My very First event tomorrow.

[Glitterfly Faces]

I am super tired and excited for tomorrow.  I am doing glitter tattoos at a local craft show.  Always a huge turnout.  Someone else is doing face painting so, I can only do the tattoos.

I really hope I make some of the money back that I have put out already.

I have a draw for a gift basket for everyone.
A draw for $40 off a 2 hour party package with each tattoo purchased.
I made postcards with my info and a $20 coupon for a 2 hour party.
Any other advice or suggestions in drawing in customers?
Wish me luck......

Have a good weekend.
Kim

[Alison]

Oh My Goodness - You sure sound Ready.

Seems like you did a lot of work to entice people to hire you.
But I don't think the coupons would entice me to hire a person if I wasn't already interested.
They would just be a way for me to make my cost lower.

And I think that all those 'Specials' will complicate things for you.
Life is complicated enough without encouraging people to all have a different price, a different deal with you.

Anyway, I know you're going to enjoy.
One of the reasons people thrill from their Parties is because of all the planning they do.

[Sherry]

I'm so excited for you!  Do you have sample pictures of what the glitter tattoos look like?  You'll have to let us know how the event turns out.

I wish you the best of luck!   

[Glitterfly Faces]

Thanks ladies.'
It was a total flop.  Not much traffic at all.  The face painter there told me that she barely made any money as well.  I basicaly made back my $25 entry fee.
So, hopefully I get a job or two out of it.

I was asked to do a childrens party next weekend for a non profit organization.
I offered them $30 an hour fee.  They said I can pass out business cards.
I will ask them if I can put out a tip jar as well.

Is there any politically correct way to put out a tip jar?
It is a Christmas party with about 100 kids.  Tips would be gracy over the $30 an hour fundraiser fee I am charging them.
This will be my first paying face paint job.
The said to have 4-6 very simple examples for the kids to choose from.  They want super fast, no details....just a little something to entertain the kids.

Any advice?
Thanks.

[MandiIlene]

I would put out a christmas looking jar from the dollar tree.

I never feel weird about putting out a jar, its usually one of those unspoken things, when people ask how much, I just smile and say "Its Free today courtesy of XYZ company."

You should make some tips, I usually do at things like that. Just be sure to take your time, talk to all the parents about parties and give your card to everyone in sits in your chair.

~*~Mandi~*~

[Sherry]

I would put out a tip jar.  Many times people expect it and I've had some ask me where my tip jar is.  Just dress up a pretty jar that says tips.

I wouldn't go too basic, because you want people to see what beautiful work you do and hire you out.  Maybe offer designs that use dual or rainbow cakes, so you can tap on the color quickly and then linework without a bunch of extra details.  I find the Starblends also speed up designs.  The powder can just go all over the face so quickly.  Go through your designs and think about the ones that are your fastest and then think about ways you can pare them down.

When I have an event where I know I'll be swamped, I put out a sign that says something like, "To lessen the wait time, please have your design picked out before taking a seat.  We may need to serve the next in line until you have your design choice picked out."  This seems to put a complete stop to the ones that come to my chair and can't make up their mind.  I've only had to enforce it a couple times.

A few other things I've used to speed up the line.  Put out a big mirror that they can run to and look at themselves, instead of lingering in the chair.  I also refrain from taking pictures.

[Alison]

It probably wasn't Your fault that it was a flop.
Some types of venues just will not work.

[Sherry]

Yep, my week was a perfect example of this.  I worked all Friday at an Art and Farmer's Market in the middle of a huge mall.  The mall and parking lot was packed.  But we were in some sort of bubble where barely any people trickled in.  I ended up only making $15 over my booth fee.

The next night I worked from 3:30 - 7:30 p.m. at a tree lighting festival.  I got my first customer before I finished setting up and I worked non-stop from there on out.  A very good event!