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48 June 2016 | beautystorebusiness.com ONE-MAN-GLAM ARTIST: Jose Martinez, Celebrity Hairstylist and MUA Instagram: @glit_glam He's the one-man glam squad. Perhaps best known for his contouring, and for his celebrity work with the Dash Dolls and World Wrestling Entertainment's Natalie Eva Marie (to name a few), Jose Martinez is the whole package: a hairstylist, hair colorist, makeup art- ist and social-media maven. His unique combination of skills has allowed him to go from renting a chair at a salon (which he still keeps; as he's very loyal to his original client base, whom he considers family) to working on the road nearly full time as a celebrity glam artist. His suc- cess in this world has been swift to take off—but he says that it wasn't always that way. Before he could go totally mobile, he had to put a lot of work and effort into growing his business. "From a very early age, I showed interest in hair and makeup, and pretty much anything glam," he says. "By the time I was a senior, I was already doing my friends' color and extensions—I had it down." Yet, it wasn't until after obtain- ing his cosmetology license that Martinez discovered the world of makeup. "I just fell in love with makeup artistry; so I started working on everyone and anyone I could get my hands on." Adding makeup as a service would prove to be a smart move as far as brand- ing is concerned. "I definitely see where makeup artistry is more recognized in a way," he says, adding that it's hard for hairstylists to garner the same attention for their work. "People see the makeup look, and they feel they can re-create it; but when it comes to hair, they feel like they can't do it themselves at home." Being able to offer both hair and makeup has been crucial to setting Martinez apart from the pack, he says—both in the beginning and now as a celebrity artist. "It opens up a lot more doors that I can do a full-on hairstyle and makeup look," Martinez says. "A lot of the time there are budgets for glam, and [for them]. It's great [when] they can fly out just one person." It also allows him to have full control over his artwork. "As an artist you have a vision for what you want to do, and there's nothing better than knowing [when it's completed] that it's your full vision. It's a great feeling." It wasn't until he got the opportunity to work with Natalie Eva Marie, whom he met via mutual friends, that his busi- ness really took off. "After doing hair for one of my first celeb clients, Natalie Eva Marie—Ms. All-Red Everything—I was asked to glam her for the first time. And things just started happening. I was asked to glam on shoots, do glam tutori- als and on other celebrity clients." Martinez helped Natalie Eva Marie cultivate her famous bright-red hair color, which is frequently showcased in all its splendor on his booming Ins- tagram page, with more than 132,000 followers. Word of mouth and social media—which is essentially the virtual word of mouth—has been one of the major keys to his success; particularly Instagram. "It's like free advertisement," he says. Many of his gigs, in fact, started Jose Martinez HOW TO PUT SOCIAL MEDIA TO WORK Spoiler: Social media takes time and effort—but, luckily, anyone can do it. "Social media is definitely not the easiest thing to do," says glam professional Jose Martinez. First and foremost, it takes time, he says. Luckily, the start-up costs are zero to minimal, and a few smart moves can make all the difference. At the end of the day, it's essentially free marketing, he says. Here are a few things to remember when growing your social-media presence. You never know who's watching. With that said, be strategic. "Hashtagging is major. You never know who is going to like your work and who is going to see that post." Don't ignore the "social" part of "social media." Establishing a presence goes beyond posting frequently—it's about engaging your following, Martinez says. "You want to connect with them somehow so they can feel like they can ask you questions." Be relatable and accessible, and you'll develop loyal followers who boost your page time and time again. Go beyond your page. Your presence shouldn't stop at your page, Martinez says. "Networking is huge. Collaborate with other people." This includes engaging with others' followings by commenting on other pages. "That's how you'll get around, and people will take notice." You don't need state-of-the-art tools to achieve the perfect post. "I think people would be surprised. More than likely you have a smartphone. The things you can do with a smartphone are unbelievable." In the beginning, you can get away with a few minimal purchases, such as good photo-editing apps, possibly a ring light. "More than anything, with glam photos, it's about lighting." Once your business takes off, you can consider investing in a camera, as Martinez eventually did. Watermarks will work for you when you're not working. Time is money, especially for a mobile beauty pro. Martinez urges newbies not to forget the impor- tance of watermarking their photos, both for marketing and recognition. "For the most part, in the social-media world, people know to give credit where credit is due. [But,] you want to start watermarking your work so that people know who created it." A simple watermarking app like iWatermark can make a huge difference. "You do pay for it, but it's totally worth it." "It's a business, and there's always going to be someone better than you. At the end of the day, it's about art." – Jose Martinez, Celebrity Hair and Makeup Artist GLAM MUST-HAVES Morphe Brushes "I love my Morphe brushes. I love their quality and how inexpensive they are. I can continue to trade out brushes." Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour Palette "I have a theory that I could do anything with that. I swear I could make a potato beautiful." Beauty Blender "It's a must. I've tried many other brands, and they're just not the same." Coty AirSpun po der "I have a lot of fitness clients, and many will sweat through fitness shoots or do shoots by the pool. I'm obsessed with this powder—your makeup will stay on during a hurricane." Images courtesy of Jose Martinez, Morphe Brushes and Anastasia Beverly Hills product photography by Armando Sanchez