How long....

How long did it take when you officially launched your face paint business to actually book gigs?

Define "gig." lol

I have sought festivals to be at, so I've had a few of those. I've had two events by knowing someone who knew I painted (Avatar opening was a last minute idea and someone in the office is facebook friends with my husband, another was an invite to paint at an art show my husband was showing at). No one has called me out of the blue and asked about parties or anything from the partygras days.

Having said that... I didn't promote it and actively seek out gigs. So we'll see with the new biz.

I painted every Saturday for tips at a restaurant for 2 years before I did my first paying party. It took off from there!

I think it depends on you for the most part. You may choose to aggresively seek gigs right away or choose to hold back until everything is well developed. I have found that I get most bookings by being seen on other jobs, either paid, volunteer, or working for tips.

I think the question is, are you ready to accept paying gigs? i.e. know enough designs, have the equipment, have a good kit ect. If you are ready, go for it! Best of luck!

I don't think I'm ready to accept large paying gigs yet. Just anxious. I hate my day job! I guess I'm getting impatient. I have so many ideas in my head just don't have the funds to support them, LOL.

Amen to that, sister!

I volunteered at a Cancer Relay for Life fundraiser. I figured if things were free, no one could get ticked off at me if things didn't turn out. I put out a tip jar and raised about $60 for the Cancer Society, had about 1/2 hour line up wait and when I was suppose to be done, I had kids running to their parents cars looking for flashlights so I could continue!! After that I looked up what community events were happening, contacted them and just jumped right in! The Relay was middle of June and I had a paying gig middle of July. Enough time to get business cards and website up.

Its prob different in the USA but in the Uk you can't paint anyone but your own kids, really, w/o professional insurance...even doing it at your job you should check their insurance covers face painting specifically.

So in the UK many people do it for free until they go pro.

How fast that is/ how soon you get bookings varies on:
how good/ fast etc you are
how many ther painters are around and how good/ fast etc they are
your prices/ local spending
local population - ie if there are a lot of possible bookings
if & how you are advertised/ seen/ promoted
weather
etc etc etc
Its not an easy and exact thing!

Cat x

I started in July on my own kids, and my first public audience was at our family camp site. We were parked near the playground and when I painted our kids a crowd suddenly appeared. By Sept I had a few paid birthday parties from moms I knew from my daughter's school. I didn't really advertise (except on facebook) as I wanted to build up my skill set and reportoire. I did a lot of paid faces around Halloween and then a couple of preschools and many playdates since then. Last night & tonight was my first big public event. It was for charity but I got to advertise. Sunday is my first paid public event for the Olympics Torch Relay. I can't advertise but I'll be making some great connections with the local city organizers. I have a stack of postcards to send to local restaurants and businesses, and the list of contacts, but haven't done it yet. I expect to reap dividends pretty soon after I actually mail them. I know lots of people and now they'll know who to call. Networking is really important. The weather is starting to warm up and festivals will start up again. I made sure to get insured as I am a professional event planner and that's one of the things I'd look for when hiring someone.

Good luck!

I'm a bit late piping in on this, but I was just wondering what sort of advertising you have done for yourself CABBYJ?
Even before I got my website up and running I had a facebook page for people to see my work. I advertised in all the free classifieds on the net, and put a few signs up in local parks and outside schools.
I only started this bis about 6 months ago and have found people are finding me by themselves...... google searching, just because I get my bis name out there as much as possible. I'm doing everything from Wedding s to festivals and birthday parties. I think I should of waited to advertise I do fetes and festivals because I haven't gotten a booth together yet, I'll be doing that this week for a big school festival. The only things that may hold you back are things in your kit (meaning you may not be able to do specific events like masquerades, or create zombies with sfx or body painting that want glitter tats without buying more expensive things for your kit) or not having things to set up a booth like me...... or not being fast enough.... which has been my downfall..... I"m such a perfectionist when it comes to my art I'm never satisfied. I knew it was time to start charging when my "free" party mums insisted in giving me money as a tip or bunches of flowers etc.
- P.s Funny but while I was typing this a client just called to book me for a 30th PINK (the singer) themed birthday party, from the signs in the park!!!
YAY for free signage!!!
Tash

Hi Tash, I'm interested in what's unsaid in your post. Namely, about insurance - I'm curious as to what the situation is in Oz. We have "no fault" Accident Compensation for injuries here in NZ, and if anything should happen - i.e. reaction to the paint, poke in the eye, etc. - then everything is covered and there are no worries for the painter.

The worry would possibly come if you got paint on their white carpet, etc. That, not being an injury, is treated differently, and the customer may well hold you responsible, though they would of course presumably have household insurance.

I've been told by the FP big guns here that we don't need insurance for private parties, but do for big public and corporate events. How does it work over there? I mean, I assume you possibly didn't have cover for these free birthday parties you were doing. What have you got now, and how much did it cost?

Kat

In Oz there is a performing artist’s guild which each year negotiates a group cover "DuckForCover". For a face painter is costs about $170 per year, cheaper if you get early bird discount and sign on at the start of the year.

Premiums may go up if you do more than just face painting. They rate performing artists into 3 risk categories face painting in lowest, sword swallowing in highest.

And swaping back topics, 3 months after I did my first face I just did a 3 day event. To help ease the nerves and risk I asked Tasha to share the event with me.

ChrisD wrote:
Premiums may go up if you do more than just face painting. They rate performing artists into 3 risk categories face painting in lowest, sword swallowing in highest.

Oh, wow! I'm so glad they don't rate FP up there with sword swallowing!