you get the idea', all that propspective employers will see is a mistake that uou failed to rectify.
when on twitter, be sure to RT the right people, and don't post every 5 minutes. When it comes to twitter, it is quality over quantity for sure.
Be mindful of who you follow. It is advisable to have two separate accounts if you want to follow certain people that could cause offense to your followers if you retweet them. Update twitter with images of your work and be sure to tag in people where you can. Any RT from makeup or hair companies is good exposure for you and could lead to further retweets.
be mindful of your spelling and grammar. Regardless of whether people wish to admit it, you are being judged on your ability to spell as well as your makeup.
choose your jobs wisely and be prepared to work for free for a while. Do not be taken for a fool though and be aware of when someone is taking you for a ride. Working for free is necessaty at first to start networking, build a portfolio, gain experience and exposure, but the longer you work for free, the more it will be expected from you.