We were lucky to catch up with Jeremy Lucky recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeremy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Prior to opening my own studio , I had previously underwent my apprenticeship but keep in mind I started tattooing around 2007 , back then it wasn’t as socially acceptable and the money wasn’t just flowing in. I was working as a tattoo artist on the side of managing a pawn shop. Eventually I had to stop tattooing to work full time covering my bills. In 2011 that all changed , a local artist closed his studio and moved out of state. The studio was already set up to pass inspections etc. and only offered 2 booths, so it was very small. I talked to the building owner and the rent was $900 a month + $900 deposit , I sold everything I owned , down to my vehicle , pushed all my chips in and opened up. It was very slow, some days or even weeks sitting there doing nothing but trying to build my brand. By 2013 I was able to acquire a much larger building , we now have a total of 10 employees that keep the studio operating optimally. That first couple of years was literally sink or swim for me, I took a chance , invested in myself, gambled and luckily it paid off.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started tattooing back in 2007 , things were much different then, getting into the whole industry felt more like trying to join a very exclusive club that no one wanted you to be a part of. It wasn’t easy, the hazing process was brutal. In those days , we learned everything from making our own needles & inks , down to building and tuning our own machines. Superior tattoo supplies was the top supplier at the time of that gives you a good age assessment lol.

The thing that I noticed very quickly was how clients were treated in the studio I learned at, They tended to treat the clients as if they were doing them a favor by even agreeing to work on them. It was a lot of “what do you want” “ohh really , that’s super original” in the most sarcastic ways possible. I had always worked hard and usually held multiple jobs at once to make ends meet, some of those involved retail settings. So my initial thought was “hey, these people are paying our bills, what if we tried being nice” so in 2011 when I opened Lucky 7 Tattoo Studio, that was my foundation for success , treat clients like friends , respect them, make sure they are comfortable. As artists we do this all day everyday but for the average client that may get one or two tattoos a year, each experience is new, they are nervous, giving them some comfort shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Once we set the principle foundation , we built on it. A lot of artist tend to hop from shop to shop, I wanted the same artists , same location , so that we could create consistency and our artist could build their clientele, not having to chase them down or get the run around. We have also always stood behind everything we do, we offer free touch ups for the life of the tattoo (some exclusions apply) but we wanted to make sure Lucky 7 would always be a trusted name in the industry going above and beyond for our clients and their safety.

The main message I try to convey to all new or returning clients is that no matter what you are not putting yourself at risk. You have so many people tattooing from the house and putting peoples health at risk for a quick $$ and that’s just unacceptable. We aren’t always going to be someone’s first choice but we do encourage everyone to do their research, ask questions, get to know your artist, check their portfolio and how long they’ve been at that location. A tattoo is permanent and should be treated with the upmost respect, we fully understand that when you want to get a tattoo it’s typically a spur of the moment decision and sometimes we have wait times or need to set appointments but remember, this will be on you forever, so even if you have to wait a few extra days, have patience, it’s forever.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The key to building a great online presence is consistency, make sure you are posting as much as you can. Even when you are sick of posting, make more posts, you have a lot of great features like scheduling posts now that are good tools for building yourself and your brand. Everyone has their “main” social accounts they use, Facebook is my go to whilst Instagram is the go to for a lot of others. They can be linked to post simultaneously, which makes things much easier.

Another big help is generating organic likes, views and interactions. At first my following was small, currently I average a reach of 550,000-750,000 interactions on Facebook alone. What you don’t learn is that if you make a page for your business and you tell everyone you know to go “like or follow” your page , Facebook will only show 10% of your organic followers your posts unless you “bump”’ the post by paying them to show everyone that already follows you. To negate that, make sure your posts are engaging , doing a free giveaway that requires participants to Like , Share and comment is a great way to generate that. Once you hit a certain mark, the content is automatically pushed to all of your audience because of its viral status. This is a great way to please current clients and attract new ones.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of gaining new clientele is consistency and word of mouth. I always work off of the two R’s , (Repeat and Referrals) you certainly want to retain your repeat business and be consistent with them so that they tell everyone they know YOU are their artist and the only one they trust with your body art needs, that’s where you gain your referrals. Keeping your clientele happy is one of the most important things you can do. That’s why we guarantee our work, help with our community through outreach programs, get involved and show our appreciation to every single client. It doesn’t matter if they are coming in and getting the shop minimum or a $4,000 custom tattoo, they should be treated equally and accordingly , their time is just as valuable.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/lucky7ts
• Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/lucky7ts

Image Credits

Jordan Pedigo
Heather Furlong
Corey Berndt
Carley Cunningman