Soooo. . . What now?

For those of you with a clear calendar for the next few weeks- what do you do in your off season? If you are missing the extra income, what are some of the most creative/craziest ways you have tried to make money in the winter?

I do a restaurant...it doesn't pay much (I charge PPF) but I get to practice on live faces and eat...

I also do my taxes (gets me through Feb/March), clean up my equipment, browse GW for new gig clothes, research ideas online...and sleep!

his year I am even going to work out!

This time of year I direct a musical with 55 kids on stage and 300 singing. I also tour schools doing assembly shows to teach children body safety skills to avoid abuse situations.

I teach my volunteer team how to paint the kids... this year it's Seussical Jr. so, I'll be designing and teaching:
Cat in the Hat
Things
Whos
Birds
Elephant
Monkeys
Zebra
Gazelle
Poison Dart Frog
Lizard
Panda
Leopard
Tamarin Monkey
Turtle
Kangaroos
Eagle
Grinch
and so on...

Oh, I'll design the costumes, too. And the set. LOL

Can't remember what else, but, I'm tired after the first rehearsal today.

Oh, and I also perform every weekend.

This is my slow time of year. Cool, huh? LOL

I have a 3 day/8 hrs. a day Discover the Dinosaurs show this weekend, but only a few birthday parties in January...plus my weekly restaurant gig.

Other than that - I confess; I'm sleeping a lot... more than I'd like to but I can't shake this sinus infection. Plus I'm obsessed with FABAtv now.

Joined the YMCA many, many moths ago and still haven't gotten my big fat keister in that pool!

Doe wrote:This time of year I direct a musical with 55 kids on stage and 300 singing. I also tour schools doing assembly shows to teach children body safety skills to avoid abuse situations.

I teach my volunteer team how to paint the kids... this year it's Seussical Jr. so, I'll be designing and teaching:
Cat in the Hat
Things
Whos
Birds
Elephant
Monkeys
Zebra
Gazelle
Poison Dart Frog
Lizard
Panda
Leopard
Tamarin Monkey
Turtle
Kangaroos
Eagle
Grinch
and so on...

Oh, I'll design the costumes, too. And the set. LOL

Can't remember what else, but, I'm tired after the first rehearsal today.

Oh, and I also perform every weekend.

This is my slow time of year. Cool, huh? LOL

This sounds so fun!! I'd love to do something like this

I have got multiple practice heads and skins and I'm planning on painting them every day to work on my skills. I'm not sure what to focus on, though -- should I work on getting better at the ones I already do, or should I work on new ones? And which new ones should I focus on?

Practice both, Jenny. The more you practice, the ones you know the better your basic skills get and then soon you start thinking outside the box with creativity...

I've been madly practicing different dinosaurs for 2 days now since I got a Discover the Dinosaurs gig thrown my way on Monday with absolutely no notice. Freaking out here! Long lines are expected and I have been practically sleeping my days away since New Years!

Oh, Miss Ronnie - I hope you make some good money on it. Sounds like it is a bit of a cluster. Keep on trucking!

To those of you that have paid restaurant gigs...what have you found to be the best method for lining those up? Do you call the store manager, send emails or walk in? I am thinking of trying to get my foot in the door for one or two but not sure how to approach them without being a pest lol.

Be a pest! (You have to be a little aggressive to get anything accomplished in this world!) Personally, I think it is more effective to do an initial walk in. They can get more of a sense of your professionalism & demeanor & whether you'd be beneficial to their business. Do early Monday or Tuesday, after the weekend rush, go prepared with samples/pictures & have some alternatives on what you can offer them (entertainment for kids' night, weekend nights if you are not pre-booked, etc.), and what you would like in return (financial compensation, PPF opportunity, local exposure,. meals, etc.)

Hope that helps.

That does help, thank you! I have rack cards that I can pass out. Now I just have to try and figure out which places have "family nights" so I'm not wasting my time trying to sell myself to the wrong places. I thought about going to the bowling alleys to, the one by my house does blacklight bowling and I thought the neons would be awesome to push for that!

I think this month I am going to rally on marketing and send my post cards out again. Last year I did not sent to doctors offices and think I may have missed the boat on it. I am going to hit my local doc, and dentists offices and a couple more Restaraunts . Order more paints I don't really need, but since I need red I will be saving on shipping right? Also hoping to buy a house this month, get my old one rented. I do have three jobs this month but I would like to be at 4-5 a month. That's all my schedule really allows for.

For anyone looking for practice (and tons of it) I would suggest checking out local afterschool groups for children

I work for the BGC of America, so I kind of get paid for what I do, but even so, I'd still do it as volunteer work! I think you would be hard pressed to find any child care group who wouldn't except face painting!

i work on my photography

That is a beautiful photo Krissiemarie!

Oh, Mrs. Ronnie, I hope you didn't let that troupe bamboozle you into accepting $.60 per ticket you collect. I had a whole thread on it a while ago.
They were going to keep 60% of whatever I brought in!
I hope they made you a much better deal!

Thanks, Miss Ronnie, I'm going to do exactly that. I know I can improve on just about everything (my Hello Kitty's the only one I think is pretty perfect).

I have my regular restaurant gigs. I work out my business plan for the year, do my taxes, clean my kit, organize my face paint closet & work a few trade jobs with a local online/kids magazine. This gets me a bunch of my advertising for the year for free!
I practice & work on the designs I feel weak in.

I imagine it is the same troupe, Diane. They didn't after me any better of a deal, but I took the gig and am very glad I did.

First of all, it was 3 long, grueling days of face painting with lines of people waiting in a maze that mimicked the zig-zagging lines at Disney, but the lines moved pretty quickly with 4 face painters. I think the average wait was 30 - 40 minutes. I love this kind of event... I thrive on the excitement in the atmosphere around me. This traveling show is really nothing more than a money trap for parents. The animatronic dinosaur exhibits are cool, but nothing is worth the money they charge. At any rate, I made quite almost $300 in tips alone and went through half a box of business cards. I already booked 2 parties this morning from people who saw me there. I also got to see some past customers who recognized me from other venues. I had nothing booked for this weekend so I was happy to have this opportunity.
And if I go to any other cities for their shows, I will be bumped up in pay and my room will be paid for. Something I'll have to weigh and think about....

I am going to post something regarding this event in "Where's the Beef."

I think it was smart to do it, Miss Ronnie! For all those reasons you stated ...

I averaged a little over $17.00 per hour in wages... so, not too bad.

I'm glad you are glad you did it, Rhonda. I couldn't see my way into making so much less than my rate, plus using my own supplies.
And I tried really hard to educate him that his offer was not even remotely reasonable.
I get needing the work, and I totally don't fault you for taking a job that you needed. But I think this group needs to understand that professional face painters are worth more than $17 per hour.
Just my opinion, though.

Actually, I calculated wrong... I ended up making a little over $27.00 per hour.... so really not a bad gig for an otherwise slooooowwwww January!

And we are worth so much more Diane.... but they don't give one hoot about professional. Check what I write on Where's the Beef.

I have booked 3 more parties today from people who attended this show!

I spend a good amount of money on a local monthly magazine ad.... and have never booked 5 parties in two days from that ad.

Yay! Well, I'm glad you are seeing a good outcome from your venture.