Halloween is Coming!

I get so excited every Halloween, and you all probably do too.  I also get a little frazzled that I can’t do everything I want or am asked to do when Halloween weekend comes around. Have  you ever felt this way?

Soo Many Halloween Options (Mine and maybe yours):

• Private make overs for kids or adults

• Private Halloween Parties

• Birthday Parties

• Large Company Parties

• City Sponsored Events

• Charity Events and Fundraisers

• Mall Events

• Dance Clubs

• Contests for yourself or someone else

• Events at Bowling Alleys or Lazer Tag and Paintball Places

• Haunted Houses

• Casinos

• Church Events

• School Events

• Enjoying Halloween with your own friends and family

I find that I have to chew over every gig request, wondering if I should just commit to make-overs throughout the day, or wait to take on big events, or just make it a special day for me and my family.

If you are in it to make as much $$ as you can to support yourself during the slow season, you will have to make a clear decision and stick to it. The tricky thing is booking small makeovers or short parties and then getting the call for that dream gig that will cover your rent and food bills for the next month, and not being able to do it because of the smaller gigs.

Some ways you can overcome this are:

• Have a two or 3 hour minimum for a  party at your Halloween rate.

• Contact any company that you think might book you, or whom you would like to work for and let them know that you are available if they are having any Halloween or Harvest Time events.  Don’t wait for them to contact you first, they might have lost your contact info, or they might do it last minute, when you are already tied up with smaller events or private bookings. Then fill in the cracks with makeovers if you have the time and/or energy.

• Charge more than usual for those individual makeovers  or require that people wanting makeovers come in groups so that it would equal your Halloween hourly rate. For example, if you charge $100 per hour on Halloween, you can ask for $20 make overs for 20 minutes per person for 5 people minimum.  Or charge $50 for makeovers after 5pm, with a two person minimum or so on and so forth and all that math jazz!

• If you are going to do makeovers, early is better than late.  Have people come as early as possible so that you can fit at ton of bookings in throughout the day.  A lot of people might not need their faces painted until 8pm, but you can’t paint everyone’s face at 8pm, so some will have to come earlier and just enjoy the whole day in face paint. For an additional charge you could provide a mini touch up kit or they could come back for a quick touch up if they drink their face off etc.

• Set up a public pay per face booth somewhere where you will get a lot of takers.  In this case as well, make sure that you will charge enough per face to equal a good hourly rate.

Don’t pass up a sweet gig for a gig that is going to cancel last minute:

• Get contracts and deposits for everything you do on Halloween. Make sure that everyone you will be working with is totally committed to the plan, it will save you a lot of grief on such a long awaited day!

• The week of, call everyone that you have made agreements with and carefully go over the date and time and other important details. I just goofed up a booking because the mom thought that the date she told me was on a Sunday, when it was really a Saturday, so make sure you not only get the date, but the day of the week confirmed.  Also, make sure you have e-mail and cell phones (not just work phones) of those you are working with, and that they have yours in case of last minute changes.

If $$ is not an issue, then you can start planning your dream Halloween weekend early so that when it arrives you can have as much fun as possible.  Book those gigs that might not pay a lot but you really want to be a part of.  Make decorations, build costume pieces, research costume contests, buy a lot of candy, plan a crazy party or whatever your dream is!

Clash’s Face Paint Ideas

Below are some Pics of  Designs I made using some of my favorite rainbow cakes…credit is due to the Wolfe Brothers for the little green arm creeper, I was inspired by their arm monsters…which are pretty fast and sickening!

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