How to own your tattoo client list, not rent it

Keep a list you hold yourself: name, phone, email, Instagram handle and the date of their last session, in a plain spreadsheet, with a line on your intake form asking permission to send openings. Then message it directly. Start with the ten most recent clients you can reach.

It's a Tuesday and you have a gap two weeks out. You post the opening on Instagram and wait. The people who sat in your chair last year are somewhere among your followers, and the app decides which of them sees the post. You couldn't text a single one of them if you wanted to, because you never wrote their numbers down.

Because your followers belong to Instagram, and a list belongs to you. The platform decides who sees your posts, and it can lock or shut an account. A list of past clients goes wherever you go, and a message to it reaches everyone on it instead of whoever the app picks.

There's a second reason. People you've already tattooed trust you more than a stranger who liked a reel. A message to them is the warmest booking channel you have, and it only works if you can reach them.

This isn't an argument to quit Instagram. Keep posting. The point is that a lost account shouldn't mean a lost book. There's more on keeping a record of every booking outside Instagram in the DMs piece.

Five columns. A spreadsheet is enough. A simple sheet or a booking tool both work, whichever you'll keep up.

Add a sixth if you like, a note on what they got or what they mentioned wanting next. That note is what makes a later message sound like you remember them, because you do.

Keep it private. It holds clients' contact details, so it goes in your own account, not a shared shop sheet. If you rent a booth, check your agreement for who owns client contact info before you build it.

Go back through the last two years of DMs and bookings and pull out everyone who got tattooed. Scroll or export your messages, copy the names and any numbers or emails into one sheet, and either do it yourself or pay someone for a few hours to do it. Anyone who inquired and never booked goes on a separate tab, not the main list.

You won't find everyone's email. Instagram handle plus a first name is still a start, and a text thread or call covers the rest.

From now on, capture it at booking so you never dig again. Put phone and email as required fields on your intake form, and write the date of the session in the sheet when it's done.

Put one line on your intake form and say it out loud at booking. Something like this:

Texting and email marketing have rules, and they vary by state. Check yours, and ask an accountant or a lawyer if you're unsure. This piece doesn't cover the legal side.

One message with a reason in it: you have dates open, or you're drawing something new, or you're going somewhere. Then a link and nothing else.

A cold "want another tattoo?" is a different thing, and it comes across as pushy. News plus a link, sent to people who agreed to hear from you, isn't that.

Three habits that keep the list working:

The date is only held once the deposit is in, so the link should lead to your usual process. Your deposit and booking steps stay the same for a client you've known for years.

You can, and some artists do. The setup is simple: email the list before each opening, tell subscribers when books open, and give them a set window, say a week, to send a request. Posting availability on Instagram becomes optional.

You don't need to go that far. A free mail tool and a sign-up link in your bio is a fair first step. Start by sending openings to the list before you post them anywhere else.

Instagram controls who sees your posts and can lock an account. A list of names, numbers and emails stays with you wherever you work.

Name, phone, email, Instagram handle and date of last session, plus a note on what they might want next.

Ask on your intake form, and check your state's rules on texting and email marketing. Keep the line optional.

One short message with a reason: open dates or new flash, and a booking link. Reuse the version that works every couple of months.

Checked October 2026. This is our method for building a client list; it is not a survey and not a count of what artists do.

Gal, founder of Collabo.ink, the booking app for tattoo artists. For 15 years I booked sessions for dozens of artists, some of them among the best known in the world. Collabo.ink takes your bookings and deposits, so you can focus on what matters: tattooing.