Hi from Orange County, CA

by girlbyjuly Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:11 pm

Hi all! I've been a member for a few weeks now but this is my first post. My name is Sarah, I'm 20 years old. I am originally from Ukiah, CA (Mendocino County) but I moved to Orange, CA to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in LA. I'm a Fashion Design major, graduating in 3 weeks, and I intend on continuing my education with the 3rd year program in Theatrical Costume.

I've been face painting since last April when I was looking for a job and found a Craigslist ad for a woman who was looking to add more painters to her business because she couldn't handle all the gigs she was getting. She taught me a lot, and I'm grateful to everything she did for me (including saving me from having to work retail). Since then, myself and my friend (and fellow painter) Alex have started our own business, Glimmer (facepaintingorangecounty.com--our website is very rough and needs work, I know!).

I joined this forum to help get ideas for improving my skills, as I know I still have a lot to learn. I was fortunate enough to take a class from Marcela Murad a couple months back when I was still with the other company. I also joined to help get publicity ideas--we have posted a listing on basically every site in existence, put flyers up around town, and haven't booked much of anything yet. I know especially now is a good season for parties so I'm hoping for some more ideas!

Thanks a lot, I look forward to talking with all of you! Smile

by AngieAnders Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:55 pm

Hello and welcome. I love the name Glimmer. It looks like you're off to a great start! How long were you with the person who trained you? As you are probably noticing, a pro facepainting business is definitely about more than the actual painting. This business is like an animal... you have to feed it and feed it so that it will work for you. Most of my clients are direct referrals - people who have either seen me in public working, or attended another party that I painted for. You might want to attend some festivals as a vendor, or do some public busking to get your name out there. The general rule is that people need to see you or your advertising at least three times before they will think to hire you for their party. Best of luck!

by girlbyjuly Sat Nov 27, 2010 6:22 pm

Thank you! Yes, it definitely has been a lot of hard work so far and we know there's lots more to come. We've painted in a local park a couple times, but not to great results. We can't seem to figure out when it will be busiest, and the weather hasn't been cooperating. We have also been looking into being a vendor at festivals, but most of the deadlines for the ones coming up have come and gone. We are still planning on going with our faces painted and handing out flyers, and talking up the other vendors there.

Thanks for the tips!