New to the site and trying to turn fun hobby into business

Hello Everyone!

I live in the Pacifice Northwest in Vancouver, WA just a couple of miles away from Portland, OR.

I have been dabbling in face painting (mainly small cheek art) for about 4 years or so and this year got an actual "gig" for my past employer and it felt so good to get paid for something that is fun and enjoyable that I decided to jump in and figure out how to turn this into a business to help me stay home with my little ones.. actually they want to come and be my workers!

if any of you can give the best advise on how to start up and what are the essentials you need for beginning and what can come slowly with time, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if there are any events or classes happening in this area or other useful tools or sites, please let me know... I want to be a sponge... i will take as many suggestions as I can.

hoping to make some friends in the face paint community!
thanks for listenting to my ramble!

antonia

Hi Antonia

I've got some info on my free resources page (linked in my signature) that you are welcome to use and also have materials available on the business side of things.

Also working on an e-book on The Business of Face Painting which is currently in for proofreading... which we hope to have up and available asap. The Art of Face Painting will follow shortly thereafter...

HI from the UK

Glenda

Urg, I had a long post written out when my power went off. Anyway, welcome Antonia! Start by naming your business and printing out business cards to hand out. I highly suggest choosing a business name based on whether the .com domain name for it is available, and creating a website as well. Internet presence is super important for getting your name out there and showing people your work.

Make sure your paints are of good quality and that you are able to paint a nice collection of designs fairly quickly (around 5-10 minutes per face for a beginner, below 5 minutes once you've gotten some practice in), and I'd suggest having a book or menu board with photos of what you can paint, so that people can choose. This will help you feel more confident in your abilities plus keep things running smoothly and quickly.

Fancy kits and banners and all that can come after you've gotten your feet wet. Have fun jumping in!

thank you all so much for the advise. I hope to get much more knowledge from this forum... I am so thankful for seeing this on my google site.

hello and welcome !

Welcome to the forum! A good way to get some free exposure is to simply paint yourself & your kids before you go out. Lots of people will comment and ask where you got painted. Have your business cards ready!

Hi Antonia!

I'm new to all of this, too! My advice is to read every post on this message board! You won't believe how much valuable information these kind women have shared with us newbies.

Wecome to the board, I'm sure you'll find it as inspiring as I have!

Congratulations......you just started the same way I did. The BEST piece of advice I can give you is to ALWAYS paint yourself first. It mezmerizes most kids and they "have to have it". Also is wise to have choices (a portfolio of sorts) so that you initially don't get roped into the "unknown". I keep a book by my chair for the child to pick from. Most of them I had to do on myself and then take pictures but hey, you gotta start somewhere.


I think Angie nailed the gist of it! A LOT of my business comes from word of mouth. The cards and the websites are priceless , even if you have to start out on a social networking site! Good luck and Welcome!

Welcome Antonia,
I remembered when I first started out - I had one book that had step by step instructions on different face designs. I found a local optimist club that had teen dances every Friday night and that is were I practiced for one year. I then went to a local pizzeria that also had games and asked the manager if I could set up at no charge to them and just charge the patrons $3.00 - $5.00 for each design. Once I got good and can do them under 5 minutes I started passing out my cards and did a simple website and the rest is history. A website is a must to get your name out there.
There are a lot of places to go to get ideas such as www.sillyfarm.com. They also have a video corner where they demonstrate different products and techniques. Another site to visit is www.snazaroo.us and look at the photo button - they have a lot of photos from different contests and some really good how to contests.

Kathy

Hello Antonia! I know you will make friends here and learn a ton!!! Welcome to the forum - try and make time to plunder the forum's topics and you will learn a lot and try to post often so we can get to know you better.

So glad you found us! The painter's community is a great one.

I am a stay at home mom currently too and have found this business to be pretty compatible to my family life commitments overall. Esp. now since my hubby knows it will bring a few extra dollars here and there he is more on board then ever!