Biggest mistake Face Painters make?

Everyone seems to be quick to share what they are going right, so I was wondering what are you doing wrong?

In your own opinion, what do you belive is the biggest mistake that face painters make?

Let's go ahead and assume that sanitation & proper supplies has already been stated. In other words, what are the biggest mistakes other than exercising sanitation precautions & using FDA approved products. Be creative!

My response would be that face painters make the crucial mistake of not upselling products, for example....offering package deals that can easily make you another $5-10.00 per head. I've found that by offering things like wands, head pieces, tiaras, hats, etc. that can be bought for pennies on the dollar, I have literally doubled my profit on many customers and the kids could not be happier. It looks great and also really completes the package in many cases. These supplies can be bought for little of nothing at a variety of places and take up hardly no room. Upselling has been a solid staple of the retail world since the beginning of time and honestly it's stronger than ever I've found. I would never offer these items as a-la-carte but by making fun little package deals, I'm making more money now than ever before. Honestly I cannot imagine not having them in my kit.

Hope everyone is great!
SPECTRUM

Buying too much. Spending more than you NEED to in order to actually do the job.

We all are guilty of it. You can do an excellent job of face painting with minimal kit and ONE colour of glitter... if you/we are serious about being a business and actually making a decent profit, i.e. enough to live on, then reducing expenses and only buying what is essential to perform satisfactory service.

I am very guilty of this and have been diligent in taking steps to stop buying things I do not need. We really could work on an as needed basis, only ordering replacements as required, rather than having 12 different colours/brands/sizes of white.... really...

I offer package deals already. Full face painting $10. Package deal $15. I don;t sell a ton. But, I sell enough.
Plus, it ups the parents from the $5 half face right to the $15 package.

My biggest mistake....buying more then I need and not pricing jobs out enough. I offer a party package which is $15 per child....min. of 5 kids. Well, sometimes it takes me an hour and half. Which a normal party package for 1.5 hours would be $105. So, I need to rethink my pricing structure.

forgetting stuff... I always use stuff out of my kit during the week and I forget to put it back. I forgot all of my brushes once... Forgot all sponges.. I am always forgetting SOMETHING, other than that I am perfect. lol

Hmmmmmmmmm that's a good question. I guess when starting out alot of over spending is trial and error until you lock in on what products you like and subsequently don't. I have paired down my spending to refill/replace existing items and items to round out my set up i.e. banner tent.

I guess now after having been at this for a few years I would say that my biggest pitfall is being sometimes passive or too laid back about increasing business and my customer base.

Sometimes I get into that whole "Field of Dreams" vibe "If they see me they will come" (curse Kevin Costner...lol) and I am not always as aggressive as I feel or think I should be.

But when I am in that zone there's no stopping me...I'm of a totally different mind set.

Fortunately I don't or at least I try not to get into that state of lull too often

I am guilty of not marketing myself enough. It's my least favorite part of the job. It always makes me feel like an annoying nagging jerk! Even if I have only talked about my business once with that person, I still feel that way. Unfortunately, it's something I have to do in order to get to do what I love for a living. It's a catch 22.

Really great answers, every one of them...I've enjoyed them all!

Not treating it like a business- once it has in fact moved from Hobby to business.

Getting over exited, I have 4 halloween faces to do this sat and other than liquid latex, I can find/make everything else I need but I really want to go out and spend big on fake blood, contacts, neons and other cool stuff. This happens every time I get a gig. I just want to be exactly the what the client is expecting and always go over the top. It's stupid too, because I know I can work out of a 12 colour kit with a puffer of hollo gliter and a couple of brushes, but you've all seen my kit and I've only been doing this for 3 months on my own. At least I shouldn't need supplies for a while.

So I guess my biggest problem is that I over aim to please and I get walked on because of it. I just still have trouble believing that people should or would pay me to face paint.

Almost like eeryone...

Spending way too much, carrying way too much and also being way to naive

SuzySparkles wrote:forgetting stuff... I always use stuff out of my kit during the week and I forget to put it back. I forgot all of my brushes once... Forgot all sponges.. I am always forgetting SOMETHING, other than that I am perfect. lol

Forgot my mirror at my last event! My first child in the chair (4yr old little girl) says "How do you forget your mirror"
She's so right! haha

So for me, I'm with you forgetting things...

For me it's not finding enough time to practice or market myself. I work full time 50 hours per week at a regular job and don't have as much time as I would like to devote to practicing and marketing.

Not practicing a few times per week, overbuying, not reaching out to other FP'ers, not enough marketing.
Ugh.

Oh, and today I used one of my blue glitter tattoo poofers on a face to make it extra blue and sparkley.... I forgot that the hole was huge and her face looked like a blue glitter nightmare, it was HILARIOUS! I wiped it off the best I could but WOW... I wish I would have had my camera

BarbieSmith wrote:Not practicing a few times per week, overbuying, not reaching out to other FP'ers, not enough marketing.
Ugh.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me too (glad to hear I'm not alone) LOL!

Definitely not marketing myself enough. Thankfully my mom has helped me out in that area. I won first place in a competition in August, and if not for her, nobody would have known. She sent out a promo pack to the local papers and surrounding media, and my business has increased significantly.

I feel awkward and uncomfortable sometimes, tooting my own horn.

I have a full time job and a Marketing degree and have loved the marketing aspect of getting out there and getting gigs. I am guilty, however of over-marketing the business at times and having to turn away customers and refer them to other painters. But I have worked every weekend but three since May and love, love, love painting! It's my therapy and Halloween faces are really a hoot - this is my favorite holiday!

I have to really watch myself so that I do not over complicate things. I want to keep adding and adding on a face if I can...I have to really watch myself. I am doing better. If I have a long line I try to be as quick as I can ( at 3 to 5 minutes) but, if I don't have one then I am elaborate so I have to reign in that fine arts background and let the "canvas" get up from their seat LOL!!! I actually try to think about if I were the one sitting there then at what point would I want to get up.

I too up sale, we offer hats, wings, halos, wands, movies, balloons. That way they buy things while they wait in line.

One of the biggest mistakes I've made (and continue to make) is having too many things on my plate at once while leaving very little time for working on marketing and practicing. I have a new website that's about 98% complete but I keep getting distracted by "other" things. If it weren't for the ladies of the NEO Jammers, I'd have already burnt out...as it stands...I get a lot of help with the little things that keep adding up.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see in the industry (or at least in my area) concerns networking and relationships. There are a few painters here who view other painters as competition and nothing more, so they don't even want to have anything to do with our group. Then there are those the bumble through their business dealings, burning bridges and destroying trust as they peruse their financial goals. I've never been fond of competition anyway, but when a competition means that the feelings of others is disregarded...I really don't care for that. I totally believe that painters can run their businesses AND come together for some mutual playtime and growth...but it won't happen if there are some on the playground who are still in competition mode at recess.

I would say, following up with past clients. I always am on to the next gig, but never pursuing past clients. I want to get better at this.

My 2nd is I'm too stinking nice sometimes. I had the big client never sign the contract, insist they needed me & then I show up to find they didn't want me. I need to follow through & if no contract is signed let the next client have the job.

too many ambitions and not enough gumption.

Ashley Pickin wrote:too many ambitions and not enough gumption.

Amen to that, sister!

For me it's not practicing enough. It's never convenient with three little ones running around, so I just don't do it often. I'm hoping to set up a little studio in our new house where I can leave my supplies out all the time. I think I'll be more likely to practice if everything is accessible and I can lock the door on it when I'm done.

Burning myself out. Not being able to say no to events and re arranging my life so I can please everyone else.
And when you are tired, you don't paint good, and you loose all enthusiasm for painting.

Hmmm, my biggest mistake is probably not stretching myself enough, artistically. I tend to get "comfortable" (aka lazy?) with the same old designs and never experiment or practice or try anything new. I've been in a huge slump the last several months but I'm finally coming out of it. Whew!