How do I get my name out there?

Okay, I am totally clueless about this.

I have an online presence now which is awesome, but I don't know how to spread the word around town about my face painting. There's only one other well-known painter in town, so it shouldn't be hard to get some good gigs with the community if I could just figure out how!

I got business postcards printed up, so my first plan of action is to visit some local businesses - I was thinking with starting with some party stores and hotels - any other suggestions?

And what do I say to them? Do I ask them to display my postcards? Or give them a postcard and a handful of business cards to put on the counter? I'm so lost!

And what about schools? Since I work full-time would it even be worth it to hand out postcards to schools, since I can only paint on weekends? Should I mail them or wander around inside in search of the principal!?

Any advice would be amazingly appreciated. I'm a quiet, shy person... so this stuff is kinda hard.

At the bottom of the forum is a whole section on Marketing. It's full of tons of helpful info. It's like a class in face painting marketing

Yeah, I've looked through it before... I guess what I'm mainly wondering is what you SAY to the people you give business postcards too... I don't think I saw any threads about that. Basically I'd like to hear what a typical conversation might go like... lol.

OIC
I keep my cards on me at all times. I have them in my purse, car, appointment book, etc. I will try to hand them out every time I go to the store(an old technique I learned back when I sold Home & Garden Party). It's especially easy if I'm painted after a party. People notice I'm panted & smile & I'll say, "I'm a professional face painter & just got off work." Someone almost always is a parent, grandparent, auntie, etc. I just say, "here's my card if you have kids or have friends or relatives w/ kids. I do parties all the time. Corporate events, Mrs Clause. It's a lot of fun." I also get business from my car magnets. Marketing is a numbers game... for every 10 no's you'll get 1 yes.

Hi, my name is Janna. I'm a local face painter (don't mention or apologize for being new...deal killer) and wanted to let you know that I'm available for parties and corporate events. My rates and examples of my work on are on my website listed there on my card....(and don't stop there...cause the important part is coming!) Are you having an event soon? (See what I just did there? You weren't done!)

"Well, we are having a Christmas Party next week but we've already planned it. We have an Easter Egg hunt in April." (but you already know this because you've done your research...right?)

Fantastic! I'd love to do some face painting for the event. I have some GREAT ideas for Easter designs. Do you have someone already booked? (You're making the assumption they want a face painter) "I don't know, you'll have to talk to Susan, she's in charge of the entertainment."

Great, is she here today? (better to talk in person if you can.) etc......

The important thing to remember (and I need to be MUCH better at this) is ASK FOR THE BUSINESS! You're website is nothing if you aren't out there handing out your card and saying "I do parties, ARE YOU HAVING ONE SOON?" "You have darling children, I'd love to paint at their birthday parties."

I told my husband yesterday that taking sales classes for real estate really changed my life. Not just business wise but on a personal level. How many times do we (women especially) go through life never getting the one thing we really want because we never really ask for it. We'll go all around the thing but never just ask for it:

I wish the kitchen were cleaner.
No one ever helps around here.
Can you all just clean up after yourselves?
I did my part by fixing the dinner, can't you all do your part?

Why don't we just say "Dear, can you come unload the dishwasher?"

I think we tend to do that in business too. We want everyone to like us and we don't want to be embarrassed and so we never ask for the business. We'll put up a website, print up cards, print a banner, do events with hundreds of people walking by....and never ask for the booking.

I'm guilty of it and I've been trained. You're shy so you won't do it...unless I beat you! So, consider yourself beat!

ABC...Always Be Closing. Always be working toward the deal.

It's kind of funny because I had to stop myself the other day because I got a call checking on rates and found myself closing a phone call in just a minute or so. I hardly gave her time to think...I apologized after I wrote down the time on the calendar and said "sorry, I didn't mean to assume, you want me to come face paint right?" She said "Oh, yes, that would be great" and we finished up the details.

ABC and then get a deposit. Have you checked out Paypal yet?

D.

Linda has a great point...you have to get about 10 no's to get to the yes so don't get discouraged. It's not personal.

D.

Oh that's such great advice, Denise! Just what I was looking for... Thank you!!

It is a big challenge for me to be assertive, especially to strangers, but hopefully once I actually DO IT it'll go smoother and smoother... practice makes perfect.

I have one question for you... if I'm handing out cards at a place like a party store, where THEIR customers could be interested in face painting, how should I go about addressing that? Should I just ask them if they could display my postcard somewhere? I guess I'm just worried about my wording being too pushy or disrespectful, because I'd basically be asking them to advertise for me... any ideas?

I would ask if you could get a listing on their website as a preferred provider. See if the party store you are thinking about already has someone listed or a place for that. You could also offer a reciprocal listing and put a link and icon to their store on your website in exchange.

D.

No offense to anyone, but this thread just made me a little bit . I was in financial advising for a while....life insurance, mortgages, annuities, ect. The mention of "ABC" literally made me start sweating. lol. After thousands of dollars in training.. obtainining several different licenses... and a fairly decent income, I finally left the financial industry because I HATED the sales side of it. (Getting the response you want with specific wording.) I think I was getting an ulcer. Everything we are taught helps us lead the conversation and ask questions that only get the response we are looking for. Instead of saying "can I" you say "when can I". or instead of "can I come by this week?" you say "does tues work better or Wed?". I've learned that I personally can't be in any career that requires me to do that. That's just me personally. I still hate talking to people on the phone, (even family) because I somehow associate it with sales. sigh. I am NOT a shy person... not by a long shot. I'm in theater and I'm loud and obnoxious and say it like it is. Maybe I need post sales recovery therapy. Seems like people don't generally like to be "sold to". I dunno. Just MHO.
Denise, I think that's awesome that you can do that and have been successful! I am horrible at "closing" when people call for pricing. I guess it's because I hate it when people do that to me. That's another reason that I won't ever "call for pricing" when I need a service. If it's not on the website, I will find somewhere that it IS listed, and go with them. Gah. I'm such a cinic! But... if I can just offer another perspective. You don't HAVE to be super aggressive with people to be successful in this undustry. If saying something feels unnatural to you, don't say it. Your work speaks for itself and people will take your card. Parents will refer you. Go above and beyond for your clients and you will start seeing the rewards. Give out your card when you have an opportunity. Ask family to tell their friends when they can.
Ok.. off my soapbox. Offering business cards to some local businesses is SMART! If anything, having information for local artists and entertainers could only be a benefit to a party store. The worst they could say is "no". I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of party stores have "place" for businesses to advertise.

I know Kat how high pressure sales can bother you I worked at a couple of telemarketing places in my time and now the idea of doing that again gives me panic attacks. Marketing yourself aggressively is not the same especially when other less talented painters are very talented marketers. Also try leaving your cards at local salons. People will talk to their hairdresser ahead of time about parties their planning on having or going to. Remember if the people that you leave cards with can be tipped tip well. They will be more receptive to talk you up to others.

Kat, sorry I gave you the sweats! I'm a very soft closer, believe me, but if you can't ask for the money then it's not a business! LOL!

I put my prices on my website, my ads, my handouts, everything...I don't try to "trap 'em" because I'm a closer but if they call I want to make it easy for them to use me. Don't want to lose them to the next face painter on that little piece of paper in front of them because I was too afraid to ask...right?

D.

I'm with Denise... when you're running a business solo, you need to accept that sales is going to be a part of the process, and closing is one of those things that you need to get comfortable with - one way or another.

Now I'm another victim of the sales career (advertising) and I found it a real struggle after a while... because I came to have doubts about my product. BUT, the key difference here is that we really BELIEVE in our product. We know we bring smiles to faces, we practice, we work hard to make everyone happy... and that we'll be a fantastic addition to any party or event. Our work will be praised, photographed, talked about and generally appreciated.

So... that IS the difference. It's so much easier to sell something you truly believe in. IMO, sales people only get jaded when the pressure is relentless and the product isn't so great.

And besides, you're your own boss. You don't have to be so hard on yourself - you don't even need to set targets, conversion rates, etc... etc

That's what I reckon, anyway! (and in retrospect those 4 years spent in sales have really been a blessing because I have a great understanding of marketing and no reservations about promoting my business).

Oh, and here's what I've found successful in getting the word out - facebook. Go find the popular local pages in your area and post comments on them (as your business). Share love - tag/shout out, whatever you call it - do it to those pages that have a similar demographic interest as your business. I have only been in biz for under 6 months, but I have definitely found this method to be a fantastic way to generate leads. That's the way I got the attention of the local shopping mall. I've worked there 3 times in the past 4 months and earned $600 in total from them already (not to mention the extra leads/exposure I got while on the job) - all from popping a comment or two on their page. But keep in mind it needs to be relevant. Posting spam on someones page is like a seagull pooping on their page, but if you comment on one of their own posts, they will see it... and so will everyone that their post goes out to. Sweet!

PS - postcards may have their place - I've found them great for attracting attention for school fetes etc - but social media is the way to go now. Just about everyone in our target demographic is using facebook daily. It's free, and it's that word of mouth thing on steroids.

Try being an active facebook page admin and you will see an increase in enquiries within a few weeks. But remember to be selective and targeted about your approach.

No, you're definitely right. I know there is a sales aspect to everything in life. It was the "ABC" terminology that got me. lol. I actually really believed in my product before too. I had a lot of tools to change lives. I worked in a customer service phone job for about 7 years before I went into financial advising, so I've pretty much always done something where sales were part of the gig. Never really thought of face painting and children's entertainment as sales. Gave me a slight panic attack.