Business Bookings

[MsMollie]

Hey guys,
Has any of you ever tried to get booked at a business that already has birthday party pricing done? I was wondering how that would go over to offer your services to an establishment that offers birthday party packages with set pricing? I wouldn't want to work for tips...i checked out this one and the birthday package for a large party was $275.00! Do you think that someone would like to pay more to have a face painter there? I just don't know how to approach it. I have sent out letters in the past but never got one response....got any suggestions? 

[Sherry]

Is this the only type of place you sent letters to?  What different types of things do they offer with their packages?  If they don't already offer face painting, maybe they could offer it with one of their lower price offerings and change out one of the other options for face painting.  Maybe they could tack on $25 - $30 bucks to the fee you charge, so they can make a profit as well.  The guy in my area, that I spoke with yesterday, said he pays face painters $75 an hour, but charges $125 per hour to the customer.

[reginanewsum]

I haven't done any gigs yet at the bowling alley, but I did go and talk with the owners. They do offer a party package, four different prices I believe, but they did take my information and do have flyers, to hand out if parents are interested. and they said they would tell them of the extra charge of $75.00 per hour or two hours for $125.00.

[MsMollie]

Is this the only type of place you sent letters to?  What different types of things do they offer with their packages?  If they don't already offer face painting, maybe they could offer it with one of their lower price offerings and change out one of the other options for face painting.  Maybe they could tack on $25 - $30 bucks to the fee you charge, so they can make a profit as well.  The guy in my area, that I spoke with yesterday, said he pays face painters $75 an hour, but charges $125 per hour to the customer.

i have sent letters to skating rinks, fast food places, a big place called Main Event that offers everything from cosmic bowling to movies, called the mall(they have an inside bowling alley...they told me that the owner would have to approve it...."he lives in Kansas" of all places....!....I have sent letters to chamber of commerce's.....daycares, normal bowling alleys, even got an interview with the manager and she said she couldn't afford me.....duh, alot of places....not sure why i'm not getting any good responses or calls.....i did however, get some responses from daycares and all they are willing to pay is $1.00 per kid...just cheekart.....i told them 'fine' but i have to have a minimum of 25 kids....We aren't over run with face painters here but not sure what the problem is.....i just live in a farming community and people here are stingy with money...i guess.

[reginanewsum]

It takes a long time to build that business! I live in an area where people haven't even seen face painting! let alone when I tell them my price, their chin drops to their chest! To my knowledge, and I have reseached, I am the only one here in my area, monopoly I guess you would say! But it has been a tuff journey to promote! My friend Anna passes me a lot of gigs, and she promotes me in her area. Thank goodness for my friend!  Hang in their, some times when I have to go shopping, to the store, run errons, I face paint myself to go! Gets alote of lookers, and even interested persons, I always have a pocket full of business cards! If I really get motivated, I paint myself full face before I go out! I have ran into people that I know, but they don't know me! HAHAHAHA really fun to do! I have gotten 7 gigs now from my shopping spree's face painted!

[MsMollie]

Girl, you crack me up!..i will have to try that...two days in a row, i went to town to get an ice cream cone(i'm hung up on dairy Queen for some strange reason....and I had my face painted...the guy at the window said he loved my makeup technique!.....so funny when someone see you that way...went to a gig last month and instead of going home and cleaning off the paint, went out to eat at a major restaurant and just thought it was hilarious the looks i got....now i don't feel so stupid....lol....

and i know what you mean...people think that's outrageous....who cares...once they see what you can do, they realize that it isn't the 'run of the mill' face painting....like most people do, which is nice......

It takes a long time to build that business! I live in an area where people haven't even seen face painting! let alone when I tell them my price, their chin drops to their chest! To my knowledge, and I have reseached, I am the only one here in my area, monopoly I guess you would say! But it has been a tuff journey to promote! My friend Anna passes me a lot of gigs, and she promotes me in her area. Thank goodness for my friend!  Hang in their, some times when I have to go shopping, to the store, run errons, I face paint myself to go! Gets alote of lookers, and even interested persons, I always have a pocket full of business cards! If I really get motivated, I paint myself full face before I go out! I have ran into people that I know, but they don't know me! HAHAHAHA really fun to do! I have gotten 7 gigs now from my shopping spree's face painted!

[Sherry]

Well you've certainly covered your bases Mollie.  I don't know what to say, other than if you're sending all this out to your small town... maybe try your nearest big city?  I didn't get many results when I lived in a small rural area.  In fact, the Chick Fil A there expected me to work for free.  All their entertainment came free as far as I know.  I did it for free 2 times, but let them know there'd be a charge if I came out again.  They contacted me, I told them my charge and I never heard from them again.  Go figure.  The local character people (Dora, Spiderman, Clifford, etc.) only charged $40 an hour and that included, not only the character, but a handler to come along as well! 

Thank goodness for the big city!  The Chick Fil A's here pay.

[MsMollie]

[well, i'm not doing this for free anymore....and most people drop their mouths when i tell them my price...we will see...haven't sent out too many letters as of yet but i will soon. I'm trying not to step on my homies feet either...prefer to stay away from houston....anyway, i know that there are't many face painters down here and you are right...rural area people are quite money concious!....bigger cities don't seem to mind spending money...


What do you think about providing a sheet or two of pics of the kids you have painted? Alot of people like to get this to advertise for them...like the Chamber of Commerce's...I have joined two!..duh. I have also printed my business cards up with my face painting on one side and window painting on the other....works pretty good! Saves money and I know printer ink isn't cheap, but if you go to inks101.com, you can get good prices....When we talk with the customer, we could tell them we offer the pics for an additional amt. they can take it or leave it.....what do you think?+

quote author=Sherry link=topic=591.msg3756#msg3756 date=1270061200]
Well you've certainly covered your bases Mollie.  I don't know what to say, other than if you're sending all this out to your small town... maybe try your nearest big city?  I didn't get many results when I lived in a small rural area.  In fact, the Chick Fil A there expected me to work for free.  All their entertainment came free as far as I know.  I did it for free 2 times, but let them know there'd be a charge if I came out again.  They contacted me, I told them my charge and I never heard from them again.  Go figure.  The local character people (Dora, Spiderman, Clifford, etc.) only charged $40 an hour and that included, not only the character, but a handler to come along as well! 

Thank goodness for the big city!  The Chick Fil A's here pay.
[/quote]

[MsMollie]

I haven't done any gigs yet at the bowling alley, but I did go and talk with the owners. They do offer a party package, four different prices I believe, but they did take my information and do have flyers, to hand out if parents are interested. and they said they would tell them of the extra charge of $75.00 per hour or two hours for $125.00.
I tried to do a bowling alley and all the lady kept saying was that "you won't want to paint here..it's smokey and crowded"...i couldn't believe what i was hearing....

[reginanewsum]

I LOVE IT!  I always paint myself for a gig!  Now if it is a festival, family event, that is a pay as you go gig! I don't go painted at all! I set up my area completely, I then set down, grab my mirror and I ALWAYS get the first face painted of the day!   Hmmm sound funny! Not at all! Let me explain why I do this.........I take my mirror out and hold it in my right hand, and preceed to paint my face, depends on how I feel for the day, here is a pic of the first face painting of the day and it is a tiger!  This was at a pay as you go event at a pumpkin patchThis starts to draw a crowd!  They stand and watch me! Start asking me questions!  Like is that hard to do? How long have you been painting? Does it costs? How much? Do you do parties? Where are you from? Ahhhh now I got audience partisipation! And I paint, chat, paint, talk, and when I get done painting and talking, answering questions, and my line has began! What a wonderful world we live in!

[MsMollie]

Girl you are a hoot! Are you in your front yard??  Your hand looks pretty steady..my shakes a little...had to paint my first man the other day and had to rest my pinky on his nose...i almost burst out laughing...he had a big italian nose....see what i mean??? lol

[reginanewsum]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! NO! I was at a gig painting! It was at a place called turkeyville! Google it, it is one of the largest turkey farms, they have a great place, family owned for umpten years, they have lots of family stuff, train rides, theator, restaurant, great amazing gift shop.  I was set up next to the gazebo! thats where you see the white criss cross fencing and the pumpkins. And they have great music on the gazebo! And your man with the big nose! HAHAHA it turned out good! Two weeks ago I had all those men here at my home, painted them for a basketball tournament! And ahh, I won't lie, I had them set in my big tall captains chair, and I had to lean in on them to paint there design! Well I guess I didn't have to lean as much as I did! But I wanted to do a good job! HAHAHAHAHA

[vegaburm]

I also live in a rural farming community. However, you can still find work! I have been painting at least once a week for the past 3 months! The best contact I ever made was with our rec dept. They did an easter event and a few others. I worked those for them and started getting known by the other non-profits. This helped get my name around. Also, look into some small festivals and fairs. These are great places to hand out cards and pick up more business. In rural areas they are usually well attended, because, hey, what else is there to do around here! lol. Check online and search for festivals in your area. I try to look at least once a month to see what may be coming up. I can work a good festival and make $500+ in a day even charging low rates.

[MsMollie]

you must work your tail off to make 500 a day..i can find work quite alot..however, there are an awful lot of people out there doing fundraisers and don't want to pay a dime for you to be there....i was in a position to where i couldn't do ANYTHING for free...it's hard to do it for free when you need the money and need to buy more supplies....so i usually don't to any of those....