Guides / Studio Haven
Booking tattoo clients from Instagram without living in your DMs
Instagram is where people find you. It's a bad place to run your books. Here's how to keep the reach and move the booking somewhere with a calendar and a deposit.
What goes wrong when DMs are the system
Threads get buried under story replies. The same five questions come in forty times a week. A "yes let's do it" turns into nothing because there was no deposit and no date. And your whole client list is stuck inside an app you don't control.
What the link in your bio should do
- Show flash that's actually available, with a price and a deposit
- Take custom requests with placement, size, and reference photos in one form
- Show your policy before anyone pays
- Take the deposit and put it on your calendar
- Show healed work, so the new people can see how it holds up
Answering DMs
Keep a saved reply: "Thanks! Everything I've got open, and the custom form, is here: [your link]. Once you've booked, you'll get a confirmation and my aftercare." Friendly, quick, and it ends the thread.
If you've already worked it out with someone in DMs, send them a booking link. On Studio Haven you can let them pick a date, pick the date for them and just take payment, or have them do both. They tap it, finish their part, and the booking shows up in your admin.
Beyond the bio
Pin a post that says how to book. Add a story highlight with the link and your policy. When you post new flash, say the design is bookable on your page, not "DM to claim". If you'd like to drop a whole batch at once, read how to run a flash day.
See it from the client side
Open the demo studio and book it the way a client would, deposit and all. You don't need an account. When you're ready, set up your own page.
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Questions artists ask
Should I stop taking bookings in DMs completely?
You don't have to. Keep chatting in DMs, just book through the link. That way the date, deposit, and form all end up in one place.
What link should I put in my bio?
Your booking page. On Studio Haven that's studiohaven.net/s/your-name, or your own domain if you connect one.
What about people who find me on Google?
Same link. A booking page with your work, flash, and healed photos gives search something to show when people look up your name.
$15 a month. No cut of your deposits.
14-day free trial starts when you sign up. No card needed. Flash, customs, deposits, calendar, aftercare.