Cornwall based makeup artists and other beauty professionals have an amazing opportunity to rocket their income with Motives Cosmetics.

Check out this guide to getting more income from the same time

I have recently talked to a lot of Makeup Artists ( MUAs ) in Cornwall and what a hard working, talented bunch of ( mainly ) ladies they are.
It’s a great job – making people look great – but it is also a very time consuming job. One MUA I know was recently up at 1.30 in the morning to drive to London to get a bride ready for her wedding then back to Newquay to attend an event and then another private client. She didn’t finish until the evening of that day. A long day and while the pay is reasonable as a freelance MUA it is not brilliant.
Time and money are definitely connected in a strong way.
I personally feel that the objective should be for an MUA to get to the point where he or she can work with the clients that they want to – not the clients that they have to.
The way to do this is to .. Add ( Income ) and Separate ( Time from Money )..
Dealing first with ADD..
At the moment most MUAs only charge an hourly rate or a rate for their art/handiwork. Of course top MUAs can and do charge premium rates.
MUAs have a collection of product that they have assembled over time and know work. This might be in a suitcase or makeup carrier or at their salon. The client might not be aware of the products used – only the end result. If the client is inclined to buy the products that the MUA uses and recommends then it probably means a trip to the shops.
Whilst such a trip might not be an issue it might also be inconvenient and would have a cost to the client in time and money. ( Whether that matters to someone who can afford an MUA is another matter).
It could be that the easy provision of the products used to the client is actually an enhanced service.

pro artist

pro artist
If the client goes and buys those products from the shops then there is nothing in that for the MUA in financial terms.
If on the other hand the MUA could make say 30-50% profit on the products sold then this will have added to the income from any particular client appointment. In fact the product profit might be more than the hourly or set rate.
The MUA would need to have the product on hand in order to sell it or have some sort of online shop ( << An online shop ( <<< Link ) is definitely preferable especially if it has rapid delivery times ( eg 24-48 hour delivery ).
Talking to MUAs recently I noted that many of them gave the client a summary of what they had done for them during that appointment and what products they used and also kept a record for themselves.
I took this idea and developed the idea of the Online Beauty Prescription ( <<< Link – thanks to a friend who is a Beauty Blogger for that description ) which is a blog post that can be written up afterwards and can be anonymous or name the client and will direct them straight to the place in the online shop where they can buy these products. ( Posting a blog actually has many potential benefits to the MUAs online marketing but I will not go into that now ).
Now, at the time that the client purchases these products the MUA may well be working with another client i.e. the MUA has begun to separate time from money or multiply the effect of that time.
We can imagine the client coming back again and again and the only time that the MUA will be aware of this is when they get an email saying ” You have another order placed from ( whoever ) , Value £x “.
Here’s another great thing about this.. If you have not already got the clients email address you will have when they register and buy from your shop.
That email address can be used to communicate with the client on an ongoing basis. The MUA can email them ” special deals ” or ” new products or services “. Such communication can be automated in an appropriate and tailored manner.
Once you have your own shop you will obviously be able to buy certain products at a ” Wholesale ” price yourself. With some companies ( e.g. Motives and Shop.com ) you can buy more than just beauty and cosmetics products at wholesale prices, You could for example buy multivitamins and isotonic products. Such purchases represent a clear saving to you on products that you are already going to buy. This is the online equivalent of having a Costco or Makro account in the UK.
Lets add another dimension to this.. Some of the MUAs friends, business contacts and work colleagues e.g. Hairdressers, Nail Technicians, Manicurists, Masseurs also recommend products off of the MUAs’ online site that are relevant to them. Again these sales come in without any direct effort from the MUA and they come in alongside the MUAs other work.
One or two of the MUAs friends decide that they would also like to have their own online shop and the MUA helps them set that up and guides them on it’s use. The MUA and the friend both get commission on the sales.
Time goes on and more and more friends are selling products off of the websites or have their own websites. The result is a substantial income for many of them that is independent of the number of hours that they put in and which allows them to select which clients they actually want to spend their time with.
Take a look at this video:

Which is about a product range that originated in the U.S. ( in 2010 ) and was conceived by Loren Ridinger and enhanced by LaLa Anthony ( if you are fans of The Kardashians then you may of heard of them ).
This is a high quality, affordable cosmetics and beauty product range which is endorsed by many Celebrity MUAs globally. ( <<< Link ) It is being sold direct via MUAs, Salon and Spa owners and other beauty related professionals. The reason that you can have high quality product at mid range pricing and give high commissions to resellers is that NO money is being spent on advertising or corporate fatcats – the profit goes to the people that deserve it – the MUAs and their business partners. There is a sophisticated 24 -72 hour global delivery system to support sales from the Online sites though.
The Motives business system is a turnkey system that accomplishes EXACTLY what I have said above. Retail profit is added to time for money ( the appointment itself ) and in addition there is profit sharing for group sales.
N.B. We have built a financial model spreadsheet ( mini business plan ) to support this blog. See what happens when you add this to your normal MUA income !!!!
If you are based in the Cornwall or Devon area and ready for a change and high earnings Contact me @cwindley, skype chris.windley or phone 07881 500002 to discuss this opportunity in greater detail.

Bond Pearce Lawyers Solicitors of Plymouth have a website that is full of statements like

” We were proud to be named finalists for The Lawyer ‘Law Firm of The Year’ award. Recognising our focus on providing the best service of any UK law firm and our successes.”

and

” We have come out on top in the Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Report, achieving the best overall firm score.”

and

” Our lawyers are happy to provide insight and opinion on the latest business issues and legal developments. If you would like to talk to one of our experts, or have any other questions, please get in touch.”

but like most lawyers their only real interest is in obtaining the maximum amount of fees and in the never ending promotion of young lawyers to ” partners “. i.e. the growth of ” The Firm “.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firm_(1993_film)

The way that you get promoted as a young lawyer at Bond Pearce solicitors and other law firms is by earning fees for the firm ( and saying all the right things to the partners ). See

http://www.bondpearce.com/news/ournews/celebrating_success_senior_promotions_announced/

http://www.bondpearce.com/news/ournews/partner_promotions_2011/

Typically it’s a case of who you know as well as what you know.

If you had any doubt over the primary objective here’s the Managing Partner on promotion

” Bond Pearce managing partner Victor Tettmar added: “Will and Stephen both have a clear vision of what can be done to advance the firm and I have no doubt that they will continue to make a significant contribution to our future success.”

For ” advance the firm ” and ” make a significant contribution ” read ” get more fees ” and ” beat the competition ” and ” grow more baby lawyers into associates and partners “.

Bond Pearce ( like most other lawyers ) spend a lot of their time proving to their peers that they are ” a law firm to be recognised ”

” Our core offices are in Bristol, Plymouth, Southampton, London and Aberdeen but our work takes us all over the UK and indeed the world. If you have a general enquiry call +44 (0)845 415 0000 or e-mail us at info@bondpearce.com.”

They obviously have a Marketing person who wants you to believe that they are a global force 😉

Actually Legal 500

(Published for over twenty years, the Legal 500 Series provides the most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers, in over 100 countries.

Used by commercial and private clients, corporate counsel, CEOs, FDs and professional advisers – as well as by other referrers of work both nationally and internationally – the series is widely regarded as offering the definitive judgement of law firm capabilities. )

describes them as mostly a 2nd and 3rd Tier firm

http://www.legal500.com/firms/393/offices/7971

So you would be better off looking for 1st and 2nd Tier firms really wouldn’t you ???

One of Bond Pearce’s latest money making schemes is the Conditional Fee Agreement ( No Win – No Fee ). Some bright spark ( probably earnt him or her a partnership !! ) will have gone around various firms saying ” We will work for FREE for you. We will get all our money from the person you are litigating against. It will cost you nothing ! ” .

So, what Bond Pearce do is add their fees to any claims awarded.

http://www.bondpearce.com/news/ournews/partner_promotions_2011/

Interestingly this is one of the subjects that came under The Jackson Review

” Lord Justice Jackson published the “Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report” in January 2010. The report made various proposals for the reform of the costs regime in UK litigation. One of his key proposals was to end the recoverability of success fees and after-the-event insurance premiums under conditional fee agreements (for further details please see “Civil litigation costs review: key recommendations“). In July 2010 the government announced that it would consult on how to implement this proposal. The consultation will also gather opinion on the report’s other recommendations on funding arrangements, particularly the recommendation that lawyers be permitted to enter into contingency fee agreements.”

http://www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?g=9c84e358-0204-49c5-a7f6-307b754f1b6a

Litigation – United Kingdom

Conditional fee agreements after Jackson: consultation and next steps

Contributed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP

October 05 2010

Background
Success fees, after-the-event insurance and contingency fees
Report
Consultation

Background

Lord Justice Jackson published the “Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report” in January 2010. The report made various proposals for the reform of the costs regime in UK litigation. One of his key proposals was to end the recoverability of success fees and after-the-event insurance premiums under conditional fee agreements (for further details please see “Civil litigation costs review: key recommendations“). In July 2010 the government announced that it would consult on how to implement this proposal. The consultation will also gather opinion on the report’s other recommendations on funding arrangements, particularly the recommendation that lawyers be permitted to enter into contingency fee agreements.

Success fees, after-the-event insurance and contingency fees

In a conditional fee agreement a success fee is an amount paid to lawyers when a certain event arises – usually, the client winning the case. This amount is additional to the amount that would normally be payable if there were no conditional fee agreement, often referred to as the ‘base cost’ of the law firm.(1) A success fee is expressed as a percentage uplift on the base cost, the maximum uplift being 100%. Both the base cost and the success fee are recoverable from the other side if the client wins the proceedings. A success fee is calculated by taking into account (i) the risk element (ie, the risk of losing the litigation), and (ii) the postponement element (ie, the cost of not being paid the fee until the outcome of the litigation is known).

Often, a party relying on a success fee also enters into after-the-event insurance in order to cover the opponent’s legal costs should the case be lost.

A contingency fee arrangement provides that a client does not pay its own lawyer’s fees if the case is lost. However, where the client wins or settles favourably, the client’s lawyer receives the fee from the damages that the claimant recovers (in contrast to a success fee, where a client’s legal fees are recoverable directly from the opponent).

Report

The report noted that the rationale for introducing conditional fee agreements was to make legal action more attractive to those unable to qualify for legal aid after the threshold for entitlement had been lowered. Under a conditional fee agreement the burden of funding litigation was shifted from the taxpayer (as in the case of legal aid) to the opposing party. However, it was noted that where the opposing party is a public body – for example, the National Health Service (NHS) – the cost of funding the litigation is still effectively met by the taxpayer, and that millions of pounds are spent each year defending claims against tax-funded entities.

The report also attacks conditional fee agreements on the grounds that they often result in the creation of ‘super-claimants’ who enjoy a package of a conditional fee agreement, after-the-event cover and third-party funding, and thus assume minimal risk. The burden of costs is transferred to the opponent and claimants with conditional fee agreements often have little interest in controlling the costs being incurred on their behalf. The report also states that conditional fee agreements allow claimant solicitors to cherry-pick cases which they see as being likely to win in order to maximise their fees.

The report’s main recommendation was that success fees and after-the-event premiums cease to be recoverable from unsuccessful opponents where the client wins the case. Conditional fee agreements would remain available, but success fees would be capped at 25% of damages and would be borne by the claimant. In practice, this would mean that a success fee would be paid out of any award of damages. However, in order to ensure that successful claimants are properly compensated, the report recommends increasing the level of general damages for personal injuries, nuisance and other civil wrongs by 10%. It was also recommended that the reward for a successful Part 36 offer made by the claimant be enhanced, as this would help claimants to meet the success fee in the limited cases that proceed to trial. A further proposal would allow contingency fees or damages-based agreements, which would enable lawyers to take a share of their client’s damages. Such arrangements are not permitted under UK law.

Consultation

The consultation is likely to be thorough and wide ranging. Earlier in 2010 the Conditional Fee Agreement (Amendment) Order 2010, which proposed a cap for the maximum success fee in defamation cases at 10%, had a difficult passage through Parliament due to concerns that there had not been adequate consultation – the consultation period had been four weeks, rather than the usual 12. However, the fact that this order was expedited shows a willingness to implement legislative change in this area.

Reforms arising from the consultation with regard to the recoverability of success fees and after-the-event premiums are likely to require primary legislation. Perhaps a more decisive factor in implementation and legislative change will be the cost to local and central government. If the proposed changes fit the government’s cost-cutting agenda – and the cost of litigation to the NHS suggests that there are savings to be made – then new legislation may be more likely.

The short-term effect is likely to be increased awareness within the legal profession and the judiciary of the importance of controlling costs. The current consultation may be focused on recoverability, but the overarching theme of Jackson’s recommendations is to identify and tackle the causes of excessive costs. In this respect the consultation is relevant to all litigators, not just those instructed under conditional fee agreements.

For further information on this topic please contact Helen Fairhead at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP by telephone (+44 20 3060 6000), fax (+44 20 3060 7000) or email (helen.fairhead@rpc.co.uk).

Endnotes

(1) The definition of a success fee can be found in Section 58(b) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, as amended by Section 27 of the Access to Justice Act 1999

Other Plymouth lawyers you could use:

http://www.brightllp.co.uk/

http://www.footanstey.com/

http://www.gardandco.com/

http://www.wolferstans.com/index.cfm

http://www.symonds-solicitors.co.uk/

http://www.gillakaster.com/

http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/