How to scare off the slow season

October 27, 2025 - 1 month ago

Every artist hits that quiet patch. This time, we’ve teamed up with Get Ink - the booking platform that gets it - to share six grounded ways to stay balanced and keep your business moving, even when the pace slows. Read on for how to stay steady through it...

Slow season doesn’t have to mean empty chairs. Post holiday tightening up, clients reprioritising, coughs and colds, bills, Christmas - all the stuff is affecting our tattoo needs - having them and doing them.

The question isn’t if it’s coming, but how you prepare for it.

No bloody good telling us now is it…. We hear ya!

But it happens every year here’s not just how to not just survive the quieter months, but actually use them to make your tattoo business stronger.

1. Make booking frictionless

Yup we’re straight in there with the booking app chat.

When things get quiet, even small bits of friction can kill an enquiry.

If your booking flow is clunky, clients hesitate, forget and you could miss out.

Every click, every extra question, every back-and-forth adds resistance.

Get Ink strips all that out. You can:

✔️ Fill cancellation slots in seconds
✔️ Sell flash without using Instagram to display
✔️ Offer flexible payments (yes, even buy now/pay later)
✔️ Send automatic reminders to cut no-shows
✔️ Store client details and reference images in one place
✔️ Share terms and FAQs upfront so you’re not repeating yourself
✔️ Keep your calendar synced so there are zero double-bookings

The easier you make it to say “yes,” the more clients will commit.

And once they’ve booked, reminders and clear terms mean they actually show up.

2. Keep income steady

Some months you need every pound to get through, other months it's a total YOLO vibe and we do cool life stuff.

So it’s no good us saying something like your mum would like “Save a bit every month for when it's quieter”. Wise words but it’s not reality.

The aim isn’t to save piles of cash, it’s to make sure the money keeps moving so the slow season doesn’t feel like hitting a wall.

How to smooth things out:

✔️ Deposits upfront — protect your time and your income (and if no-shows are a problem, try larger upfront payments).
✔️ Buy now/pay later — clients get flexibility, you don’t miss out on bookings.
✔️ Fill cancellations fast — Get Ink lets you re-offer slots without trawling through DMs and no-one seeing your story.

It’s not about becoming a finance guru. It’s about staying steady and keeping your chair full.

Bonus tip: Speak to an accountant - we recommend @tattooaccountants. They are your people.

3. Post smarter, not just more

We all know the algorithm loves more content. But that doesn’t mean you need to kill yourself creating new stuff every day.

✔️ Reshare flash and healed work. Most people didn’t see it the first time anyway.
✔️ Use Stories to remind your regulars about availability.
✔️ Batch content in one go, schedule it, then forget about it.

Consistency > perfection. Familiarity sells tattoos.

4. Go beyond Instagram

We’ve all seen reach tank overnight or it doing weird stuff like hiding messages. Slow season’s the perfect time to branch out:

✔️ Email - a friendly monthly update with flash, healed work, or availability keeps you close to clients in a way Instagram can’t. (We’re big fans of Pardon My French’s newsletter vibe.)
✔️ Google Business Profile - update photos, hours, collect reviews and re-share them. It’s free visibility for people searching locally.
❌ Don’t fall into the “boost post” trap. Big retailers are throwing thousands into ads right now, which makes ad space pricey and crowded. You’ll end up paying more and getting less back.

5. Create Your Own Buzz

If enquiries are slow, make some noise yourself. Not the screaming into a pillow type.
 Give people a reason to book now.

✔️ Run a themed flash day (Halloween always bangs).
✔️ Offer limited-time “mini” sessions to bring in new clients.
✔️ ️Take a guest spot. Followers in another city finally get a chance to book with you.
✔️ ️Sell gift vouchers - no one wants socks, all the cool kids want a new tattoo!

Don’t wait for clients to come knocking.

6. Protect your energy

Slow season hits your head as much as your diary. Boundaries matter.

✔️ Use the quiet weeks to reset. Draw, build flash, look at how you can make small improvements to your client booking experience.
✔️ Don’t burn yourself out on time-wasters.
✔️ Put your energy into the stuff that actually grows your business, not just replying to endless DMs or doom scrolling.

Protecting your time now means you’ve got fuel to go hard when demand ramps back up.

Final thoughts

Slow season is inevitable  but it doesn’t have to hurt (too much).

The artists who keep their booking flow smooth, keep income steady, diversify their marketing, and make their own buzz are the ones who thrive year-round.

🖤 Get Ink is here to keep the relentless admin off your plate, so you can focus on what matters; keeping your clients happy and tattooing what's in your diary, not just constantly filling it.

👉 Sign up at getink.app today and use code Magnum10 for 10% off a lifetime subscription!