 | Wow guys! It’s fall already! How did that happen?!
What a whirlwind the last year and a half has been. In some ways it has gone like rapid fire and others like a turtle. It has presented businesses of every kind with unprecedented challenges and hurdles. Including us.
We have had to implement many changes for several reasons, not just pandemic related. Though we always strive to make everyone happy, sadly, it seems impossible at times. We still continue to try our very best and go above and beyond for our clients. We appreciate you ALL so much! | Your patience and understanding have been invaluable during this time as we try to navigate these new waters. From changes in how to inquire about appointments, the amount of time our artists are booking out , and just some general changes to our way of business in the recent months. | We understand your frustration with the wait times and new process. We also understand how lucky we are to be your first choice when it comes to your body art needs! We DO NOT take that for granted. We would REALLY like to thank ALL of you that have stuck with us and shown patience and understanding. THANK YOU! Unfortunately, due to the high demand, it does mean that artists must occasionally close their books, there are longer waiting periods, and the artists are being more selective about what they take on. | With that said, the following info may be a bit long, but IS important for you to understand the steps we have in place moving forward with scheduling.
We get SOOOO many inquiries! We are flattered, humbled, and so grateful! | We have created booking forms for each artist on the website. This serves as an initial type of consult for the artist. It also gives the artist all the important info they need right off, cuts down on back-and-forth time through emails, and is easy to find and reference later.
Booking forms also keep all of our inquiries in ONE place. It gets far too overwhelming trying to keep up with booking messages on FB, IG, Google, etc. We will always direct you to the booking forms so we know exactly which outlet to go to for your information. | Please do your due diligence! We will try to help the very best that we can, but we cannot always tell you which artist you should choose. We cannot tell you “Whichever one would want to do it”. Please look at their work. Choose whoever has a style you like and pieces that catch your eye the most, whose work you are most drawn to, whose portfolio has examples that look like what you would want. You can also read about what interests them the most or what styles they might not have a lot of in their portfolio, but are looking to do more of, on their portfolio/booking forms on the website. This is on your body forever and a little research goes a long way.
Each artist has their own form, specifically for them. You need to go to venomink.com then click on ARTISTS. There, each artist has a page/portfolio. You can check out their work, and there is a booking form there with more info. When filling out a form, you must include the pictures they ask for. They do not have to be “exactly” what you want. Just for reference. If you do not include the required pictures, your form will not go through. | Just because you submit a form, does not mean you will get an appointment. Because the artists schedule out so far, they are being selective about what new things they take on. This does not mean that we think your idea/design is not good or important!! We know they are all important! PLEASE, do not take it personally! Our artists take extreme pride in their work and doing original, unique pieces and working in certain styles. If they feel they can’t achieve this by your description, or your project is not within their style, they may politely decline. It is nothing personal, and it doesn’t mean they think your idea is stupid. It just means they would like to try and fill their time with art and genres they love to do, styles they are comfortable with or would like to do more of, portfolio pieces, etc. (hint: you can find info on what they want to do on their booking forms )
Again, we don’t want to deny anyone, and we hate making anyone upset for any reason, they just simply cannot take on all requests. It’s impossible. If they did, they would be booking 2 years out and none of us, including clients want that. We truly do apologize and hope you understand! | A lot of you have heard lately, “books are closed”. This is simply to gain and keep control of their schedule. As stated above, If they just kept accepting and booking appointments, they would all literally be booked out 1-2 years. I’m sure most of you understand. It gets far too stressful to plan your life that far ahead of time. Clients included! So, in order to be fair to not only our artists, but also their clients, they will close their books for a period of time. It is less frustrating for the artists and lets them better focus on the current projects they have as well as giving each client the time and focus THEY deserve. | Each artist is in control of their own schedule, so they will open their books when they choose and will book out as far as they are comfortable with. There is no date when ALL artists books open or close. It is individually up to each artist. When an artist’s books are going to open, it will be posted on their/our social media with instructions on how to move forward (i.e. booking form) sending your request. | It may take some time for an artist to respond to your inquiry. PLEASE be patient with this. They often times can only get to answering them once a week, sometimes up to 2 weeks. Not everyone will get a response. Please READ the booking form. When not tattooing all day, they are drawing for upcoming appointments, and in between, trying to salvage some much needed time with their families and for themselves | There may be times, an artists booking form is not visible on the website. Sometimes, we will shut down a booking form when the books are closed for that artist. If not, inquiries still come in non stop. It is nearly impossible to keep up with responding to everyone, just to tell them your books are closed at the moment and to reach back out at a later date.
Just a reminder… we ARE NOT COMPLAINING! We could not be more thankful and appreciative of the interest in getting work done by our artists! We are thankful every day for ALL of you and how busy you are keeping us!! | Now, on to gift cards. This has been a very hard decision for us. Due to the artists booking out so far, occasionally closing their books, and being selective about what new things they do take on, we are no longer offering gift cards at this time. If the recipient already has an appointment in someone’s books, please let me know, (kelly@venomink.com) but otherwise, sadly, we must stop offering them for the time being.
Some people do not understand how far we book out and how long it can take to get in. Therefore, they get upset after purchasing one that it can’t be used right away. There have been multiple communications recently with the “had I known when I bought it” lines that we have decided to not offer them for the foreseeable future.
Also, since the artists are being selective on what they take on they do not want to feel obligated by a gift card to do something they do not feel comfortable doing. (You wouldn’t believe some of the requests ) We are like a family here and it is very important to us to keep our artists just as happy as our clients.
Gift cards already issued will be honored of course, it just takes patience to get in.
We know this bums a lot of you out, as it does us, but it really is the best and only way to handle this, currently. We may come up with an idea for our “frequent fliers” who will miss the XMAS discount this year. Keep your eyes on your emails. We sincerely apologize for this and hope you all understand.
If you have any further questions please email me at kelly@venomink.com. | Piercings are still being done by appointment. Our structure with that changed at the beginning of 21 as well. The prices may have gone up but the jewelry is STELLAR! Kyle has some super high quality titanium in an array of gorgeous colors and sizes to choose from. Also, opals and gold. Let me say that again. Beautiful OPALS and gold. We literally get reviews on how great he is weekly. We couldn’t agree more. Please call for availability and to schedule your time with him. If you have any piercing/jewelry questions, feel free to shoot him an email at kyle@venomink.com. | One more quick little pointer: If you call and no one answers (we are closed at that time, I am busy checking a client in, outside petting a dog or my mouth is full of peanut butter) PLEASE leave a message. We cannot answer your questions if you don’t leave a message. We have had people call, never leave a message and then ask later why no one called them back. I love you all, but do not have time to chase you. Nor do I have telepathic powers about why you may have been calling. That would be super cool though. I would totally use that power. Also, if you are super awesome and do leave a message, when leaving your call back number, please make sure that A. your “voicemailbox has been set up” and B. is not “mailbox is full”, before getting angry that no one called you back. We tried. Please and thank you. | If you hear a repeated buzz or beep sound when you call, that is called a busy signal. They are rare and from olden times. Very much like the cassette tapes, phones attached to a cord, and cars with manual windows. But, I assure you, they still exist. Some of you younger folk think the phone is broken. Totally understandable. It is not. It simply means we are already on the phone and the line is in use. Archaic I know, but it works for us. Keep trying. You’ll get through | Did I happen to say thank you to you all yet? You guys are the bee’s knees, the crème de la crème, the cream of the crop, and better than sliced bread. Am I showing my age yet? | We are trying. We are doing the very best we can right now to make our clients happy as well as ourselves. More importantly, we are crazy thankful for all of you. We would be nothing without our awesome clients. Past, present and future ones included. We are nothing short of amazed every day. We are grateful for your business, your patience, and you’re understanding while we navigate better ways that work for all of us and hopefully serve you better as well.
A heartfelt thank you from all of us here. | Now, go enjoy your fairs, hunting, pumpkin spice, cider, hoodies, bonfires, turkey and mashed potatoes because ugly sweater parties, shoveling and tree scented everything is right around the corner!
As always, if you have any comments or questions about…well, anything (shop stuff I mean. I don’t know why your cat is staring into the corner of that room or what that noise is your car is making), please shoot me an email at kelly@venomink.com. | | |
