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Making Balloons Last

Please excuse the less than perfect appearance of this chapter: we are in the middle of a major revamp of the Guide and we wanted to get the information on line and available ASAP. This chapter will soon be edited and spruced up by the BHQ staff. Thank you for your patience.

-- PREINFLATING PLASTIC BAGS PREVENTING FROSTED BALLOONS KEEPING CLEARS CLEAR BALLOON SHINE/SHIELD SON OF A GUN/ARMOR-ALL FOLIAGE SEALER BALLOON JUICE HAIR SPRAY OTHER HI FLOAT Hi-Float and Super Hi-Float SQUIRTING IT IN TO CLIP OR NOT TO CLIP, THAT IS THE QUESTION I'VE BEEN SLIMED! PRE-TREATING UN-INFLATED BALLOONS PRE-TREATING INFLATED BALLOONS THE NECESSITY OF HI-FLOAT SPEED / COST SALES TECHNIQUES HI-FLOAT IN DECOR HI-FLOAT ON THE OUTSIDE METALLIC BALLOONS HI-FLOAT AND GEO BLOSSOMS HI-FLOATING 260's HI-FLOAT AND AGATES TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING FLOAT TIME ARTISTIC APPLICATIONS OF HI FLOAT -- Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

PREINFLATING We preinflate with air to expand the balloon for many reasons. Pearlized balloons that are combined with imprints are invariably smaller and odder shaped, especially when using the same size balloons (both 11"). Preinflating with air gets them closer to the same size. They are also a bit softer to tie and seem a bit softer after inflation so that there's a bit of expansion room. We preinflate all 3' balloons when we receive our stock to assure no defects because we usually don't carry a large inventory in that size. Sometimes, when we're low on 16", an 11" can be expanded through air inflation to get pretty close to the 16" size. Most often, we preinflate to get extra helium into the balloons the night before do that they will be at 11" the next day when we need them. The trick in assembling the arrangements is to keep the balloons a little closer than usual to make up for the shrinkage that will occur. We pre-stretch everything now. If there is any defect, it is caught before hi-float and helium is wasted and relaxing the latex cuts down on breakage. Over/undersizing? Use your judgement. A balloon should never be inflated to the point where a few degrees warmer will pop it. That's overinflated to begin with. An 11 inch balloon inflated to 11inches at room temperature (70 - 75 F) should be able to withstand 90 - 95 F without popping, because it should expand to about 12.5 inches or more before it pops. Try measuring your balloons to see if your idea of an 11 inch fully inflated balloon is really 11 inches. PLASTIC BAGS

Making Inflated Balloons Last: Storage

The only way to prolong the balloon clarity is to place inflated items in a clear plastic bag. When I was vending outdoors, I would place stuffed balloons into clear bags, twist closed tightly to fit snug over the balloon and put a big bow on the plastic bag as well.
Whenever you blow up a balloon, you immediately subject it to oxidation, its just a fact of atmospheric physics. I do Balloon Deliveries using both rounds and non-rounds. The best, fastest, cheapest cure is a plastic bag, 55 gallon drum liners are my favorite. Find one large enough to hold your entire delivery and stuff them in, tie with a piece of curling ribbon. Just before the delivery, take everything out of the bag, fluff and fix where necessary and wow them with your product.
If you are interested in buying very large plastic balloon bags, you should check this source:
The Rainbowrapper CO.
8389 Mayfield Rd. Ste.
130 Chesterland, Ohio 44026
1-800-449-8806 or (216)729-4644
I just ordered them and I like them, they even sell them in three sizes at $25.00 each roll, plus shipping:
Medium: 38" wide x 50" long (will hold seven or ten 11" balloons) (140 bags per roll)
Large: 38" wide x 70" long (will hold ten to fifteen 11" balloons) (100 bags per roll)
Extra Large: 38" wide x 90" long (will hold twenty to twenty five 11" balloons) (78 bags per roll)
I spoke to Keith Redfern, who owns this company. They are a 15 year old balloon company from Cleveland who designed these bags specifically for the balloon industry. I've always had difficulty finding anything larger than the standard 55 gal trash bag for my balloons, and if these are as good as they claim they are, these bags will be a big help to those of us who do a lot of bouquet deliveries and/or decor with pre-inflated latex. The bags are high density poly, anti-static (!), and ventilated (hallelujah!). Give Keith a call, and he'll send you some samples!
I've used the Rainbowrapper bags for everything from delivery bouquets to transporting String of Pearl Arches and have found them to be WONDERFUL.
We get our large bags from Viking Paper Products. Our bags are "see-through" and about 72"x48" and cost us about 15-20 cents each.
We use 55 gallon drum liners (trash bags) that are clear, we get them wholesale for $10 a box (60 per box). It's great to be able to see all the colored balloons in the bag, and it keeps them from oxidizing too!
A clown friend uses a very large (trash can sized) mylar bag to transport her balloons. It is decorated with balloons and confetti, just perfect for a celebration! She said they're available at most Hallmark stores. They're durable and attractive.
When I stuff balloons, I treat the outside of the balloon and then put a clear floral bag over the balloon after it has been decorated. Then I gather the top of the bag and close it with some curling ribbon to decorate it. This serves two purposes: it is easier to carry and it keeps the balloon fresher much longer.

BAGS TO PREVENT OXIDIZING The name of the company that sells "all sizes of bags" is Associated Bag. The phone # is 800-926-6100. The bag I use for transporting large #'s of balloons is 22-3-14. The size is 36 x 28 x 60. The cost is $62.00 for a box of 100. Anyone looking for a nice bag to wrap your balloon stuffings in? Stock # 28-3-556 the size is 26 x 32. Usually have to cut some off the top. The box qty. is 500 and the price is $62.00. They also carry bags that would work well for balloon bouquet deliveries. BUT I have found that Ace Hardware carrys a 55gal. clear bag that is less expensive and can be purchased in smaller qtys. ($11.49 for a box of 60) Just wanted to add this about storage bags. The Mattress bags are great, but for inexpensive bags we buy the Christmas Tree bags at about 59 cents each. They are not as heavy duty , but they are huge and do the job extremely well. We have used each of them many many times. We also like the fact that they are white and not clear as this probably helps stop any fading or oxidation. We are fortunate to have a discount store "The Christmas Tree Shops" in our area , otherwise these would certainly be well over a dollar or two. I work at a store that often delivers large bunches of balloons, usually helium bouquets, but the same principle should apply. The local grocery stores do a lot of recycling. The materials to be recycled, plastic or aluminum, are put into large boxes, with plastic bag liners. These liners are HUGE! I have personally been able to stuff over 3 dozen 11" latex balloons into one of them, and then tie the neck shut for delivery on a windy day. I would suggest you check out your local recycling centers to see if they have these liners, we call them barge liners. A case of 100 only costs $22 here, or about a quarter each. They are tough and durable which makes them reusable. How you transport the filled bags is your own problem.;-) Seriously, one full bag is about 3'x3.5'x6', so you should be able to stuff a couple hundred inflated 260s in each. If you have a pickup truck, just stack the bags in the back and tie a light tarp over them. Just don't stack them on top of the chainsaw. I do my air inflated balloons the day before ALL THE TIME. I found LARGE clear bags that hold about 75 inflated balloons. I time tested them for several weeks, in my van, in hot humid weather and was SHOCKED that they still looked great!! I can look up the name of the mfgr. if anyone needs it. The only problem is that you have to purchase a whole box. (50 bags) We too do much of our air-filled work a day or two in advance. We wrap them in large plastic bags and they are ready to go. Graham Rouse once suggested to me to purchase large mattress bags from U-Haul to serve as really large holders of sculptures, etc. They work great - thick, strong and come in several sizes (double, queen, king, etc.). We have a U-Haul dealer right around the corner. Is there a proper way of transporting inflated balloons without having problems with static from the plastic bags? What is the concern with static? Try spraying static guard inside of the bag. I also like to use this on our ribbons. More than half the time the customers will ask "what are you doing?" Then you tell them that it is a customer service that seperates you from the others. Try it! They appreciate it by coming back again and again!! I often will preinflate my airfilled items. I have done it up to a 5 days before event. I always put completed arrangements into large mattress bags when completed. This keeps them from oxidizing, and it's also a great way to transport from site to site. I get my mattress bags from the Packing/Shipping company. They are thick and strong and will last a long time with a little care. Also, after Christmas when the sales are happening, I purchase the bags for Christmas trees. These are very thin but can be used once or twice, and price makes them disposable. Not a problem inflating early as long as you keep the balloons in bags. Get yourself some mattress cover bags from somewhere like U-Haul or Ryder. We have done topiaries as far as 3 weeks ahead with no problems. The only thing we do different further out is to size them a little bigger to allow for shrinkage. We LOVE airfilled stuff for exactly that reason! I wouldn't hesitate to store your airfilled topiaries for later decorating. As long as you put them in plastic to help avoid excess oxidizing. In April I did all of the decorating for our Gala Event. We started on Tuesday with the airfilled sculptures, bagged them and were fortunate to have the use of someone's empty house for storage. We had 3 rooms FULL of the inflated, bagged balloons, took a panel truck to haul them to the Event. All balloons faired wonderfully, no problems. We did use a lot of satin balloons which don't show the oxidation as much as the regular balloons, but also used 5 gross of clear balloons and they held up wonderfully. Do NOT bag helium balloons (especially if hi float isn't dry) until right before delivery time. I learned that lesson a few years ago the hard way when I thought I would get ahead of the game by doing the helium the night before and bagging them. Out of 100 balloons, maybe 10 floated! Now I always do my helium balloons the day of an event, even if it means a 5:30 wake up, just to make sure they are nice and fresh and full size! PREVENTING FROSTED BALLOONS

Making Inflated Balloons Last: Products

Are there any balloons that do not cloud up?
No. All latex balloons are made from latex and the characteristics are the same... latex oxidizes, period! One other thing you can do, though, is apply a chemical to the balloon surface, to prolong clarity by weeks.
How can I avoid having that milky coating on my balloons during hot weather? I used STP brand Son-of-a-Gun and it was ok, however, it didn't last that long. I've tried a half and half combination of Hi-Float and water; however, that only streaked the balloons real bad. I've also heard that Armor All works too. Is there something else that I don't know about?

I have found that if you can keep the balloons out of the open air, maybe in a plastic bag, that it'll cut down on the oxidation. The fridge is a great place to put an inflated balloon to keep it's shine. However, it's not such a great place to show them off :-) If you use pearlized colors, the "fogging" isn't so apparent. It is perfectly normal for balloons to "oxidize" and get cloudy when exposed to the air especially when it is warm and possibly humid! I always use the satin or pearlized balloons to help the oxidation not be as noticeable. We also always bag the balloons, and, when setting up, we do so as quickly as possible before the balloons oxidize and you can see our "handprints". The shrinkage would also be due to the heat with no a/c. Even at times with a/c we notice the oxidation just because of the humidity in the room. I explain to my brides that have balloons outside or inside with no a/c or in this "wonderful" summer weather that with the weather conditions, our balloons will take on a "frosted" look so there are no surprises!! "Frosted" sure sounds better than "Cloudy", huh?? =) There could be seveal reasons for the "fogging" of your balloons. Foremost is too much handling. When I make columns well in advance, I string them on line and place them in real big plastic bags. I can do this up to 5 days in advance & they still look brand new. KEEPING CLEARS CLEAR > I'm in a dilemma called HOT and HUMID weather vs. Diamond Clear Balloons!!! > Doing a Decor job for a Wedding tomorrow using > lots of Clear Balloons (Qualatex Diamond Clear Flowers A Round), and the > weather is going to be HOT 39c, overcast/cloudy, stormy and humid. The > venue is air conditioned with an evaporative cooler (water cooled) adding > more moisture. I'm extremely worried about clouding/oxidization of these > Balloons. Balloons have a very light powder inside of them. I have noticed that when I stuff a colored balloon inside a clear balloon, the clarity of the balloon diminishes. So, I tried rinsing powder out of the clear balloon, leting it dry or drying it with the blower, and have found that the clarity has increased. If you have any regular HI-FLOAT (not the new super hi-float) It can be mixed with water and put into a small round wash basin. After inflating the balloon you can gently give it a bath. This is best done by holding the balloon in your hand upside down and using a cup or dipper pour the solution gently flow over the balloons until all surface is covered - hold in place until the excess flows off the balloon and into the basin. This sounds messy, but it's not a scary as it sounds. We used a clothes-line in the back area of the shop and put newspaper on the floor. Just like doing laundry - I used a clothes pin to hold them in place. By the time the end of the line came around - the first were dry enough to be tied into bunches. Another way is to gently insert a pencil into the balloon and then hold the neck tightly onto the pencil and lower it into the HI-FLOAT. Remove and slowly fill with helium. After done they will take a few minutes to be dry enough to pull together in groups. We usually do anything like this in shop and transport. The pour method dries a little faster. I have even used this method on large paddle balloons! They are always a hit. Yes, we also have turned our clear balloons inside out, rinsed them off, dried them, and used them (with super hi float inside, sometimes with hi float outside) for various jobs where we wanted the sparkling clear effect. However, this technique is time consuming and hi floating outside the balloon can get quite messy as well as being a challenge to dry if you have very many to do. We have used a hair dryer on low -- again too time consuming for a big job. It's most effective for a focal point grouping or arrangement or stuffed balloon. We also use Klearkote, which does a pretty good job - I like it better than Balloon Shine, etc. Have also used clear acrylic waxes, like Future, when we have done 50 or more stuffed balloons for quick sale - Valentine's Day, Sweetest Day. You'll get the best results for a clear balloon if you use regular hi- float (not super hi-float) in a 1:1 ratio mixed with water. Rinse off the balloon (both sides) and dry completely. Dip it into the mixture and use a straw to move the excess off the balloon. Air inflate the balloon (or use nitrogen) and it will almost be dry when it's inflated. If it isn't, use a hair dryer on cool to completely dry it. This is a pain in the .... if you have lots of balloons to do, but if it's just a few, you'll love it because they are really crystal clear and will stay that way quite a while. BALLOON SHINE/SHIELD

Balloon Shine and Balloon Shield

I have a sample bottle of a product called Balloon Shine by Maxim, and it works pretty well, but you must buff each balloon you spray it on.
Balloon Shine and Balloon Shield (by Maxim, Inc.). Also if you can do your balloons in the air conditioning along with applying the Shine or Shield, this will help.
I purchased Balloon Shine from my local balloon company. However, STP worked as well as Balloon Shine.
I used to own a car wash and I know my car chemicals very well. Balloon Shine looks like, smells like, and acts like STP. Balloon Shine also makes my tires look great! So you do the math.
Balloon Shine is a product made specifically for balloons but, unfortunately, the results are similar to Armor All.
We have used Balloon Shine and while it is good for short periods, our best results have come by using the original "Hi-Float" formula to seal the surface.

We were given a can of the same aerosol shine you are speaking of. It was given to us by Alex Shephard from Mexico. I'm not sure what the name of it is either because I don't speak a word of Spanish. Maybe someone on this list can give you his phone number, or check in your QBN Director under Mexico. He is a CBA, and a terrific balloon artist and teacher as well. I seem to remember Alex telling us it is a silicone-based product, and because of that, it has very little, if any, "smell". It leaves a very slick surface to the balloons, but the 4 or 5 balloons we sprayed in our sculpture remained unoxidized the entire 4 days. Since this product was given to us to try out, I have no idea what the price is on it. You can spray them with Balloon shine (available at all the best balloon suppliers) but a much cheaper alternative is dashboard protector spray like Wynnes Dash available at your local supermarket or garage. I have used balloon shine on 260's a few times, and it definitely makes them last a lot longer. I have found that the best way to apply it is before inflating the balloon. I spray a small amount into the bag of balloons then rub it around till they are all coated. This makes a little balloon shine go a loooong way. The balloons are very slippery and tying the knot and twisting them is a bit tricky but I soon got used to it. I find that when I am doing huge amounts of balloons to be delivered (eg. as invitations etc) they can be made up a few days in advance and still look very fresh on delivery day. This all takes a lot less time, makes less mess, is cheaper and leaves the balloons shinier than using hi-float inside the 260 . (IMHO) What do you use on air sculptures to have them not oxidize? Balloon Shine is just way too time consuming. SON OF A GUN/ARMOR-ALL Substitutions: Automotive Products

STP is a water based automotive product for making rubber, vinyl, plastic and finished leather shine. Most people use it for the "Wet tire" look. The important thing is that STP is WATER based. Some of these applications are petroleum based and will eat through latex very fast.
I do not know if Armor All is water based or not.
STP brand "Son of a Gun" can be used on the outside of a latex balloon (instead of Hi-Float) to prevent the chalky oxidation that results from long exposure to air. I doubt that it has any of the Helium-diffusion-rate-altering qualities of Hi-Float though. Knowing how slippery "Son of a Gun" makes car seats, it may not have any practical application for twisted sculptures.
Don't use Armor All until after the 'loon is inflated and the figure is made. I've had hearts and blossoms stay shiny for more than 3 weeks in the mall after being treated.
Bigger cities have car-washing chemical suppliers. They will have a version of STP in a gallon jug. You will want to ask for a water- based product. The company will have it for a fraction of the cost.
I don't recommend using STP or those other auto products. They feel oily to the touch and they take time to apply. There is a product called Balloon Shine that does the same thing (retard oxidation) but again, the time factor is too much for me. "Son of a Gun". Spray it on a lint free rag and then wipe the outside of your balloon completely! It also keeps your clear balloons from "fogging" up! Great stuff! Do not spray directly onto the balloon. Also use on imprinted balloons, if you can; turn them inside out because when you go to shine them ... the imprinted ink will smear! One can also just purchse this from a store like Wal-Mart. Good luck!!! I heard you could use "Son of a Gun" which is a dashboard cleaner. But also heard do NOT use "Armor-All", I guess it eats the balloon slowly or something like that. Different brands do different things. Armor-all works OK, but, frankly, it's a royal pain if you don't need something on display more than a day. Also, if you use pearlized colors, the "fogging" isn't so apparent. You can use spray Armour All to prevent oxidation but do not spray it directly on the balloon. It goes a LONG way if you spray a cloth and rub it over the balloon. Cotton diapers work great for this. > Is there any way you can prevent the creation from going so dusty? I > find that after about 4 hours, the sculpture's color doesn't shine > through because of all the dust on the outside. Once I did a outdoor > gig, and I had examples hanging up behind me. The black balloons > looked like they were gray! Actually the problem is oxidation and not dust. STP Son Of a Gun or Balloon Shine sprayed on each balloon then wiped till dry (polished) works well but is time consuming. Oddly enough, these products attract dust (but it won't really be visible) and small dust particles can be sharp and slightly increase your poppage rate. But if you want your black balloons to stay black and your clear balloons to stay clear it is a must to polish them. Regarding Son of a Gun . . . . I picked up this technique from Saul at Conwin Carbonics . . . In an area where people won't be walking (they can slip), we cover the floor with plastic and just spray the heck out of our sculptures, etc., until they're dripping. We let the sculpture sit there or leave the plastic at the bottom until it stops dripping and VOILA!!!!! We don't do any rubbing . . . I don't know if you'd have to for centerpiece things, but for all the other stuff just let it drip dry. As long as you have thoroughly sprayed it down, it's beautiful. The stuff is so cheap at K-mart or Pic'n'Save that it's worth using more and saving on time and labor. We once did this technique on our 10' palm trees that had to be outside and DIRECTLY IN THE SUN for 3 days while the temperatures were in the 90's plus and VOILA! They were just gorgeous! When the job got struck, not all the little balloons (they were all goldenrod by the way) at the top were popped until a week later, and YES they were still beautiful. The only draw back to this technique is you have to spend a little bit of time (when the job is done) cleaning your pole and base with windex or something to cut the slippery effect.

FOLIAGE SEALER There is also another product out there that used to be called Glitter Glue, but is now called "Foliage Sealer". It is by Design Master and comes with a very bright yellow label. The label includes the words "formerly Glitter Glue" in VERY small print on the bottom. Glitter Glue used to be used all the time by balloon artists, but until Pat Skistimas shared with us that Design Master had merely changed its name, we thought they'd stopped manufacturing it. The cost for this product runs about the same as a can of Design Master paint. This product works great on all balloons EXCEPT clear. It tends to leave a slight haze on the clear balloons. It will even take oxidized balloons and make them shiny again!! When you first spray it on, it will be a little bit hazy, very sticky and tacky. However, after it dries, it shines like a new balloon, and it is no more tacky than Armour-All or STP. Another drawback is that it's expensive, and, since it is an aerosol, it has the inevitable "fragrance" :) associated with most aerosols, so you need to spray it in a well ventilated room. We still prefer Balloon Shine for our everyday bouquet deliveries, but we always have a good supply of Design Master Foliage Sealer in stock for sculpture work. We also have never tried it on helium-filled balloons so don't know whether it will add weight to them or not. We've only used it on air-filled designs. Works GREAT!! If you can find it, try it....you'll love it! The Inspireworks tapes suggest glitter glue. Design Master's Foliage Sealer (formerly Glitter Glue). It's the same product, they changed the name. Glitter Glue is made by Design Master, but is now called Foliage Sealer and comes with a very bright yellow sticker. It will say in very small print at the bottom of the label "Formerly Glitter Glue". Pat and Jim Skistimas introduced us to this fine product at IBAC two years ago, and we've been thanking them ever since. Although it is expensive, when it is absolutely necessary to have your balloons last and remain unoxidized, this is a great treatment to use. In spite of it's name (Glitter GLUE), and although it is quite sticky when first applied, once dry, it does NOT seem to have any residual stickiness. Another great attribute of this product is that it will even bring the shine back to balloons that have already oxidized!!! REALLY!!! We haven't yet had an occasion to use this on helium-filled balloons so don't know how much it will affect the fly-ability of the balloons. Foliage Sealer is applied the same way you would use a spray paint. It is applied as a spray, directly onto the outside of the balloon. If you are applying to a sculpture, column, arch, or balloon wall, it can be applied AFTER the item is finished so you only need to spray onto the parts of the balloons that are visible. Once again, we have NOT yet tested this product on a helium-filled balloon, arch, etc. and do not know if it will make the items too heavy to fly. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has. Anyone who carries Design Master paints would probably carry this product. Try your floral wholesaler first, and if no luck, try craft stores. Well, I guess we hicks out here in Kansas aren't so out of touch as some of you may think. We've been using Glitter spray for a number of years. We buy it either at a floral wholesaler or a cheaper version of it which works just as well at Walmart stores. It works very well on helium-filled balloons and can't see that it significantly affects flying times. For oxidation problems I use Design Masters Foliage Sealer...it comes in a white and yellow can. I purchase it at a local craft store. It works great! This past summer my husband and I were packing the van for a wedding, and the first thing we put in the van was the 4 ft Heart sculpture that was already finished He left the back door open while loading the van, and in less than 10 minutes the heart scultpure had oxidized. Luckily I always keep a can of Foliage Sealer in the van.....it worked (and works) miracles!

We have used a combination of original Hi-float...letting it dry, then spraying Design Master Floral Spray (formerly Glitter Glue) over that. These projects had not been subjected to direct sunlight and a majority of the balloons were round, but this process was pretty successful for sealing both new and oxidized balloons. Out-of-doors, there has not been anything we have tried that lasted as long as natural latex.

BALLOON JUICE Also, South Bay Balloons(formerly part of All American of Santa Ana, CA) in the San Jose, CA area has something called "Balloon Juice" that works really well. Their number is (408)486-9820. HAIR SPRAY Hair spray on the outside of the balloon will make it last a long time but don't touch it or it shrivels. Hairspray actually helps keep the air in longer by sealing the balloon. No, it doesn't make it stiff. OTHER Spray your creation with Silicone Lubricant. Found in most Wal-Mart stores in the Auto dept. Keeps your balloons bright ten times longer. I always coat my balloons after inflation. I never tried to coat them before inflation. I do know that it would be harder to tie, cause that stuff is slippery. I sell peacock punch balls at festivals, and when they get chalky, I spray them. Never used the stuff on 260's, but latex is similar, and should react the same. Toxic? Never thought about it. Better check, just to be sure. We have tried every brand of rubber treatment made and have found "2001" to be the best! We get it at our automotive store. We buy the big bottle and pour it into a smaller spray bottle. Put it on when you first inflate the balloons for best results. Copied from a Fredericksburg VA area Newsletter:
"Hi I'm POP-O the Clown... Balloon sculpting has always been one of my favorite crafts, but felt that they didn't last as long as they should, so I decided to do something about it and discovered a way of preserving the balloons with a clear non-toxic coating that seals the balloons and gives them that shiny just blown up look for weeks or even months.
Since then, I have been able to supply people with colorful long lasting balloon sculptures, store displays, and memorable party decorations of all sorts. POP-O has written down the secret of this balloon-preserving process for anyone who's interested, to get your copy send $4.50 for the booklet to:
POP-O the Clown at PO Box 607, Locust Grove, VA 22508
(540) 972-0089 HI FLOAT

Hi-Float and Super Hi-Float

Hi-Float: is a gummy, glue-like, resin that you apply to latex balloons to allow them to retain helium for longer periods of time. Once it dries, it forms a plastic-like coating that adds many more hours to the life of a balloon before it "drops".
Super Hi-Float: is a liquid substance that is designed to go inside helium-balloons to make them float longer. It can be a little messy. Before you insert the gel into the balloon make sure that you remove all of the air from the balloon first (If you don't then the gel will be forced back out of the balloon). Don't use very much Super Hi-Float either because all you need is enough gel to give the balloon a thin layer of protection. The gel takes about 30 minutes to dry. Once dry you've got a balloon that will stay inflated for months.
"Hi-Float and Super HF are non-toxic, non-irritating, non-corrosive, non-flammable, and biodegradable. They are very similar to the adhesive found on the back of postage stamps."
HI-FLOAT has a free design book they will send out or one of your suppliers may have copies in house for their clients. There is a lot of info in this little blue book!!! Here is their phone and snail mail info: HI-FLOAT
13025 Middletown Industrial Blvd, Louisville, KY 40223
Phone: 1-800-57FLOAT or 502-244-6873
fax: 502 245 9711

SQUIRTING IT IN One thing, if you have never used hifloat, make sure you have the end of the nozzle ALL the way into the balloon body. Don't squirt it in the neck; this is some of the yuckiest stuff you can work with. Keep it off your hands, inflator and out of the neck. TO CLIP OR NOT TO CLIP, THAT IS THE QUESTION Hello. My name is Don Burchette and I invented Hi-Float and Super Hi-Float. Regarding the mention of how much Super Hi-float to add to your balloons: If you add the full recommended amount, an 11-inch balloon should float at least 4 days indoors in hot summer weather and 10 days in cold weather. The difference is due mostly to humidity. If you add less Hi-Float than recommended, the balloons will float less time than the maximum. In other words, to get the maximum floating life possible any time of the year, add the full recommended amount. You may find that in the winter, using half of the recommended amount gives an adequate float life, but in the summer this would cause complaints due to reduced float life. To be safe, I generally recommend you always use the full recommended amount of Super Hi-Float. That way if something else is not quite right (temperature, humidity, balloons not fully inflated, etc.) you still get a long float life. However, if I were decorating an event to be held the same day, I might use half of the recommended amount of Hi-Float since it may not be necessary for the balloons to float a long time. Although, some decorators have told me they still treat the balloons fully since many balloons get taken home by the guests. If you have any other questions about Hi-Float please feel free to call our toll-free number 1-800-57FLOAT. Don Burchette Always use a Hi-Float clip on your pump stem. It helps to get a more precise measure of Hi-Float, without overdoing it. The hi float people will probably tear their hair out (after they get the hi float stripped off), but we DO NOT use their clips -- simply pump in enough to coat the inside of the balloon -- about the size of a new pencil eraser tip in an 11" balloon. We also feel that it's a bit faster to treat the balloons without the restricter clips. I agree with the "PENCIL-ERASER" amount, if not even using a tad less does fine for 11-inch Qualatex Jewel-Tones. Plus float time is still excellent. Best advice to anyone new to Super Hi-Float....Experiment with the product! If your balloons look and act "drunk," then reduce the amount you use. Also I personally recommend that you "rub it in," and remember to coat the entire inside surface of the balloon, even going as far as coating it into the neck. I agree with several others regarding how much hi-float to use. In the beginning I followed the guidelines religiously but was having trouble with some balloons not floating upright. After experimenting I concluded that if I used the next size clip down from the recommended one I got great results (I use the white clip for all my 11"). My balloons float perfectly, the up time is anywhere from 3-5-7 days consistently. Try some experimenting on your own. It's also important to spread the hi-float as evenly as possible. Try using less hi float. I never use the amount that the instructions dictate. Try using the clip for the next smallest size.(e.g. - use the 9' clip for 11' latex) Also, it is very important that you secure the ribbon down to a weight. Don't just let the balloons float up to the ceiling because they will invariably wind up floating sideways. This causes wet hi float to pool on one side of the balloon as opposed to pooling at the neck. I have also found that cutting down on the amount of super hi float helps especially outdoors. I use the white clip most of the time now for 11". I'VE BEEN SLIMED! The largest drawback to Hi-Float, is if the balloon pops during inflation-you get slimed, and you'll find parts of balloons stuck to every conceivable surface around. It's water soluble though, and doesn't leave a stain. If a balloon pops and throws hi float around the room, you will not be welcome at that event site again. You could inflate your balloons early enough for the balloons to dry, but I think this is a waste of time and expense of the hi float. It's a bit time and space consuming, but I do it all the time. I blow duplets up and use spring clamps and let the hifloat dry. I also use a ribbon with weights on each end over the duplet. I make the ribbons different lengths, so that the balloons will have air circulating all around it. I've learned that if I do any balloons with high float in them I make sure I blow them up (treated with super high float of course) a couple hours before the event so the hi float has time to dry inside before actually using. That way if they do possibly pop, no ooze. To answer your second question, balloons that are put in bags before the HI- FLOAT dries will loose air because the HI-FLOAT cannot dry without air circulating around the balloons, and the HI-FLOAT barrier cannot hold in the helium until it is dry. PRE-TREATING UN-INFLATED BALLOONS

I often apply Super Hi-Float ahead of time for parties, holidays, etc. Just place them in a plastic bag to limit the amount of air they are exposed to... A zip-lock bag, with the air pressed out of it, keeps the high float fresh for weeks. I've experienced no problems with the balloons.
Hi-float the balloons, "squish" them, and cover them with plastic wrap to keep out the air. You then have to re-squish (to evenly distribute the Hi-float on the balloon interior) before inflating.
Pre-treating and storing without inflating... I have simply treated with Hi-float, grouped the balloons (6-12), placed rubber bands around them, placed upright in an airtight container and refrigerated. They can be done weeks ahead of time this way.
Just Hi-Float your balloons, and use a rubber band to tie 10 or so together, then store them with the neck up to minimize the hi float in the neck. When you're ready to inflate them, rub the balloon so the Hi-Float is redistributed within. We use paper clips (remember them?) to hang 3 or more groups of balloons together from some wire shelving. Some people have done this, and then refrigerated them for up to 30 days!!! Just remember to let the balloons warm up to room temp before inflating!
I have had no trouble putting balloons with Hi-Float into the refrigerator on Monday for the following weekend. Just be sure to tightly bind the necks. I have also found that if you fill the balloons with Hi-Float, secure them with a "rubberband" and do not put them in the refrigerator for a day or two, they really get very large when you inflate them. (This I learned years ago by accident.)
I put hi-float in several days in advance. I even have some in the freezer that are a few months old. I put all the hi-floated balloons in tupperware or similar sealed plastic containers. It keeps them from drying out. You can get away using only half the recommended amount of Super Hi Float. We learned that you don't need to put "pre-gooped" Hi Float balloons in the refrigerator if it's only for a day or two. The secret is to simply put that rubber band tight around the necks...to keep the air out. The other answer to your question is you can hifloat ahead of time by squirting in the goop, then bunch the balloons together and secure with a rubber band at the top, put them in the fridge; the goop will not dry on you if the rubber band prevents air from getting to the goop. Before you inflate the balloon squeeze to hifloat around to get good distribution around the inside, then inflate. Bruce Walden taught this in one of his classes, so I high float and refrigerate all the time. If I need the balloons before they reach room temperature, I put them in the microwave. Hi-floating in advance can be a great convenience, and many decorators do it. The balloons are hi floated a day or two before the event. After inserting the hi float & squishing it around the inside of the bulb - being careful not to get any into the neck area - stack the balloons by putting your thumb into the the rounded area so that there's not much room for air, then place them all into a ziploc bag with the rounded balloon base at the bottom and all the necks upright. No need to seal or refrigerate unless you're really doing them far in advance. Just fold over and keep upright so that the hi float doesn't liquify and get into the neck area of the balloons. Regarding the preparation of latex balloons with a booster solution, we bundle ours in groups of 7-10, tie them with left-over curling ribbon scraps, stand them in zip lock bags and store them. If the job or delivery is more than three weeks in the future, we'll refrigerate, but shelves in the basement work well in our climate. On occasions that we have needed to hi-float in advance we have had problems blowing the balloons up with the split second duel sizer. We stored them with the necks up, and the necks seem to stick shut just enough that it causes a problem with the duel sizer. Having to resort to the other inflator slowed us considerably. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Insert the highfloat nozzle deep into the balloon's body, to pump it in, then wipe its nose off inside, by pinching it clean. When storing pre-hifloated latex for use at a later time, we bunch the hifloated latex together with a piece of left-over ribbon and place in a zip-lock bag. This air tight storage makes it possible to prep balloons ahead of the time. I have had no trouble putting balloons with Hi-Float into the refrigerator on Monday for the following weekend. Just be sure to tightly bind the necks. At IBAC, Christopher Horn gave a great suggestion about cutting off the neck of an old or broken balloon and then just using the rolled top of the balloon as a rubberband. It is so obvious, but something I never thought of before.....now all my Hi-Floated balloons are secured with these "rubberbands." Be sure to take them out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before inflating them to let them get to room temp. I have also found that if you fill the balloons with Hi-Float, secure them with a "rubberband" and do not put them in the refrigerator for a day or two. They really get very large when you inflate them. (This I learned years ago by accident.)

PRE-TREATING INFLATED BALLOONS The only advance preparation process recommended in "The Hi-Float Book" is referred to as "the dry method," abbreviated as follows:

Treat the balloons on the inside with Hi-Float. Inflate and seal with clips.
The next day, remove the clips and add helium as necessary.
Note: It is important to keep Hi-Float out of the stem of the balloon so that helium may be added the next day to fully inflate the balloon.

This technique was developed so that customers could receive treated balloons without the risk of being "slimed" if a balloon popped. It may also be useful for preparation of balloons to be used in a spiral arch or other design with balloons spaced so closely that the Hi-Float cannot quickly dry. Because Hi-Float must DRY to form the helium barrier coating, the balloons must be inflated while the Hi-Float is wet inside. Check out the "dry method" on page 4 in the HI-FLOAT book: Step 1: At the end of the day treat the balloons for the next days deliveries or decorating jobs with the recommended amount of HI-FLOAT. Inflate the balloons with helium and seal with plastic clips or discs. Step 2: Allow the balloons to dry overnight. In the morning remove the clips and give the balloons an extra shot of helium to regain their full size. Reseal the balloons. This will result in a fully inflated balloon coated with HI-FLOAT that is completely dry. The added advantage is that if a balloon accidentally pops there is no mess. When using the "dry method," it is important to keep Hi-Float out of the stem of the balloon so that helium may be added the next day to fully inflate the balloon. THE NECESSITY OF HI-FLOAT What a wonderful product! At the back of our showroom where we do all the inflating of deliveries, there is a sign on the wall for all staff AND CUSTOMERS to see. "Hi-Float is MANDATORY for every delivery arrangement". Some customers will ask, "What is HI-Float?" Before you know it, they want to pay the extra, even though their balloons are for little Jodi's birthday party. This impresses the other mothers with the float time of that balloon Lisa brought home from little Jodi's birthday party. "How come Lisa's birthday balloons didn't float for 5 days?" Picture this; A typical hospital stay for a new baby is now 3-4 days. Most bouquets of balloons are ordered and delivered within the first 2 days. Visitors, the hospital staff, the proud father etc, that come on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5..... notice that one particular arrangement lasted throughout, while other balloons "died" and were taken away by the nurses. Make sure your business name and number is easy to read on that balloon delivery arrangement! Our competitors actually try to argue with us that it is not worth using. I don't argue of course.... let 'em suffer the consequences! I agree that high float is as necessary as ribbon, helium and balloons for our business. It costs @ 15 cents for an 11 inch balloon & @ 5 cents for helium for that balloon (depending, of course, on where and how much you pay, I am merely using my statistics). To spend your time and effort to make your creation (no matter how small or large) to last for just one day has ABSOLUTELY NO comparison value when you add @ 15 more cents for super high float or 11 cents for high float and it lasts for at least a week. I've actually had them last much longer. Truly, a customer ran in to me on Dec. 20, 97. I did ballons for her daughter's B-day Nov. 21, 97. She was so excited and raved to everyone around, that the balloons were still up and they should use me, if they ever needed balloons. I handed out several cards by request. I even treat my king 7's on the outside. They stay perfectly clear and last and last! That is one of the major hesitations on potential a customer's part, spending X amount of dollars for balloons to be gone in one day. They make comments like 'at least flowers last for a few days'. I assure them that properly treated balloons can also. I am new to this business (3 months), but it is very clear to me that you can't exchange word of mouth referral for any amount. That is what high float gives you, not to mention, the longer visibilty if it is in a high profile place. If something is "in someone's face" it is on their mind. We use super hi-float in every latex balloon that leaves our shop. Period. We stand on our reputation for long-lasting balloons and have had many return customers as a result. Our company philosophy and mission statement includes a sentence stating that we will "exceed our client's expectations", and we feel that including boosters in our latex work has a positive effect on our overall image. The longevity issue comes into play with us on the decorating level as well as the daily delivery level when we have three or four jobs on a given day. We can be sure that the decor will last regardless of the room conditions, even if the set up takes place at 6:00am for an evening event. At a cost of less than 1.5 cents per balloon, we feel that this insurance is well worth the cost, which is passed along to the client. We do not offer the choice of "to hi-float or not to hi-float" as many of our colleagues in this area do...super hi-float is standard in our shop. After all, we are the experts and the consumer simply desires a quality product. Using SUPER HI-FLOAT gives a balloon business an edge over the competition, because you are able to provide a longer lasting product, and therefore more value for your customers' money. Working at a local Paper Warehouse, I swear by Hi-Float and Super Hi-Float. My display and promotional balloons last up to a week, and I can attest that experimentation is the best way for balloon decorators and retailers alike to discover their potential with Super Hi-Float. Super Hi-Float provides the retailer with yet another assurance of customer satisfaction, due to the extended life of the balloons leaving the store. Many of my customers have returned to our store, simply for the fact that they were "amazed" by the float-time of my work. SPEED / COST After a short time you'll find that you can put Super Hi- Float into balloons and inflate them in a very short time. It doesn't cost too much either. In England it costs about 6 - 7 Pounds for a bottle full. If you have a real big job, you can always 'treat' the balloons far in advance with your other prep work, so the time on the actual job would be the same. Hi-floating in advance can be a great convenience, and many decorators do it. If time on the job isn't a concern, I find it simpler to hi-float on site, especially for smaller jobs. SALES TECHNIQUES

Do you sell Hi Float or keep it as a 'trade secret'?
I use it as an add-on sale when selling balloons "to go." I always have asked customers if they would like HI-FLOAT, tell them the benefits, and the small additional price per balloon. I think it's a bargain at 3 C-shells per dozen balloons and customers love it.
I think all deliveries should be HI-FLOATed, since the longer the balloons last, the longer they will be around to remind people of your business. I like to deliver big bouquets of HI-FLOATed 16-inch balloons to office buildings. That way the recipient is less likely to take the balloons home from work (they're too big!) and more likely to leave them on their desk. (I'm getting paid to advertise!) Let me tell you, a 16-inch with HI-FLOAT lasts a mighty long time!!!
When selling balloons with HI-FLOAT, let me recommend that you add a tag that explains that the balloons were treated. Otherwise the customer or recipient won't know/remember and will likely develop an unrealistic impression of how long latex balloons last w/o treatment. That can come back to bite you. Ask me to tell you about the disgruntled customer I had once because of this very thing!
If someone comes into the shop for a few balloons, we sell them Hi Float as an add-on sale. Some customers want it, and some don't see the need.
We do not offer the choice of "to hi-float or not to hi-float" as many of our colleagues in this area do... super hi-float is standard in our shop. After all, we are the experts and the consumer simply desires a quality product.

HI-FLOAT IN DECOR While I totally agree that HiFloat is a great product and is very desirable in Balloon Deliveries, I want to add that it's not as practical or necessary when decorating . In our 16 years we have have only used HiFloat once on a decorating job. Most decorating jobs are for a short period of time ( 4 to 6 hours). There would be no reason to hifloat an arch. I guess some people would argue about centerpieces, but other than that I don't believe it is useful. Please don't misunderstand my comments, Deliveries YES, Decorating No, but there are exceptions. I never hi-float for decorating jobs unless it is more then a one day event. A properly inflated Qualatex balloon should last a good 18 hours. I've done 6 weddings in a day with in a hundred mile radius and never had any trouble with the first ones going down. When balloons are hi-floated I think they are harder to decorate with (if the hi-float isn't evenly distributed or if you put just a little too much in they don't hang right on an arch). Normally, I don't hifloat for party decor. I have never had a complaint re: balloons lasting even after the party is over. But, at IBAC it was mentioned to hifloat as insurance. I have a wedding to decorate for tomorrow (175 balloons). Should I hifloat in advance, or do on-site? If in advance, do I hifloat, tie necks, and place in fridge in airtight container? What works best for you?? Much of this depends on your personal preference, and how much time you have. I find that hi-floating spiral arches, etc, is a waste of time and $, as they will usually last thru the event with no problem. We usually hi- float pearl arches if time and longevity are a concern. I always hi- float the helium balloons used in centerpieces, floor bouquets, etc. , as they often get taken home, and the perception of quality is much greater if they last a long time. Ideally, we like to hi-float and preinflate whenever possible, so when we get on site the balloons are dry, and will take a lot more abuse re: handling and static. I hate cleaning hi-float off suspended ceiling and chandeliers! We always hi float everything for all events except releases. We have decorated events since 1989 and quit Hi Floating them about 6 years ago when it dawned on us that the balloons have a life expectancy that goes through the events anyway. We also found that labor costs were too high for the extra time to Hi Float. Our customers haven't noticed the difference and have never complained. Job cost the labor and materials for Hi Floating the events and see what you have to charge to make a profit. Bouquets of balloons that go out of the shop on delivery are Hi Floated because they are gifts and that's where the value is perceived. We include the cost of Hi Floating in the price of the bouquet. Even 3' hot air gifts last for a week or more with the Hi Float. Hi Floating balloons to last through heat doesn't work. I tried that outside when my boys were little for their birthday parties. The balloon latex expands in the heat or sun, but the Hi Float, which dries, does not, so as the balloon expands, the Hi Float just pops off the inside or cracks, and the value is lost. There's no need to hi float for your party even with the heat. I have decorated in 100 degree weather and the balloons lasted the wedding and beyond. If a balloon pops and throws hi float around the room, you will not be welcome at that event site again. You could inflate your balloons early enough for the balloons to dry, but I think this is a waste of time and expense of the hi float. Regarding the balloons I did in the 100 degrees weather, I did over inflate a little. If I'm doing a job on Friday for an event on Sat, I ALWAYS hi float just in case. Now it's easy to do this if I know how many balloons to hi-float because I can squirt them that week sometime, take bunches of 20 or so, loosely put a rubberband around the top, and loosely place them neck up in a square tupperware (or whatever) type container, in my fridge. The hi-float doesn't dry out, I can pull out the container the day I want to inflate them, squish the stuff around a little, use my "special" downward facing inflator nozzle (from Conwin, of course), and inflate away! If I miss the count of balloons by a few, I just blow them up with no stuff inside. This works extremely well if you have 2 weddings or more on a weekend and some of the rooms are free on Fridays. You can decorate on Friday, make a quick stop to check it out on your way to the other job(s), and fix whatever needs fixing. I never hi-float balloons that only need to be up for less that 18 hours. Makes no sense. They stay up anyway. If you will be doing party decorating, don't bother with hi float on those latex as the party usualy never lasts more than 6 hours - Reserve the hi float for those times you really need it, deliveries and decor jobs that need to last several days I agree that Hi-Float is not always necessary for decorations; if you don't need them to last longer than 12 or so hours, then you might not want to treat the balloons. But I love the idea of treating centerpieces and other items that might be taken home by guests as favors (and attaching a business card)! That way they can enjoy them for several days after the wedding, and what a great impression that makes for your company! HI-FLOAT ON THE OUTSIDE Any time I am working on a balloon sculpture "exhibit" that I want to stay fresh for more than a day, I use the Hi-Float and water mist (half Hi-Float and half water). I keep the solution in a 6 inch deep plastic bin and use a small submergible pump to dispense it. I suspend the sculpture over the bin and use the hose to get a good covering. It only takes a few minutes for them to drip dry. A slow-speed fan helps to speed up that process. The coated figures stay clear and last for days. Some people add HI-Float to the outside of balloons before inflating them to avoid the "dust" that forms during longer periods of times or outside biodegration.

METALLIC BALLOONS When inflating Qualatex 11" Jewel-tone and pearl-tone balloons with helium and templating to 11", we have found they tend to become a definite pear-shape. We combat this problem by preparing all of our balloons a day or two ahead of the job: What works for us is to insert Super Hi-Float, tie 7 or 8 together with some discarded pieces of curling ribbon, place in a zip lock baggie and store. This allows the balloons to be blown to a much larger size, and helps to eliminate the pear problem (for reasons why, see the effect of water on latex in the Balloon Science 101 chapter). Refrigeration has also been suggested to us as a means of extending the time between preparation and inflation. This simple method has been so successful for us that we do all of our delivery balloons ahead of time also. In fact, the employees in our shop CRINGE when someone stops in to order a bunch of balloons "cash & carry"! They simply do not look as full as the ones that have been prepared. Helium balloon shrinkage At times this has happened to us and one of the following situations is usually the reason. Pearlized balloons RARELY hold their size even with the proper amount of super hi float and helium. Heat and humidity are killers if the hi float didn't dry completely. Bagging balloons before they are completely dry will cause severe shrinkage. Putting too little hi float into the balloons will cause this problem. Underfilling will cause shrinkage too (we always try to overfill if we are doing them the night before). Check your helium -- was it mixed with air? Was the tank nearly empty? Who manufactured the balloons? What size and color was used? Were they left in a very cold room where the hi float did not dry quickly enough? Did you put too much hi float in the balloons? Don't know if you'll get the same experiences from others but I do know that we have had this happen, especially with Pearlized balloons, and it's a real bummer -- now we air inflate, deflate, hi float and inflate so that the balloons have been stretched a bit if we want to prep the job the night before. One nice advantage to hi floating ahead of time is that the balloons blow up a bit bigger - especially pearlized, and they seem to last even longer. It is true that pearlized and metallic colored balloons float about a third less time than regular colored balloons. You could just add a little less HI- FLOAT than normal, but they will float much longer if you use one of the following methods: METHOD 1: Inject the SUPER HI-FLOAT into the balloon the day before it is to be inflated, using the BLUE clip for an 11-inch balloon. Rub the balloon in the normal manner to spread the SUPER HI-FLOAT around when it is injected into the balloon. Treat several balloons this way and then gather them together by placing a rubber band around their necks to keep the SUPER HI-FLOAT from drying out. The next day briefly rub the balloon a second time and then inflate with helium. METHOD 2: (will give about the same increase in floating time as Method 1) Inflate the balloon with air to stretch it. Then deflate the balloon fully, treat it with SUPER HI-FLOAT in the normal manner, and reinflate with helium. This information is in the latest edition of The HI-FLOAT Book (blue cover, says "revised Nov. 1996" on the inside of the back cover). This is from the Hi-float Book by Don & Marjorie Burchette: Pearlized and metallic colors float about a third less time than regular balloons. If you need the maximum floating life possible, don't use pearlized or metallic colors. Also, agate balloons, heart-shaped balloons, and geos float much less time than regular balloons. To maximize pealize balloons with high float, inflate balloon with air (before highfloating), then highfloat. The balloons may seem bigger, but they'll take more air and last longer. Pre-inflating does help balloons float even longer because they have been stretched and can hold more helium. However, this method is really only necessary if you are inflating pearlized or metallic colored balloons (which do not blow up as large as regular colors) or unusually shaped balloons, such as Geo Doughnuts and Blossoms. I preinflate the balloon to its full size with air, let the air out, and then I treat as I normally would with SUPER HI-FLOAT and inflate with helium. You might want to try testing a couple balloons in your shop. You could blow up one as you usually do, and then another that you have prestretched and see what kind of a difference you get in the floating life. Of course, if you want to increase the floating life of your balloons an easier way would be to use the next larger size balloon - it would accomplish the same thing (allowing you to put in more helium). HI-FLOAT AND GEO BLOSSOMS The blossoms traditionally do not float as long as an 11" balloon. The "helium lift" to weight ratio of the balloon is not as high as other balloons. Using Super High Float will help, but don't use too much, and be sure to get it spread all the way around to assure that it will float straight. Bruce Walden recommended the following: inflate the balloon and clip it (instead of tying it) until the Super High Float dries. Then remove the clip and top off the balloon with helium that was lost during drying time. Using Hi-Float with Geo Blossoms: Don Burchette, the inventor of Hi-Float, just completed some tests, and I wanted to share the results with everyone. He found that he could extend the floating life of 16-inch blossums and doughnuts up to several days using the following method: First - Inflate the balloon with air to stretch it, then deflate it. Second - Inject Super Hi-Float using the WHITE clip on the pump dispenser. Rub the balloon to spread the Super Hi-Float around. Third - Inflate the balloon as large as possible with helium. The prestretching of the balloon with air lets you blow it up larger the second time. In an air-conditioned environment the balloons Don tested floated for several days using this method. As for (16-inch) heart-shaped and Geo balloons, the method for getting the maximum floating life isn't in the HI-FLOAT book yet - Don Burchette just discovered this method during testing he did this summer: (1) Inflate the balloon with air to stretch it, then deflate the balloon fully. (2) Inject SUPER HI-FLOAT using the WHITE clip on the pump dispenser. Rub the balloon to spread the SUPER HI-FLOAT around. (3) Inflate the balloon as large as possible with helium. This prestreching of the balloon lets you blow it up larger the second time (as it does with pearlized balloons). The balloons should float several days using this method. Another tip - these balloons have a very short neck, and Don found them much easier to tie when they are fully inflated if you use a tying aid such as "Knot-A-Balloon". That information may not be in the book, but it is on the newly released HI- FLOAT Video (has anyone seen it yet?) The video has 44 minutes of tips for using HI-FLOAT, and features Bruce Walden and Don and Marjorie Burchette. The video can be purchased from your HI-FLOAT distributor, and I think even those already familiar with HI-FLOAT can pick up a few new tricks from watching. Geo's do last longer with Hi-float, but you have to make sure to evenly cover the entire balloon. If you have too much Hi-float at the top of your balloon this causes extra weight. The weight if heavier than your balloon stem will cause the top of your balloon to be weighted down. I always use Super Hi-Float in my donuts and blossoms. I use the blue clip, but I don't use the full amount. I short it by just a pinch. Also, it is very important to inflate it to the maximum. I usually have either a 260 or 2- 5" balloons in the center. But they usually float for 2 - 4 days. I tell my clients their float time is a little less than others in my arrangements. This way they are not dissappointed. HI-FLOATING 260's I have Hifloated some 260's, and had them stay up looking good for over a week. The people at Lonestar balloons told me they had had them stay up for about a month. Hifloat does work well, but it is a mess to put it in the balloons. I found that completly letting all the air out then filling them works the best. They twist the same. Should you pop one while twisting you'll have a mess, but other than that it works well. It can be mess but worth the time. I use it for display balloons that I want to stay looking good for long periods of time. Yes I use Hi-float on air blown balloons (sometimes). If I am doing spiders for example, the 260Q legs don't always last the 3 weeks that I need them to (they seem to be made thinner). So I discovered that Hi-floating 260Q's gives them an extra "layer" so they last 3 weeks or more (and I don't have to go back and do repairs). Of course I charge a bit more for that extra step. Also, realise that I do this only for "fast", small sculptures like the spiders. I haven't used the basic Hi-Float, but have used Super Hi-Float to try and put a coating on the outside of completed models, as per the guide. But had problems... The Hi-Float book recommends that you use basic Hi-Float for this purpose, but as the vendors I know only sell the super stuff I thought I'd experiment to see how it worked. I made 6 identical teddy-bears using brown balloons, left one uncoated and coated the others in different Hi-Float / water mixes (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5). The bears were then pegged by their noses on the washing line outside to dry, and then brought inside and put in a safe place. The idea was that I would then check them each day, and judge the shine, inflation, etc., each half day to see which mix gave the best results. Well, the results were fairly cut and dry - after two days every bear except the untreated one had got at least one burst bubble, and some were looking extremely sorry. Consequently the Super Hi-Float has not been back out of the bottle. Someone also asked what Hi-Float is made of, and as far as I can remember it is a suspension of plastic - if you can get a copy of the Hi-Float book it tells you a bit more in there. HI-FLOAT AND AGATES Other reasons to use Hi-FLOAT outside the balloon is because certain types of balloon's don't allow the glue to dry fast enough (Swirl/Agate Colors in particular). Hi-Floating the inside of an Agate (the way you would any other latex) doesn't really increase the floating life of the agate. This is because agates are actually turned inside out when they are produced. In order for the HI Float to work on an Agate, you have to Hi Float the outside of the agate. If you have a Hi Float hand book it explains the method of hi floating on the outside. If you only need the agates for one day, you probably don't need to hi float them. We do hi float them (using the outside dipping method) when we add agates to delivery bouquets. Another way to hi-float Agates is to double stuff them with a diamond clear and hi-float that one. The agates prevent the high float from drying properly, so you've got a downed one sooner. To treat it, you dip the balloon into a glass (or whatever) of high float so that it coats the outside of the agate, and then inflate. A whole lot messier, but it works. Agates are a pain compared to normal balloons. I've had plenty "shred" over time so that the color drops off the clear outer balloon, and since they're double dipped, they're heavier. They may hold helium longer untreated, but their weight offsets it. From what we know here at Incredible Balloon, the 11" Agate balloons were heavier than most other 11" balloons Therefore the Hi- Float would not dry completely, and the added weight of the Hi-Float and heavy latex would limit float times. In February of 1995 the Canadian plant which produces Agate balloons switched to a lighter thickness of latex. If your bag of Qualatex balloons was produced after that date they should perform like all other 11" balloons. : - ) Look to the lower right of the UPC code on your bag of balloons, and there should be a 5 digit number. First two numbers indicate yr. - the next three indicate the day in the year. day #1 to day #365. Hope this helps. Agates and HI-FLOAT. Mark from Incredible Balloons was correct - the old agates were heavier and therefore the HI-FLOAT could not dry fast enough to hold in the helium. However, the new Agates can be treated with HI-FLOAT without any problems. If you have some of the older Agates the best way to get maximum floating life is to double stuff them with a clear 11" balloon. Treat the inside balloon in the normal manner. TIPS FOR MAXIMIZING FLOAT TIME Here are some recommendations: HI-FLOAT takes a few hours to dry inside a balloon, and the balloon will lose helium during those first couple of hours. Therefore, balloons you inflate at night will inevitably be smaller the next morning. We recommend inflating the balloons as fully as possible, until they are starting to become almost pear-shaped. As the balloon loses some helium in the first few hours it will lose some of the pear shape and become more rounded. Yvonne Mastny suggested prestretching with air - this is a great way to get your balloons to hold even more helium, and therefore be the size you want them to be after a few hours. You also want to make sure you add the full recommended amount of HI-FLOAT. The blue pump restriction clip is for 11-inch balloons. Adding less HI-FLOAT will allow the balloon to lose helium (and shrink in size) more quickly. I work at a party store part-time, and I have seen employees use either too much Hi-Float, or not enough helium. Hi-Float is like Brylcream (a little dab'll do ya). For 11" balloons, all you need is what amounts to about 2 eyedrops of Super Hi-float. Also, you must coat the entire inside of the balloon, even getting into the neck. Use more than that, and if you don't spread the solution around to fully coat the inside, and you will get a "drunken" balloon: that is, it will appear lopsided, and won't last for very long at all. Also, be careful not to "underfill" your balloons, especially pearlized balloons and GEOS. Remember, when you add Hi-Float, you're adding weight to the balloon, and you'll need just a bit more helium to compensate. There are several factors that might have affected the poor results of the float time for the balloon you purchased. #1 The quality of the balloon (if the party store was using a poor quality balloons they are not going to last as long as a Qualatex Balloon. I own a party store and have checked out the balloons that a lot of the party stores sell in the area and most of them sell very cheap balloons) #2 The complete coverage of the balloon is very important. #3 I have found that the weather also can affect the float time of your balloons....I hate summer time! Some reasons balloons flounder even though they were hi floated: Were the balloons 11"? Did you let them dry before bagging them? Was it very hot and humid in the inflation area? Did you underinflate them? Did you put too much hi float in them - I find that the restrictor for 11" sometimes creates a "hovering" balloon, especially with pearlized, so I just don't use the restrictors at all. Check your tying -- perhaps you are tying too loosely and perhaps you're pulling too tightly and burning the balloon neck. And did you give thanks and praise to the Balloon Goddess? Sometimes weird things just happen, but not usually to the entire job. Much better luck next time -- don't give up on hi float because it gives us such a larger window of preparation time. I use super hi-float daily and have found that pre-stretching with air first and then over-inflating or at least inflating to full size makes all the difference. Of course the hi-float has to dry properly but overall the results are great. I read somewhere, that Hi Floated balloons perform best when they are allowed to dry in a cool dry environment. So if the weather is extra humid, the hi float isn't going to dry properly, thus reducing performance. Humidity is definitely one of the biggest factors in how long a balloon will float. Even if you use Super Hi-Float, 4-5 days is about all you can expect from an 11-inch balloon in humid conditions. We recommend using larger balloons in the summer time (14-inch) to increase floating times. Anyone who is interested can call the Hi-Float Company toll-free at 1-800-57FLOAT for a tip sheet that contains suggestions for getting the maximum floating life from your latex balloons. Hi-Float will keep balloons flying for 3-5 days and Super Hi-Float will keep them flying for 5-7 days. So doing your balloons the night before is positively no problem. We do find, however, that the balloons do come down about 8-10 percent (probably due to the drying time needed for the Hi-Float inside the balloon), so be sure to fill them full. Another trick we have learned is to pre-inflate your balloons with air, deflate them, and then put your Super Hi-Float in them and re-inflate them with the helium. The pre-inflation process stretches the balloons so they will inflate larger and float longer. Pre-inflating does help balloons float even longer because they have been stretched and can hold more helium. However, this method is really only necessary if you are inflating pearlized or metallic colored balloons (which do not blow up as large as regular colors) or unusually shaped balloons, such as Geo Doughnuts and Blossoms. I preinflate the balloon to its full size with air, let the air out, and then I treat as I normally would with SUPER HI-FLOAT and inflate with helium. You might want to try testing a couple balloons in your shop. You could blow up one as you usually do, and then another that you have prestretched and see what kind of a difference you get in the floating life. Of course, if you want to increase the floating life of your balloons an easier way would be to use the next larger size balloon - it would accomplish the same thing (allowing you to put in more helium). HF 11" balloons sized to only 9" would have definitely less float time than 16" downsized to 14". 16 inch or 3 foot round balloons can have up to 2 weeks of float time. I have some 11" balloons that I just took down today and they have been up for 2 weeks. They were still floating but there was some shrinkage so I decided to replace them. I have some leftover printed balloons floating around my apartment. They were treated and inflated in the morning 6 days ago. Out of 20, I still have 5 on the ceiling. SHF If used in 260's, it makes them last for months. 2 weeks ago today, we inflated 14" latex, augmented with Super Hi-Float�. As of this morning at 8:45 am, the 14" Super Hi-Float� coated latex is STILL floating. Granted, it's about the size of an 11" balloon, has virtually no lift and has been in an air conditioned area, but the fact remains that it is still floating. ARTISTIC APPLICATIONS OF HI FLOAT The best reason to use High Float though is to create internal effects with confetti/glitter. My favorite trick I read years ago in Image magazine was a to do spider web INSIDE a clear latex 16" balloon-complete with spider. Everyone wondered how it was done at the time.

You inflate the prepared balloon-sans plastic spider-with air and allow it to dry. Then deflate the balloon and pull/stretch it 1-3 times. Reinflate SLOWLY with helium and add the spider afterwards - if you do it before re-inflation it'll throttle around and likely break the balloon as well as screw up the "web". I prepare 3 balloons for every "one" good one that I use since it's fairly tricky to get the web to look right.

Add food color to Hi-float to make swirled colors in a white balloon. Be sure not to squish the Hi-float around too much or you will have a pastel, solid color interior. I'm thinking strawberry swirl ice cream... or maybe confetti inside to make it look like chocolate chips... how about some sprinkles made from bits of chopped up curling ribbon? To Easter Eggize balloons, put a bit of hi-float (not much for a 5"er) in a white balloon and then put in just a bit of food coloring (a drop makes a nice pastel shade for an 11"). Do the usual spreading technique for the hi-float and then inflate. I do Balloon-in-Balloons Hi floated all the time. Here's what I do. I high float the outside balloon, blow it up about 2/3 to 3/4 the way put a jumbo quicky clip on it and let it dry for about 2-3 hrs till it is no longer sticky inside, but still flexible. Then I remove the clip and inflate the inside balloon and tie it. I've never tried several. If it is at all sticky inside you may have a problem, and if you wait too long to add the inside balloon, the hi float dries, and will crack inside, and make the balloon look cloudy and UGLY. The drying time also depends on the temperature, and the weather conditions, so your balloons may dry either faster or slower than they do here. I wrote about Hi-Floating(super) Gumballs (in England we call them BubbleGums) for a delivery. It was said that it couldn't be done. So I did the delivery without them. (She was still really pleased anyway). The problem really bugged me. Then an idea hit me so I tried with 11". I coat the balloon with the right amount on the inside and rubbed it around. Then I took a Diamond clear over a pencil and gently stuffed it inside, took out the pencil and gently moved the balloon and so it coated the other balloon and got all the air bubbles out and then inflated as normal. The Super Hi-float is sandwiched between the two balloons leaving the inside sticky free. The method that I think works well for an 11-inch balloon inside a 16-inch is to treat the 16-inch clear balloon, using a little bit less Hi-Float than normal. Rub it around they way you normally would, and then insert your 11-inch balloon. Blow up the 16-inch about halfway and then inflate the 11-inch. If you hold them straight up while you are inflating them the 11-inch will not stick to the inside of the 16-inch. If it does you can normally get it loose again by tapping on the side. I also always preinflate if I am doing any type of special effect balloon - a confetti balloon, spider web balloon, Easter egg balloon, etc. - because I don't want to spend my time and materials and then discover the balloon has a defect.

MB 12/13/95
MB 12/22/95
SKB 01/13/97
SKB 12/23/97
MB 7/20/99

deco_Val_Day.html0100775012005001161010000004202107275156652012377 0ustar bhqbhq Balloon HQ presents: Holidays and Special Events

Conwin Carbonics - makers of inflators, regulators and other professional balloon supplies

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Holidays and Special Events

The Holidays are not just for fun decor, they are a chance to show how elegant balloons can be.
Pat and Jim Skistimas

Valentine's Day
Parades

Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

What To Order, What Not To Order

Do not order a ton of balloons that say "HAPPY VALENTINES DAY"! We always used fun themes that made the VD leftover usable all year long. Try some of the "I LOVE YOU," "YOU'RE SPECIAL," "FRIENDS FOREVER," "I'VE GOT THE HOTS FOR YOU," etc. Another ideas is to use colors other than standard red and white. One year we chose hot pink mylar hearts with black and white dot balloons. Another idea is to use mylar fish with "I'M HOOKED ON YOU." Leftovers go great for Hawaiian Days, Father's Day, etc.
In my shop in South Carolina, my Aunt's shop in Alabama, and here in Mississippi I had Valentines balloons left over and sold mostly "I Love You" stuff. The classic red heart shaped mylars with white script writing sold best. The younger guys who did not want to tell their girlfriends "I love you" requested Valentines but in my past experience people see Valentines day as the day to say "I Love You." It really never mattered how much of the cutesy stuff I had (except those Tim Taylor "You have all the right tools" balloons) because most people wanted traditional red and white hearts with "I love you."
About 5 years ago we tried buying balloons for Valentines Day with "all-year-round" sales appeal. i.e.; "I Love You," "#1 Lover," "You're So Sweet," etc. It might be unique to our location, but we found the customers constantly saying, "Haven't you got a Valentine's Day balloon?" It was as if the women needed to REMIND their partners of the occasion itself! Sort of a "Put this in your diary next year darling ...or else..." I say SELL BALLOONS FOR VALENTINES DAY, not a cute (no occasion) message. How would you feel if the card shop you go to on the 13th has no cards left with "Happy Valentines" inside? I know my wife would appreciate a Valentine's card, not just a "reminder" that I love her! Since then we have stocked heavily on balloons with the VD message. After all, that is what you wish to promote... AN ANNUAL PURCHASE!
True, few of us are experts at forecasting sales. But, professionals keep records in order to forecast sales. If you haven't done this before, start this VD. We know which messages sold well in our area last year, and which ones did not. Which Airwalker they buy, what brand of wine is popular... chocolate is OUT because it melts in our Feb summer heat... % of counter sales to deliveries etc, etc. If your business is growing at X%, then you add that to last year's sales result. If VD sales are forecast to be down Y% because it's a Saturday, adjust accordingly.
Something else we did: Phone the balloon wholesalers on February 6th and ask if they still have VD message stock. They should be holding very little stock by then. But, if they still have large stocks, some of the smart ones will gladly assign them to you on what we call "sale or return" basis. They hope you will sell as much as possible, because if they don't give 'em to you, they have to hold them over for another 12 months. NOW you won't get caught with surplus stock, and you can keep accurate records of what messages customers LIKE to buy. (Return unsold stock with a gift basket and a note of thanks)

Deliveries

Women love to show off how much they're loved to their office mates. That's why deliveries to offices are so popular on Valentine's Day.

Restaurants

Restaurant owners HATE Valentines because all of the table bookings are for TWO only. Thus, they have to set up lots of little tables which eats up lots of floor space for the amount of meals served, leading to low income per sq. ft. (compared to big tables and large parties).
Talk to some of the restaurants and offer to deliver balloon arrangements to be at the tables. Just have the reservations staff make the arrangements for the tables and then add "Would you like a lovers balloon arrangement? We can do all the work and you can choose from $X, $Y or $Z. You can pay a small commission and add extra cash to your pocket and a neat service for the eating establishment.
Because there will be lots of table bookings, the commission per table can be small. We have a restaurant that is setting 60 tables for the 14th of Feb. Their commission of $3 per table is welcomed for simply asking a question and making one phone call to us. We hope to get about 15-20 tables from them. Any more is a bonus! And remember that you only send the van to one drop point for these 20 bouquets.
There will be more table bookings than usual in each restaurant, but only 2 per table. Remember the tables are small so the arrangements need to be TALL with a small base/weight. Bingo - you get bottles of Champagne or white wine from the restauranteur and use them as the base. He then makes a little more on each bottle of wine. Order the required number of bottles beforehand. With a computer, a color printer and self-adhesive paper, you can make unique, personalized labels for the bottles. Ask that the wine waiters DO NOT detach balloons from the wine bottle (California Law). Pour with balloons attached. They then keep the bottle as a momento.
In Michigan, it would be OK to sell the restaurant the balloons and tie them to THEIR BOTTLES OF CHAMPAGNE. If you do it the other way you may get a very unwelcome visit from the BATF and your state liquor commission. Each state has different laws so CHECK BEFORE DOING ANYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO ALCOHOL!

Promotions

Here's a suggestion to help increase Valentine's Day sales by encouraging deliveries (especially to offices and schools) on Friday Feb 13 1998...
Contact a local radio station and arrange to sponsor a "Lucky Friday the 13th" promotion.
1. The station announces chances for listeners (13th caller, etc.) to win free "Lucky 13 Bouquets" and qualify for a grand prize drawing.
2. The grand prize winner wins a "Lucky 13 Bouquet" to be delivered personally by an on-the-air radio "star" or morning drive announce team.
3. The station should agree to promote the contest throughout their day and mention your company name on every promotion and every time they give away a bouquet.
4. You should agree to provide the bouquets at no charge to the station and sign the delivery cards "Compliments of your friends at WXYZ and (your company name)."
Additional notes: To maximize the benefits of this campaign for your company and for the radio station, agree to sponsor the contest exclusively with one station, and offer it first to the most popular station in your market. The station should also agree that yours will be the only balloon company in the promotion. You may wish to include non-competing products, such as gift certificates or candy, in the "Lucky 13 Bouquet," but you should carefully preserve the identity of the promotion for *your* business.

Mall Kiosks

We have rented a kiosk for Valentine's Day in past years, so here are a few ideas and experiences:
We used short lengths of heavy chain and tied balloons to the chain. These were placed on floor around the kiosk. Each chain could hold about 50 foil balloons. Keep the ribbons longer, tie them to the chain, then attach foils to the ribbons. We kept similar styles of balloons on each chain (a romantic chain, friendly chain, masculine, etc.) When selling, just cut off ribbon near the chain. Also arrange balloons in an umbrella shape and use clips or clothes pins to bundle the balloons together near their necks. (This helps prevent the potential tangling problem, however, it may not be necessary since you are indoors).
You're paying quite a bit for the kiosk rental, so talk to the mall about using an empty storefront to keep extra supplies, tanks, etc. We placed any chains of leftover foil balloons in the store room at night. (Better safe than sorry). Negotiate for free rental of the store room, or at minimal charge, or maybe you can trade and decorate a store window instead.
If you are in a mall, you will find lots of moms with kids in strollers, so carry anything Winnie the Pooh. We sold a lot of the 14" air-filled foils of Winnie, Tigger, etc., as well as 18" rounds, and a few of the larger Pooh shapes. You can carry other styles, but really the Pooh characters are your safest bet. You might want to consider vending Valentine latex as well. We sold a lot of 16"/18" clear with V-Day print and with an 11" Valentines latex inside.
Also keep base designs simple, profitable. Most of our customers wanted balloons tied onto plush or chocolate. Gift baskets did not sell very well. One item we sold quite a bit of was a valentines print gift/tote bag with complementary tissue and big hand tied bow attached. We made these up ahead of time; they were a grab and go item. People loved the idea of placing their just bought gifts in one these, and of course we suggested a few balloons to attach.
For our Valentine's Day kiosk, we use large sand weights with 50 balloon ribbons tied to them. We wrap the ribbons around the weight and pre-make them far in advance. When we are ready to inflate, we simply unroll the ribbons and loop the weight over the valve, inflate the mylar and let the helium carry the balloon out of the way. When you are done with 50, simply un-loop the weight. We have better luck mixing the balloons up instead of categorizing them. The weighted groupings are placed around the kiosk as well as on top of the kiosk. We've done one solid grouping of Happy Valentine's Day and one of I Love You for the traditionalists.
I'll never do a kiosk again! We offered beautiful balloon arrangements and deliveries, but people were really hanging on tight to their money and were buying the under $10 items. We made these great arrangements for display but didn't sell one! Balloon wrap went over BIG though. We got in to the mall to find that the mall had let another balloon kiosk in directly above us. While I had asked if they had anyone else doing balloons, it was not in the contract so we just dealt with it. We set up on February 8th, planning to sell all week long, only to find out the mall wouldn't let us do balloon wrapping or sell plush unless we paid The Collectible Teddy Bear Store $500 to do so for the week. We didn't even have $500 in plush, but since we spent a lot on V-day inventory, we had to sell it! Since the mall didn't have that in our contract, I asked the mall to compensate us and they agreed, but only after we lost sales from Sunday through Thursday!

Weekend Valentines

Weekend Valentines kill deliveries, so focus on a different target market. Malls, retailers of lingerie, jewelry, candy, restaurants, card shops, night clubs, bars, etc. You get to do all of this work in the couple of weeks leading up to Valentines. You don't have to hire casuals, there are no van rentals, and all of it is air filled balloons. Target the restaurants because that is where all the young lovers will be!
One suggestion to boost weekend Valentine's Day sales would be to contact your local indoor mall(s). Fax, or better yet, drop by a good 8x10 picture of your best walk-thru heart and offer to make one to put at the entrance of EVERY STORE in the mall a week before Valentine's Day. What a wonderful promotional gimmick for the mall when they advertise their "Walkway of Love" for their customers to enjoy as they shop for that special Valentine's Day gift.
We are doing this with one mall and offered a lower rate per heart as their percentage of sales of the hearts went up, i.e., one price if 25% of the stores purchased the heart, a little lower price if 50% of stores participated, even lower if 75% participated and "rock bottom" (which is actually just 10 C-shells below our regular price) if 100% of their stores ordered the hearts. The mall is doing all our selling for us and after only one week since we talked with the mall, we already have 25% of the stores participating!
We build all our own heart frames so the frames are costing us very, very little. We are making inexpensive bases out of 4x8 sheets of white counter-top material we buy at Home Depot and they cut into 18"x18" squares for us. We are then offering these frames and bases to the stores for purchase after the promotion with a promise of a 10% discount on their heart next year. In this way, we don't have to store the frames and bases. By making the frames and bases yourself, you can offer your hearts to the stores at a range of 150-200 C-shells and still make tons of $$$$$ on each one.
Since the promotion only lasts about a week, there will be very little, if any, maintenance, but I'd suggest offering maintenance for a fee, just in case some love-struck teenagers decide to go on a popping spree.
The nicest thing about this promotion is that it happens a week or 10 days BEFORE Valentine's Day which still leaves VD open to make more $$$$. However, with anywhere from 50-200 stores in one mall, you may want to just sit back and relax on Valentine's Day this year.

Parades

Doing a 4th of July Parade? Don't bother with a float, make columns of helium filled balloons which when put together would make a flag, only don't assemble together, just have each of your "marchers" carry the columns side by side! You could make it huge. Just look at some old "images" magazines for the recipe.

MB 12/13/95
MB 12/22/95
SKB 01/13/97
SKB 12/23/97
MB 7/11/99
SMB 1/17/00

deco_advertising.html0100775012005001161010000026610507275160020013372 0ustar bhqbhq Balloon HQ presents: Advertising Your Decorating Business

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-- *ADVERTISING CLOTHESPINS PIONEER QBN/CBA MAGAZINE ADS DECK THE HALL/PORTFOLIOS PRESS RELEASES SIGN YOUR WORK WINDOW DISPLAYS DISPLAY BALLOONS CONSPICUOUSLY TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERS DIRECT MAILINGS IDEA BOOKS TRADING DECOR FOR EXPOSURE NETWORKING YELLOW PAGES COLD CALLING WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK WHERE TO BUILD THE DECOR - IN THE SHOP OR ON SITE? REPEAT BUSINESS SIGNS BRIDAL FAIRS / SHOWS BEFRIEND THE BALLOON RETAILERS REFERRALS COMMERCIALS -- Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

*ADVERTISING What advertising works best? - #1 Yellow Pages - #2 Reputation (others call it word of mouth) - #3 Various QBN marketing material (direct mail brochures, posters, profit kit, flip chart etc) - #4 Visual Exposure (our showroom is on a very busy main road) - #5 Bridal Fairs - #6 Web Site Please note that we rate visual exposure at #4. However, this is because we have been around for 8-9 years. This has allowed us to build a strong client base, based on Reputation. In our first 3-4 years Visual Exposure would have been at #2. Nos 5 & 6 are expected to move up in importance in the coming years for us. We've tried pretty much everything at one time or another.... getting very selective nowadays. No newspapers, no calendars, no kids soccer team, no letter box flyers.... forget it! Very important to set an annual advertising / promotions budget and STICK TO IT! create something really unusual and organise your local media to cover the event. What promotion have you done ie colour brochures of your own work, yellow pages, sign written vehicles, post office box drops, cold calling? Are you in a store front or work from home? Do you have a well presented ideas book? Often times the huge jobs are very expensive to create, and possibly your success will come from many regular smaller jobs. Do deliveries as this will increase your cash flow, and increase public visibility. MARKETING 1. Budget your advertising dollars when the marketplace is primed: ie, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. 3. Yellow Pages. Color... big... get their attention. 4. Be professional!! 5. Honesty and reliability 6. Word of mouth CLOTHESPINS Here's a couple of suggstions for using clothes pins as an advertising tool. First, you can get them imprinted by just about any company that does specialty advertising imprints. Check around on prices with several companies in your area. We went that route for a while but the price just kept increasing and they got just too expensive. Second, you could have a rubber stamp made and just stamp them yourself. If you have any part-timers working for you, it would be good busy work. This second way is less expensive but time consuming. Bags of clothes pins are cheap but your time is valuable so you must decide which way is more reasonable for you. Using imprinted clothes pin is definitely a good idea. Here's an order story -- I received a call one day from a guy in the Navy who had been stationed in our town. He was calling from an island in the south Pacific. He said that my "clothes pin" had followed him all over the world because he used it on his chip bags and cheese bags in the frig. He went to the frig. to get my number before he called. He ordered a $50 bouquet of balloons. How bout that one!!! It really worked it!!! And he's not the only order that we received from people reusing the clothes pins. Plus it really helps in keeping the ribbons less tangled and making your business look good! We use just regular wooden clothes pins with the spring clip. We use a small scrap piece of paper OR a piece of broken latex to wrap around the ribbons then we put the clothes pin on top of that. If you just put the clothes pin on, it slides around too much and doesn't secure the ribbons. Hope this makes it clearer for everyone. Most specialty advertising sellers will tell you to give them something with your name on it that your customer will use again and again. This definitely gets used over and over. These clothespins come in red, blue or yellow or assorted. They are 21/4 x 1/2 inch. Price includes 2 lines of copy. Cost: 500 - 30 cents 1,000 - 28 cents 3,000 - 26 cents 5,000 - 24 cents Price includes shipping. Send orders with payment to: Jan's Advertising 1149 W 102 Ave Northglenn, CO 83221 - Phone/Fax: 303-451-093 PIONEER QBN/CBA MAGAZINE ADS Pioneer has an advertisement "Magical & Memorable" which is available to QBN chapters. Our chapter (SoCAL QBN) has used this ad for the last few years. It is published in Southern California Wedding Magazine. The cost for the year (two issues) is around $4500 which is split up among participating chapter CBA members. Everyone in the ad always comments that they can tell when the magazine hits the newsstand -- their phones really start ringing! Our company does tremendous business off of this ad. This magazine is sold and is also given out at all the local big bridal show. Contact Craig Senn at Pioneer Balloon for more information. As the person who helped coordinate the first couple of the SoCal QBN ad's, I have some experience with this topic. Let me throw some thoughts in here. "Editorial Coverage" - the content of articles in magazines - is heavily influenced by the advertising. I was told by sales reps at more than one Bridal Magazine that they would be more than happy to include balloons in more articles, if we'd buy more ad space. These magazines may have started as a service to brides, but they are all business now. So, if we want those articles about the wonderful effect of balloons at such and such event, we need to be willing to pay for the full color ads in the same issue. It would be lovely if Pioneer ran some ads to promote the industry. And, they have - I remember an ad in Special Event a few years ago. But, is it realistic to ask them to do more? Take just one bridal magazine alone - like Modern Bride. A year's worth of advertising, in all 10 of their regional versions, for all 6 issues a year, would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, that's just one magazine. As much as we'd all like that to happen, I don't see asking Pioneer to do that. Pioneer has made the current ad available to QBN chapters for use in their local advertising, and I know that there have been some good sucess stories. It's a matter of organization. Maybe there are not enough CBA's in your chapter to make such an ad cost efficient for you, but can you split the ad over more chapters? I know that even the Southern California version of Modern Bride covers Arizona, New Mexico and (I think) Hawaii - and I know that other chapters have gone in together on these ads. If you can get just 12 CBA's in the publication region to split the ad, you should try it. As for a National Program? Well, yes, Pioneer has the "For a CBA near you, call _____" phone number. But, how many responses can they handle before they start having to add more phone staff? At one point, SoCal QBN had looked at getting an 800 number, and running THAT number in the ads, rather than the individual listings of all of the participating CBA's. Callers would be refered to the nearest CBA's to them. We looked at having an answering service provide this service. It was REALLY expensive, about 75c per call. I don't think we're going to have alot of luck getting the $50.00 from each CBA a promotion like this could cost over a year. But, hey, maybe one of you wants to coordinate a National Ad Campaign for the balloon industry. ;o) DECK THE HALL/PORTFOLIOS Photograph EVERYTHING - good and bad. You'll learn from all of it. There are a ton of ways that you can bring exposure to yourself and to balloons. decorate your local facility on an "off" day when they are not booked and have a photographer to come in and take some professional photos. Present the photos to the facility. This gives the brides an idea of what can be done there and gives the facility some really great photos of their room(s) and your work! A bride is really influenced if she can see her room decorated.... 9 times out of 10 she will want the exact same decor! photograph every job upon completition. Not only is this "proof " that the job was done as contracted and that we left the site in perfect condition, but, you will create a GREAT idea book full of photos to show other clients what you have done. I save up the doubles till I have enough from one location then give it to the hall manager or hotel sales manager. Then they have a book that shows how beautifully the rooms can be transformed with Balloon Art. Of course that little album has MY Company Name and Phone number embossed on it as well as few cards tucked inside. this has worked wonders for us...I get jobs regularly from clients who have viewed the photo books at the location and just call and say "Do It " ! All my art friends keep either photos or slides of their work. This photo album of creations is called a Portfolio. It's nice to look at, to have to show to someone for selection purposes, and in general is a good record (in case you ever forget how to twist a certain figure). Your portfolio and Idea book are also very important. Invest in a good quality book, (professional black leather, etc.) you'll probably have it for years and it will make look like a professional when meeting with clients. we also have an "idea" book of photographs of other's work that does not leave our warehouse. When customers come by we show it to them but not at any showcases, etc. I have kept the book in a plain loose-leaf labeled in large letters "IDEAS" and cut out the full page from which each photo comes. The full page is put in this idea book so there can be no question about where these photographs have come from and even who produced the work. We have had unfortunate experiences with regards to our published work from competitors using the images and claiming them as their own. We have found this happening at showcases (where we and the "guilty" party were exhibiting) and in other's showrooms, too. The showcase event where this occurred really created a big mess for us, as one of our own customer's brought the problem to my attention. She questioned whether we made our own centerpieces or did we "sub out" the work, as another vendor was bragging about having done the work in our pictures they were showing. These were pictures of our work taken from several Balloons and Parties issues. It took several uncomfortable minutes to calm the fears of our customer and assure her of our policies and practices. I then approached the other vendor only to find more of our pictures (and a number of other artists work,as well) being shown in their portfolio and "pitched" as their own work. We then had a long discussion about it and I persuaded them to take at least our work out of their portfolio. I left their booth knowing I really didn't stop them from working this way. It was just a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. It's flattering to have someone in your field want to emulate your work. It's another matter entirely to make it their own when it is not. It's all a matter of your ethical standards and perhaps how well you want to sleep at night. Now how can we really put a stop to this? That's easy - we can't!! When you put yourself out there to be published (and your work is good) people will copy it. However, it is up to all of us to do just that - COPY IT, not just make a copy of the photograph and claim it for our own. At a Conwin Carbonics Wedding Symposium, one of the instructors suggested that in addition to our own portfolio containing ONLY pictures of our work, we could also have an IDEA BOOK containing pictures, photos and clippings of other people's work. The book should be clearly labeled as an Idea Book. One step better is to have on the front page a disclaimer such as the one contained in mine: "The pictures contained in this Idea Book were created by other talented balloon artists. While they are not the original work of (name of company or designer), we can create any of the designs in your colors for your event." Where known, I would include a lable containing the designer's name. It's a wonderful way to display those photos you take at IBAC or elsewhere. Now I keep a "log" of photos I take: where, when and who's design. When I get the film developed, I have a record to give proper credit. As a balloon artist that has had photos published in trade magazines, I contribute photographs of my work so that other decorators will be able to learn new ideas to use in their businesses. It helps to spark my own creativity if I can see what other people have done for a "50's & 60's" party, or a mardi gras theme, etc. We constantly use our own "library" of trade publications that we've collected over the years, so that is my way of "paying back" for all of the ideas I've gotten from other people. A lot of times I will even show the photos of other people's work to my client so that they have an idea of what I might be proposing, but I am careful to make it clear that we did not do the work in the photo, but we could do something like it. Most of the time though, the photos give us our own ideas and we will change the designs around a little to add our own "touch" and then take our own picture to put in our portfolio. The difference here is that I have not cut the other designer's photo out and placed it in my own portfolio, and tried to pass it off as my own work. If you put other people's work in your portfolio it opens you up for an embarassing situation with a client. For example, a client is leafing through your portfolio and says "Oh, that dance floor canopy is so cool - where was that done?". You then say "well, uh, um, I didn't really do that, but, um, uh, I can do something just like it". Now you have some distrust from the client and they will be wondering if you did any of the work in your portfolio. If you would have put a label on the photo stating who did the work and where, or left the photo in the magazine and just told the client "here are some additional ideas of different dance floor canopies we could do for you", you could have avoided this embarassing situation. The only time I really have a problem with someone using a photo of ours that was published in a magazine is when they use it in any type of advertising or promotional material, such as company brochures, commercials, newletters, business cards, etc. (and believe me, it has happened many, many times.) That is not only discourteous and rude - but it is completely illegal! Now if you were to reproduce the decor that was shown in the photo and have your own photo shoot - you could use the pictures any way you wanted. It is my understanding that the design itself is not copyrighted, but the actual photo of the designer's work is. (I'm sure if I'm wrong on this, someone will let me know!). In our trade journal "Weddings with Style!" there is a fold out "portfolio page" in the back that has a full color picture that people are welcome (and encouraged) to use as a selling tool in their portfolio or idea books. If I were using it, I would definitely put a label on the photo that it was supplied by a trade publication so as not to mislead my clients or open myself up to that "embarassing situation" I discussed earlier. "Weddings with Style!" also offers color glossy photographs for sale - if you purchase those, you are buying the rights to use them in your portfolio, but not the rights to copy the photos in any way (brochures, business cards, etc.). I'm sure this is the same with any business that offers portfolio photos for sale. There is a big legal difference between making copies of someone's pictures and taking pictures of the same project done with your own hands. Duplicating photos without permission is, unquestionably, a violation of copyright law. Copying someone's design gets into the complicated area of intellectual property. Some basic examples: 1. I make a bunch of spiral columns and take an artisitc photo of them. a) Since you think it's a really awesome photo, you make copies and mail it to your clients. This is clearly wrong according to the law. I own the photo. b) You like the colors I use and the placement of the columns and reproduce it. Since I didn't really introduce anything new here in my design, it would be hard for me to claim you've stolen my ideas. You can even take a similar picture to mine. You did all the work I did and I don't need to be recognized for my effort on later jobs that you do. 2. You take Wynn and Lindy's Cinderella Carriage and sell that. This is clearly the creation of a particular team. Legal issues aside, I wouldn't dare sell it without asking for permission from the creators. and then, if I was given permission, I'd make sure the person that paid me for it knew where the idea came from. Legally, you probably could recreate it. Q. If, for a wedding, I create any of those pieces I see in a magazine, can I take pictures of them to use in my porfolio? As a general rule, people that are publishing instructional materials are doing it so that you can recreate the stuff found in them. This is why people buy publications of this sort. I expect some people to find things I publish useful and to use my ideas. However, I rarely use things exactly as I saw them published. If you take the concepts and build on them in a way that makes the creation your own, you don't have to feel that you're using someone else's work. (And you can later tell them how you've improved it and offer your changes if the originator is interested, just as a common courtesy.) Q. Do I have to say, I did this but it's someone else's design? Why wouldn't you? Especially if you've modified it. You're giving credit where it's due, but still letting people know that you're an artist and can create as well. In fact, it might help clients see your ability to modify existing designs to better fit their event. If you have one static design that they can take or leave, you're limiting your audience. Q. Do I have to name the person who's design it is? Do I have to volunteer this info to my Brides even when they could care less? Again, why not? While it's probably not going to get back to the designer that you've been saying good things about them, can it hurt? It's a good feeling when word does return to you through some strange path that another artist is giving you all the credit you deserve. Most clients won't remember the names you've given, but they will remember that you're honest and not claiming to be better than you are. Now, as far as portfolio, we have created our own web site. it is always up-to-date and is always at their finger tips. this is only the way we look at it, and might not be the best for your company in your area. we offer a small selection (about 20 different photos) of 8x10 wedding photos for sale. We usually only sell these at our seminars, but if you're interested, you can check out some of them on our web site under Wedding Balloons. Just click on this link to take you there, http://www.balloonsandflowers.com Once purchased, these photos may only be used in an "Idea Book" that is not your own personal portfolio. If you are interested, please e-mail Wynn & Lindy Bell, WynnLindyB@aol.com Images magazine has several back issues that have some beautiful wedding work featured in it. You can call Pioneer and ask them to send you all the back issues they have that spotlight wedding word. Also, there is a wonderful new magazine out there "Weddings With Style" which is strictly wedding related decor. I would never hand one of those beautiful glossy brochures that Qualatex makes available to one of my customers without first telling them that this was a picture of something I *could* make but that particular picture was not mine. Your client will assume that your brochure and website pictures are yours unless plainly stated otherwise and when they find out differently you might lose their trust. Legal and ethical are two entirely different issues. Would Picasso put one of Monet's pictures on his websites and brochures (OK if he was alive and had brochures and websites) when he went out looking for business justifying it with the fact that he *could* do that same work? We are artists and should remember that when we promote ourselves. Early on in the business we gave some photos to friends we met a different conventions. Most used the photos as they should - as an add on to their own portfolio but clearly labeled as another's work. We have however seen at portfolio competitions our photo in another decorators book unlabeled. We felt violated by this. First it should not have been used without giving proper credit. Second it should not have been in a competition that is judging someone work. We also have other friends who have reported seeing our photos in others books again uncredited. This is unfair. In good faith we gave, at no cost, photos to them to use and they could have properly given credit to us. But the vast majority of our balloon friends have used our photos the proper way and it was our pleasure to have given them the pictures. although we were the original co-designers and creators of the pictures in the Modern Bride Ad, even we were not given permission by Pioneer to use the ad in any of our own business' personal advertising. It was our understanding that Pioneer wished the ad to be available in their flyer form only to CBA's, or to QBN Chapters for co-op advertising where no consumer would mistakenly attribute the design to any one company. It was because of this desire on Pioneer's part to keep this design as generic as possible that we chose not to have our names credited on the flyer. Pioneer has always given us the courtesy of contacting us for our permission prior to allowing any use of the ad outside of selling the flyers to CBA's or QBN Chapters. In addition, we have had numerous individuals contact us about using the pictures on their web sites and in their personal advertising and we have had to politely decline our permission. Therefore, unless Pioneer has changed their policy regarding personal use of the ad (in which case we would be one of the first to use it for our own advertising), we assume no one can use the ad, and only we or people we have given permission to, can use the individual pictures in the ad. As for the other brochures and flyers, we can only assume the same goes for them. They and the pictures in them can only be used as they are intended. PRESS RELEASES Also, if you have a local paper in your town, write and article, call it a press release, you do not have to say that you are tooting your own horn, but let the town know what an impact your balloons had on the event! Do it for every event that you do! Your name will become familiar with everyone and people will start to call to see what you could do for them! (Most people like to see their name/event in the papers and it never dawns on them to do it themselves!) Someone I know decorates her yard, then calls the local newspaper anonymously and tells them that there are some wonderful balloon decor at such and such an address and they come out and take photos - free publicity - the best kind. Be creative! To get FREE publicity from your local newspapers and T.V. stations just fax, e-mail, or snail mail them a Press Release of any events you will be decorating for. Give them a contact person for questions. We just did an outdoor event for 4th of July, and I faxed press releases to all our local media. One out of four T.V. stations showed up, and the Kansas City Star sent a reporter and a photographer out to do a story on the event and on our company. Balloon decor makes great photo opportunities you know- which is exactly what I told them! Wish I'd thought of this sooner! SIGN YOUR WORK post signs by your work or incorporate the sign in your design such as "Balloon Decor By Sunny Balloons - 111-222-3333" because its also advertising for future jobs too. From the delivery person to the bouquet itself NOTHING leaves here, whether on a delivery, on a centerpiece or on an arch, without our name and phone number on it!! We use small gold oval "address" type stickers on the bottom of every piece of table decor underneath, instead of MADE IN CHINA it says "CUSTOM DESIGNED by Balloons Balloons Balloons and our #, a Flyer on the deliveries that tells them how to care for the balloons and to please not release them into the environment, a small paragraph about who we are and what we do and a form to fill out and mail in as to how pleased they were with the delivery. , When they fill it out and return it we send them a coupon for 10% off a bouquet and there name is in the mailing list for all holidays. Then, when we build an arch - we had latex imprinted with our company name as a TOP PRINT. that way every arch, sculpture, column etc. etc. has a "artists" signature in the bottom right hand corner. We have gotten tons of jobs from this small imprinting investment and the clients do not mind at all. It makes them feel as though they have purchased a "designer" piece and our competition cannot take credit nor can they mistake it for shabby work done by another at the same location...such as a bridal show, trade show or in a mall. WINDOW DISPLAYS borrowing merchandise from other stores is a great way to build displays for cheap (be sure to post a sign saying "bikes from Al's Shop" or something like that). DISPLAY BALLOONS CONSPICUOUSLY When I came back from my first convention and had all this knowledge and no store front to display it in, there was one thing that really got things moving for me. The gal that styles my hair is very friendly and when I get my hair cut we talk (naturally). I was so enthusiatic about what I was doing that she told me that if I wanted to make something up to display in her area and leave her some business cards she would let people know who had done it. She specifically said that she had several customers that were getting married in the next few months and that she would be sure and talk it up to them. She did send several brides to me and it was what got my business up and running. If you can't use this idea as is, think about how you can adapt it to work for you. -Make up something special to celebrate a new business opening. -Take something creative to the school for the secretary for Secretaries Day. Even if it comes from you, it'll get people thinking. -Take something creative to your bank just to say "I appreciate you" to your favorite teller. Get your work seen. If you can get paid for it, great. If other people aren't sending it, send one yourself. The advertising is great. But notice I didn't say, "Send a bouquet of balloons". If you are doing it for the advertising, show the stuff that you are itching to do. The more people see it the more they will order it. The great thing about using the hairdresser's place was that alot of people are in and out of there each week. If you have doubts as to whether your stylist will display one, send her (him) one. They will proudly display one sent to them as a gift. Cross promotions are great. Maybe try decorating a grocery store bakery that's doing a wedding cake display or this type of thing. Call bridal stores in your area. Offer to decorate their window in exchange for displaying your flyers. I have got more booking this way than any other form of advertizing. I usually do a 5 inch air filled arch with tulle, lights and some silk flowers. Once a month I replace the balloons with a different color. It's easy and the cost is minimal. Ask a bridal shop or tux shop or other business that brides use: florists, cake decorators, bridal shops, halls, caterers, etc... if you can set up some decor in their shop (maybe a window display). It can be something as simple as a pretty balloon heart or something fancy. Make it air-filled and work with them so they'll want you to keep doing it. All of this can also be used for photos. If nothing else leave your business cards with them so that brides can have them. Whenever we do a display with a limited amount of space, we always chose to do a wonderfully colorful hot-air 36" imprint with a white basket, lots of curlies on the "net" and our brochures in the basket. We also add a stack of discount coupons beside the hot-air balloon with a discount on any orders for the hot-air by such-and-such a date with mention of where you picked up the coupon. People are really drawn to these big hot-air balloons, and one of the best parts of doing this piece is that if you Hi-Float the balloon, it will last up to 4-5 WEEKS!!!! Needless to say, we always either Balloon Shine the balloon or spray it with Design Master Foliage Sealer and it stays looking terrific for a very long time. We usually only have to go back to restock our brochures. One of the most effective ways to market your business is by partnering with another business. Find some business with a similar market that is not your competition (maybe a formal wear store) and offer to do their window displays. This will give you exposure to all the brides-to-be that walk into their shop. The cost for materials and labor is much lower than a newspaper ad and generally gets a better response because it is going to be seen by your chosen market (the brides). Plus a real example of your work gets a better response than a black and white picture lost among other ads. Be sure to leave business cards and flyers in the shop too. TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERS I teach about marketing and advertising your small business. I teach the importance of spending a lot of time collecting data BEFORE wasting money on advertising "balloon decor". First thing to do - IDENTIFY YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. ie; Demographics. Are the people in the area you service mostly rich, poor, middle income? What race or ethnic backgrounds? What events do they celebrate... and what events don't they celebrate? Are your customers going to be mostly male or female? What percentage? How many children in the average family in your service area? What is the age group you have coming through your shop door? You will be astounded at the REAL figures. You've had it wrong all along! Do not make the mistake of saying, "All of the above." If you do, you are left with "hope for the best" advertising... rather than "Target Marketing." Suppose your research finds that your typical customer is; 85% female - 2.2 chilren -household earnings $41,000 p.a. - 60/40 caucasian/black community - big on Xmas.... not excited about St Patrick's Day. etc, etc... Simple, target all your marketing AND advertising dollars at HER. Now you know who, when and what to advertise! Where you advertise is where SHE will go - what SHE reads - The radio station that SHE listens to. Starting to get the picture? The secret to "selling" (I learned from Lindy Bell)... All consumers only ever buy one of two things! a) A good feeling, or b)a solution to a problem. No point trying to sell a bride elegant balloon sculptures, if what she really needs is balloons to conceal ugly mustard drapes throughout the venue! So.... in your newspaper ads, make sure you are selling good feelings and/or solutions ...... USING BALLOONS. The balloons are just the unique product you offer to meet your customers true NEEDS. Focus your ad on what your product is delivering! Our best advise is to talk with an expert in marketing or advertising. The reps from the radio stations, newspapers etc, rarely give great advice. It might be a few hundred dollars at the front end, to save many wasted thousands in the long run. That's what we did. #1 identify your target market!!!! You can't reach them if you don't know who they are. I would also like to second the idea of getting professional advise. I think it could have saved me alot of money. We recently had a logo developed and just that one thing makes a diffence. I know when you are a small biz just getting started that everything sounds like a lot of money but trust me, it is worth it. It doesn't make a difference if you can do the work and have the equipment if no one knows you are out there. You will save money in the long run! DIRECT MAILINGS Maybe you can get a jeweler to share his list of names and addresses monthly of people he sells engagement rings to. This will give you a good fresh database to mail flyers to. But remember, it usually takes more than one contact to get someone to buy from you. When you do a mailing, commit yourself to contact each individual three times (a combination of mailing and calling works). You might have to do a little something for him..... a little deco work maybe but again this will get your work out in public in front of brides. If you really want to do direct mailings the best idea is to find a few other businesses who will do this with you. Go in with a limo service, a dress shop, a hairdresser, a florist, a dj and each contribute a flyer (maybe with a discount coupon). Put one of each in an envelope and mail them to the brides on your bridal show list or a list that one of them has put together. Everyone splits the cost of envelopes and postage. The results are generally pretty good from this kind of mailing. My wife was selling wedding invitations on the side for a while and every sunday night I would hand address envlopes to anyone getting married in 6 week or longer and lived in the Colorado Springs area. This included using the phone book and mostly sent to their work address. We had about a 20 - 15 % response rate. it would take about 1 to 2 hours on sunday night. We included a letter with a free guest book offer in it. As well as diffrent promo items that would mail for free (imprinted balloon maybe). As far as the college crowd, I would put my money into creating a professional sales letter and send it to the groups that sponsor student events (frats, student body, clubs, etc.) and follow up with a phone call. Since dropping our yellow page ad, one of our most successful programs has been our monthly and holiday mail-outs and our "Forget-me-Not" program. The programs we use on a regular basis to gain daily sales are:

1. "Forget-me-Not" Program: Every new customer we get receives a thank you letter and an introduction to this program. This is an old, established program, used by many in our industry, and is a great way to generate more deliveries. The customer fills out a card with relatives and friends' birthdays, anniversaries, etc., and returns it to us in the addressed, return envelope (stamp provided by us, of course). He/she then chooses a method (telephone, fax, e-mail, letter, etc.) and a time frame (i.e., 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, etc.) by which we would "remind" him of the upcoming occasion with suggestions for a delivery gift. Not all people sign up for this program, but with today's busy schedules, many more are doing it than in the past.

2. "Reminder Cards" - This great idea was shared with us by Linda Bruce,CBA and we thank her every day. Whenever we get a delivery order, we fill out a 3-part NCR order form that fits in a 5x8 file box, separated by month (we buy our NCR paper by the ream and print our own NCR forms on our little deskjet printer, a few at a time as we need them....about 1/2 the cost of having them printed). We also fill out a postcard (i.e., like you do at the dentist). The first page of the form is, of course, the order form the second part is filed by month so we will have something to refer to next year, and the third part is filed by customer name so we have all the information as to what they sent last year when they call in response to our reminder. This system takes very little extra time (thanks to NCR paper) and REALLY works!

3. "Picture-of-the-Month" - Each month we send our regular corporate clients a 4x6 print of a decorating job or sculpture we have done. Sometimes it is something we have done recently, but if we have nothing recent, we will send out an older piece of our work. We describe the work, where it was done, and any other non-confidential information we feel would be of interest to them. We have been told by several clients that they keep most or all these pictures in a file in case they ever find a need for one of them. All our clients say they love getting the pictures and often share them with others in their office.

These 3 programs bring us many, many times the cost to run the program and feel our advertising dollar is well spent here. There are several other types of mail-out programs around. One form of marketing we used when first starting out was a direct mail piece. I purchased specialty design paper from PapersDirect and used my laser printer to create a New Year's Eve "Bulk Balloon Special". I only could afford to send out 100 pieces (went through yellow pages and picked out potential clients). The piece cost me apprx. 74 cents each and I booked one event from it. However that client has gone on to spend well over $50,000 in the past two years since I mailed that 74 cent piece. Well worth the "investment". If you have a college in your area it might be possible to find one of the better students in the advertising design class to help you out. Some schools even have a separate dept. that handles projects like that. All around the country there are many printers that offer full color runs in small quantities at reasonable prices and at a quick turn around. Don't "lift" photos from the industry publications for your promotional use. That would be the worst way to leave yourself open for one incredibly expensive copyright lawsuit... not from the publisher but from the person that contributed the photo... and you would lose BIG TIME! I have always felt that originality is what makes a business stand out, particularly in its promotion material. The most important things are who you market to and how you relate to them! If you wish, e-mail my designer (Ken Skistimas) at Meddle0001@aol.com. He could help you out on printed material, and he is fair! Post cards or mailing list. Always a good lead but again it's hard to catch the clients attention when you know everyone else is sending them stuff. I like to wait a week of two. Let everyone else send there stuff. Then mine comes in all by itself. They have time to look at it. It's not lots in this big pile of junk mail. I like to send a postcard and invite the client to upcoming jobs ( before show time of course) This shows them. Your a working artist, professional and trusted by other. If they actually come to your job site. No more should need to be said. If your doing your job right you future client will see it. I normally call a hotel and ask for the name of the Banquet Manager or Event Coordinator. If they happen to connect me with them, I just simply say that I would like to send them some pictures and literature about my company and services which can enhance theirs. When in doubt, address to the General Manager. Every business has one. If the decission on purchasing balloons is done by another person, chances are that he or she is subordinate to the General Manager and therefore the GM would pass your letter to the appropriate person for action. There are a few possibilities..... depending on the (population) size & (personnel) structure of the dealership/business, it could be...... larger dealerships/businesses will have -- * marketing director * program director * media/publicity director/manager * sales & marketing manager * unit marketing & recruiting director or simply direct your inquiry to -- * general manager or the top of the totem pole -- * owner IDEA BOOKS As far advertising, it is so expensive that it is hard to justify. Sometimes it works but it is hard to predict. Read the book Marketing Without Advertising for some wonderful ideas to get your name out there without spending a fortune. An EXCELLENT book on advertising, especially on a limited budget is Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. It has a lot of "non-traditional" advertising methods that we can use to get things off the ground. TRADING DECOR FOR EXPOSURE As for decorating, volunteer to decorate at a fundraiser or festival in your area in exchange for free advertising (have them mention your name in their own advertisements and have your business cards available at the event). Your only costs become your supplies and your time but when people actually see who you are and what you can do, then the visual impact you've made on them is a lot more powerful than reading a newspaper ad. I don't know if its true in your area, but here people don't necessarily think of decorating a complete wedding or party in balloons. They might say "lets get some bouquets of balloons" but that's usually about it. You have to plant the idea in their head and the best way to do that is to show them what you can do! Also an additional avenue you can take is to "trade" with various advertising media. By this I mean tell them you will do say $300 in decorations for $300 in advertising on their station, in their magazine etc (this works especially well if you hear of an event they have coming up-or have advertised--we have found radio most receptive to this.) If you live in a university town like ours, the advertisers have a lot of space in the summer-additional incentive for them to trade. One thing to watch when trading -- don't give them any price breaks because, especially with radio the rate sheet they will quote you is almost never what people paying cash spend. For the "trading" to work you need to get advertising at a "wholesale" price, in this case your cost of doing decorations, or sending balloon arrangements. They, of course, will get their balloons at the price of there advertising (usually almost nothing). the secret to successful "free decorating" for me is to always do something that I don't have in my portfolio. That way I have new pictures for my portfolio and new effects to sell my paying clients so I feel that the money that I spent on the freebie is justified. I know "don't give it away." I don't agree with that. I have been blessed with a talent ( yes it is a talent not just a money-making job ) I do a fair amount of decor for charities. I always receive jobs referrals that more than cover the cost of my supplies. I of course have certain guide lines that I follow when choosing my donations.Personally, I have to feel strongly about the charity. I make sure the charity is really helping victims not just the officers of the board.As a Business person I want a big event that a lot of people will see my work, I can do what ever I want ( as long as it's within the theme or colors), I am invited to stay ( after I go back home and get cleaned up and put on my tuxedos shirt with my company name on it ) I like the location or hall. For example, last week I did a X-mas display for the Solvation Army, at one of my favorite halls. I booked 1 wedding and have appointments for 2 other from working on that display. That was just from the brides stoping in to check out the hall. They saw my neat x-mas trees had to see more. NETWORKING Networking is another good way to find new business. It can be very inexpensive, mostly a time investment. If you've joined your Chamber of Commerce, participate on a committee. Just joining won't get you noticed, they need to see your face. YELLOW PAGES Next would be the yellow pages - it doesn't have to be big, but you need to be represented there. We had a yellow page ad for the first 5 years of our business and, at the time, felt it was working very well for us. However, as our local colleagues started upsizing their ads, we found we had to do the same to get "our share" of the calls. Because of this, the last year we had the ad we were paying in excess of $1,100 each and every month!

It was at this point we realized that although we were bringing in an average of $2,500 per month from our ad (sounds good doesn't it?), we were actually LOSING money on the ad, because the $1,300 difference in sales we were making from the ad wasn't even paying it's portion of our overhead, direct costs, etc. Once again, THANK YOU QBN for giving us the knowledge and tools to realize how much money we WEREN'T making!

We even contacted all the people in our area who were running the larger ads and suggested we ALL downsize one step to save us all some money, while still keeping our "spot" the same, thus our market share the same. A lot of the folks agreed that would be a very wise thing to do, but unfortunately, a couple of businesses were afraid to do it for fear someone else might not do it, therefore, no go.

On the other hand, we've talked with many, many people in our industry who's business is supported almost entirely by yellow page ads and who wouldn't give them up for anything. I think it would have been more profitable for us if we hadn't had to spend so much on our ad. Since dropping our ad, we have invested that $1,100 each month into other types of advertising that brings us sales that are 5-10 times our investment each month rather than only 2 times our investment, and have never regretted giving up our ad (Hmmmm... well... maybe during Valentine's week we miss it... <grin>).

In conclusion, our best advice would be to check out the other ads of the folks in your area and carefully calculate the amount of sales you would have to generate in order to make paying that yellow page bill every month, worthwhile to you. A neat way to monitor response from phone book advertising .....In each of your advertisements, directly under the phone number, put the line... "ask for Suzie" Of course you don't have a Suzie working for you! All you do is reply "Suzie is on annual leave right now, can I help you?" You get your staff to record the number of "Suzie" calls each day. Use a different name in each ad or publication. Always a female name. (most women and men prefer to talk to a female voice on the telephone) It will not be an exact method, as some people don't read past the phone number. But, it will allow you to monitor which phone book or paid ads are the best value for what you pay. Worked for us and we dropped one phone book's ad size as a result. The sales rep couldn't challenge the data we provided as evidence of the lack of response we got. Can use the same for radio ads as well. We tried radio once .... but it didn't work. However, I am convinced that radio could work for us, if we find the right combination of audience / denmographics, cost and an ad with a "hook". COLD CALLING Make cold calls or warm chatter. Does your grocery store need a cool fruit & veggie display for their upcoming promotion. What about car dealers? Also, your local florist could be a good source for wedding business, especially if they don't already provide balloons. Don't waste time making cold calls. Try to entice them to your location so you can show them what you do, customer service, etc. and they will be back when they see all the wonderful things you do, and how courteouse you are, etc., and they will return for the big corporate events, etc. because they may be employees of a large corporation, and can use your services down the road. When I started my business I had nothing. I worked from home, and the only way I could get business was through cold calling. I had no money for advertising, and all I had was me. I recognised an area of need in a retail chain, and went from shop to shop, I quickly built an excellent reputation and word spread, before I knew it the shop retailers had a niece getting married.... a fathers 60th birthday..a parents wddding anniversary... Actually I built most of my main customers on cold calling. One customer gave me over $20 000 of balloon work in one year! Cold calling is hard to do, but you get used to it, and you develop your own professional style, it makes you strong, it helps teach you how to handle objections etc... Sure If I had the money to have a retail frontage, staff, and stock, sure I would have always tried to get the potential clients to come to me, however for some of us this is not possible. WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK Put a sign on your van - not a magnetic sign (which may give the impression you're not seriously committed) - excellent, recognizable, noticeable lettering or graphics. If you do it right, people will remember your name and will come up to you while you're loading, unloading, etc. Drive it everywhere to give your business maximum exposure. Wear uniforms of some sort with your business name printed very large across the back of the shirt and that your personal name is on the front or sleeve so that people know who you are on site. Always have business cards and brochures with you on site - leave the doors open when you work so that the staff and guests at the hotel peek in and get excited. I think you should make certain your staff wears your normal identifiable uniform with your business name easily read from the front and back of the shirts. Make certain everyone looks clean and neat (like shirts tucked in, clean shoes, name tags, business cards in pockets, smiles on faces, etc.). Park your van in a prominent spot where everyone going to the wedding will see it. Share business cards with the other vendors on site and start to develop a relationship with them (florist, videographer, photographer, limousine driver, bird releaser, musicians and of course, the site personnel). Be on time -- both getting in AND getting out. Clean up the area and assist anyone needing help. I invested in shirts with our logo and company and in the color hunter green. Whenever we go on a job the staff wears the hunter green shirts & black pants. My partner and I were different color shirts with the logo and company name and our name printed in the front of the shirts and we also wear black pants. All shirts must be tucked in and clean shoes or sneakers. I have experienced that not only it makes us look professional but when we are on a job site people know who to go to for questions, details, etc due to our shirts being a different color. Just imagine when you go to a sheik hotel and everyone has a different uniform due to their dept. Or to a restaurant and the busboys have on usually just a white shirt with black pants and the waiters are with jackets. Depending on the size of the job, I sometimes go very well dressed and wear a pin with the company name on it. I CERTAINLY, think that when people are in uniform it shows that the company is a little more organized & professional. WHERE TO BUILD THE DECOR - IN THE SHOP OR ON SITE? There a lots of reasons for and against pre prep. Sure it saves time on site but that's not always a good thing. The work has to be done some time (at home or on site) and if done on site sometimes the venue owner/ client will see your attention to detail and admire your professionalism. Sometimes hanging around in the right venues can allow you to come in contact with their potential clients as well. Building rapport for future work is never a bad tact. We used to only deliver e.g.. 100 balloons on the ceiling as a pre inflated in bags. All we had to do was let them loose, collect the money and go. But we were finding the clients (sometimes) were making remarks about how easy our job was as if we were ripping them off. Our policy changed to sometimes inflate at least 1/2 the quantity in front of the customer so we don't leave them with a bad impression. If a client asks for e.g.. 10 bunches on tables we might inflate all balloons at our workshop and arrange the centre-pieces on location, this often saves the effort of taking the cylinder in the venue itself. And the client feels he's getting his $ worth of work out of us. That is important to some clients, especially if they are considering using you again. Again different attitude for different circumstances. Our balloons are flexible and so must we be. REPEAT BUSINESS get in the habit of working your current customers. Send them a thank you send them a self-addressed envelope and survey questionnaire to assess how well you're doing and to hammer home what a good job you did (and also to request new customers) send them articles they might be interested in call them every three or four months, etc. SIGNS Your sign is your is a great chance to catch business. Studies of passers-by show you have 3 to 8 seconds to catch someone's attention. That means you need to have a catchy sign. Use big letters for what kind of store it is, like "Balloons" put your name in smaller letters (unless you name is well known to people already) Details such as far as delivery, phone or other important items can be put across the bottom. Most of all pictures say 1,000 words. Put some balloon graphic at least on one side. Don't use a dark color backing. Most noticeable colors studies show are black , red, yellow. Try different placements of words and color. Choose the fewest words possible to get across what your store does. Don't clutter your sign. also remember your window is another great chance to get that sale. put neon around it, it doesn't cost that much to have neon put in or to operate neon. But at night it outshines all your neighbors' windows and signs. the best paid advertising I've done so far is getting signs for my truck. Not to mention the best price. For ~$60 I got two magnetic signs from a local sign making co. I've had it for only two months now and have received 4 jobs from it. That's more jobs than I ever got from the yellow page ad that I paid ~$300 for! The best free advertising is word of mouth! Put a sign on your van - not a magnetic sign (which may give the impression you're not seriously committed) - excellent, recognizable, noticeable lettering or graphics. If you do it right, people will remember your name and will come up to you while you're loading, unloading, etc. Drive it everywhere to give your business maximum exposure. (If you put a sign advertising your balloon business on your car or van that you have now become a "commercial" vehicle and your car/van must be appropriately insured as "commercial". If you just have private car insurance and you get into an accident with the signs on your car your insurance may likely NOT PAY! ) BRIDAL FAIRS / SHOWS Some tips for getting brides: Do bridal shows. We get most of our brides through bridal shows and referrals from happy customers. We participated in a Bridal Fair last January. A few things we learned include: Put together some kind of raffle. this allows you to take a moment to personally interact with each person who stops at your booth. Personal contact is very important, we believe. Be in your best graces....smile, smile, smile! No matter what! Make sure you have enough people to help you during the day so you all can take breaks and keep fresh and happy. Have some kind of handout you can give people.....something in addition to a small business card. they'll be filling up their plastic bags with all kinds of stuff from other booths. You dont want to get lost in the shuffle. As regards booth decor...we used a heart sculpture as our backdrop. - had a table centerpiece on the table and a garland column at corners of booth. maybe float something above the booth to catch the eye. Just make sure whatever you do is well done. we decorate at least 8 bridal shows a year and have tried just about everything. We too have brides fill out a questionnaire regarding decorations among other services we provide and we set up appointments at the show or call them within 1 week for an appointment. We tell the brides that by seeing us within 2 weeks, they qualify for a 15% discount -- we call this our "sanity discount" so that we can plan as far ahead as possible because we are ALWAYS getting last minute weddings. We don't hand out freebie gifts anymore, but what has been successful is an upscale two-sided flier that we wrote that "educates" the bride on the importance of professional balloon decorations and how those decorations can be used appropriately. The brides really like the additional info instead of just our business card because they feel they are making an "educated buying decision". I have noticed that because we list several design ideas for each area, i.e. head table, entrance, dance floor, etc. etc., we are actually achieving higher sales because the bride may have only wanted an arch behind her head table, and then after she reads the flier, she sees all of the other wonderful, alternative decorations that are elegant and specifically designed for weddings for not only the head table but for every other area of the room! For the future, I would like to attach a color photo of a balloon canopy or head table decor to this flier, but we are trying to keep costs down at the shows. We generally "get hit" by no less than 200 brides at each show and book 65-75% of them. Because we trade the cost of our booth for show decorations, we put all of our emphasis on blowing the brides away with the show and our booth decor. And because there have been occasions when fellow balloon decorators have taken credit for our work, we make sure every bride knows that we decorated the show (we also barter a full page ad in the show program that states "official bridal show decorator"). Hope this helps! Hope to meet some of ya'll at Ballooniversity! I am looking for some ideas on inexpensive handouts to give to the brides-to-be at an upcoming fall bridal show that we can attach our business cards/postcards to. We just completed a bridal show today and did the 6" jewel hearts with the 260Qs for the "stem" and the brides loved those. How about stuffing a 11" printed wedding balloon with some of your business cards...I had a customer do this for a trade show once and it went well. They also put some additional advertisements in each balloon (and a few from the bunch contained some free giveaways and discount coupons). For our last two bridal shows, we used 4" heart shaped mylar holiday balloons that were appropriate to the next holiday-- Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day -- with an oval business sticker on the back. These were balloons that had been reduced by suppliers; I think I paid ten cents each for them in quantities of 100. The reasons I liked using them....cheap, could be done months ahead, used up last year's holiday stock, didn't take much space, everyone wanted one (we only gave them to the people that completely filled out an entry blank at our booth), not too awkward for the brides to carry, etc. We donate 100 balloons to be used as client wishes (picked up) for the winning entry. Not sure if we get more bridal work, but we sure do go after all the other events. Our entry blank requests name, address, telephone, wedding date & location, E-mail address and then has check marks for balloon releases, centerpieces, church decor, sculpted heart, flowers, balloon drops, arches, canopy, dance floor decor and head table decor. Below that we list personal event_________corporate event_________ school events_______ organization event______ Date_____________ We scanned the entry for missing info before handing them the 4" mylar. We began using these entries the following day and had enough information to target their specific needs quickly over the telephone or via E-mail. The 4" mylars were left over from Valentine's Day the previous year and we simply did not have time to air inflate all the 5" latex hearts that we used to hand out. Then there was the matter of bulk with them - if it's a really good show and you have to have several hundred ready along with your decor & booth components, it becomes a bit of a space dilemna. We coordinate our booth decor so the color of the balloon is in harmony - or a neutral foil for it. 1. 4" mylar hearts on omni sticks w/babys' breath and wrapped in 1/2 sheets of tissue paper. 2. Stuff 11" pre-printed wedding balloon w/business cards and/or discount coupons. 3. Inflate 5" pearl w/business cards attached. 4. 260Q swans w/4x5 printed business cards in the tails of the swans. 5. The Printers Shopper company in Chula Vista, Ca. has camera ready artwork of a booklet titled "How to make your wedding go smoothly" that can be copied adding your own business cards. The phone number is 1-800-854-2911, stock # BP1902, $39.00 ea. 6. Fantasy Roses. Each heart that got in to the brides hand had a 4x5 card attached with a "Wedding Special" and our business name and info. about us pre-printed on the card. We also had a drawing for free decor that we had brides fill out to win. We did not have time to talk to very many brides so we were not able to books dates, schedule consultations or anything else. I think next time we need at least 2 more people in the booth with us so we can talk to the brides instead of blowing up free handouts. At trade and bridal shows I give away balloons with my name and number on them (as well as a sticker on the plastic weight for when the balloon goes down). if you decorate a WONDERFUL booth for a client, you get even more notice than for yourself and you get paid for it! Case in point: a few years ago we decorated the stage area for a trade show. The client was the trade show. We discounted the job ( I knew that we would get referrals.) I left business cards on the stage. To make a long story short, we won best of show and we didn't even have a booth! Your work speaks well of you. Do it for a client and when someone comes to your booth, point out the work that you do. In reply to handing out cards & making appointments at bridal shows...... Here in California Bridal show booths cost upwards of $800.00 for a one day show and it is considered in bad taste to have someone who did not pay for a booth to hand out their cards..... How would you feel if you paid $1200.00 for a booth and then someone who paid nothing for a booth came in and handed out the same type of information? One hint I have for any trade show booth is to set it up so that the customers must walk into it to see the display. That way you can get their attention better and perhaps spend a few moments with them. MAKE SURE you get their names, addresses, and phone numbers, or your whole booth will be pointless. Besides the address, get the date of the planned wedding. My friend uses drawings for prizes since they usually put their real address on and the prizes don't have to be expensive. He would follow up with a congratulations letter to the winner and a consolation letter to those who did not win. He would offer them a discount for a quicker order for his products. You might be able to work deals with other people at the show to recommend them if they recommend you or work out packages. I know a photographer who works with caterers, gown makers, etc. to get more business. Create a video highlighting your best wedding work. It should be played continually with a musical background that enhances the visuals. You might want to hand out air-filled, heart-shaped, latex balloons - imprinted if possible, or tagged. These will stand out and last a long time (giving the future customer a good feeling about the value of balloons because most people only think "helium" and also paving the way for selling more air filled work that can be done ahead because of all the business you guys are going to get. Yes, these will take up lots of space, but have all your vans parked in strategic, visible positions - filled with bags of the inflated balloons. Every employee should wear their company shirts and get the opportunity to visit each of the other booths and collect their handouts. They would also be available for helping in the booth when it gets overwhelmed. First you should talk to someone in charge at the show. Talk them into letting you decorate the runway and the registration tables. I made a deal with a Brides to Be, that I would do the show but only if I could do the decoration for the runway and greeting table. I told them I didn't even need a table ( but they gave me one anyway). So first I wanted to give the brides something bigger than a business card not so easy to lose in all the other flyers they got but for around the same price. I found this special paper from Office Max that you design your own folding brochure. I printed up what I wanted to say on the computer, cut it out and taped it right where I wanted it. Then put lots of different picture of my work. Made copies onto the brochure paper (make sure copier has special setting for photos.) I got 500 photo brochure for $65 and they had lots of room to put all the information I felt I wanted to say. I put the brochures at the bottom of each creation ( in plastic brochure holder, also availed at Office Max) I made 3, 10 foot columns at the back of the stage ( with exploding 3 foot toppers) Then put together the 2 heart frames joined in the middle at the end of the runway (9 inch clear balloons with light and greenery running thru it.) When the models came out and stood under the hearts it just looked like a story book ( not many of people have seen this effect, the clear balloons and the tinkle of the light just bring out the beauty of a wedding gown.) Then at the end of the show I exploded the balloons,( again something not everyone has seen). All thru the show and during breaks I made sure I got up on the stage and acted like I was adjusting something on stage. But I really was letting everyone just see me, the person that did these balloons, and of course my company name in big letters across my back was not missed. I also put different balloon arrangements on the greeting table and around the entrance. The Brides to Be Company complemented me and have already asked me to decorate again. That show was just last Sunday, and I did have all my brochures picked up by the brides. I know I impressed every one there. Now if you're stuck with just one table and there is no way they'll let you decorate even just the runway, then make sure you make something that moves, lights up or explodes. Something they haven't seen or something that looks like it would cost a lot but is cheap ( and put the price on it). Have to catch that bride's eye. Have lots of picture of your work. Maybe a book from each business. Put your brochure out and have all the companies' names listed that took part. As for who should watch over the table, have everyone there wearing your company name and if each of you talk with a bride you'll have everyone knowing about your chapter and talents. Then when the brides decide to have one of you do her wedding she can just pull out her brochure and call one of the closer shops to her. I don't think you can ever have too many sales people. Use the following entry within your booth so that you will immediately have a workable list of prospects. Name___ Company___ Address_____ City, State, Zip______ Telephone_____ E-Mail______ I'd like decor ideas for: __Holiday Party __Bar & Bat Mitzvah __Prom etc. __I wish/do not wish to receive any further information You will be able to use the entry blanks to target each potential client's specific need and will not need to wait to get the show's list of brides. Make certain your staff scans each entry for complete name, address and phone number. One of the tricks that work for us is to have a "give-away." We create very simple balloon roses. Stem: 1 -- 260q emerald or white inflate leaving 1/2 to 1" at the end tie off. Find its half point and twist (one-half towards you one half away) From the twisted end measure about 6 inches or a hands length and perform a simple twist again. Now you have a donut at one end. From the top (outside twist) of the donut push that twist into meet the other twist and twist again. Now you have a bow. Take the ends of the bow and twirl them around each other and about 1 inch from the bottom make another simple twist to hold the twirl in place. Now inflate a 6" heart, rose, pink, red etc. and take the knot and twist-wrap it around in-between the top of the bow. Now you've got a simple rose! We even imprint the 6" hearts with are company name and contact info. What I have found to make a big difference is to have something for them to walk under. The best bridal show around here has booths that are about 8-9ft deep and about 15ft wide. We always make our booth a walk in and have the brides walk under some kind of arch. Last year we did a simple fish-spine arch attached to 2 of our poles/bases swagged in satin. This year we did a walk thru heart. Anyway you do it, it makes them want to walk under it (don't ask me why, but it works...) and then into your booth. Once there, they look around at your beautiful things and talk to you, and, hopefully, they're hooked! It is something different that most of the other vendors don't do, so it turns into an attention getter. Another thought would be a canopy, but it's so much work for such a short time of exposure. We also don't have a whole lot of brides around here willing to pay that price tag. The other thing is that we have given them gifts, and we've not given them gifts, and, to be honest, I haven't noticed a heck of a lot of difference in bookings. This year we were able to put a flyer in the bag that the sign up desk was giving out. I'll have to let you know how that works out, but I can tell you it was a lot less work and stress on my part! Good luck, I love bridal shows because if nothing else, you get to decorate the way YOU want to! Remember, bridal fairs are a mid to long term investment! Don't expect immediate sales that day or even next month. Most brides that visit bridal shows have only recently become engaged. The wedding date is often still a year away. Consequently, your investment in time and money for a bridal fair won't show any "return" on wedding decor orders for some months into the future. Your objective here is to get your company name out there into this "specialist" market. You do that best by impressing them with what they SEE on show on the day of the fair. By showing special items, fine quality work with the very best in product..... you are sending a message that your company is professional - sound - and a cut above the rest. They'll remember that and come back to your showroom when their "shopping around" is finished and it's time to order (a few months from now). When you have a "clear point of difference" ..... price becomes a secondary consideration in the buyers mind. Wow 'em When it comes to bridal shows, a little can go a long way. Make sure whatever you do, you do it well ! I used to try to decorate the whole show. Runway, entrance, my table, registry table. I was so rushed that by show time I didn't want to talk with the brides. Now I only do the runway and my table. I have found that "I give my heart", ( designed by the Bells, featured in the Q.B.N. promotional material's ) gets me the most questions. I build that over the runway, and put my flyer on each corner column. It is a simple dance floor, does not take forever, yet it's very impressive. Canopies are impressive but very time consuming. Not to mention if you don't know what you're doing, the results are going to hurt your business. Make your display booth match the runway. Have a sign stating that your company designed the runway. Don't overload your table with stuff. Make sure you're ready to smile and meet new friends. Try to talk to one bride at a time. (They like to feel that their wedding is special to you.) I have never given free gifts away, but that might be something to look into. I depend on my work to impress the bride. ( I even impress myself sometimes ) If I can make the bride want it, then I'm half way there. If they asked you any question, that means they are interested in your services. Ask the bride her colors, then explain to her the vision of her beautiful day: cascading tulle, crystal (in her colors) bubbles, the soft, romantic sparkles of twinkle lights draping from above ( and so on, you get the picture). If you can paint her the beautiful picture, she'll have to have it. Above all, do beautiful work. Don't do something you're not confident about. It will show in your mood when you talk with your brides. Remember it's your magic creations that will sell the brides. Not balloons. I did my first bridal show, and it sure did turn out great! I bartered for my space. (The space was 12 x 22). At the entrance of the hotel I made a walk through heart with a bride and groom. A florist made a bouquet for me to put with the bride. I also decorated the registration tables. I put plaster pillars that I made look like stone with tulle and a 3 foot balloon in the center. The florist made bouquets for the top of the pillars. I also decorated with columns in other areas. I split my space in 1/2 and made a white swan and a walk through arch way on the other 1/2. I got a lot of compliments and got phone calls the next morning and have allready booked some events. On average, I would say I have almost 99% conversion rate. As well as designing and helping clients with their wedding decor. I point out the pitfalls of: a) doing it themselves b) the cheap cost-cutter decorator - after all no one wants their decor on the floor when they arrive. I offer: c) real value for money, and d) DIFFERENT decor, no one wants the same as their friend had. Update your portfolio! Win the mother of bride over to your side! I find if mother comes to, they are ready to buy. Also it is the one time when being older has its reward. The mother trusts me! I find that we can resell the same decor every 3 years, as the brides change round with their friends is covered by this time period. So, I rotate decor on a 3 yearly period, also try to bring in one really spectacular piece of decor each year and show this at our top bridal fair. It's worked so far! It worried me that I had not booked so many jobs this year, until I looked at the calibre of work we were booking; much bigger and better paid work, and not so much of the small jobs. So be prepared to change, if it's better for your Company. Bridal shows are costly but 1 wedding booked will cover the cost. A few suggestion from my experience would be: If you're asked to send flyers to be put in bags for the brides for say, 10,000 bags. Don't waste fancy full color flyers in these. A lot of the bridal shows offer great give always. A lot of the people are not really getting married ( well someday ) They are there to win the prizes. So all those bags ( and your costly flyers ) go straight in the trash. Not to mention there is so much stuff in there the brides are over whelmed. Make sure your table display will get the sincere brides over to your table. Then they can pick up your full color flyer. I have noticed lately the brides that are really interested in your service are now marking my flyers with a flag, post-it, or some other means of telling my information from all the other stuff. Always decorate the run way for the models.( or entrance to the show ) It is work but do it right !! Put some of your color flyers by each column. Put a picture similar to the stage decor ( same design maybe just a different color ) on your table. This helps the brides to recognize that your the company that the bridal show company trust ( wish make it seem like they are recommending you ). I did my first Bridal Fair this past February. Best thing I've ever done in the way of advertising! My wedding business has increased tremendously. As far as getting cold feet, I can sympathize. I did too. I nearly backed out at the last minute! I'm so glad that I hung in there. For your booth -- I don't know what, if anything, the Bridal Fair people have told you -- but I'll give you some very important do's and don't's...... **Don't place the display table across the front of your booth, as it restricts traffice flow... tells people "Stop, I don't want you to come into my space." **Do put the display table(s) along the back wall and/or side walls of your booth. You rented the whole booth, didn't you? Use it. Let people into your booth. It says, "Welcome". I had ALWAYS thought you were supposed to place the table up front and sit down at the table.... waiting for patrons. NOT!!! This set-up simply says, "Don't come in my booth, I'm resting, and really not interested in you and what you want." I watched a video at a REAL bridal fair.... then observed for myself at the Bridal Fair -- you wouldn't believe the difference. It WORKS!! **Don't sit down or have your staff seated AT ALL! **Do have them up in front of the booth -- Smiling with brochures and/or flyers in hand - ready for possible customers. Need a break from standing? Switch off with a partner. Go sit a spell, come back. Believe me, this works too. **Do take PLENTY of business cards, product information, flyers, brochures, etc. Don't get caught empty handed. Send EACH person away from your booth with SOMETHING in their hand. Don't forget your pictures/portfolio!! **Don't eat or drink at your booth. **Do take an occasional break - get a coke or whatever. Be sure your partner is available to swap off with you. **Don't leave your booth unattended. **Do be sure to dress the part.... at our Bridal fair, the attire was formal/semi-formal. Since you will be "working", you want to be comfortable, but yet professional with some elegance.. You can probably get by with an elegant pants outfit. **Do wear comfortable shoes! As far as color and theme - well, everything seems to be "millenium" madness. My suggestion (that I got from this list!!!) -- Go traditional/neutral. White, Ivory, Diamond clear w/Flowers around, maybe gold or silver. The metallics are really in right now, and probably a safe "2nd" or "3rd" color for your booth. Take it easy though -- you want it to match, flow. You don't want it to look like a circus. Use additional color in various centerpiece items. Be different. Fortunately, we were the ONLY balloon professional at our show. So about anything we did was different from the rest. Our booth entryway -- We put up 2 six-foot columns (4-cluster) in pearl white, gold, clear w/flowers around. We topped them off with a 3-foot d. clear w/flowers around. Between the columns was a pearl arch of 11" d.clear w/flowers, with tendrils of satin ribbons hanging from the arch. It was pretty...... and gathered A LOT of attention!!! (For some reason, people like to "walk under" something. Then - TahDah! They're in your booth!) BEFRIEND THE BALLOON RETAILERS I never buy balloons wholesale. I buy all my balloons and most of my supplies from a local small-time retailer. I have done this for going on 15 years and I love it ! Am I nuts ? Maybe, but that's a different story. I pay about 25% more than I would if I purchased from a wholesale house. How much business can the wholesalers turn me on to ?? None !! I suppose there are cases where wholesalers ( in your city ) might be of some promotional help to you but I doubt that applies in many instances. The retailers on the other hand can send tons of business your way and if you take the time to establish a good friendly relationship with them, they will go out of their way to help you. They have Yellow Page ads ( I Don't ) that are aimed at consumers. They pay a lot for these adds. They trust my services enough to mention balloon decorating in their ads, fully intending to send the business to me ! It's an absolute win win situation. I pay about $125 for $100 worth of balloons.....depending on the type of deco, these balloons will do a project that I charge between $600 to $900 for. Is it worth the extra $25 ??? Duh ! I wouldn't have had the job without them !! I spend more than $25 on pizza for the crew! The key is to find retailers that are not interested in "on location" decorating. I have established a great relationship with a major party store in our city. They decided some time ago that working outside their shop was not what they wanted to do. I got acquainted with them by offering to deliver for them one Valentines Day. They loved me. Since then they have sent probably 30% of my annual business to me and I don't even buy balloons from them. They simply do not want to say no to their customers when decorating is requested. In addition to all that, when the client takes the referral info and calls me, my negotiating position is very strong. Other bonuses.....I have a local person to yell at....some one who always listens to me. I have an arrangement with them to allow me to return any un-opened grosses....this means we never come up short on a job when the client asks (as they almost always do) for last minute additions and changes (boy ! do those pay well !! ) But not if it's the middle of the night and you don't have enough extra balloons to fill the order. These two "retailers" account for 50% of my annual business......the event planners that I have taken the time to "court" provide the rest. I do no advertising of any kind ( with the exception of a well developed web site that costs me less than $1 per day !) Bottom Line....The Wholesalers need you a whole lot more than you need them!!! Do the legwork to establish the relationships and it will pay and pay and pay. Party City can be your friend. They do not offer on site decor. ( not the kind we do ) I made friends with the store manager and he hands out my flyers, when brides ask about decor. I slip him 25 C-shells cash when I book a wedding from him. ( I gave him 25 C-shells even before I actually booked a wedding, to motivate him more ) He is more than happy to pass on the big jobs and I am more than happy to let them have the little jobs. Besides watch their sales. You can get supplies for less than wholesale. Stock up and let them pay for part of your supplies. Half off card shop will work with you. Just make sure you make arrangements with the right person. Make sure you pay them in cash every time one of their leads book. You can never have too many friends. I found that if you talk to the Party City manager (or make friends with the employees) they will refer people to you that want the special decorations that they don't do. Slip them 20 C-shells and they are your best friend. REFERRALS I give and get referrals. If I can not do a job , at first I wanted to send the clients to someone that wasn't as talented as my company. That way the come back to me, then I thought oh no if they get a bad job no one from that job is going back to anyone. So I have a few fellow Eastern Michigan Q.B.N. Chapter members I will call and trusts when I can not take on another wedding. In return they offer my service when they are overbooked for a date. Now as for party planers, halls, or D.J. I pay 25 C-shells cash when they send me a referral. In return they send me 25 C-shells cash when someone I send them books. >Has anyone been charged a referral fee by a party planner, D.J , >etc.. when you receive business through them? If so , what is the usual fee? I do get business from various sources. There are no "usual" fees. With some we just refer business to each other without keeping exact tabs. For others it is a fixed percent usually from %5 to %10. Still for others I negotiate my fee and they do the booking work, adding a mark up for themselves. As far as referral fees. I let everyone know I will pay them a 25 C-shell cash referral fee. I find that most halls or D.J's like the cash and are happy with this amount. I just added the 25 C-shells to my job cost form and so it really don't cost me anything. By far my favorite way to get business is referrals from bridal shops. Some will let you decorate their window or do a display in the store in exchange for referrals. I have found this to be the best way to get work. COMMERCIALS Commercials ...... very tricky! The cost of radio or TV commercials is very high, but that is proportionate to the return one can expect IF ...... you do your homework first. We'd like to share our experiences. We first tried radio commercials for Dolly's decorating company about 2 years ago. We ran 3 separate 30 second commercials, 4 nights a week between 7pm and 11pm. During the "Love Song Dedications" show. The radio station we chose mainly for geographic reasons. (our target area) These ads ran for a month.It turned out to be a total waste of a lot of money! We got orders ..... but ......? It has taken 2 years for Dolly to even LISTEN to the idea of trying again. Recently we began a new radio campagne. This time .... radio station with wider geographic audience but high DEMOGRAPHICS towards females aged in our target bracket ..... daytime only, .... one day per week only. The results have been very good so far! We'll run for at least 3 months and then probably give it a rest till the season (or reason) is right again. The best thing .... the total cost of this campagne is less than the radio ads 2 years ago that bombed. If you own a balloon decorating business, there are so many critical factors to consider for radio or TV advertising. Consult some experts, it helps enormously. Things to consider; Demographics that fit your target market. (WHO specifically are you trying to reach?) The day of the week and the hour of the day that your product / service will appeal to listeners. (toilet cleaners don't advertise well during breakfast radio) The month/s of the year. (season) The duration of the advertising campagne. The wording of your ad can make or break the bank. What is the REAL purpose of the ad? Selling product? Maybe .... maybe not .....? Too many words or messages in an ad loses appeal. Remember the "KISS" message? Are you seeking short term or mid-long term return on your investment? There are key factors that I can't divulge on this list. (Dolly has competitors - so ask us at IBAC) If you disregard just one factor, your results could be disasterous. A tip from a couple in Sydney who found the answer the expensive way .... be careful, be thorough and seek professional guidance BEFORE you listen to that first demo tape. Our best advice is; don't disregard any form of advertising until you have thoroughly looked into the merits and demerits of each IN RELATION TO YOUR BUSINESS. Start with establishing a FIXED annual advertising budget. Advertising cost in general is a major part of our overhead but we do not advertise to the mass in general, we target our client base, primarily through selected print media. Print media "Hangs" around for a while. If you are determined to follow up with this media blitz, there is a chance you can barter for a lot of the media, including TV. You have got to realize you would be laying out a lot of cash, time or both. Your return will probably come back nickel and diming it with orders for deliveries and small decor jobs. If you are new we would really advise taking it slow and methodically. Your return on any advertising is long term and your advertising has to be long term also in order to show stability. To complicate it further, as an industry, we do not offer meat and potatoes, it is not a necessary commodity just a frill. We are also competing along side the floral and gift basket industry and the prop and party rental companies. You should weigh your expected return against your ability to provide the services also. If you sink a lot of capital into advertising and you are unable to meet the demand of a successful campaign then you will kill yourself in several ways. You will defeat all the positive marketing with an inability to provide a consistently good product. If you over book, you're dead. If you don't book enough you're dead. Then you will need to hire and train more people increasing overhead. Their learning curve could be devastating! You also need to factor the cost of all the media you are exploring. For every Radio station or TV channel you pick to advertise on there are also demographics. The cost could be devastating if you advertise in a demographic market that does not care to buy balloons. Even print media has demographics. You need to think about your marketing very carefully. When I first started out in the business I check into commercials. I was shocked at the cost of running the ad. The more reasonable prices were of course cable T.V. and other small local media. The cost to me was way too much. Personally I felt I would rather keep my cash and show as many people my magic. Picture, video and fancy words are great, but nothing will win you customers like seeing your work.

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deco_business.html0100775012005001161010000033333307275161443012716 0ustar bhqbhq Balloon HQ presents: The Decorating Business

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The Decorating Business

-- *STARTING/RUNNING A BALLOON BUSINESS QUOTE TO START SECTION BUSINESS DECISIONS STARTING OUT PARTNERSHIPS HOME BASED BUSINESSES / STOREFRONT? "FTD" STYLE NETWORK FOR BALLOON DELIVERIES BUSINESS NAMES CONVEY A PROFESSIONAL IMAGE TAXES SALES TAX INSURANCE BALLOON VEHICLES PHONE ISSUES FOR HOME-BASED BIZ PAYING HIRED HELP TRAINING HELP THEFT CONTINGENCY PLANNING TAKING CHARGE (CARDS) -- Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

*STARTING/RUNNING A BALLOON BUSINESS QUOTE TO START SECTION: It is VERY easy to get into the Balloon Biz, but the trick is STAYING in business! That takes dedication, talent, committment to constant education and professionalism. BUSINESS DECISIONS You talk about the desire to get into the balloon business as a "retailer" .... a "distributor" ..... and finally, as a balloon "decorator". All 3 are quite different. Not often do all 3 operate successfully under the one roof. It is quite common to see an individual or partnership operate as retailers AND decorators. Again, I must say, that these 2 fields in the balloon business demand separate and special attention to each disipline. One can be a talented balloon artist and decorator, yet fall way short of cutting it as a clever retailer. Retailing demands much more than just puting stock on shelves and standing behind a cash register! Likewise, being a success at balloon decorating is much, much more than creating terrific garland designs and gorgeous centrepieces. Business savy is gold! To be a "distributor" usually infers that you supply a specific product line to retailers and decorators on behalf of the manufacturer. eg; my company distributes balloons, helium, and many balloon accessory items in Australia. As a "distributor", my company does not also retail and/or offer a balloon decorating service. As a distributor, my first obligation is to increase and broaden market share for the manufacturers of the products. Not to service my local town with balloons. Retailers and decorators do that with the products I supply to them. So ..... I suggest you research each thoroughly, and choose according to the following; Decorating (homebased) .... minimum capital outlay. Regular education classes are a must. Retailing (depending on location) ..... large capital outlay. Also, trade education a must. Distributor (depending on product) .... usually demands that you have large stock storage facility and reasonable levels of liquidity. Do not attempt this without years of industry experience and solid financial support. Most manufacturers refrain from appointing distributors who also retail. You could start by research at the following; QBN education program. Your local Chamber of Commerce. Your government agency to assist small business. Attend balloon conventions STARTING OUT All of us old hands at the balloon biz were once in the same predicament as you find yourself now. Where do I start? How much money will I need? Who are the Suppliers? Where can I get trade information? Who can be trusted? ....... What a mine field! The question of how much money ...... boy? Don't want to send you around in circles or sound like a wise guy but ..... that's up to you! At the end of the day, what you pay .... is what you get! Start by asking yourself." How much can I afford to invest?" Remember, you are not spending .... you are INVESTING in a business. You "spend" on hobbies. You "invest" in a business.Make no mistake, the balloon industry and the people in it, traet this issue very seriously nowadays. Balloon decor has gone way beyond something you can do "part time". Customers demand service to suit their time schedule, not yours. Obviously, you will need a minimum level of stock and equipment. Elect inflator, Helium, regulators, glue, board, latex, foils, heat sealers ........ I could fill pages. Are you planning on being home based? In retail / commercial premises? You will need a fax machine, accounting software, dedicated business phone line/s .... work benches, shelving, ladder, framing rod, hand truck, credit card facilities, filing .... on it goes. Please don't be put off by this. The point I'm trying to make is that regardless of your "entry level" to the balloon industry, you need to do a LOT of homework first. You don't want to jump in too soon, only to find it will cost you a considerable amount more ..... simply to stay in and survive. I want you to stay with us if you decide to jump in because failed newbies tarnish the percieved longevity and image of this fabulous business in the eyes of the business world. There are publications such as WWS, B&P, PPR Images and BNFT. I'm sure the editors of each of them will email you in private, as they all read the BHQ. Please, go to your nearest Qualatex distributor and ask about the QBN education program. Buy video tape #1 and go from there. Conwin carbonics now have a selection of video tapes available. Also, watch this list and register for every beginner level class or seminar you can attend. Money well spent. Believe me! Finally ..... Balloon Heaven! The annual pilgrimage of the world's most dedicated and talented balloon professionals is known as IBAC. (International Balloon Artist's Convention) From March 1st 2000 in Las Vegas. Four days of teaching, learning, watching, building, creating, partying, networking, and most importantly .... SHARING! Start saving to be there. I hope to see you in a class I have been invited to present called, "Starting a Balloon Business". You will learn more at IBAC in 4 days, than you will learn outside IBAC in 4 years. It's easy to get excited about a business opportunity, but as with any business, research your market carefully. Drive around your town and notice how many stores/shops offer balloons. It's like buying a car. You never realized how many of that brand were on the road until you had a specific interest, ya' know? Suddenly they're everywhere. Strange things (both good and bad) can happen to anyone at anytime. There are quite a number of responsibilities one inherits when going into business. One of the biggest responsibilities (besides acting like a professional) is having good BUSINESS sense and practices. Like any other business (in this day and age) you need a good lawyer, a good accountant, advertising rep and good insurance coverage. All of the above relates directly to the old adage " you gotta' spend money to make money." Yes, all of these business needs cost money, but if good people and programs are selected wisely for your business, it is almost always money well spent.

How To Become A Balloon Decorator

Subscribe to the balloon decorators mailing list on Balloon HQ.
Subscribe to Images Magazine.
Find balloon wholesalers in your area. (look in the yellow pages or the business to business yellow pages). Many balloon distributors (not the party stores) will have more information on any local chapters of the Qualatex Balloon Network which are starting to pop up all over the place. Also they may have information on any seminars that may be held in your area.
Read anything and everything you can get your hands on regarding balloon decorating.
Festivities publications puts out some good (although slightly dated) books on the subject.
Festivities is the publisher of Balloons and Parties Today, a party magazine, and other balloon related books and video's. Their address is: Festivities Publications, 1205 W Forsyth St., Jacksonville, FL 32204-9912.

You might want to get the book "Building a Better Balloon Business" by Debra Paulk. It's a classic. FESTIVITIES PUBLICATIONS industry mags, books, videos, Jubilee promoters 1205 W. FORSYTH ST. JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204 PH 904 634 1902 http://www.festivities-pub.com/ PARTNERSHIPS Certainly you need a "pre-nup" before you form a partnership, including - What happens if: * one of you dies * one of you becomes permanently disabled * one of you becomes temporarily disabled * one of you wants to leave the business * one of you wants the other one to leave the business and every other situation that you can possibly think of. Also, consider incorporating. Each partner can be held totally responsible for the debts of a company. That would mean that you would be responsible for anything she does or commits to and she would have the same responsibility for your actions. A partnership should be handled by a lawyer, who may be able to suggest alternatives. Regarding partnerships, my experiences have taught me to "just say NO". There are of course exceptions to every rule. The most important ingredient in a successful partnership, beyond the obvious sharing of responsibility and work, is that you must both be better off together than apart. This has to be true for the long term too. Since many partnerships seem to go bad at some point it is critical to draw up a partnership agreement with a good lawyer that provides an out for each of you. One useful clause would allow partner A to offer an amount to buy out partner B, but A would have to be prepared to sell if A counter offers to buy at the same price. Also, I believe many partnerships don't reach their full potential because the individuals didn't identify the strengths of each party and delegate work roles accordingly. So often, I hear business partners say to each other, "I thought you were going to order that stuff?" Reply..... "I thought you ordered it!" Too much valuable time is wasted by duplicating (or completely overlooking) tasks. In partnerships, it must be very clear to BOTH parties, who does what! Responsibilities to each other - and to the business. The trick here is to "balance" the workload / responsibilities between the two partners. There is always the risk that one partner feels that the other partner does less work for equal financial reward. Then, you gotta have trust and faith in the ability of your partner to deliver their share of those responsibilities. Again, it's a waste of time if you need to regularly "check" that your partner ordered the helium and organised for the casual staff to swap shifts. Likewise, it is counterproductive for each of you to "take turns" visiting your regular corporate clients. This has to be the responsibility of the partner who does it best.... not necessarily the one who likes it most! Might sound corny but..... I'd have nothing - without the talents, skills and devotion of my business partner. She feels the same about her business partner. I guess that's why it works! Trust, Talent, Devotion, Comfort, Communication and Understanding. It is just like getting "married" all over again. And ain't that a frightening thought????? I would NEVER go into a partnership again! The work load is never equal, disagreements when you want a new piece of equipment and she doesn't, who wins and the list goes on and on. Consider all the things you have built up by yourself and then ask yourself if you really are willing to share all of that with someone else? My suggestion would be to reward good employees, pay them well so they're not tempted to leave and go somewhere else, give them titles, praise them alot and keep it at that - no partners. RE: Your idea to enter into a partnership with your florist friend: I describe myself as a "cautious optimist" in business. I always look for positive things in opportunity, my competitors, my clients, students, my suppliers .... everything. But I like to think that I am also not a blind fool when it comes to business decisions. In being "cautious" I now spend a great deal of time analyzing important commercial decisions before I act. So, how does this relate to your situation? Ask yourself the following questions; When balloon artists and florists share the same target market, (weddings, mother's day etc) wouldn't they compete for the same dollar from time to time? What if the balloon decorator wins the client's order at the expense of the florist (partner)? eg; ... she came into shop for floral arrangements ..... saw balloons, and changed her mind. If the balloon decorator generates 65% of the total business turnover .... is the florist likely to exile her partner and begin balloon decor in her own right - with the established premises - and the skills she has learned from the balloon decor partnership? Vis Versa? If I'm bringing in 65% of the turnover, why should I settle for only 50% of the profits? The decorator will spend much more time away from the retail premises than the florist. (Site measure, on site decorating, site inspections, retrieving framework ....) Will the florist begin to feel that she is STUCK in the shop? A phone answering service for the balloon decorator? "How come I have to field all your phone calls?" "You're never here .... it isn't fair!" And if it IS a great working partnership .... How old are each of you? Is it possible that one will wish to retire from the work force 5 or 10 years before the other? What happens then? What if the florist wants to "bail out" and sell their share of the partnership ... and the decorator can't afford to pay the amount the florist is asking? As an outsider looking in - with around 20 years experience in small business, having suffered a partnership bust-up, and for the past 8 years working in a "dream" partnership - I would say, "Do your homework!" Around 80% of partnerships are disolved because one party believes they are carrying the majority of the burdens for only 50% of the profits. Of course, there are a number of ways to overcome / address each of these obstacles and both go in with your eyes wide open. I strongly recommend that you spend as much time on drafting the details of how to disolve the partnership agreement, as you do on how to work within the life of the agreement. Neither of you have a desire to finish with financial problems as "baggage". Just as bad .... neither of you would want to finish without a continuing friendship. In most sucessful partnerships, the partners actually play quite separate roles within the business. Analyze the real skills and talents of each. If you BOTH have great customer skills, artistic flair, and accounts skills ...... who will learn how to do the marketing? Who will oversee training of casual staff? Who will negotiate the supply deals? Who will attend business education seminars? Which partner needs to brush up on telephone sales skills? It's a waste of resourses (time) for both partners to be involved in ALL responsibilities. I'm just playing the devil's advocate. OK? I'm not trying to discourage you. Teaming with a florist does make a lot of sense .... on paper. But I think it would need to be a very "special" kind of understanding between the two parties. Hope you have already considered all of my notations ..... discounted all of them .... and you go on to make a small fortune. HOME BASED BUSINESSES / STOREFRONT? > My husband and I are strongly debating > the issues of opening up a retail store. We want some expert advice > on how any of you got started with financing, realtors, vendors, shop > fixtures and placement of product, etc. We have had our business in our > home for 2 years now and the market up here is growing economically. We > are still in the infant stages of doing research but would appreciate > any info from folks who are already in a retail shop. Thanks and please > feel free to e-mail me privately at: wildaboutballoons@prodigy.net. You might like to visit the Party & Paper Retailer website at http://www.partypaper.com and go to the "Global Connections" page. They have an article there on Dolly and me, http://www.partypaper.com/trade/GlobalConnections/shoptalk.htm how we got started in balloons & party, our background, marketing policies etc etc. What we found out (often the hard way) and how we adapted. for those who aren't getting at least 3 or more balloon deliveries PER DAY , even though they live in a reasonably large town/city. You are definately disadvantaged by being home based. Reason; "potential" customers never see a sample of your delivery balloons when they are buying decor balloons. No showroom.... No impulse buying - No memory of seeing gorgeous balloons recently at "(your name)". So.... how do you work from home, and still get those balloon delivery orders? Three critically important factors; 1. Get a professional to help you design THE BEST yellow pages ad. The investment is worth it! 2. Brush up on your telephone manner and sales skills. The yellow pages investment is wasted if you can't convert that telephone enquiry into a SALE. Make sure every call is answered by a human being.... 16 hours of the day. Sound Professional- Sound Interested - Sound Polite - Let them "hear" you smiling! Answering machines can't do these things... and NEVER get orders. 3. The delivery must be memorable in presentation AND appearance. What makes your delivery bouquet different from the rest of the balloons around town? Home based business has it's advantages. But, it also comes with some disadvantages. If you have applied all of the above, and still aren't getting the orders.... Don't spend another cent on chasing delivery business. Specialise in another facet of the balloon business. Wedding Decor? Corporate? Auto dealers? Imprinting? Have your advertising dollars targeted on the business you KNOW you can get..... rather than the business you WISH you had. Do your homework..... and when you are convinced you KNOW how to get into new lines of business, invest some of the profit you earned from what you do best. Stop for a hour every day and think about how you will work "on your business", and not be bogged down constantly by being the slave forever working "in the business." To anyone who wishes to open a store front: You need to carefully consider the circumstances. While it does give you many advantages to own your own business and have a store front it does have some serious disadvantages. For example, I do enjoy the luxury of makining my own hours on a daily basis, however, I know too that it is my name on everything that goes out of my shop, be it balloons or flowers. So I have to plan ahead for the luxury. Also when you let staff run things for you when you execute the luxury, keep in mind they need time off too. I try to see to it the staff has Sun. off. That means any Sun. work has to be dealt with by me or my wife. You have to do this to keep the staff happy to work for you. The other side of the coin means if you are cosiderate of staffers, they will give you full support if you do something like go to IBAC. They will repay you in that way. If you are trying to have a store front without any help, do yourself a favor and hire someone to assist in deliveries, at least. If you open a store you can't be in two places at the same time, and that circumstance will happen more often than you would think. Lastly, be prepared to include you overhead costs in your pricing. ZMany home based turned retail businesses forget about that, and it will eat all profits away. capitalization - When you have a business, are you prepared with enough money to keep marketing going? Do you have enough stashed away, or borrowed (friends, loans, etc.) to keep the business floating until it's paying for itself? What about money for insurances, vehicles, payroll, TAXES (payroll, property, Business Improvement Districts, etc.)? It's nice to want a store-front, but having enough money to keep it going is an issue that should be considered BEFORE getting the store. My biggest mistake has been scrambling for marketing money. If time were rolled back, I would write the business plan with lots of dollars in the marketing and advertising pot. Instead, I focused on paying the monthly fixed bills: rent, payroll, insurances, other overhead. A consultant we worked with for a couple years put it this way: marketing & selling should be 5 times production. For every person working in the store, it's ideal to have 5 working as telemarketers or salesmen (not order takers), networkers, promoters, etc. etc. Most of us don't have this many bodies, but strive for a higher ratio of marketing to production than you're used to. I want to see our balloon artist industry survive. We need to think like large businesses. I have found much resistance to this idea from tiny businesses. But having been a tiny business, and now a bigger small business, I can't say it enough. Don't forget the marketing and advertising. Keep working on it all the time, even when sales are high. Find this money ahead of time. Or, one day there won't be a business. We started our decorating business 9 years ago while working out of our home. We, too, had a fire in our hearts to open a storefront as that is what we thought one had to do in order to be "successful". We also had all the problems that have been discussed here about our business taking over our house, our kids, our lives, etc. For this reason, we made the big step of opening a storefront about 2 years after we started our business. I won't be redundant and repeat all the headaches we had....because we had them ALL. Everything negative you've read about storefronts happened to us, with the addition that we DIDN'T enjoy all the people coming and going from our shop, dealing with the displays, etc. Because of this, we decided (after we had gone deeply in debt to open the storefront and keep it running), we would close our storefront and concentrate only on the decorating end of things. We then rented a small, but very nice, commercial space with a nice showroom and office area in the front and an air- conditioned finished warehouse in the back. Not only did we have tons more space to work in, but our rent was cut virtually in half of what the same space cost us for our storefront, including having a fully air-conditioned showroom AND warehouse. We have never once regretted our decision. However, many people love doing the retail, others love the decorating. I think you need to decide for yourself what you want to do. A nice, well-decorated showroom/office area, gives you as much credibility with clients as a retail storefront. We found that our decor customers were coming to us because of our product, our service and our reputation. We didn't need a retail storefront any more! But, we would compromise our professional image if we invited corporate clients to our house. One thing commercial premises say to a client is; STABILITY. Many company executives assume you are working from home because you can't afford to pay rent. Could we afford to risk that? How much of our time would be consumed every day in driving to the client's workplace or venue for impromptu meetings? The analysis of our business identified that what it needed to grow was NEITHER a retail storefront, nor a homebased business. SOLUTION - Commercial premises that presented a professional image, a showroom, big workroom/warehouse area, customer parking at the door AND office space. The BONUS - lower rental per sq foot of space as well. Let me tell you, a lot of people in the balloon industry in Australia thought we were crazy when we moved out of retail premises 3 years ago. They're either crazy, or need to pay a lower rent! We heard all the rumours about our unauthodox decission and pending doom. Well, Dolly is still around and growing strong..... many retail balloon businesses have disappeared in that time. Fact is, Dolly's lease is up, so I am looking to buy our own, larger building this time. I am not saying that Storefronts are not the way to go! I am not tossing a big negative at homebase! What I am saying is; THINK LATERALLY ....... there may be a third or forth alternative. (as Lindy Bell and Dolly discovered) Just because your competitor or your associates in your QBN Chapter swear by their methods or commercial decissions, it shouldn't limit you to following the two alternatives. The #1 criteria in choosing your premises must be to ensure that the premises will allow you to work in a manner that will best serve your type of customers, with the products and services you offer. The last sentence is the key. ...Read it again! If homebase will deliver that result, then work from home! If you want to offer balloons, novelties and partyware, then (maybe) you need a storefront? If your target is tizzy brides with lots of money, or IBM, Coca Cola and Warner Bros Studios..... then possibly something else is ideal? Customise your business to serve your target market.... INCLUDING the choice of your business premises. It isn't always easy. It demands a lot of patience and hard work. But, it will pay off - for those that do their homework - FIRST. Incidently, I am currently working from a homebase. Have done so for the past 5 months. It is a temporary solution whilst we search for a suitable building, that will house both of our quite separate operations. I do enjoy the home comforts and flexibilities it offers. I can honestly say that I have worked in the balloon business from all 3 types of business premises mentioned above. At the end of the day, I personally think that home should be where you can "retreat" to your family and hobbies and relaxation. If your business can't afford the overhead of paying rent, maybe you should write it into your new business plan. Although I never owned my own storefront, I worked for a chain of party supply stores as an assistant manger before starting my own business. From that experience, I learned I did not want the hassles of a retail store. I started my business out of a very small apartment, (I've seen walk in closets that were bigger than my office). I found that I was able to meet most clients at the event site, the rest I met at restaurants. Fortunately I live in a retail/commercial area, so my address at least sounded like a business location. The point being, we overcame obstacles as they arose. Most jobs I prepped in my family room and built on site. As we grew and produced larger jobs, I was able to borrow, beg, and rent temporary locations for a day, week whatever we needed. We also rented a storage unit to hold frames, props, etc. For three years we did whatever it took to work our business. It was a hassle having to setup new work space everytime, but it was good exercise for my husband hauling tanks, base plates, etc in and out, from the storage unit, to the van, to the production site, to the job, you get the picture. (He was "thrilled" every time I a booked a new "workout" routine for him.) By taking on larger jobs and being creative with production space, we eventually were able to afford to move into an office/warehouse and now have everything in one location. (YEAH!!!) We don't have to keep regular office hours (thank goodness, as a lot of our jobs are setup or torn down overnight). We work some long days, but the hours are flexible, AND we have our bedroom back, free from balloons, ribbon and everthing else. To sum up, be creative, bootstrap your business if you have to. Most towns now have small business incubators where you can rent small offices, conference rooms, etc. very reasonably, even for a few hours. Look for vacant commercial property, you might find an agent who would like to make a little money renting it to you for the weekend of your big job. Invest in a van with your logo to transport your wonderful designs. Then when you have a steady cash flow, consider a non-home based site, if that is what you want for your buinsess. I think the a decision of homebased vs storefront should be made after doing a business plan (you won't get much financing without one anyway). Look at who is out there selling balloons, decor or party supplies etc...How many are there? where are they? Who do they sell to and who do you want to sell to? If you are just starting out(ie have been in business for 2 years or less) and want to open a store to get credibility, it can be a high price to pay. I started working out of the home 1.5 years ago doing decor. So far I have been able to get job where I created dragons, palm trees, giant rabbits etc.. Credibility comes from your jobs and then your portfolio. When I first started, I was afraid of lack of credibility myself, so I went after store display decor because I had to meet the owners on site. A phone call (free) led to a meeting and then that led to a job. For example, If you contact one chain store and get a job, soon you will be doing them all (if they like your art). I contacted event organisers (that's free too) who have ties with the corporate world and got jobs by showing them my work. There is a balloon store near me and they don't really seem to get the creative jobs I get to do.A storefront doesn't guarantee you'll be called for the fun jobs. So, I've found that you can get some credibility without a storefront but often you must go to them (the clients). The best of both worlds s eems to be the office\warehouse concept mentionned by others (for people who do decor anyway). There is space to work in, the price is right (rent) and you have a place to receive clients. That's what I will be aiming at. no one has mentioned the 3 things that everyone knows are vital to a successful storefront business.They are location, location and LOCATION. I think a valid point when considering homebased or storefront is what is right for you at this point in your business and your life (they do overlap). When my husband and I had our store front we had no children and not many constraints on our time. We also survived on very little cash income and it was very stressful to our marriage as well. I now remind him that he was like a "caged animal" at the mercy of opening and closing times and getting frustrated when business was slow. We looked at where the majority of our business was coming from and that was in decorating. We did have the odd impulse buyer, but not often enough to constitute keeping a store front. Decorating meant to us that we had all of our work in one day of the week. We have 2 children now (one is only 9 weeks old) and we have built a decorating reputation so most of work is word of mouth. We work from home. If anyone needs to see examples of work, I print off photos of my work from the computer and send a formatted letter. This method has worked out great for now! the idea of an office site with workshop/warehouse sounds like the perfect solution...(not so much for people to come look at your work, but for storage and assembly of decoration)...I think a van is probably the 1st investment to make though. a store front adds more credibility to your business and has more customer 'impact' than a home-based operation. Have you thought about the possibility of sharing a store with an existing business? If you could find one willing to split their premises with you, in return for perhaps half the rent or whatever (depending on what proportion of the space you needed), this would be a cheaper and less risky way of starting off in the store business. I'm sure there must be a few existing store owners out there who might have more space than they really need and would consider sub-letting part of their floor space to you. Obviously it would be better to find one in a related business such as a florist or party store, as you would then have a ready-made supply of potential customers too! Of course the main problem would be finding one in the first place! Maybe you could place an ad in the local newspaper(s) asking if any suitable store owners would be interested in such a proposal. At the same time you could actually go round and visit some of these people on foot and ask them directly. Be careful as there are risks in shared space. Many leases do not allow subleasing. Make sure the property owner or manager is aware of what is happening. Often there is an agreement for right of first refusal so that you can buy (or sell out to) the hosting business. Allow for termination. If they want you out, you want to make sure that they won't compete against you. Best to get the agreement in writing. It helps if the business is related but not direct competition. An example is where you sell balloons in a florist shop. I know of a deli that opened in a corner of a liquor store. When the liquor store went bankrupt he was given 20 days to move out or sell to the new operator of the liquor store. (he sold out cheaply and lost his investment). The landlord claimed that the subletting was a breach of the lease and the operator of the liquor store was bankrupt - no money. His agreement was written on one piece of paper. In another case where one business was related to the other -- if you outgrow or decide to move, customers will still go to the old location. For example if you sell balloons in a flower shop and then move on. The flower shop can expand to sell balloons and compete with you since customers are already used to going there. And the operator will have picked up a lot of the knowledge of running the business from watching you. Also, you don't want the main store occupant to decide that they can operate your business and don't need you. The landlord may not even know who you are. These can be sticky sometimes but can also be lucrative. Just be careful and allow for contingencies. There are other ways to move your homebased business out of your home for credibility. When I found out that I couldn't have my business out of my home because of a homeowners association, I was devastated. Then after a couple of months I decided that a storefront wasn't what I wanted and I rented a small office in an office building. It was very small and I never intended on staying there all day for regular hours. So I got call forwarding and a cell phone. After a couple of years I needed more space so rented the adjoining room. After a couple more years I needed more space so in October I moved to a space that is 3x as large. I still don't have store hours. I take my cell phone everywhere and it works for me. Most of my orders are repeat customers, referrals or out of the phone book. This way I have the freedom to do what I want when I want and still have a credible place to meet with clients. Also the rent in an office building is much less that the rent for a storefront. I not sure about other store fronts, but I feel the American dream of owning your own store is a nightmare. Sure, when things are going well it's a joy. But get sick or have legal problems and you can lose everything. My store front used to be my pride. Then I got sick (it can happen to you) and had to depend on others. I was ripped off and stabbed in the back. I lost my cars, my house, my health insurance. I still have my store front and I am just now getting back on my feet. If you decide to open a store front, don't do it alone. Make sure you have someone to take over if something happens to you. Be prepared to give up everything for it. Finally, be sure you pray a lot; the pressures can be unreal. Sorry to be so negative. I just don't want others to go into this store front stuff without all the details. The money is the least of your worries. I feel if you're making enough out of your home then count your blessings. Bigger is not always better. I started out homebased and opened a store about a year later. It took 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I had to have an employee (even though I had a working partner) so that all of the deliveries got out on time and so someone was there to watch the shop while we were out doing all of the decorating work. My kids were most often underfoot in my workroom just so I got to see them. We did well in sales compared to most new businesses but when all was said and done, by the time we paid the employee, the rent, the insurance, the utilities, and a multitude of other expenses that go into a storefront, we really did not make any more profit than we did working half the hours at home. I sold out to my partner when my husband got transferred to another state, and swore I would find a find an office to operate out of and never have a storefront again. I am very happy like this now. But with all of that having been said :-) if I had the money to invest and the good health to take it I would probably open a balloon/floral/gift shop again. Have I lost my mind? Maybe. But I love the pace; the people who walk through the door, the constantly changing displays, the calculating, predicting, planning and guessing that is required to just keep your head above water. What it comes down to is what you want from your life and career. Don't expect to get rich. Actually you stand a better chance of showing a profit from a home based business quicker since you won't have as much overhead. And if time with your family is a top priority then be careful going into a storefront. But it can also be a blast! As a distributor of Qualatex and party goods, I've heard lots of pros and cons about storefronts. Personally, I would think that a store in a mall (usually expensive rent) with such a narrow product line wouldn't be my first choice. Most people we do business with who sell balloons from a store front get into other party supplies as well. Many have later gone into a home based setup for their balloon sales. They may have lost the walk-in traffic but their outside advertising still gets them most of the delivery and deco jobs and they've realized that the business that they lost never would have paid those high rent payments anyway. I hope that I don't sound too negative - different locations can produce different results. - Thinking of moving into a mall? One word ..... demographics. Go to your local library or govt department that records demographics for the area where this mall is situated. The mall managers usually have this info up to date. Then, just make sure that the product Mum offers is what will attract the typical shopper in that mall. Maybe it's juvenile foils? Maybe it's African American designs? Maybe the people that shop in that mall can't afford balloon decor and need to be offered helium rentals? Maybe they are familiar with 3 other local balloonies and need to be attracted with a unique visual display ? Maybe 65% are student shoppers that need to hear music and see various party themes? Bottom line .... you gotta know everthing about your potential customer (victim) and her buying habits before you can draw her into your web. Her average age, number of kids, income, heritage, customs, paid monthly or weekly, did she arrive by public transport (you need to deliver) or .... drove her car. (balloons to go) Does she spend on a social life, or is she a full time career workaholic? If the latter .... you display corpt logos, photos of company Xmas parties and show imprinting samples. Get the idea? Notice I refered to "her" as your typical customer. With balloons this is usually the case. Maybe in your Mum's part of the mall 75% of the shoppers are men because of the nearby liquor store and tobaconist next door? She won't know till she does some research. Don't make the mistake of saying her customers are, "all of the above". You can cater to all of the above if you wish. But, in order to attract most of the shoppers in the mall into your premises at some time, you need to "merchandise" properly to the profile of your most typical customer. Merchandising basically means strategically placing or showing appealing product. Naturally.... "appealing" product means product that will make a customer STOP and look closely. Catering to ALL potential balloon customers is a costly exercise in overstocking product range. Might I suggest, that if your Mum is specialising in balloon decor, then statistics from the US, UK and Australia show that a large retail mall is probably not the best place to be set up. There are some exceptions. Strip shops with lots of parking for her and the kids - IDEAL for balloon retailers. Other than vending (an impulse purchase), balloons tend to be a "destination purchase". Customer decides she needs to buy balloons, so she picks up the yellow pages to find where she has to go to buy them.... or she recalls driving past a balloon shop somewhere..... or she asks her sister .... many do their balloon shopping over the phone. The customer who wants to buy a shirt, goes to a mall to window shop and try it on for size. She knows that there will be lots of shirt shops to choose from. Balloon decorating is more akin to being a "service indusrty" rather than an "off the shelf" retail business. You don't need to pay big retail rent. Just like the plumber doesn't need to be alongside J C Penny. See the difference? We started with a retail store. If you are interested in the research and decissions that brought about our changes over the years, you can read an article about our business in the upcoming August issue of "Party & Paper Retailer" magazine. - I've never openend a store front myself, but common sense suggests that certain factors will have an influence upon how successful any particular business might be. So here are just a few thoughts (in no particular order; and I'm ready and willing to be shot down in flames by those 'old-timers' if necessary!) - Firstly, yes, one week is not very long in the life of a store business. It will probably take months or even years for the shop to become ESTABLISHED as a 'known' outlet for balloons/decor. LOCATION is possibly the most important factor in the success of any retail shop outlet. With balloons in particular, I would say a shop on a busy high street with plenty of passing traffic, preferably with some customer parking spaces, is the ideal. The balloon business thrives on 'customer impact', so a corner plot is better still. The less immediate and far reaching your store's impact, the slower will be the expansion of the business. When you open a new shop, it's important to have some form of ancillary advertising for PUBLICITY purposes. Has your mom done anything in that respect? (Eg. local newspaper, radio, leaflet drop). Combined with a 'special opening offer', the right advertising can give a new shop a helpful kickstart. And of course once people are *in* the store, PRODUCT choice and MERCHANDISING play a vital role in securing people's money. Not to mention the general perceived image of the store itself! The list goes on. Overall, a very daunting task, and certainly not one for the faint-hearted, lazy, or shoe-string budgeted! However, I would say there is nothing more exciting or more rewarding in business than building from scratch a successful and well known shop business, where people will eventually be beating a path to your door! - Your evaluation of mall rent vs sales/profits was right on target for us - and then there's the loss of time with your family because of all those horrendous hours that have to be staffed with 2 employees if you even want to dent the bouquet delivery market. A definite consideration (if you want to deal with those "hour requirements") would be to trade decor for a center court space at Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. We would profit more in those two weekends than for two months of regular sales. Save your time, energy and talent for what you enjoy and for profitable activities that don't take 14 hours a day. We've found that two decorating jobs on a weekend can clear us more than 7 days of running a storefront. The only complication is that one is run ragged doing 4-5 large jobs in a single day, but now there's enough time to prep everything beforehand. - I had a kiosk in a major mall in my area. Thought it was the perfect location. Did balloonwrap, vended balloons, bouquets and small gifts. For me it was a disaster financially, but some good things did come about from being there. I'm in NY, don't know about rents in other areas of the country. I was paying $600.00 a week, had to be open during all mall hours (consequently had to pay employees). During holidays, Valentine's, Easter, etc. had business like you wouldn't believe, but everything I made in those periods was eaten up in overhead the rest of the time. You have to sell an awful lot of balloons to make a profit in a situation like that, there was competition from card stores (2 in the mall), discount store (99 cent balloons), and three gift stores selling balloons. There were strict rules and regulations about what I could sell, couldn't add let's say T-shirts to my line. What I did gain that was invaluble was exposure and recognition, but I paid a high price for it. I had my portfolio displayed, my bouquets and balloonwrap were unique, other places sold balloons, but not like mine. I gained decor customers and repeat customers for my balloonwrap and bouquets. I work from home now, my customers have no problem coming to me or I go to them. Now, it's been about 3 years since I left the mall, I still get calls from people who say they remember me from when I was there. I concentrate on decor, even though I do deliveries, it's not my main business. Recently placed an add in the yellow pages (expensive) but it's paying off, people call! Had a bold listing at first, not much response, the display ad works. One week is not long to tell how your business will do, if your mom is doing well with her T-shirts, she should give the balloon portion of the business some time to catch on. I guess it's just a decision of whether you prefer retail selling or balloon decorating. If your major focus is decorating, with the proper advertising and networking you probably can do better working fron home. I have found that living in the country, I have had to become more resourceful to survive, and I'm sure you have discovered this too. Have you considered doing a "store-share"? In exchange for a moderate amount of space in, let's say a card or gift shop, you will pay them back 10% (or so) and since your business is complimentary to theirs, you would actually be good for them, and not a competitor. Let them know, that you are professional & insured, reliable...etc. Offer them a 30 day no obligation "trial", to see if this is something that will work for both of you, and go from there. Remember, not everyone will "warm" to the idea, so expect "no's", but be ready to jump on it, when you do get their interest, cuz, if they like the idea, they really like the idea! Use that 30 days to show your stuff & to proove to them....that you ARE good for their business, they have just increased inventory & service without costing themselves a dime! & making 10-15% to boot! one needs to quantify and analyse all aspects when making any commercial decision. Big or small. Do your homework. DON'T RUSH IT! Apply an honest and open S.W.O.T. analysis to the proposal. No padding, optimism, guesses, hopes and ignoring what you don't want to see. Be honest with yourself. List all of the; STRENGTHS:- WEAKNESSES:- OPPORTUNITIES:- THREATS:- When you finish this exercise, simply apply the following rule; "If you still have doubts - DON'T." "FTD" STYLE NETWORK FOR BALLOON DELIVERIES Balloon Dispatch is like FTD or Teleflora that flower shops have. You can offer a service of being able to fill orders outside your immediate area. Another shop does the balloon arrangement and delivers it and you get the invoice amount! I am working on an a standardized internet balloon balloon delivery system for any decorators that do balloon deliveries. visit http://www.btlinc.com we will be using the qualatexx countertop display book as the medium to join companies around the world. If you have this book or need info on how to get it and have a genuine interest in balloon deliveries email me at blkp5@aol.com "BALLOON BOUQUETS" For direct contact with "The Original Balloon Delivery and Decorating Service", New York City Office, call Balloon Bouquets of New York at 212-265-5252. You can visit the parent website at: http://www.balloonbouquets.com/ Joseph A. DelVecchio Vice President Balloon Bouquets�, Inc BALLOON BOUQUETS BALLOON BOUQUETS�, INC. "The Original Balloon Delivery And Decorating Service" http://www.balloonbouquets.com 202-785-1290 * 800-424-2323 * 202-835-0232 FAX 500 23rd Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 US This service is one of the first and foremost type of balloon services of it's kind. We have been a part of their network for several years. We have had steady work from it but not huge amounts of orders. However, I don't believe you can just sign up to be on their network. As it works for us, you have to "buy" towns to serve. You can only "buy" into these towns if they are available, as only one company can be recommended through the network for each town to own. The rate for each town is based on it's population. You are billed quarterly for the towns you "own" or serve. Balloon Bouquets does do a lot of yellow pages advertising for the network. They receive the 800 calls and tell the caller who services the town they wish to have balloons sent to. The customer then has to call the recommended business who "owns" that particular town. Sounds odd but it does work. Joe has always been available, very reasonable and friendly to deal with. He runs a well respected company and I believe they own the only legal rights to use the phrase "balloon bouquets". Be careful! This same company contacted us a few years ago--sent us 3 or 4 applications for us to "join". Finally, we sent one in. Next letter we received from them states we must remove all "balloon bouquet" wording from our advertising or we'll be sued! They have legally registered "balloon bouquets" and can sue you for using it. The Company known as Balloon Bouquets does own the trademark, unless someone fights them and wins which is unlikely. They have been in business for more than 20 years and were one of the first balloon businesses and one of the ones that actually helped us all by being featured on some TV morning shows way back when. We can argue about the term Balloon B..... being generic, but they did do the legal work 20+ years ago to trademark it. I am NOT defending them, but it is kind of like us all getting into the gelatin dessert business and advertising it as Jello, which is a trademark. We have never used the term "Balloon Bo....ts" in our advertising, business cards or any materials, but we did receive a letter back in the early 80's from them threatening action for use of that term. They properly sent them to any balloon company. What we have done in advertising is to use the term "Helium Bouquets" in conjunction with terms balloon delivery and balloon decorating. Others have used the term "Balloon Bokay." Back in 1995 I received a letter via certified mail from Balloon Bouquets, Inc. which stated: "revise your advertising so as not to include the words BALLOON BOUQUETS which is our registered trademark. We filed for federal trademark registration on Nov. 7, 1979 and certificate of reg. was issued June 2, 1981. We have spent substantial sums advertising our trademark, and creating visibility and good will. It is essential to the integrity of our trademark that unauthorized use be discontinued... An independent businessperson such as yourself can operate very effectively using various terms to convey to your customers information about the services you provide, without reference to BALLOON BOUQUETS, such as BALLOONS, BALLOONS DELIVERED, BALLOON ARRANGEMENTS, BALLOON DELIVERIES, BALLOONS AND _____ DELIVERED... As a result of our litigation, firms willfully using our trademark have had judgments entered against them providing for the payment of damages to us and court costs, and are enjoined from using our trademark....." Then they go on to say that they hold the Maryland trademark registration as well (they threw that in there since I am located in Maryland). I then had to sign and return an acknowledgement stating that I will not willingly use BALLOON BOUQUETS in any form of advertising. My understanding of patent, trademark, copyright laws is that the holder must "protect" their trademark, etc. or risk losing it. They do not have a choice of who to sue. In fact, if it can be proven that they intentionally overlooked someone misusing/misrepresenting their trademark, then I believe that this again can be construed as not properly protecting it. We've all heard the stories of Disney, Pioneer/SDS, etc. but think about, if you took the time and money to create a trademark or copyright, wouldn't you do everything you could to maintain and protect it? Otherwise, why bother at all? Apparently this company made a conscious business move many years ago to be be in the balloon bouquet delivery service and it sounds as if they invested quite a bit of money and risk to make it take off. Yes, it sounds silly to sue someone over the use of a particular phrase, but if you don't want to be a part of their delivery service, create your own. Be different, compete against them. It doesn't mean that you can't be in the "balloon arrangement delivery service" or the "balloon bokay delivery service" or the "bunches of balloons tied to a really cool weight delivery service". The Qualatex Balloon Network (SM) Resource Manual (Exam #1), Glossary of Terms (page 14) says: "Balloon Bouquet (TM) - A trademarked name which cannot be used without permission from Balloon Bouquets Inc. of Washington, D.C." and "Bouquet of Balloons - A term which can be used to describe a group of balloons tied together to form a single bouquet." BUSINESS NAMES Over eight years ago we were writing down name after name , waking up in the middle of the night after dreaming about names, yellow pages search, balloon magazine browsing.... you name it! (pun) Finally, I decided that the best name was one that customers are willing to buy. Sort of like they pay more for a designer label. So we decided to use a VERB as our name, so that it could be used in our promotional throw-away lines. eg; "Celebrating" on your wedding day. Your party shop is "Celebrating" and so on. Employees could answer the phone, "Celebrating with Suzie.... how can I help you today?" or... "Hello, we're Celebrating.... are you?" The BEST thing about our name is that we get big runs of our own custom printed balloons with our logo on them and SELL them at the same price as other printed balloons. eg; "Celebrating ........(blank)......Birthday" The customer fills in the name and age on a blank white patch. We also have a "Celebrating Christmas" design, a "Celebrating Your 21st" design, 40th, 50th,etc. (21st is a major event b'day Downunder) These special balloon prints not only remind the customer of our unique name and logo design...... it also gives us a point of difference from our competitors. They only stock manufacturers print designs! They have to give away their balloons with "Ajax Balloon Shop", because customers see it as a promotional balloon, rather than a message balloon. Our name will also allow us to diversify (if we wish) into anything that is related to the hospitality, gift, floral and balloon industries. The down side is that we get a lot of calls for party hire equipment. A couple of years ago, when I decided to persue the education, publications and wholesale side of the industry, we simply chose a name that reflected the type of work we did. It was more the "business" side of the industry... hence "Business of Balloons". NOT - "Balloon Business" because we wanted to emphasize that we were "trade" and not a retail operation. It seems to work, I don't get retail enquiries. Do you like "Balloons@Work"? That is the registered name of the national trade newsletter which we publish in Australia. I figured the play on words and the internet connection with"@" was really cool. So many readers have called me just to say how they liked the new name. Might work for a balloon business that specialised in office parties and deliveries to office buildings? aka "Balloons At Work" ??? The best business names make it crystal clear to a potential customer, what line of biz you are in. The not so good choice is to intentionally copy someone elses name. Search for inspiration.... not something to copy. Here is a sample of some names that I believe are well chosen. What do you think? "Balloons To Go"........ obviously they deliver balloons to you. "The Balloon Shop"...... simple, memorable, retail. "Balloon Decor" ........ what else, but a decorator! "Wubber Bubbles" ....... cute and obviously balloons. Probably specialise in kids parties? "I Do - Balloons" ....... Great, memorable, obviously a specialist in wedding decor. "Let's Party" .............. must be a party shop? By Australian law for registration of business names, others are not permitted to use your registered name without your written permission. Even with permission, the Dept. of Fair Trade can refuse someone to use a previously registered name. If someone copies your name (or similar), you gotta be able to prove you have actively traded by that name since..... Sept 199? Then you can take legal action to stop them trading.... and sue for compensation. I assume it's similar elsewhere???? Good Luck in your search for the name that will generate a few extra dollars for you. Because a good business name is one that also becomes a real commercial assett in itself. There's nothing to stop you naming your business whatever you like, providing you don't use the name of a company who have already officially registered that name in your country, or try to somehow 'confuse' your company with theirs. If you do, then you risk civil proceedings from that company (although that's still unlikely, unless they saw you as being a serious threat to their business). So basically, there's not too much to worry about. Just try to be original if you can, and if you later find that someone else is using the same name, that's too bad! So many businesses I hear about try to get cute with names, like Balloons and More, Plus. Huh? Or ABC Designs. Now that doesn't tell your customer anything. And the word "creative" is just so over used. My business used to be called "Balloon Express" until I decided that I wanted to go back into flowers. We couldn't justify the bride telling all her friends that Balloon Express did her floral bokays so we changed it to It's YOUR Party? Just a note about that name: first, it wasn't my idea but Doug's, and it is gratifying for me to be out in my yard as traffic goes by and I hear them singing "It's My Party!" when they see my sign. The only trouble with that name I have found is that people think I am a caterer. However, they do know that I am in the party business. We felt it was important to have a name that meant something to us and was easy to remember. We also did some seaching at the county recorders office, yellow pages, and BN directory to try and get something original. One of the things that we considered was that if someone had heard of us but wasn't sure about the name, it would be helpful to them in trying to find us if the first word was Balloon. Since our address is on Paradise Drive, we put all the the above things together and came up with Balloon Paradise. This seems to have worked for us. Concerning your new business name: once you have picked your name you then register your name at your county building. Tell them your need your D.B.A. ( Doing Business As). You will need this for business accounts, wholesale tax number and that reserves that name for you. CONVEY A PROFESSIONAL IMAGE be certain that your letterhead, business cards, envelopes, brochures, order blanks, quote forms, vehicles, etc. all follow the same printing style and logo format. Following that, uniforms of some sort, comfortable and in continuity with your stationery, business cards, van, etc. Make certain your business name is very large across the back of the shirt and that your personal name is on the front or sleeve so that people know who you are on site. Shirts, hats, jackets, and van lettering are great for building brand awareness and making impressions. These will help make you the first choice people think of for balloons ( but it takes time and networking) TAXES take the free IRS class on starting your own business. It only takes an afternoon and it is extremely(!!!!!!!) helpful for doing your taxes. Usually, if you are your only employee and you don't intend to get others, you'll be able to leave at the lunch break. The copious notes I took are really helpful when I do tax work. They answer questions as they go along and share information about groups in your community available to give with tax advice. What records should I keep? Whether you are using computer or manual methods, try this: find the appropriate IRS tax form that you will be using to determine profit/loss and go to the Business Expenses section. As an example look at Form 1040 Schedule C: http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf Now make your accounting categories the same as the Business Expenses categories on the tax form that applies to you. It sure saves a lot of work come tax time... If you are not sure which categories apply to you and which ones don't, or you want to know the tax rules for each category, ask your accountant or download the applicable publications from http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/ and start reading. I'm no accountant but I hope this helps, SALES TAX In our state sales tax is paid each month or for smaller companies (with permission of the State Tax Commission) it goes in quarterly. In Idaho you pay a late fee (min. $10) if you are late. Late fees can really add up. We kept an income log (now you can do it all by computer!) that was easy for us and made tax time easy and accurate! Five or more columns are created - each sale is divided out at the time the order is sold: Balloons Gifts/Base Delivery Tax Total If you have other profit centers - like costumes, flowers, party supply, etc - each can be added as a separate column. One good advantage is that after your first year you will be able to look back and see exactly where you made your money - where you lost money and what you need to order in your second year and every year after that for future growth. It also serves as an early warning system if a profit center of your business is about to take a nose-dive. Good luck - you are dealing with one of the most important thing concerning you and your business. You might want to talk to a good tax man or you could talk with a volunteer from SCORE - they are a great resource for new businesses. I really think the public expects to settle on a price and then pay the price plus tax. Whether you quote a flat fee including tax or however, you MUST keep accurate records or that "nightmare" will be very real very soon! Our price varies depending on how hard and how far the job is, but the price of the balloons is always the same and (if I understand you it's the same in your area) the tax is only on the goods and not on the service, so there's no hard figuring to do. I think you see that whichever way you do it, you need to price it according to what you need to cover costs and an appropriate profit. "Shop" your competitors (they're shopping you, I guarantee it!) and price yourself accordingly - don't sell yourself too cheaply! INSURANCE Liability Insurance. You are risking everything you have and own and everything you could potentially earn by not having it. I honestly believe it's foolish to be without it - you are almost planning for your business to fail. And why? It's just $ 260.00 for $1,000,000.00 per incident and $ 2,000,000.00 aggregate (per year) Call Ken Bomba @ (760) 753-6616 here in Southern California; he handles most of the So. Calif. QBN's insurance policies. he was very helpful. I have called many about INS. quotes and so far none have been able to beat him... This covers you for just about everything. If a tank dropped and broke and acted like a missile jetting through your garage or on a job site. If your equipment is stolen out of your home or vehicle. Even if you broke someone's precious thing-a-ma-bobbie at their home. And on and on . . . the things we prefer to think never happen. Liability insurance: most homeowner's insurance does not cover businesses within the home, or if it does, it is on a very limited basis. I would highly recommend getting liability insurance to cover you and your equipment. I don't know where you are in California, but I would recommend Ken Bomba Insurance, (760) 729-1125. He worked with RLI insurance company and produced a policy especially for homebased balloon decorators. He has been a member of our SoCAL QBN chapter for several years and is one of the nicest men you will deal with. If you don't get insurance through him, please get insurance somewhere!! One job accident or loss of equipment and "they" can go after your home, etc.

Home Owners/ Renters Insurance

When I looked for insurance, I checked with some independent agents that work with several different insurance companies. They check around and try to get you the best price and policy. One agent told me that I would be better off checking with my home owners policy insurance, since I worked out of my home. They were right. State Farm Insurance gave me the best policy for the price. around $250 a year for a million dollar policy. Not only do they cover me as a home-based business, but if I would someday move to a shop. The policy is a great policy and covers all of my equipment (owned or leased), products, products during transportation, inventory, signs, money at the site of the business, liability, and more. The best place is to check with your homeowners/renters insurance agent or with the insurance agent that covers your car (if they offer homeowners/rental insurance. BALLOON VEHICLES We use a 15 passenger Ford e350 van. When we purchased it as a 1 year old vehicle, we had the dealer remove the brackets for the last 2 seats. When then removed an additional seat, but can put it in and out as needed for 8 passengers. The fourth seat directly behind the driver hold 3 people. So we can bring a crew of 5 plus a van full of inflated balloons and supplies. Being it is a passenger van it is finished inside and you don't have to worry about the balloons hitting metal as you would in a cargo van. We also use a GMC Suburban as an additional vehicle. Put a sign on it - not a magnetic sign (which may give the impression you're not seriously committed) - excellent, recognizable, noticeable lettering or graphics. If you do it right, people will remember your name and will come up to you while you're loading, unloading, etc. Drive it everywhere to give your business maximum exposure. ( If you put a magnetic sign advertising your balloon business on your car or van that you have now become a "commercial" vehicle and your car/van must be appropriately insured as "commercial". If you just have private car insurance and you get into an accident with the signs on your car your insurance may likely NOT PAY! ) I have been considering replacing my old minivan with an enclosed trailer. The advantages I can think of are, less insurance (right now I am insuring 3 vehicles for 2 drivers); I could transport tanks upright; no one could see my tools when it is parked. The disadvantages I can think of are parking and backing. BTW, I don't do deliveries, just decorating for weddings and corp events, so transporting inflated balloons is not a consideration. Reasons for a mini van (we've had both types): 1. Comfort; better ride, easier handling, easier to get in and out of. 2. Flexibility. We have the seats out almost all of the time, but there are those events done on site where one needs more staff and I'd rather have them with me. 3. Better visibility, fewer blindspots than a cargo van. Some suggestions: 1. Get power windows because when you're on a tollway and the van is jammed with balloons, it can be a crunch to get to the handle; 2. Get the largest vehicle you can (when we have a really huge job with time constraints, we simply rent a truck -our Dodge Caravan holds 150 11" balloons in bags comfortably for the balloons and us) 3. Get tinted windows (cooler, ettering works well on them) 4. Get a clock 5. Get a telephone installed 6. Get doors that all lock at once or all open 7. Get a center console (from manufacturer or at Sam's Club $70 ish - great place for forms, brochures, weights, pens, drinks, etc.) 7. Take the opportunity to upgrade your entire look by making the van color and lettering similar to your shirts, stationery, etc. 8. Buy the warranty package if you're certain you'll be keeping the van a long time. Normally, we wouldn't have considered it in a zillion years BUT because we knew we'd be keeping it a long time, we paid an extra $700 and have had more than $3,000 of work done at no cost to us; this could be because so many other people drive it. 9. And last, I'd suggest a white van because it stays cleaner looking longer, is easier to dab over the little dings and scratches that eventually occur, and it's easier to see on the road. PHONE ISSUES FOR HOME-BASED BIZ The phone company offers a service called "distinctive ring" or "RINGMATE." It requires only one line, but gives you two numbers. Each number rings your phone differently so you know if it is a business or personal call. In the beginning it was designed so parents could avoid having to take messages for their kids. It only costs about $5 more than just one number. My regular phone rings like this: ring.........ring.........ring......... The ringmate number sounds like this: ring-ring......... ring-ring.......... ring-ring...... Another advantage is that if you have small children that can not take messages, just tell them not to pick up the phone when it rings 2 times. This gives you a really professional image. It ALSO works with call waiting! If you tie it to an answering machine you can cover your calls even when on deliveries or decorating job! I have a separate line so I can get in the yellow pages as well. Some friends with home businesses have a home business phone plan where for a few dollars a month more you get a second number (but only one line) with a business listing, including one yellow page listing in the phone book. If you have a strictly a residential phone plan, you can usually have the name of your choice in the phone book. Maybe if your name is John Smith and your clown name is Bozo you could be listed as John "Bozo" Smith in the white pages. My home telephone is hooked up to my computer. I don't use it to talk on a regular basis. My "other" telephone line is considered my business phone so that I can get a line in the telephone book. Everyone calls me on this line. They ask for "Bizzy" or "The Clown" if they want to talk business. My children and husband are trained to be polite. But, just in case, I log the calls that come in through a caller I.D. If I don't recognize the phone number, I return the call as soon as I check the caller I.D.. I also have a pager hooked to my telephone. When I am away from the phone or the phone is busy, It transfers all calls to my pager. This makes it very easy to return calls quickly. If you work from home full time and stay very busy, what do you do about phone calls when you must be out for long periods of time, longer than makes sense to use an anwering machine? I checked into an answering service (so that, at least, a "live" person could answer.) But they can not take action on a phone call. Does anyone have any ideas? When ever I was away from my home based business I had my phone calls diverted to my cellphone. I paid for each call. This meant that I was always in touch with my clients. When ever I needed something done immediately like a delivery, I called a trusted 'competitor' and had them do the delivery. I billed the client, so the client remained mine. Sure the recipient had the competitiors card" on the delivery, but I found it was a win-win situation for me. When Royal and I are out of town whether on a large job or teaching or attending a convention, we change the tape on our machine. The tape says that we are out of town for whatever reason and that we will return on xyz date. We say that we will be checking our machine daily and if they would like to leave a message, will would be happy to call them back. Otherwise they can call back after we return. Those people who need an immediate reply will leave a message, but most will call back once you have returned. All of them will appreciate the notice. Many times when we have said that we were at a convention, that spurs more interest from them... "Balloon Artists have conventions? And you say you won a competition? Sure I'd love to see photos!!" This only makes you look better in the eyes of your client. PAYING HIRED HELP What is a fair way to pay employees that are on the job decorating? My business has grown to the point that I will be hiring additional employees for special event decorating. I have paid both by the job and by the hour and both work ok, although I get a lot more work out of people by the job than by the hour as they work faster!! Also, when quoting canopies...do you also figure in the extra labor? I have worked alone for too many years,I guess and now with just 2 helpers, but will have to add on now. I am home based, so there aren't any shop hours and I also do most of the balloon inflation (airfilled) ahead of time so they help with the actual construction and table decorations. I would appreciate any ideas that anyone has for this so I can "get it together" before I start hiring!! TRAINING HELP Two weeks ago, one of our key staff members left us to go work for one of the wholesalers. Recently some peers lost their "right hand man." Others in the industry were calling us to say how shocked they were, and that we would surely miss his skills. How would we cope without him? Stop and think for a minute! What would happen to your business if you got run over by a bus tomorrow? Sure, you may have life and / or accident insurance........ But, what would be the effect on the business itself? Would your family be able to sell it? Can your business run smoothly and effectively without YOU? All of this raises the question of "succession planning". Far too few of us in small business realise the importance of it. One of the best reasons to start a small business, is to sell that small business. All of us consider our business an asset. But it's not worth any more than your stock, until someone else sees VALUE in your business. Obviously, if you are a home based balloon decorator, YOU are the business. It just doesn't function without YOU! (or your partner) So..... even though you could have a solid customer base, without you and your personal touch, your "business" is just a name. It has no "physical presence" or image without - you! That makes it less appealing to a potential buyer of your business, should you decide to sell it one day. Don't climb all over me with objections yet! I haven't said that this is a bad thing! I simply wish to point it out to those who are (or may be soon) contemplating setting up a home based business. Homebased biz does have some advantages! Those of you out there who have retail premises and employ two or more staff must find it terribly difficult to take an annual vacation if you don't train your staff to also manage the business. There is a large balloon business here in Australia that closes it's doors for 3 weeks of the year so that the owners and staff can take annual leave. ??? That's 3 weeks of no turnover.... but they still have to pay rent! I suspect that part of the problem is that they do not train their staff to follow easy "systems" of management. Not the "secrets" of management.... the systems of management. How the filing is done, how the helium is ordered, how to pay the bills, how to prioritise the work flow, what to do in the event of a robbery. They may be of the school where you keep the employees well and truly in the dark about how a business functions. That way the staff won't set up shop against you! You see, if the "business" can run without you, then you have a more attractive asset to sell to a potential buyer, because they realise that they are less likely to lose the turnover and customer base you have built.... even after you are gone. The business and the "systems" that you designed within it, to make it a respected name, are what they are actually buying. They are buying your business "secrets" - which is how to design and run efficient small business systems that are tailored to the balloon industry. So... how did losing one of our senior employees affect our business? Because other members of the team have been trained in the same skills that he had, the other staff members were anxious to fill his shoes. We simply bring in a "newbie" at the lower level and gradually train them in a wide range of skills. (Not just how to sell balloons and operate the cash register. Remember... in business, no one is irreplaceable... not even the boss. Don Dixon is soooo right! I am a home based business,I have read the E Myth, and other business books. I believe I am a 'technician' that had an entrepreneurial moment! I am really good at the balloon side of the business, however I am still learning what it means to be the manager/planner/director. My goal is to be able to sell my business,however I am 'the business'. I find managing everything very difficult, yes I need systems, yes I need permanent staff, I really try hard, yet I don't have the capital and the time. I do feel like a mouse on a tread mill. I'd really like to do it all better/effectivly/efficiently. If anyone can offer any advise I would greatly appreciate it. Has anyone else out there been through the stages I describing, and moved through them? Perhaps some of you have started at home and then been able to move to retail? I'd love to hear how you did it! I am currently a home based business and I have been a store front. They both have their pros and cons but the thing that I could not have survived without is my support staff. Currently my husband helps me on the weekends, but I also have two helpers that work with me, and fortunately (or unfortunately however you look at it,) if I was hit by a bus tomorrow my "girls" are so well trained that they could take over without a hitch. I feel that a well trained staff is THE single most important part of a business. Because of them my family can take vacations without me stressing, if I have to go to a PTA workshop or a QBN meeting they are right there picking up the slack. They truly make the difference from doing balloons for a living and letting it take over my life. But at the same time I HAVE to point out, the reason (I feel) that my staff works so hard for me is because I try to treat them with respect. We have been together as a team for awhile now, so they have become extended family..... They know that on jobs they have the right to express their opinions, but I have the LAST say. Yes they get frustrated with me and I them and yes we have been known to "take it outside" (away from prying eyes not to fist fight) but I listen to their complaints and am ready to admit when I am wrong.....(like that ever happens lol). and they let me be free with my opinions. I respect them and in return they respect me. Over the years I have seen other balloon companies treat their support staff less than respectful and have seen that those same companies have had huge turnovers. I have had one girl with me for 6 years (almost since the begining,)and the other for 3 and I would put their skills agains any other company around.... We incorporated a "Noncompete Clause Contract" with our present employees approximately three years ago, as well as incorporating the contract as standard practice with any new employees. In a nutshell -- it confirms that an employee cannot work for another company or for themselves for a period of three years after their employment ceases with us. We have specified any special event/balloon or gift basket oriented companies. If you are interested in me faxing a copy to you, please e-mail me (Dyane Hedrick, DyHed@aol.com) privately. Be sure and check with your local attorney or CPA as to the length of time allowed in your state and the terminology. It is very rare that anything beyond 6 months will stand up in most of the US. Many contracts are written for longer periods but usually will be ruled excessive and limited to 6 months. And in some industries and the balloon business could well be determined to be one of them the non competes are ruled unenforceable and no waiting period is needed. The main purpose of the non compete may be to have the employee think it is enforceable. In addition to the balloon business that we have I also own a Computer Consulting company and have been legally advised and use a 6 month non compete contract in Massachusetts. In the balloon business we do not use a non compete contract. THEFT We were in a regional mall, in line, with an additional kiosk at center court for each holiday. Theft problems were kept to a minimum by greeting customers within 60 seconds of entry into our space, making eye contact (so they'd know you'd remember them), and pointing out some new or interesting item. Remember to secure your kiosk (pull in all merchandise and cover) and to leave your cash register drawer open (if it's closed, it might be interpreted as holding cash or a cash bank); it's also more expensive to replace a damaged register than a small cash bank. The people inside the mall after hours (employees of other stores, mall security) and before mall hours (walkers, delivery personnel, construction personnel) are usually the more likely shoplifters. However, in our experience, it was our young employees who traded a mylar balloon for a cookie where their friend was employed or rang up a no sale and pocketed the money. You really need to closely monitor your stock, your cash, and your register tapes. Make every "No sale", "Void", or "X reading" accountable and insist that every customer be given a register receipt. Make certain you have a duplicate tape of each day's transactions. Make each employee count the drawer before they begin using the cash register. Having been a district manager for 10+ years, supervising up to 28 retail specialty stores, I know that I can answer this question. . . . .. You can expect anywhere from 1 - 12% of your retail sales in shrinkage. Inventory shrinkage comes from shoplifting, employee theft, and operational issues (damaged merchandise, mistakes in paperwork, etc). Shoplifting happens in every store, regardless of location. There is no sterotypical shoplifter. I have caught and prosecuted all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, etc. Shoplifting happens whenever you give a thief an opportunity to steal from you. An attentive sales staff is the very best deterrent to shoplifting. Mirrors, signs, cameras, sensormatic tags, etc. help but they really only deter the amateur shoplifter. Employee theft almost always happens because the employee is disgruntled (for whatever reason) and they feel that you, the owner, owes them something. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with these issues, too. And, it is most unpleasant. CONTINGENCY PLANNING What do we do when the van breaks down? What can we do if our premises get robbed and trashed in the early hours of Friday morning? What would we do if there was a family emergency on Saturday morning? It's called "Contingency Planning". Sort of like a first aid kit for business. Just a few things you can do to build a contingency plan / file. 1) Join a roadside help auto club. 2) Build friendly working relationships with your local competitor/s. 3) Join a QBN Chapter - great for extra, experienced assistance in a crisis. 4) Give your business neighbour your home phone number. 5) ALWAYS have a cellular phone in every delivery van and on the site. 6) Train staff to be able to step into your shoes and LEAD .... rather than always follow. 7) Keep a list of "potential emergencies" and the appropriate name and number to contact. Keep this list nearby the phone ALWAYS. Let all staff know what it is for. 8) Back up your computer records at least weekly and store the disks in a fireproof safe. 9) Ask your key suppliers for their "emergency after hours number". (and don't abuse it) If you do use it, remember to send them something special for their helping you out of a jam. TAKING CHARGE (CARDS) Q) how do you collect money due on deliveries before they go out? Visa/MasterCard payment either prior to the delivery or at the time of the delivery. (somebody else beside the person accepting the gift is there to pay for the order.) It this day and age, if you have not collected the money beforehand, you'll regrettably find that principles like integrity and honesty seem to be forgotten words. In the past and in our infancy in order the help the client, we were sent to vacate lots, warehouses that were closed, and so on. Our policies soon changed. If is not paid for it does not go out no matter who it is. I have also found that big corporate clients are the slowest payers. We now have efpo's and that has saved and earned us money. The question ..... how to get money in for delivery balloons, BEFORE you send the balloons ....... when you don't have credit card facilities????? Options: 1. Go collect it from the customer. (too time consuming - expensive) 2. You ask the customer to post it to you right away ...... and trust them. (quite a risk) 3. You apply for home based credit card facilities. The problem with option 3 is that the banks are becoming more and more reluctant to provide this facility to home base businesses without a "financial track record" and the HB business operating for more than one year...... and/or capital security. Why? Because the banks know that most home based businesses are home based because they don't have the capital to open retail premises. They aren't silly! Remember; if the bank gives you credit card facilities .... THEY are taking the risk that the card holder will pay them for the balloons that were delivered. You've got your payment. So, it's a question of; who should take the risk? To put it bluntly, if one wants the advantages of home based - low overhead - flexible hours - no binding lease term contract - minimum capital outlay - then one of the small "prices" you pay is having to take the risk of not getting paid for phone orders. If you opt for the commercial premises - higher overhead - fixed hours - capital outlay - then you minimize your risk by having credit card facilities readily available. You get paid for every single phone order BEFORE it goes out. At the end of the day, it's the old ..... "you get what you pay for!" Please do not think for a moment that I am sympathetic to banks. I believe they are little more than licensed thieves! But I am a realist. All businesses should either eliminate risk, or ...... charge for the fact that you have to bear that financial risk. Someone will argue the case for, " but home based money is just as good as retail operator's money. Banks should see that!" Well, many banks disagree. Banks would rather service one "average" retail account than 3 home based business accounts, for the same total dollars transacted. Just like I prefer to make one $2000 sale, rather than 3 x $666 sales. We all know why - Right? The stats clearly show that commercial premises operators will generate a much, much, much higher average turnover than HB operators. So I hope this allows you to appreciate my opinion as to why you might find it difficult to get HB credit card facilities. It's commercial reality! A vicious cycle! I do believe that there are some banking institutions in the USA who do continue to provide such a service for HB. Good luck in finding one. Otherwise, you gotta take the risk! For homebased businesses looking for ways to collect the money visa vie, Credit cards, or checks, try USA Bankcard, 1-800-865-9014 or 1708-709-0175, they can accept both home based or retail operations. They also offer the check guarantee and verification service. and they can process any where in the United States. I deal with E Commerce Exchange 1-800-639-6644 Ask for Karen Buonpane She is very helpful and informative. You should look into other companies and see which one is best for you. I do not know if there are different prices depending on the location. Our storefront offers MC and Visa. The cards are good to have for taking delivery orders over the phone. We have a company that offers a low percentage of commission and there is a 5.00 charge per month which is minimal if there is no usage. The application and set up fee was 95.00 for us (a one time fee). You have to shop around for card companies in your area and take the best deal. Some send out a rep to help set you up. Get the one with the lowest monthly charge and commision. We also got a terminal real cheap by watching your newspapers for stores closing. You can save alot of money buying one that way. We got a great deal; printer and all at a fraction of the original cost. Alot of businesses dont realize that they can sell these things to someone else and they will be reprogramed by the bancard company at no extra charge. Try to find your equipment used. Don't think you need to lease all that new fancy stuff. All you really need is a terminal ( or if your really on a budget a good old fashion knuckle buster and a phone) Printers cost extra and of course the paper to put in them. They are nice to have and save time if your in a store front but not something you really need. Standard receipt are usually supplied at no charge from your clearing house. So if you have your heart set on taking charge. ( which I believe helps with creditability of your company ) Just watch out for the leasing offers on equipment. $25 a month don't seem like much until your still paying 4 years later. If you are a member of the Qualatex Balloon Network, they have a bank that is offering a good deal to the members. It is through this bank that we carry our credit cards. Be careful of the company you sign up with. My costs are more than I have in charge sales. My business is mostly decorating, I expected some of the weddings to be done via plastic - WRONG. Look very closely at the minimum monthly charge and the cost of renting a card machine. The cost can be outrageous and you can get tied to a long term non-cancellable contract. Check with your bank, move your account if necessary to find a bank that is more fiendly. my best advice is not to get set up until you are losing sales because you don't take credit cards, especially if you don't don't do a lot of telephone based deliveries. As far as payment collections, I require payment in advance for a balloon delivery. The client can do this either by sending me a check in advance, or I accept the 4 major credit cards (MC/Visa/AmEx/Discover.) We, too, have an entertainment business (clowns for special events, birthday parties, etc.) If I book myself, the customer has the option to pay in advance or to pay me personally at the event. If I book one of my clowns, the customer must pay in advance. They usually end up mailing a check for this. I've not had any problems. For the balloon deliveries, 99% of those are purchased by credit card over the phone. I've not had any problems there either. Although it took a small act of God to be able to accept credit cards with a home-based business, it has surely been worth it. Banks wouldn't touch me because I was home based. I went thru Alliance Financial Services -- I've found them to be very reasonable, reliable, and easy to work with. If you want to try this--call their customer service number at 1-800-928-2583 and ask them to refer you to a local rep in your area. They are based out of Louisville, KY. There is no obligation here on your part, either -- you just want to talk to a rep. It took me a year of research and denials before I found Alliance. My local rep was very nice, took me thru the whole process... step by step... explained all the things I would need to do to qualify, etc. Very simple. I must recommend though, that purchasing the credit card equipment saved me about $2,000. This is a much better option that "leasing" the equipment. Just wondering if anyone who takes credit cards has ever had a "chargeback" from their bank due to a credit card problem. I did a $75.00 credit card phone sale in March. I received an approval number through my credit card system, valid #, date and name. Did the delivery and 2 months later I received a phone call from a business asking me about some charges to their company credit card. I pulled my records and reviewed them with the caller. Evidently, the credit card was stolen and the thief went on a buying spree for a month. Now, my bank sent me info saying that they charged back the $75.00 sale and I am out that money. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? I understand that I did not get an imprint of the card, but I did get a valid card #, exp date, name and an approval #. 99.9% of my business is over the phone credit card sales so I don't get an imprint of the card. The bank also asked if I received a signature at the time that I delivered the bouquet. Does anyone out there know of any other ways to protect the small in home business owner from these types of losses? Do you get a signature at the time of delivery? I realize that it is only $75.00, but it could very well have been $1,000.00 that I could have lost. All in all, it appears that you're out $75.00. You won't get that back unless you contact the person who purchased the bouquet and if "he's not in jail" by now, then try to get the money from him, but it's highly unlikely you're going to get anything unless you take it to court...and it really won't be worth your time or money. The charge card he "stole" could have been a company credit card which he was not authorized to use at that time..perhaps an ex-employee...or perhaps he was just a clever thief!! The company was probably not even aware that it was stolen..so it's not really their fault for not reporting it in time. Anyways, you've got to be very careful when accepting charge cards without signatures. Even if you deliver the bouquet or provide the service, the customer can always call their charge card company and tell them that they never ordered or signed for this sale, or were not happy with the service and have it charged back.....unless you have solid proof of delivery by way of a signature of receipt or a charge card signature..then it's very hard to fight the chargeback. So be very careful and always try to get a signature. When dealing with orders such as this by phone or internet, my rule of thumb is this...if it's over $100.00, we always get them to sign a receipt somehow..either by fax or they must come in to sign it. If it's under $100.00..we take the chance and let it go. Have you tried to track the customer down? Did you request his particulars when you took the order..including phone number, name and address. It's a great idea to do just that and tell them its for your mailing list. If they do not want to give you the particulars, then you should question the order and tell him you will not accept charge over the phone unless they fax you a copy of their credit card with their authorized signature for the sale. or ask them to come in and pay for it in cash instead. If they do give you particulars, call them back to confirm the order in order to make sure they gave you the correct phone number and information. Keep good records yourself - make certain all charge receipts are easy to access (either by date or client name). If you didn't get the particulars for that delivery, you must at least have the address of the recipient on file (I'm assuming the recipient is not the customer)... contact this person and ask them if they liked the delivery...and see if you can get the info out of them on who sent the delivery. Don't lead them to believe there is anything wrong. Then try to track the "thief" down. Why assume that what the bank has done is correct? Check your agreement with them. Banks are the biggest bluff and con artists on earth. Anyone who thinks that their banks is "in their corner", is very niave. No offence meant to ex bank employees ...... I refer to banks in general terms. I suggest you write to this financial institution with a request that they reply within 14 days to explain where your agreement with them indicates that they can back charge their bad debts to you, AFTER you being issued with an approval number from them. Demand they specify and send a copy from the agreement, (with your signature) the page #, paragraph and clause. Ask for written evidence that their claim of the card being stolen is legitimate. What time on what date was it REPORTED stolen? Ask for bank records. Ask which police station has the theft on file. Get info from them also. (saves paying your attorney to do it later) This bank has taken money from your account. Legally, they have to justify doing that against your will. Ask for a written explanation as to why the card holder is not liable? (the bank may have stung both of you for the $75 .... who would know?) Make it quite clear that should you not receive a satisfactory reply within the 14 days, that you will have your attourney acting for you, from that date forward, to recover the $75 PLUS interest and all legal expenses from that bank or financial institution. You must put it in writing! This is business, not a mutual problem to be "discussed" over coffee or on the phone. Let them "feel" that you do not trust them to be telling the whole truth. They know that an unhappy customer tells an average 29 people of a bad experience. Worse still, their "bluff" could backfire and end up costing them more than the $75 bad debt. (don't remind them of this. You won't need to) Do not threaten to take your business elsewhere at this stage. They are not obliged to listen to complaints from non customers. The key, first of all, convince yourself that you are right. (check the agreement) Then word the letter in a very professional manner. Get help if you need it. It has to read as if you know what you are talking about - be pointed and sincere. No unnecessary verbage or details. The layout and phrasing in the letter needs to send a clear message that you are not some "pushover self employed" person who will fear the cost of persuing the matter to it's correct and legal conclusion. Not hand written. Do not threaten anything more than refering it to an attourney. If the letter is not well written, they will probably continue the bluff tactic. There is a good chance that you will get a simple letter of apology - with a cheque/credit. Try it..... you have nothing to lose now! If you get no reply ..... THEN you decide if you can afford to engage legal advise. Take control of your business. Why allow others to think they can determine whether you can afford to call their bluff. (even if you can't afford it ..... don't roll over too easily) And if you "fold" at the end of the day, you will have at least earned their respect as a business person who is careful and doesn't just throw money away because someone said you were liable. I speak from past experience having had to go "the full monty" with a bank a few years ago. (not a credit card problem) In the end, they cough up (plus compensation) rather than go to court over small sums. They can afford to try and bluff you .... because most often - they get away with it. I wish I could find it within myself to trust banks but, I see them as nothing more than licensed thieves. I have had a store-front since 1991 and have had chargebacks every year. They were especially bad one July when we lost $500 in credit card charges. The bank will not take the risk if you take a phone charge. YOU take the risk. However, lately, I have seen American Express and Visa both say that I could send in a delivery signature with my other documentation for their chargeback inquiries. So, they may be taking more of the risk, OR they may be looking at a delivery signature as a proof of the product being delivered to the card holder. I have also saved a charge back by having a signature on a contract. You can have your customers fax a signature to you, for safety, if you want to go to the extreme. We have learned to listen carefully when we take an order: 1) Does this person SOUND like someone who should be placing the order? Is the voice too young? Is it someone with lots of jargon, yet is placing a sophisticated order? 2) Get the customer's name, as it appears on the credit card, and the complete BILLING address for the credit card. Make sure to get both the home and work phone numbers too. If there is suspicion about this order, call the issuing bank and ask them to check the address and phone numbers with their files. If these items do not match what the bank has, DO NOT deliver the order. Call the customer back and tell them that you cannot deliver it. You will find that they usually have given you a disconnected or wrong phone number. 3) Was the greeting card for the order signed with real names or with knicknames, like "Bobo," or "Cutie?" Was there a signature at all? Thieves often do not sign a card, or use a cute name. They do not want to be identified. 4) Was this a large dollar amount? If the customer doesn't seem to care about the money, we become suspicious. Thieves often go for the upsell and spend a lot. 5) Is the order going to an apartment or mobile home address? Often times, the order is being placed just to see if the card has been reported as stolen or not. The thief is testing the card. If the flowers/balloons arrive at the test address, usually an apartment or mobile home, then they use the card for high ticket purchases. Not all of these indicators alone will spot a thief, however, several of them together are warning you that the order may be fraudulent. Call the bank, call the customer back, but do not deliver an order you are suspicious of. The bank will even call their customer to see if they really placed an order with your shop. They want to prevent fraud too. Another type of chargeback we receive frequently is for the customer who can't remember ordering anything. That's easy to take care of: call the customer and ask them why they made the credit card inquiry. Then, when they have remembered the order, they can call the bank and reverse the inquiry before the money is zapped from your account. Good luck! We have reduced our chargebacks by diligently checking each order ahead of time. I give my credit card lecture before every major holiday, so new or temporary employees will learn, and so the rest of us can be reminded. The world is not completely friendly. I've been with three different merchant card service companies now, so last time I read everything very carefully, because of the credit card theft we've experienced. It was all there in writing! They have the right to do the chargebacks if there's a problem and the merchant doesn't have a signature. I've fought chargebacks and won, when the contract was signed, but not the credit card receipt. Just make sure to get a signature somewhere! I wish the banks/merchant card service companies WERE bluffing, but it just isn't so, at least not on my contract. As a large company, we constantly deal with the same problem. When you take the credit card name and number, also get the mailing address where there credit card statment is sent. You can call the issuing bank on the card and verify all the information. If any of it doesn't match, don't send the order! Also, they can tell you if there has been a lot of activity in a short period of time, suggesting a stolen card and somebody on a spending spree. Unfortunately there is not a 100% way of protecting yourself with credit cards and phone orders. The approval code only says that there is credit available on the card and that the number and expiration date match. Nothing else! write a letter along with an invoice to the person that made the order and charged it. Then let them know if they don't pay it in X days, you are sending it to collections. Getting half or a little over than half is better than nothing. And if they don't pay it after collections, well at least you tried. Unfortunately collections is often a waste of time if a customer gave you a stolen credit card. I would like to start accepting credit cards in my business. But, it seems everyone wants to basically scalp small businesses on the start-up rates & monthly fees & monthly minimums & per transaction fee & on & on......ugh! If you are or have working with a credit card processing company that you are happy with....Oh! Please! Do tell! I thought I had placed the info about the credit card company I located for my homebased business. But I am still receiving mail regarding the same. I researched three companies that offer terminals for homebase business and found that the one below was the best for me. The charges are the least expensive and you can take credit card orders at your business or if you go out in the field. Considering that I have the need for both I took this one. There may be others out there, but considering Valentines is around the corner I did not want to waste time. I just received my terminal last week and I am happy to say that I had 2 transactions on credit cards. I feel that only is it a better service for my customer to give them options how to pay but also for my business. It feels odd to say, oh yes, we do accept credit cards, oppose to no I'm sorry but at this moment we only accept cash. E-Commerce Exchange 1-800-639-6644 Karen Buonpane She will explain everything to you, step by step and let you know what system is better for you. I have just changed how I do Credit Cards to The Novus Network. So far I love it! The percentage is better than the bank was. And they allow you to lease to own the terminal and printer. Please feel free to contact my rep. Betty Ann Manganello at 1-800-274-7831 for voice mail or email her at: bmanganello@novusnet.com She was a real help to me and answers any questions you may have. Give her a call or email her, it doesn't cost anything to shop around for comparison to those you have already inquired from. I've responded to several posts regarding the low rate we pay for our credit card service through Key Bank (and they give a discount for QBN members) but I keep forgetting to bring the name and phone number home to post here. If you would like to call me at work at 650-343-5852 PST I'll give you the info (unfortunately they don't give referral kickbacks but I'm working on them!). I think that the swiped qualified card rate is about 1.7%. I just got myself a good deal from the company below: http://credit-cards-online.com/15194/ E-Commerce Exchange 1800-639-6644 also gives a pretty good deal Our business has credit card capabilities. After shopping the market we went with our local bank. There are some companies that offer credit card services, these can be found in the yellow pages. Some companies look down on home based business, so watch out. While other may charge you a lower % fee, but a higher montly fee. Yet others don't seemed to mind if you pay the higher rates. Basically here is how ours works. We have a monthly fee from our bank $X We pay so much for the equipment per month $X (note you can get software for your PC) On all transaction you pay a certain % (keep this in mind, because you may lose 2 to 5% of the transaction for the fee)

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deco_competition.html0100775012005001161010000012134307275162713013412 0ustar bhqbhq Balloon HQ presents: Facing the Competition

Pioneer Balloon Company - Makers of Qualatex balloons

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"We all should respect, but not fear, competition."
Don and Dolly Dixon

Facing the Competition

On competition
Party Chains (Party City)
Competing With Other Retailers

Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

On competition

Exploit the competitor's shortcomings to your advantage. This is a classic example of a small business applying a S.W.O.T. analysis to both his business AND his competitors business. S = strength. W = weaknesses. O = opportunities. T = threats.
Each of us should work on eliminating our weaknesses and capitalizing on our competitor's weaknesses. Likewise, we guard against and monitor potential threats to our business, and hope that our competition overlooks us as a threat to theirs. Sometimes you may find it best to identify your competitor's strengths and not try to compete with them in that area. eg; Retail foils at 69 cents. You can't win that fight! So don't even try. Take them on where they can't win a fight with you! Analyze BOTH your business and theirs. It shouldn't take you any more than 1.5 hrs to do your biz and your 2 most formidable competitors. You'll then find it easier to identify and focus on your "edge".
Maybe you'll find your "edge" listed under Strengths? Maybe under Opportunities. eg; a recent topic on this list was the potential for linen rentals for some balloon pros? This market has huge potential for willing entrepreneurs. Does Party City offer linen rental?
An "opportunity" may be in relocating to where the proposed new freeway will give your business 10 times more exposure? ...or half the rent with more floor space? Your "strengths" may be your creativity, telephone manner, patience with brides, rapport with local hotel banquet managers, using Qualatex balloons, your portfolio, etc.?
Just remember that half the battle is being honest enough to admit your business "weaknesses." Could be a staff member's personal hygiene or appearance? Bookkeeping? Estimating? Floor space? Customer Parking? Home based - so no visual displays or client meetings at your premises? Lack of signage? Low on capital? Uncooperative / inflexible / unreliable suppliers? Computer skills?
Basically, analyzing strengths and weaknesses is about looking at a business as it is NOW. Analyzing opportunities and threats, is looking into a business's possible FUTURE. I hope this helps some look at their business in a whole new light and inspires the doubtful to surge ahead. Don't be afraid of competition; use them - out smart them - respect them and accept them. Try this new attitude and soon you'll find that they are doing their best, just to compete with you!
Our local Party City is advertising 18" red foil hearts inflated (no weight!) for $0.49 each! So I convince every customer I have that 18' red hearts were just too old hat for my great customer base. I would push other colored hearts and JUMBO HEARTS all day long! I would make black and hot pink the colors of choice for the ladies and silver and gold with blue for the fellow "Without You It Would Be A Blue Valentine's Day" - Well, you get the idea.

Party Chains

Reviews and Impressions
You Get What You Pay For
Party City Is My Friend
Party City Is My Supplier
All Is Lost! Oh, Woe Is Me
On The Bright Side
It's All In The Delivery
The Customer Speaks

Reviews and Impressions

Yesterday my husband and I made our first trip to our new Party City in town! I want to tell you that I was totally unimpressed! Everyone always talked about how when Party City comes to town that it kills their business! I wouldn't know why! Their prices (other than the plates, napkins, cups and table covers) were more expensive than mine! And of course their balloons were cheaper, but look what you get!
I am always checking what the competition says about their balloons and these people have NO CLUE! I asked the girl working in the balloon area how long their latex balloons last and she said up to 11 days! I then questioned her about the fact that I wanted latex and she said "oh, no... the latex last 2 days!" They are going to have some very disappointed customers if she keeps this up.
My husband bought me a balloon and they claim that their balloons are 12". This girl must have been so scared of the balloon popping because this balloon might have been 10"... drastically underinflated. feel Party City is far from what I expected!
We have two big party stores near us. Their balloons won't look fresh first thing in the morning because they did them the day before. They don't deliver large quantities or same day. They have more mylars so I can buy one from them if I need one in a hurry. They don't carry 5", 16" or 3' balloons and they only sell standard bouquets. Lots of people like cheap but lots of people don't like to be bothered doing it themselves. I actually refer people to these places sometimes and they are very thankful and can't believe I would refer the competition. So maybe it's not so bad!
I thought I'd share an incident with you all that I had seen at a Party City in my area recently. A customer of theirs was buying a bunch of balloons (about 20-25). A Party City employee brought them outside and was putting them into the customer's utility vehicle. I stopped and paused as I was leaving to watch her. There were no delivery bags, no balloon weights used. The customer watched as the employee struggled to handle the balloons. Suddenly, one by one they started to pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! I was almost ready to laugh, but I restrained myself. My husband who was with me at the time told me to keep on walking, but I really wanted to give the customer my business card and tell her to call me next time and none of this would happen. My husband said not to do it, so I didn't. (I'm still adamant I should have). Anyhow, I believe that if that is the type of competition we are against, there is no competition. We just have to make people aware of us and explain that there are correct ways of handling, delivering and decorating with balloons. To get quality, it is not the cheapest way. It goes without saying for anything. Keep in mind the next time you see a big time retail party chain. They are the cheapest in all respects.
Once I watched a lady put all the balloons in her station wagon and her kid got in the back door and all the balloons went flying out as she slammed the hatch. Now that was funny... for me! Not so much for the customer.
And the help that they get in those stores. Once I was at the register and some teenage girl was on the phone with another girl discussing some stupid incident that happened the night before. I told her to put the phone down and take care of the customers because we are paying her salary. She was quite taken back. I even went so far as to send in one of those "comments to the president". I signed my name and address, even gave my phone number. I am still waiting for a reply... and that was two years ago.
The Party City franchise web page says that they are looking to open another 148 stores in the US and at least 2 in each of about 20 other listed countries. Right on one of the web pages ad for a Party City was a nice picture of "Balloon Bouquets." I'm almost tempted to call the owners of the phrase and tell them it's being used without their permission (no sign of a trademark symbol or reference to who owns it could be found.)
We have one of the 1/2 Off Card Shop stores near us. Just last weekend someone stopped in and tried to pick up several balloon arrangements and a wishing well and stuff them all into an SUV. Comical sight, of course no weights attached and there were also 4 bridesmaids trying to get in with these unwieldy balloons. I felt sorry for these people so I gave them my card and told them I could help with the next wedding or shower.
I've watched people come out of Party City and pop most of their balloons just trying to get them into their car. I've offered free balloons bags, and weights as I gave them my business card.

You Get What You Pay For

We have a Party City here too. They frequently take out ads in the (very large) local newspaper advertising a dozen (latex) balloons for $4.99. No, I cannot compete with that price, but usually the balloons are OVERinflated, NEVER "Hi-Floated", and the customer usually has 2, 3 or more burst or "cut loose" before they get them into their car.
Party City and others should never be competition. Being smaller we can offer quality and services they can't, we can educate and innovate when needed. Most of all we can CARE MORE about our customer's needs and exceed their expectations.
People get what they pay for. My main situation/goal is educating our local John Q. Public that "a balloon is a balloon is a balloon" is not true. The average mindset of our local consumer is "why should I buy balloons from you when I can get them from the dollar store or Party City much cheaper, and do a bouquet by myself?"
It's a tough row to hoe, but I'll get there. Word of mouth about my "long-lasting," beautiful balloons delivered with a presentation is (slowly) spreading. You and I both know that no dollar store or Party City can compete with that.
To overcome the 'cheaper prices' problem, you simply *use* that as a selling tool within your own marketing efforts. In other words, you emphasize in your advertising that people must choose between 'cheapness' and 'quality' when considering their balloon purchases. Yours are 'the best' - theirs are 'the cheapest.' (You must however be able to back up that claim with solid evidence... for example, balloon 'flying time' would be a good one for bouquets).
You will lose some potential customers to Party City, as there are always people who buy purely on price alone. But I believe balloon professionals must increasingly look up towards the high/quality end of the market, rather than trying to compete in the mass market, where price is king.
I am also home based and have a Party City 30 blocks away from my home on one of the busiest boulevards. I also have a gift store, which sells balloons, bouquets, and decorates and is 1/2 block away from my home. One block away I have another balloon store. There are numerous florists in my area that also sell balloons and mylars.
The one thing that makes my service different is that I am a "Decorator" these places are just selling balloons and other items. I can solely concentrate on party events when they cannot. I take the time to explain and show in detail my work and what I can do for them. I show them the balloon color chart so they can see how the balloons actually look and inflate them if need to. When someone calls with questions on a decorating Seville I accommodate them, by either having them come to my home or by me going to theirs. Since the majority are working people they love the idea that they can shop in the comfort of their home.
As for Party City and everybody else, they may sell their brand name cheaper but my balloons are quality and I state that to the customers. I do sell a dozen balloons at Party City's price but for that price I purchase the bargain city balloons that Flowers, Inc sells $6.65 for a gross of 11" assorted colors. This way not only can I sell at their price but then I get the opportunity to educate the customer by letting them know that these balloons are the same as the other stores. If they want quality balloons they are more expensive. And of course, here comes the questions from the customers as to what do I mean inexpensive and what are the difference in balloons and so on. So, I have to say that although I have all of these stores surrounding me, I still get calls. Not to mention that especially when it's a balloon delivery I always add either a geo, or other colorful balloons so they think that I am being generous and that they are receiving something different.
What I'm trying to say is that if you are selling quality and satisfaction to the customers they will always recommend you to others and they will come back.
If you have a niche in this market... doing quality decor, creative decor... you don't have to worry about those stores as being competition. And besides, I don't want their customers to be my customers anyway. Most of them are just looking for price. I want quality customers who want quality work.
I haven't found that the larger Party Stores in any way have stopped my business or made less come my way!!! My customers know what they get with me - "Top on the line" - and they are welling to pay for it. I cater to a lot of doctors that don't have a lot of time to shop. They love the fact that I will come to them and sometimes they give me a budget and tell me to do my stuff.
Emphasize our differences by using geo's, 260's, double stuffed balloons, etc. You'll probably NEVER see such things in the party stores. At least not in the ones I live near.
Most big-time party stores do not hire their own CBA's to do decorating for their customers. They still must come to you for creative expressions.
Remember this as well. When a person buys a balloon on a string from a party store, they get a balloon on a string. They don't get an arch. They don't get a romantic setting for a wedding reception. And, if they're lucky, they may get an employee who won't have to remove him/herself from the customer in order to ring-up a customer buying a $2.00 b-day card, and then try to finish the original customer's arrangement.
When a customer goes to Party City, they get a balloon on a string. When they come to a CBA, or other artist, they get MAGICAL MEMORIES. What is that worth to your customer?
Big Party chains won't buy balloons that are "a risk" Meaning: will they sell? Most of them have the usual Bugs Bunny, Taz and Mickey Mouse... Not too many have the characters or the licenses that Pioneer and Qualatex have. I sell NFL Football and MLB Baseball Teams like hot cakes, because I sell ALL the teams... I target the Kids and their Favorite characters.
I started using the Marketing Material that Qualatex sends me and believe me it works! Party City's workmen's comp does not allow them to use High Float. And Party City closes at 6 PM on Sunday.
Don't worry about their cheap mylars and latex balloons - that's not where the big bucks are anyway. Your difference: you deliver, you set up, you strike; you do 3' balloons, stuffed balloons, gumballs; yours will float longer and are tied with satin, tulle or lace ribbons, etc. etc. Don't fear them - take advantage of their weak areas.
Here's a little story. A hairdresser in town had a very lucrative business that was charging $80.00 for a hair cut. A smart operator saw how this hairdresser was doing so well and decided that she would open up across the street from her and charge $30.00. The first hairdresser's business fell off until she advertised in her window that she fixed $30.00 haircuts.

Party City Is My Friend

Get friendly with the Party Store staff that sells the balloons - the lowly clerk who has the perceived misfortune of doing the actual inflation. Just happen to have a mini portfolio of some smashing decor that they couldn't possibly accomplish to show the clerk. Then ask if you can leave some business cards and flyers with them for their customers who want sculptures, SDS decor, wedding work. Ask to speak to the manager to OK leaving the cards - be friendly, whip out the mini portfolio, and let that person know that this information will help their customers and will not affect their balloon sales.
I do a lot of weddings and I run into the "balloons are only a dime at the local liquor store" line when the bride makes me meet with her father. The way that I combat this problem is to wow them with my work, of course! I always take my portfolio of work that I have done and show it to them. As they are ooohhhhing and ahhhhing over my portfolio, I explain to them that of course they can do the balloons themselves cheaply, but it is one more thing that they have to worry about on their wedding day. They are not only paying for the balloons, they are paying for the piece of mind that their reception is going to be their dream come true and that it is going to be done correctly and on time -- guaranteed. I usually received the deposit before I finish my sentence.
In my town we have Party City, Party Land, Card Factory, Mom and "Pop" and other little joes that have a tank and a bag of Balloons. They're not a problem for me. I know just about everyone at my Party City store near my house. I have even delivered balloons to Party City. (Someone there wanted Spanish Valentine's Balloons) When I go in there they always ask me "What's new in the Balloons world?"
I visit about 3 times a week so I'm really well known. I even get referrals for decorating jobs from them occasionally , mostly from the staff that I have made friends with (although they won't agree to put a portfolio of mine on the balloon counter yet, but who knows, I keep trying!).
When I go to Party City (because they sell rolls of ribbon for .79-.99 when on sale) I always take my business cards with me. I've assisted customers too (as I hand them my business card).

Party City Is My Supplier

Party City has become a "tool" that we use when necessary to stay ahead of ALL of our competitors. It just so happens that the tool in this instance, is also one of those competitors.
Our local Party City is advertising 18" red foil hearts inflated (no weight!) for $0.49 each! I am going there and stocking up on Thursday -- I certainly can't buy and inflate them for that price!
If it were me, I would convince every customer I had that 18' red hearts were just too old hat for my great customer base. I would push other colored hearts and JUMBO HEARTS all day long! I would make black and hot pink the colors of choice for the ladies and silver and gold with blue for the fellow "Without You It Would Be A Blue Valentine's Day" - Well, you get the idea. I might buy the cheap mugs and put them away for next year.
I am also going to purchase mugs... they have V-day mugs on sale for 69 cents here! Can't beat that.
I have become a frequent shopper at Party City lately. It all started when I received an ad for Party City and in it was a LOSS LEADER (those items stores reduce to bring you in) for curling ribbon $0.69 a roll, no limit. The same ribbon I buy for up to three times that price plus shipping. Recalling something that Michael Eisner (CEO of the Walt Disney Company) wrote in his recent book made me take a second look. Mr Eisner wrote (let me paraphrase) It's not the price you sell an item for that's important but the price you paid for it. I bought a lot, saved a lot and have not been sorry.
I started to look at Party City as supplier, because they are not a competitor of mine. I don't feel they can compete with me In service or in quality. Case in point, today while shopping for foil balloons, I overheard a mother and father trying to buy a bouquet with a mix of foils and latex for their young son's birthday tomorrow. I overheard the girl behind the counter discourage them from buying the latex because " they only last 8-12 hours". Having heard this for myself and seeing the disappointment on their faces, I will attack this weakness in my future ads and flyers.
Sometimes party stores are okay. this past graduation season the party store near me sold inflated graduation foils cheaper than I can buy them wholesale! The foils were current stock for the season too, so guess where I brought all my grad foils. ;-)
They regularly reduce the decorating items that I use the most to 25 cents. You read that right, 25 cents. They discontinue all their mylars and put them out on a giant table for a quarter. They are all the ones still available and in perfect condition. The manager told me they just need to "cycle the stock". And I also bought card board juke boxes (3 feet tall) for a quarter and all the coordinated items for the 50's theme. Last week I stocked up on the Luau decorations for a quarter and the weekend before that was the Mardi Gras theme.
I shop in all of these stores when they have really good sales, plus when I go I make sure that I have my business shirt on.

All Is Lost! Oh, Woe Is Me

"Party City," a HUGE party store chain moved in to town - and offers "mylars" starting at $0.59 to $1.99 each and a "take out" bouquet of a dozen latex for $4.99!! (I can't even get foil balloons at wholesale for $0.59!) People don't seem to notice (or care) that these foil balloons from the BIG store are mostly one-sided designs, or not self-sealing; the latex are certainly not Qualatex, and are not treated with Hi- Float. (The latex are their OWN generic brand.) It matters not that there are no "warm-fuzzy" add-ons (like a little bit of shred tied to the neck of the foils, etc). "Balloons are balloons - and if people can get them cheaper, why would they buy from you?" my sister-in-law says. Hence, the general mindset of John Q. Public. How do you deal with this? What can we do to help change the impression (or lack of) that the public (at least our local public) has of balloons?
We are about to have a Party City open right in front of my store. Party City skips the distributor effectively cutting out the territory salesman they are able to sell everything at 50% off and work on volume discounts instead of markups. I have desperately been trying to get suppliers to work with us to help us stay in business but most of the reps act as if they are attending a wake when they come to call on us. It is clear to me that if Party City moves into every one of their areas killing out the competition it will render their distributorship completely valueless, and in my mind it would be in best interest to keep the customers in business, but they don't see it that way. Balloons are a huge part of our business and we do offer delivery, high quality decorating, quality and service and we are in for the fight of our life, because if the public was interested in those things (as opposed to low price) there would be successful Mom and Pop stores surrounding all the Wal-Mart's of the world... and we all know that just isn't so.

On The Bright Side

The arrival of the "HUGE" party store chain could also be *good* news for your business. Because:
1. "Party City" obviously believes that there's some potential for the party/balloon market in your area, to open their big store in the first place.
2. The extra publicity they will generate will get more people thinking about balloons in your area, which is all free advertising for you!

It's All In The Delivery

By offering delivery services, you're being different. I don't think Party City offers delivery. Most people have to pick up the balloons themselves - and if they're ordering a lot of balloons, it's more likely they won't be able to pick them up unless they have a huge van.
You can even offer free delivery in the local area you're in, that would be a plus! I too have a Party City in the area but most of my customers come to me simply because we deliver 7 days a week at just about anytime! They love that!
6 years ago we used to get 8 C-shells per doz of 11" latex for a bulk pick up, now we charge 5 C-shells as a loss leader so we can compete. But the most important thing your customer needs to know is that you DELIVER! Delivery is very important to anyone who tried to pick up balloons and had a nightmare getting them home, especially the ones whose balloons got away. The dollar stores and discount stores do not offer service of any kind. I get a lot of their customers coming in saying how rudely they were treated at the other places. We have to kill them with kindness, creativity and service!!! We pride ourselves on our service and quality. Bargain prices are great, but we believe in "You get what you pay for" Our customers usually are willing to pay a little bit more for a MUCH high grade of service.
Party City does not deliver so that is one of my main sources of getting orders. Who wants to carry 2 dozen balloons in their car?

The Customer Speaks

I'm not a professional balloon artist or decorator. I'm the customer you think you'll lose to the big guys. Let me tell you how to entice a customer like myself.
Yours is similar to a competitive situation in my own experience. All the major chain craft stores do picture framing. Samples of all the different kinds of matting are on the counter and lots of generic examples are on the surrounding walls in this part of the store. They frequently run 50%-off custom framing coupons. I've tried to ask for advice from the clerks, but they clearly only know how to cut and paste. I go there when I have a simple job, don't want to invest much and know exactly what I want.
I also know of a small frame shop. They too have samples of frames and mats. On the walls are all the prize-winning framing jobs they have entered in various contests. They advise on colors, proportions, etc., and help match to not only the piece being framed, but the furniture/room it will be in or near. When I don't know exactly what I want and/or I want a top quality job, I trust their advice and have never been disappointed.
When I am at someone's home or office, I can tell if their diploma, or whatever was professionally framed or taken to the chain store. It's usually not something you can put your finger on, but something just isn't quite right.
I'm guessing your party superstore has a book on the counter with the menu of columns, arches, etc. with a component price and maybe some package deals. I pick the pieces I think will look good, change the colors, and that's it.
I know I can't envision the overall effect you can give me, much less design or do it myself.
YOU can offer service, a cohesive decor package. Help me develop or exploit a theme. Talk w/ me about my menu, guests etc., things the party store won't show any interest in. Personalize it for me. Show attention to detail. Make me think you are tailoring a whole package especially for my party. It's custom made for me -- I won't be able to resist.
The advantage is if everybody starts having balloons from this store, all the parties/events start to look the same. (The best part is everybody starts having balloons!) Then as the savvy hostess I have to look for that something different. Along with that is what we call snob-appeal. My event was too good for the standard decor package from the party store. I hired a professional! And it'll be the talk of the town!
I'm probably going to the party store for napkins, plates, tablecloths, and the like. They're probably making their money on these items, and giving the balloons away. I feel like I have to go to the party store either way, so why not save myself a trip (to you)? You could do the same, but the other way around. Offer to supply and set up these items (at/near cost) in coordinating colors/prints along with your better quality balloon decor. Now I just have to worry about food.
I introduce newcomers into this industry every week. I see them start with no skills or knowledge of the industry. But they have a desire to achieve. So I teach them how to become professional balloon persons. I see some of them go on to run very healthy balloon businesses. They compete with my wife's business .... some only a couple of miles from her premises. And guess what? We call most of them friends and our profits are up every year. How come?
Start by giving the public (your customers) a little respect for their level of intelligence. They have eyes! They can SEE the difference between a great balloon and a "weekend warrior's" supermarket quality latex balloons. They can see how a pro decorator presents herself and her business. They can HEAR how she talks to them with genuine interest on the phone. None of us have anything to fear from backyard balloonies. They are, in fact, your best justification to put your prices UP. The wider the gap, the more the buyer will question the quality of goods offered at the lowest price. She'll investigate.... and find the true value is with the stable business operator with the known reputation.
So the "El Cheapo" - fast buck - do it on a shoe string budget - operators... and the type of customers they attract... are doing you a favor. And we all know what happens to them after a few months or a year. They go bust and end up in some other scam or quick buck biz. Their customers find their way to your door pleading for a discount. Right? (and let me be the first in line to kick you in the tail if you give it to them).
What about the ones who do become professional in their approach? What about THIS new competition? Well, they are smart enough to realize that to make a good living from balloons, you gotta sell at the RIGHT PRICE. They also know that they have to have a "point of difference" to their competitors. The more variety and uses people see for balloons... the more often they will shop for balloons. If you have the confidence in your knowledge, your skills and your products... your bank manager loves you. Don't fear your fellow professional balloon decorators. Embrace them and team up with them to make a full frontal assault on the market. If you aren't active in a QBN Chapter, look into it!
Finally, there was another comment of concern about the balloon profession ending up like the cleaning profession? Again, think about this in the context of business viability and opportunity, rather than "the lowest price wins." Society is changing! We are now forced to have 2 bread winners in most families. Many of us don't have time to do the gardening, mow the lawn, clean the house, cook the evening meals, wash the car... do the balloons for Gloria's wedding. The change in society itself is virtually guaranteeing the growth in domestic and commercial service industries. There are lousy gardeners, terrible restaurants and short-cut cleaners out there. Still - only the good ones in their field will go on to make a comfortable living from a sound base of customers that TRUST the business owner, year after year after year... You have better things to do. And by doing those "better things" you bring about the doom of the fast buck characters.

Competing With Other Retailers

How does one deal with the continued rise in balloons in our grocery stores, discount stores, drug stores? I am amazed at the number of balloons for bouquets that are around! I have even had the employees of the grocery store floral department come over to my spot at the bridal show or displays at the mall and photograph them so they can try my designs! Ugh!! How do you stay one step ahead of them? Maybe carrying the balloons (geos) that the super markets don't have? They have about everything EXCEPT the personalized one on one service that we offer with the availability of talking to the same person at all times....
I suggested we should all emphasize the specialty balloons in our displays and deliveries. It is changing out there, because the mass market outlets are offering packaged balloons in the grocery isles and at the gas station. Mylar balloons in corrals above the grocery isles. Many in Australia see this as a threat. I assume it's the same everywhere? But what one man sees as a threat to his business, another sees as an opportunity. I am guilty of being the eternal optimist in business. (the glass is always half full and never half empty)
By having the supermarkets stocking 9" or 11" round balloons, all I need to do is FEATURE my "point of difference". So, I show GEO Donuts, Blossoms, 260s, 350s, heart shapes, SDS, Bat Mitzvah prints, and more. Human nature is such that the middle and upper class shopper will seek out something different... something unique... something personalized... something that her friends and relatives have not seen in the supermarket isles. She can afford to! So, guess what? That category (demographic) of shopper is just the one that I wish to target. Why? Because price is secondary to her! What she is looking to buy is something different. She will pay what she believes to be a "fair price" rather than a "cheap price" simply because she sees what you are providing her, is a "one off" - and not what her guests will see as Ho Hum. She will impress them!
Think positive! This is an advantage, an opportunity. At last you can focus your attention on your real point of difference. You don't sell balloons. You sell quality. You sell a huge range. You sell emotion. You sell creativity. You sell decor. You sell customized product and service. You sell "designer" balloons. You sell what is not available on the supermarket shelf. You wrap it or deliver it differently to everyone else in town. Your staff are friendlier and full of expert product knowledge. You sell big ticket items - Not price sensitive packet balloons.
Our policy (and we tell the balloon reps this very clearly) is that if we see it in a supermarket or at the gas station, it is removed from our shelves! It is a waste of time trying to compete with mass merchandise outlets. Don't give your customers the chance to compare your prices! If they stock apples, you had better stock bananas. If they stock both, you stock bags of mixed fruit. Bags of mixed fruit may have less market appeal, but you can command a better price for what is unique to your business. It's the profit you enjoy on each sale, not the total number of sales, that is important.
You don't really need to be concerned about the mass merchandisers if you identify AND MARKET your "point of difference". For an interesting article on this topic, see Images magazine's profile on The Red Balloon Co. in Seattle. RBC decided years ago to do all delivery bouquets in 16" latex. I bet they charged more than their competitors did for 11" arrangements! They became famous for their "point of difference". Linda Bruce became known in her town for her "signature bouquet" using GEO Blossoms and 260s combined with round latex. Bruce Walden has quite a unique "point of difference". His is - innovation. He is renowned the world over for being at the cutting edge of their industry. What I'm saying is that there is a bit of Jim Parker, Linda Bruce or Bruce Walden in each of us, if we just look for that quality or idea within. What's your point of difference?
Now, who cares about balloons in drug stores?
A few years ago, when I was in the flower business, supermarkets started selling flowers. Everyone in the industry was sure we were all going to hell in a hand basket! Guess what? The flower business is still around, growing bigger every day. The average price for arrangements has skyrocketed, this while the supermarkets are almost giving away flowers.
I believe what happened is this: People who never considered buying flowers from a florist shop, carried home flowers and grew accustomed to having them around. These people then thought of flowers as a "neat thing" and realized that they could send them to friends for important occasions. Very few people would send the wad of flowers from the supermarket for a special occasion and so they sought out a florist for that special day. Viola!, a whole new market.
Yes Virginia, supermarkets have ATM machines, some even have mini-banks. However, believe me when I say, "The banks are not going out of business"!
On the other hand, supermarkets were devastating to mom and pop grocery stores, who tried to compete with their prices.
So, set yourself apart from the supermarket. Do better work (you can charge for it, it's all right). Do different work (you are trained, their help is on the revolving door plan). Offer the one thing the supermarket does not; SERVICE. Find a niche and fill it! Most supermarkets do not decorate, can you imagine going to a big formal dinner dance and Mrs. Gotrocks telling you how she bought the upscale decor at the SUPERMARKET, with her weeks supply of toilet paper?
Remember, the mom and pop grocery stores are gone. Seven-Eleven walked in, filled the void and offered service. They are open the hours people want. The offer the small, in and out store. They charge a premium for it and they are doing rather well. They still sell the same thing, food, however they package it a little differently.
The thing that will hurt your business the most is a bad attitude. Consider the supermarkets as training for your customers. It teaches them just how wonderful balloons are. It makes them AWARE. This is a good thing. Now, you work on tracking down the customers who want something special, a wonderful delivery, an exciting sculpture, a dynamite trade show booth, a beautiful wedding, professional decor.
Remember, the supermarket sells food. But there are probably a FEW restaurants in your town still selling food also.
Competition never hurts. You are selling yourself as an artist in your field. The people who come to us are not the people who buy balloons in the supermarket. They are the people who want something better and that is what we offer. We can take the same balloons the supermarket has and present them with 'style' instead of just a handful. Our customers will pay for the difference. Welcome competition and don't bad-mouth it. Treat your customers with class and they will be yours.

MB 12/13/95
MB 12/22/95
SKB 01/13/97
SKB 12/23/97
MB 7/20/99
SMB 1/17/00

deco_customers.html0100775012005001161010000023417507275164511013112 0ustar bhqbhq Balloon HQ presents: Dealing With Customers

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Dealing With Customers

-- *CUSTOMERS SERVICE WITH A SMILE MEETING CLIENTS QUOTES AND PROPOSALS SELLING SALES TERMINOLOGY PACKAGE DEALS REFERENCES CUSTOMERS WHO BRING THEIR OWN BALLOONS PROBLEM CUSTOMERS LAST MINUTE JOBS REFUSING SERVICE WORKING WITH EVENT PLANNERS PROMS CAR DEALERSHIPS RENTALS GETTING YOUR STUFF BACK LINEN RENTALS -- Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

*CUSTOMERS SERVICE WITH A SMILE Isn't it nice to be "spoiled" with good old fashioned service? You'd swear guys like Steve Metsker and Duane Smith wrote the text book. Even though we have a local office in Sydney, people in the Pioneer head office keep in touch with us as a result of our meetings at IBAC over the years. Makes you realise that you aren't "just another customer" to them.The Pioneer office in Sydney has the same approach. When there is an occasional shortage on a particular line ..... their sales people have been known to telephone all over the country to find the particular balloon you need and get it to you. I'm sure there are hundreds of other balloonies around the world who have similar stories to tell oif their experiences with their Premier Balloons, BSA, Belbal, Anagram, M&D or CTI supplier. That kind of "service" is what makes the real difference. Not just a delivery on time. No sir. The delivery on time WITH A SMILE. With a follow up call to find out how the job went. With an invitation to visit the supplier's showroom to see their full range. With some free samples of the latest release print designs - and asking your opinion. The sales guy who speaks your language. The guy (or gal) who loves balloons just as much as you do. Something that sets them appart from the sales rep who goes to work - just to get a regular pay cheque. Stop and think about that! Don't you think your customers would like to feel "cuddled" too? And now is the time to do it! It's Christmas. You just might find that going that extra mile becomes addictive. Hard to stop doing it - because people do it back to you! Yep, it gets contagious too! So what is this drug? It is simply business "relationships". It's more than "service". It's creating a comfortable, pleasant working atmosphere. It's an UNDERSTANDING. Getting to know your customer on a first name basis. Knowing when a customer would prefer a coffee, rather than a sales pitch. And when to say, "You look busy Susan, I'll call back on Tuesday." Shouldn't work be a pleasure (for you and everyone around you) rather than a chore? The most successful small business owners, sales reps, and staff recognise that building business "relationships" with the people in and around your business is what gives your business a certain STABILITY. Like family stability. You grow a "work surroundings family". Don't shut them out of your life! Invite them in. Face it - your work life IS part of who and what you are. Some of you will think, "I won't stoop to kissing my suppliers or customer's butt! For what I do for them every day, they should be kissing mine!" Well ....... someone neglected to tell you. "You are in the business of making people happy." The fact is, that making our customers have a joyfull experience - is what they are paying us to do. It's your obligation! It's also your obligation to teach your staff how to do it . It's your obligation to show your suppliers that you know that their balloons are designed for that specific purpose. The money you bank as a result of their product "working" for you - should earn them the right to a business "relationship" with you. All of a sudden you will find that employees, suppliers and customers will begin to work WITH you - rather than around you. And that is a wonderful feeling. MEETING CLIENTS When you meet a client and you're a home based operation where do you meet with them? I prefer to meet them at the venue where the event is to be held. Even if I have done work at that site a dozen times, it is probably the first time they are using the facility. It is easier to create a visual image for the client by discussing it at the site. We meet our customers on site, if possible. The only negative is that they may not be on time, or may not show up at all. We call and confirm the appointment the day before the meeting to prevent that problem. If the client has small children or prefers to meet at their home, or ours, we go along with their request (preferring to meet at our home where photos, samples, and materials are more readily available); however, it can be a little disconcerting to have certain clients be within one's home, see the security system, etc. -- sometimes I have the nagging fear that they're checking it all out. I never get this feeling with referrals or people who we've done work for in the past -- just the new people. When we set up a job we check with the catering staff to find out when they want us to come back and where everything will be (they very often move everything to a corner). We always bring a crate, a broom, dustpan, utility knives, and plastic bags. Anything made of balloons is swiped with utility knives if we know we can't use any of the components during the coming week. Small, uniform 4"-5" balloons make great covers for the weights on balloon groupings. We sweep up everything and take all the garbage with us. Everything that can be reused (tulle, pins, Fome-Cor components, Lomey dishes & pedestals, etc.) gets cleaned off and packed up for a future job -- including weights. QUOTES AND PROPOSALS We NEVER tell the customer that we need to visit the site and measure. Why? This could lead them to think that we are unfamiliar with popular wedding venues. We ask the name of the venue so that we can "check the specifications" of that venue from our computer records. "You would be surprised how many weddings we've done at the city Zoo." We find this impresses them more, as they begin to wonder if there is a venue in this city that you HAVEN'T decorated previously. It's building that perception in your customer's mind that your company is very experienced - knowledgable - stable - venue data at your fingertips - true pros! And if the customer asks you about the carpet colour in the Plaza Hotel, and you aren't familiar with it ..... don't say you don't know! Say, " Our CBA Stephanie usually decorates that venue, I'll check with her later." You hope they'll ask, "What is CBA?" Get what I mean? If you take your car to a mechanic, do you want to hear him say that it's the first time he has ever worked on that model Volkswagon? If we discover the venue to be new to us, then we (quietly) make an appointment to go do the measure and take notes. When an individual is trying to get prices without giving any information that will give you adequate details to bid a job and calls more than one time, you may wish to try the following. Each job we price is individually tailored to fit the location, personal taste and budget of the event we are doing. These are some basic starting prices. If you would like a more thorough bid I will be happy to meet with you for a one on one consultation. There will be a nominal advance charge of _________ for this consultation service. You receive a certificate that can be applied as a credit on your account when you place your actual event order. This helps us reserve our time, attention, and creativity to help plan the very best possible event for you. Would you like to schedule a morning, afternoon or evening appointment? Would ________ or ________ fit your schedule better? This type of presentation prevents people picking your brain for your competitors or at least compensates you for some of the time involved in helping your competitors design their marketing strategy and gives you a more professional image and presentation. You don't antagonize your serious customers who have difficulty making choices but you don't give away the store either. It communicates that you are a serious professional who strives to meet the individual needs of your clients. proposals - ask for a little information, ie: What theme would they like? What budget do they have for the decorating? What is the layout of the venue? If they don't know their budget, ask them questions like, how many guests, (work out a price per head) ie they say 500 guests, you think 500 x $5 per head, or $10 perhead= $2500 - $5000, you will usually get a reaction like "Oh my God, no we were thinking maybe $1000 tops! Then you know where you stand, and don't waste many hours coming up with endless theme ideas and decor that simply will not fit into their budget. SELLING When we get a customer who wants balloons we ask a few questions and find out if it is for a child's party or gift and the ages. If they are under 7 years of age we sell the the foils; 4" - 9" - bouquets of 18" and the Big shapes." Many of our customers have called us after to let us know, they were happy they opted to spend a little more for the balloons - because they found the results were fantastic! No crying children because their balloon broke and they last so much longer ! Increase your consumer education and foil sales! You'll find your customers will be impressed and appreciate the extra time and attention you give them. SALES TERMINOLOGY As many out there know, I am very particular about terminology when it comes to marketing and sales techniques. We are in the business of selling emotion, excitement and colour. The vast majority of our customers are women. In recognising this, we should all try to "appeal" to women with our marketing and sales skills. Words in our business that are unlikely to appeal to women are those such as; gas - stuffing - rubber - burst and blow-up. So ..... we teach our sales staff to use more appealing words in lieu. Gas becomes helium. Rubber - latex Burst - Pop Blow-up - inflate Balloons arranged in a bouquet "kiss" each other, rather than - touch. Something as simple as selective choice of terminology can mean the difference between having her say, "I'll think about it!" and .... squeezing the sales trigger that makes her say, "that sounds like just what I'm after!" Many of us sell a jumbo latex balloon filled with 100 smaller latex, feathers, confetti or the like. For years I've been looking for a better sales description or name than "Exploding Balloon". I've found this term sometimes turns a customer off. They immediately invision a threat of fire or possible injury from the "explosion". Or that Grandpa may suffer a heart attack being unprepared for the sudden "explosion". Bill McFaddin CBA recognised this many years ago and advocates to his students the use of the term "Disolving Balloon". Much better than the other word but, to me, didn't sell the EXCITEMENT that this special effect delivers. Disolving walls or disolving arches .... yes, but a single disolving jumbo?? I'm told that Aussie women tend to associate the word "disolving" with cooking, stitches in a wound and terminating a marriage contract. So .... maybe not the best word to use when selling the big moment as the bride and groom cut the wedding cake. No disrepect to Bill McFaddin, whom I respect and admire as one of the world's leading balloon decorators, an event specialist and marvelous tutor. Today I thought of a new sales description for the good old exploding balloon. What about "the suspended MAGIC BALLOON." The sales person's script says, "Abra cadabra ....bang .... and we transform what appears to be one balloon, into a spectacular shower of 100 balloons and shimmering confetti. The guests are initially startled, and then break into an instinctive round of applause". Our promotional flyers could simply say under the photo of a jumbo; "The Magic Balloon" ... we turn 1 balloon into 100 before your very eyes! rather than the term "double stuffing," how about "color transformation"? I would like to add to your list of words if I may, the word "Centerpiece" I always use and educate my customers by saying "Table Decor". No matter how you say it, to me it sounds classy and describes exactly what we do. We are in the sense of the word "decorating the table" so why not use it and give our customer a classy new word for our creations. I also think that "The Magic Balloon" is perfect. And you describe be perfectly. Converting 1 balloon into 100. But the double stuffing, you can not use the word color transformation due to the fact that when using a colored latex inside a clear it is not transforming. When using the Diamond Clear Just Married print around with a coloured balloon inside we call it a lace over effect and liken it to a brides gown - you know satin with a lace overlay. I explain to my brides that have balloons outside or inside with no a/c or in this "wonderful" summer weather that with the weather conditions, our balloons will take on a "frosted" look so there are no surprises!! "Frosted" sure sounds better than "Cloudy", huh?? =) SELLING Hi-Float

Do you sell Hi Float or keep it as a 'trade secret'?
I use it as an add-on sale when selling balloons "to go." I always have asked customers if they would like HI-FLOAT, tell them the benefits, and the small additional price per balloon. I think it's a bargain at 3 C-shells per dozen balloons and customers love it.
I think all deliveries should be HI-FLOATed, since the longer the balloons last, the longer they will be around to remind people of your business. I like to deliver big bouquets of HI-FLOATed 16-inch balloons to office buildings. That way the recipient is less likely to take the balloons home from work (they're too big!) and more likely to leave them on their desk. (I'm getting paid to advertise!) Let me tell you, a 16-inch with HI-FLOAT lasts a mighty long time!!!
When selling balloons with HI-FLOAT, let me recommend that you add a tag that explains that the balloons were treated. Otherwise the customer or recipient won't know/remember and will likely develop an unrealistic impression of how long latex balloons last w/o treatment. That can come back to bite you. Ask me to tell you about the disgruntled customer I had once because of this very thing!
If someone comes into the shop for a few balloons, we sell them Hi Float as an add-on sale. Some customers want it, and some don't see the need.

PACKAGE DEALS I started out doing parties for, on average, 100 C-shells. Then I found that I could do an arch at a wedding for the same amount with a lot less work and materials. So I decided to do only weddings. I found that the small jobs didn't have enough pizazz to catch the attentions that would get me more and bigger paying jobs. So I decided to offer only packages. Now when a bride comes in to check out the price on an item I show them what they are asking about (like an arch behind the head table). Then I explain the QBN recommended decoration spots. I show her the matching dance floor, center pieces, cake and gift table (using all those exciting words) I then explain how the arch behind the head table would cost say $X, the dance floor usually starts at $Y. But they can get this "Clouds of Love" packages for only $Z (less than X+Y). So you get your centerpieces, cake and gift table done for free. Then if need be you can then show them the money they will save going with your packages (such as not paying for other centerpiece). From there you can move them up to your next (higher priced) package, add lights or more centerpieces. I have been very blessed with brides that listen and understand. The bride wants what is best. You know what is best, the whole package. When my brides walk into their hall they are in awe. That's why I do balloons. People seeing the wedding will ask who did you decor and you will get more calls. It works for me. I have a wedding brochure that outlines some "packages" the brides can choose from. Of course there is a choice of good (budget), better and best. It took me several days of concentrated effort then a week or two to refine my "package pricing" sheet. First you need to get a handle on what wedding components you offer: Pearl arches, swirl arches, basic centerpieces everything. Write all these on a piece of paper with their prices = this wil be the start of your A La Carte sheet. Then find 4 - 6 of those items which fall in price range #1, for example 100 peanuts Then find 5 - 7 of those items which fall in price range #2, for example 200 peanuts Then find 5 - 7 of those items which fall in price range #3, for example 300 peanuts (for this packaging, you might combine items such as 4' heart with 2 fantasy clouds = 1 item) Then you could offer an Economy package of three items for 300 peanuts minus 10 - 15% Mid-range package of 4 items for 800 peanuts minus 10 - 15% Deluxe package of 4 items for 1200 peanuts minus 10 - 15 % The prices only need to fall in the given range of items - for example items in eceonomy pkg average 100 peanuts , some may be 110 peanuts, some 90 peanuts. Remember that the prices of items in the package must add up to be less than their price if purchased separately, the items must be easy to set up and use limited or no framing or other components which would require striking by your staff. You don't want to cheat yourself, so be careful to not give away the store. If you are pricing correctly, then you will still make money on the packages. I have a lot of brides come to me because the prices in the packages look enticing, but they usually end up purchasing a la carte or adding to a basic package. After trying numerous different ways to set up our wedding packages through the years, the one we have found to be the easiest for us, as well as the most popular for our brides is the "mix and match" method. In all levels of our packages (i.e., cheapest, less cheap, and not-so-cheap), we give the brides a choice of 5, 7, or 9 items (i.e. cheapest = 5 items; less cheap = 7 items; and not-so-cheap = 9 items). From these choices, they may choose any 3. Of course, the more expensive the package price, the more expensive each of the item choices will be. We used to put specific items in each package, but found that some brides wanted centerpieces and entry decor, while others only wanted dance floor and head table decor. We try to put at least 1, sometimes 2, and maybe even 3 of each type of item in each package - dance floor, centerpieces, head table, cake table, entry, etc. This way, they feel they can pick what THEY want thus being more in control of their "package" and yet they are getting the bargain price of a package as opposed to premium priced custom decor. We also always make sure that no matter which 3 items they choose, they will get at least a small discount off the full retail price of those same 3 items if they bought them a'la carte. Special notice should be made here that over 80% of our brides up-grade or add on to the packages because they usually want more than the 3 items. We have a video that we show to prospective brides during consultations as well as at bridal shows. What we have done is to dub off the video we take on site when we are finished decorating as well as all of the photographs we have taken, onto a tape, add music and there you have it!! Great selling tool, and you don't have to have all of your photo albums available all of the time for people to look at... Works great! REFERENCES we provide new clients with a list of 5-6 client references. Since we always follow up with our clients after an event, both with a phone call and a written questionnaire, one of the questions we ask is ... "May we use us as a reference? If so, how would you like to be contacted?" This is the information we put on the list -- Client's Name ( if it's a corporated account, our contact), address & phone number. Some clients do ask, not to be contact by phone, so the phone # is excluded and that requested is stated on our reference list. Nothing more. I only list clients, who have given us permission. Most are very happy to do this. And our future clients are pleased they have the information. After a job of any type we send the party that hired us a questionnaire along with a stamped return envelope. The cover letter thanks them for hiring us and explains that we would like them to complete the questionnaire. It also explains that while we like positive comments we learn from negative comments, so both are appreciated. The questionnaire consists of five or six generic questions. Each question line is followed by a line with "Yes", "No" and "Comments" We always have a two part question on each questionnaire; "Would you recommend us for other engagements?" and "If yes, may we use your name, address and phone number as references for other engagements if we are required to provide them?" Every questionaire we have sent has been returned. Most of them will fill in the comments section which we then use in our literature. Usually by stating "Our customers have said ---------." Most important is we are building up a reference list. When we are contacted by a potential customer that requires references, I will go through the questionnaires to find the ones that had similar services to the requesting the references. I would probably not send a reference from someone who had balloons only to a business that wanted a stage show only. This has been the best tool we have used to gauge how we are doing. These are just little things, but they do help to hear how the clients feel. We have almost never received a negative comment and everyone has always agreed to giving the reference. For small deliveries I give out a self addressed stamped postcard with a few questions on their response to the show, and a space for comments. There is a box they can check if they don't mind being used as a referral. I'm running a business; most people appreciate that and with few exceptions are very willing to help me out. For larger corporate functions I have just recently started the practice of *asking* for comments on their business'/organization's letterhead, and whether they would mind being a personal reference. Include a SASE. CUSTOMERS WHO BRING THEIR OWN BALLOONS I have had brides & clients bring balloons before for my use. I tell them I do not guarantee that the balloons will float for any specific amount of time, also the savings is not what they think it is. If I charge 1.00 C-shell for a helium filled latex balloon, my cost of balloons I would have supplied is 0.08 C-shells, and 0.92 C-shells is their cost for helium, labor, delivery, etc. So, they have actually saved only the cost of the balloon which they have spent on the cheapies and also have no guarantee of the balloons floating or holding air for a specific amount of time. I also put the loss of guarantee in writing and have them sign it so if there is a problem they aren't knocking at my door. When I explain this, most people opt for my quality balloons. Your balloons represent you and your business. There are many potential customers at the wedding. You want them to see your best work. Maybe if you tell the customer that it costs the same, her balloons or your balloons, she will return the "cheap balloons". It is one thing if someone comes to me with a dozen of their own balloons to inflate, but a decorating job for a wedding is different. With all the time and energy you will put into her wedding she deserves the best quality balloons you can supply. in regards to the bride that wants her decorator to use balloons she bought at the dollar store - PLEASE DON'T GIVE IN - this is a disaster waiting to happen. Besides the obvious "but you've been waiting for this day all your life and you deserve the very best on your wedding day" speech - I think the way to get yourselves off the hook would be to nicely explain that it would cost the bride less to use your "decorator quality" balloons than it would be to use the cheap balloons she bought at the dollar store (plus it will look ten times better and last through out the whole reception). You could explain to her that you are able to get the job done much quicker by using a professional balloon that will hold up under the pressure of the helium tanks and air machines, and that you also can guarantee the float time. Explain that if you were to use her "cheap" balloons, you would have to charge for the helium that went into every popped balloon, and there would be more labor hours involved that you would have to charge for because you can't work as quickly if the balloons pop easily. If she still isn't convinced, have her bring them in and put them to the test against your balloon right in front of her. Will her balloon withstand the pressure of the helium and/or air equipment? Do they shine and look as pretty? How long will they float, will they float as long? Are the balloons able to be packed tightly into a garland for an arch or column? I am sure the answer to all of these is probably "no", and that should solve the problem instantly. Most people just need to be educated, and by showing her she will probably understand and trust you. If you have a sensitive postal scale, show the customer the difference in weight between a bag of her balloons and a bag of yours. So that she doesn't feel like she's wasted her money, why not suggest that she give those balloons to the people throwing her wedding shower - let's just hope THEY don't bring them to you to fill and decorate the shower with! I also don't give when it comes to the *cheap* balloons.....especially for decor. I usually tell the brides that I will not guarantee these balloons and why. I have never had one that did not use my balloons after explaining why. If they bring balloons just to inflate and try ribbons on, I explain to them that I do not guarantee them and why, and they will have to pay for any wasted helium. And we all know that there will be wasted helium. Most of them will again go with my balloons......not always.......but usually. I also make the price unattractive to them for blowing up their balloons. I also make it clear to them that they have to be 11" or bigger or I will not inflate them at all. I have had customers bring me in two different sizes.....9 inch and 11 inch stating they are both 11".......that is when I will blow them up with air to show them the size difference. I also have in my agreement that there will not be any other balloons on the site that I am doing work on for their event or wedding that are not mine. I reserve the right to refuse the job and since it would be breaking the agreement on their part, that means that the retainer fee still will not be refunded. It seems that after you explain why to people, they understand and don't push the matter. I would absolutely refuse to use her balloons. The reason being - and I speak from experience - IF her balloons are defective in any way - either they won't hold helium, break or they "pear" then it makes a bad reflection on you. I always tell my clients that good quality is a reflection not only on you the decorator, but on them, the person giving the party. The other thing is that if you do any other decor, like a heart or arch, you will use your favorite brand of balloons. The colors may not match. She is really not saving that much money when it comes down to it. Therefore, my response to that bride who tries to "penny pinch" is that she find another decorator. It's probably not worth it to you to have to try to convince her otherwise if her mind is set. Our policy on customers balloons is that they pay us as if we supplied the balloons unless we can verify the quality of them. If they are Qualatex or one of the other good brands we will allow approximately 25 cents off per balloon. Please use this price only as a guide. I will not work with balloons supplied by a clients. It is my name that is on the decor ( not Billy Bob and his cheap balloons). Sure maybe one average job ( using their balloons ) might not hurt my business. But a great job will lead to many more ( and so on ). Don't ever waste a chance to advertise. Each job you do is a full color ad. Someone at that functions will need a balloon artist, sometime. Show them your the best .Who they gonna call ? Not the ghost busters. ( sorry couldn't resist ) When a client insist on using their own balloons. I charge the same price as if I were using my own. Educate your clients. Explain and show them the difference in the product. Then I tell them, " It is important to me that you have only the best, so at no extra charge I'll will use the better balloons ". ( you already had the balloons in the price ) The client is pleased. They feel special, and your friends forever. GREAT PRODUCT + GREAT WORK = GREAT MONEY ! I will not use customers balloons. If you decide to use the schools cheap balloons make sure you put in your contract that you can not be held responsible for any of your decor that uses their balloons. As far as high floating junk balloons, once you add the cost of high-float ( very low ) then labor ( time consuming and costly ) it would be about the same price to buy a better brand of balloon that you can trust. ( use their junk balloons for weights ) Always remember a great job will get you more jobs. A poor job ( no matter why ) will lose work for you. So with that thought , can you afford not to use a better product. Clients wanting to help We agreed to do some decorations for a silent auction fundraiser for a church. Their plan was to have parents do most of the work needed to decorate a very large hall. The design was to transform the hall into a bigtop with ceiling treatments and large murals covering the walls and large buckets of popcorn and peanuts as table centerpieces. We were contracted to build some clown columns and arches for the entryway. It is our habit to build everything in the warehouse and finish up with the helium on site. When we arrived (ahead of schedule) on the day of the event and started setting up, people began yelling 'they're here!!'. The group got larger and they were yelling and getting louder. Apparently some of the parents had decided to add helium balloons to the buckets of popcorn. They'd rented a tank and bought some cheap 9 inch balloons and came in the night before to inflate and tie them to the tables. The room was so brightly colored with different colored table cloths and napkins, and we had not noticed all the dead balloons. Many people thought we had done them and were furious with us. They wanted us to fix all 65 tables. We completed the work we were contracted to do, and offered to help for a fee. The crowd became very mean, and of all the parents who participated, NO ONE fessed up to the balloons. The church canceled our check. When we went back at 11pm to strike, all of our stuff was gone. They told us it was in another room. When we went there, there were 4 parents taking every thing apart. Their quote was "we wanted to see how you made everyting so we don't get screwed by another balloons company next year." We were contracted to create 10 or 12 columns for a radio station. They wanted to use their imprinted logo balloons, and insisted they were Qualatex. They weren't. The popage rate was outrageous and quality was vary poor! They provided us with twice the balloons we needed, but because of poppage we barely had enough balloons, and it took 3 hours longer than planned. The latex itself was so bad that it damaged the skin of my fingers. For a job that only paid labor, it ruined our hands for our following real jobs. For a graduation ceremony, we did the arch over the stage and they provided their own balloons for their students to do a realease. We informed them of the proper way to do a release (hand tie, no ribbon etc.). After the arch was built they walked out with the balloons to release... all with discs and metalic ribbon... they said it would look better in their photos. BE CAREFUL - think before you accept a job. We now have a clause in our contract that there may be no balloons at the event that we have not provided. If we arrive on site and there are balloons present, we inform them they have breeched their contact and they can either remove the other balloons or we walk. We recently did a job for a customer that asked us to not only provide her with decor, but she stated that she had some balloons of her own that she wanted us to blow up. We agreed to do it. We did ask a lot of questions, though, because we needed to know how much additional helium to bring. When we got there, she had told us they were 11 inchers and they turned out to be 16's. She had two gross of them and we couldn't do the job properly because she didn't know the difference. SO, now our policy is that we will not blow up any balloons unless they are shipped to us directly and we see the quality of the balloons. In the past we did the same thing and the balloons popped like crazy. They also didn't hold the helium, and we had a dissatisfied customer. Some of our Bar Mitzvah clients want to be involved in designing and creating their centerpieces. They may have an idea but not a glimmer of how to execute it. Or they may execute it...well or badly. Most of the time I quote them a price to do what they've requested, and also a price to do the entire job. They usually opt to have us do it all. Before accepting this type of work, make certain that you see a completed centerpiece or have them bring you the balloons. Examine each and make recommendations accordingly. Invariably, these customers become walking billboards for us because they are so personally involved in their event decor. They always give us repeat business and referrals; they always increase their budget on their next event; and they always have us do more decor at each future event. If their idea or mock up is really 'tacky', I make suggestions and give them design ideas that are within their budget and ability. If the customer wants to make their own centerpiece there is not much you can do about it. As for blowing their balloons, we discourage it. We must see the balloons first, and we do not discount the overall price of the work. We inform them that we won't be responsible for the succeess of their balloons. That will generally discourage them, so that they won't bother. What do you do when a do-it-yourself-er comes into your store to get information on directions to do decor for which they don't want to hire you? I politely ask them if they also plan on asking the city's top chef if he will write down his recipe for their 4 course meal ...... because they can't afford to have him cook for them. They could also ask a magician to teach them all his card tricks, so they won't have to pay the magician to entertain. If you are polite and throw these questions back to them WITH A SMILE, I think they'll understand that you are not about to give them freebies as your business is just as professional as any other . They should in fact feel that they have insulted your profession for even asking. Some want freebies and are bold enough to ask. I still try to be polite to these type of people because if you help them out, they could be really good customers in the future. I don't give them the instructions but I let them know that it is not as easy as giving them instructions and setting them on their own... that it takes learning a lot of techniques before even thinking of putting the item together, and even if I did give them the instructions, they more than likely would be unhappy with the results. I make it sound like more of a process than it actually is and that it takes more time then it actually does. They either go on their way or ask about our company doing the work for them. If I can fit them in, I am always glad to do it for them. If I can't, then they should have been thinking about it way ahead of time. PROBLEM CUSTOMERS About your problem customer, stick to your guns. If she truly is being unreasonable, then she is that way at most places (and with most people) that she deals with. If she can get you to bend her way, she may (may not) become a repeat customer. She won't change and you'll have the same type of issue with her the next time she shops. Is it worth it? Many people erroneously believe that she will "tell 10 people" about her "terrible" service and that they will believe her and stay away from your shop as a result. In my experience (I ran a store for many years) people are well aware of her credibility and if she mentions your shop in a derogatory way, they won't take her seriously. So if she mentions your shop, even negetively, it's just advertising. Some people are marginally dishonest. That is to say they may take advantage of you if you allow them, but in general, won't steal etc. They just like to make a scene in hopes that you will drop the price, give them something for free, etc. Again, if you comply, you are setting yourself up for more hassles in the future. They will probably tell you that they'll "never shop here again", or they'll "tell their friends not to shop here", but that is just talk. As soon as they need something that you have, they will forget their grievance really quickly! This is not to say, that if they have a legitimate complaint that you don't act on it. The quicker you fix and overfix the challenge the better, but if you really believe they are being unreasonable, stick to your guns! You are much better off if you treat your GOOD customers so well that you knock their socks off. They are the ones others will believe, they have credibility and when they mention your name, you can be sure its worth it! Also, your GOOD customers are much more likely to become loyal and shop with you well into the future. I find that in todays environment of trying to please everyone, its the "squeeky wheel that gets the grease", the obnoxious customers get everything and the timid but pleasant and honest customer gets nothing extra. If you want to attract the better shopper, reward them, not the others. LAST MINUTE JOBS Business is business. fit 'em in where you have a space, or you pass 'em on to a networking (friendly) competitor when you haven't got the space. NEVER miss an oportunity to sell 'em balloons. In my classes I constantly remind everyone that we are in a business that is closely related to the hospitality, entertainment, wedding, promotions, retailing and domestic service industries. We gotta be flexible! That in itself is a unique skill. So .... "milk it" as part of your speciality and point of difference. "Yes m'am, we do have the resourses to accomodate your party on such short notice!" On the "charge out" side of this issue ..... the customers that come to you on such short notice will normally expect to pay a small premium for fitting them in. So .... do it! Ask for the short notice premium up front, or simply bury it in the quote without a mention. We prefer the latter. Sometimes they will say, "and is there extra to pay for short notice?" To which you can reply, "Tipping the decor crew in accordance with your satisfaction is appreciated." This also gives you clear and immediate feedback. Customer feels he will only have to pay extra if satisfied. The crew members also get a personal reward. Everyone wins! This raises another point I would like to make. For the life of me, I can not understand why anyone out there in this business closes their doors on Sunday .... or on any day. We are in the celebration business! People party on weekends! Why not open for business ALL weekend??? Religious beliefs and activities may dictate that you don't work on the sabath. O.K .... Employ someone to open on Sundays if you must. Does anyone know a landlord who only charges rent on the property for 6 days a week? If I pay rent for 7 days .... I trade for 7 days! If the customer wants the decor done after midnight or a delivery at precisely 6 minutes after midday ..... that's what they get .... and that's what they will pay for. SERVICE! When you deliver service with a capital "S" .... price becomes secondary. Guess when brides find the time to go and inspect churches, reception venues and wedding car companies???? Sundays! They get Mom and their best girlfriend in tow, and off they go .... wedding shopping. Dolly's business books 75% of her wedding decor jobs on a Sunday. Is it the same in the USA and Europe? I should think so??? Let 'em sit on a couch, browse the portfolio, touch the products you sell, see your awards and letters of thanks, give them a coffee, sample colours to match to their dress ...... all the things that "Ajax Balloons" doesn't offer. What do brides want from their wedding day? They want to feel they are the centre of attention. This is their day. They expect brides to be spoiled with attention. Spoil 'em with service and kindness and they will in turn reward you with an order. I have a few last minute customers myself. I take the opportunity to up sale. The first thing I say, is due to the time restraints. This is what we can do. Most customers understand they are late ordering so it usually is not a problem. I may add overnight shipping charges, something else. Most of my distributors understand. We just tack on the extra charges, whether it be overnight charges or surcharges. Be happy for any job you get and don't to worry if there is no time. This is a service industry and I should be prepared to offer the services I advertise. Educate customers as to the costs associated with a last minute job. Accept the job and bury any additional cost in the final quote and tell the customer that the only "charge" would be to tip the crew if desired. Another suggested being up front about a "rush charge" but then eliminating it out of goodwill, thereby creating postive feelings that the customer is getting a break on the price the first time. The customer than goes away feeling she got a deal and tells others you need more time. The charge can than be added the next time the same customer needs a rush job and there will be no surprises. Most everyone agreed that it was acceptable to pass on the costs for overnight shipping and other costs directly to the customer. And the general feeling was to just get used to the late comers as it seems to be human nature to procrastinate and there will always be the few who will want the absolute last minute decorating. REFUSING SERVICE

Refusing Service

Earlier in the year we briefly discussed the legalities of refusing service to lawyers. One thing that was mentioned was that it would be discrimination to do so and I replied that lawyers were a bad risk and insurance companies discriminate against people they consider to be a bad risk everyday.
I entertained at the WA Osteopathic Convention yesterday and learned that one of their seminars was on this subject. I was told that the seminar taught that a business has "the right to refuse service". It was also recommended that these Osteopathic Doctors refuse service to lawyers and their immediate families because of the high risk of related litigation.
I found this to be particularly interesting because I had refused service to a law firm only two days before. The gentleman I spoke with told me that I could not do that because it was discrimination. I responded by telling him that I considered them to be a bad risk because of the high percentage of lawsuits that are filed by lawyers. I must have used a magic word because there was no more argument after that.

WORKING WITH EVENT PLANNERS On some of the jobs we receive through event planners where we meet with the client directly (with or without the planner), we know that we will be sending the event planner a 10% referral fee, so we just add 10% to any fees discussed. It's best to say something like, "I'll work out exact costs and fax these to you later today". Then do it. This gives you time to make certain your costs are covered. If an event planner books something with us over the phone, and we don't need to take any time meeting, planning, designing, etc. I feel like 15-20% is fair depending on the size of the job and the profitability. In the first scenario, the contract goes directly to the client. After the event - and payment - a copy of the final contract and the referral fee are sent to the event planner along with a thank you note. In the second case, the event planner receives the original contract along with any updates and is billed 15-20% less than the stated cost. The planner should be paid for her advice, creativity and for orchestrating the event, that's why many charge the percentage over and above the cost of materials (linnens, band/DJ, ballons etc). I deal with several planners and I will give them a discount on standard items only. They get a rate sheet at the beginning of the year with their prices on standard items such as bouquets, sculptured hearts/letters/numbers (easy sculptures), columns, and arches. Anything that is complicated or custom, such as centerpieces, is priced at my rates. If she can sell the client on basic decor and I don't have to deal with the client, then she is doing me a favor and I will give that price break (my discount is more like 10% off regular rates). But if I have to design a complex room decor scheme or if I have to build a centerpiece and provide a prototype for the client to see, then there is just as much work as if I had the client in my office - hence no discount. What you will give the planner is a small selection of photos of your standard work, with some of your most popular centerpieces and just one or two of your most creative photos (just to wet the appetite). Then you tell the planner that she is responsible for taking her own photos of the work you do for her and she will build a portfolio from there. We work in a similar method. We offer a package to the planners that includes basic centerpieces, a small arch, a topiary heart and several bouquets. If we don't have to see the bride, we'll give them 10% off of the retail price of that package. Anything out of the ordinary is not discounted. You're point on dealing with the event planner is well taken. If they are going to be as difficult to work with as a bride, then you should be paid for your time, not 80% of your time! We have ours "trained" to know what their choices are if they want the discounted price, and they usually are fine with that. We'd rather lose the job than lost the profit! We have found in our area that we use 2 percentages. If we do not have to meet with the client and just have to show up to do the balloons we give 20%. This happens because there are times when all the client wants is balloons added to centerpieces and an arch --- basic things. The party planners we work with have pictures of some of our work so that the client can see the quality. If we meet with the client the party planner gets 10%. We do this with florists also. We work with lots of planners... and we give them "quality"!!! We will NOT EVER drop our price, but rather we will provide them worry free professional decor. Now, I will ask you .... do you do the same? Yes... or No... I hope the answer is YES! Please think of this opportunity.... Major client has gone to an "Event Planner" Why? This answer is easy they have a major event and want it to be perfect, with one contact person/company !!! Do you think they want the cheapest balloons? No they want the most professional Decor package possible... You must be selling a complete professional decor package, and this is how much our balloons cost. In return, the event planner will now sell your DECOR to compliment their complete package (Total dollar) and not .... here is the cost per balloon! PROMS I send letters to each middle school, high school and college in my area. The middle schools and high schools were sent to the prom committee chairperson, and the colleges were sent to administration. I only did this once and the response was great. Here's how I contacted the schools. 1. I looked up all the high schools in the telephone book. I looked them up in the Yellow Pages under schools and then again under the county board of education section in the "blue pages" to make sure I hadn't left any out. 2. I set up a page (actually in excel) with a section for each: school name, phone #, teacher name, and notes. 3. I called each school and got this information. 4. Here's my telephone script: "Leeds High School." "Hi, this is Sharon Buck with Balloon Sculptures & Designs (say this with a smile in your voice and speak slowly). Who is the teacher who is handling the prom decorations?" pause 5. "Oh, um, that's Ruth Bowles." 6. "When is the best time to reach Mrs. Bowles? I know it will be Monday (or whatever the following day is - the big thing is they don't want to have to pull the teacher from class) 7. "Yes, she's teaching right now. Her free period is 12-12:45." 8. "Thank you so very much (smile in the voice and, yes, I do talk like that :-)) I appreciate it. I'll call Monday. Thank you again." Here's what I found out: first, the office secretary is intrigued by the balloon angle; I'm not a "typical" salesperson; because I want "nothing" from them except the teacher's name and free period, i.e., they aren't having to look up information, etc.; by being nice (aren't we all) they're willing to help out. Once I've talked to the teacher, I simply ask if I may stop by during her free period and take 5 minutes to show her a couple of pictures of the "type of work I do." Notice, I didn't say I had done them. Since I haven't done a prom yet but I do have photographs of designs I do know how to do, I do not feel/believe I am misleading anyone. We offer our services to the schools in three different ways and let them choose. 1. They can purchase supplies in our store and do everything themselves. 2. We can do the entire job ourselves with our staff or 3. We will furnish materials and team leaders to guide the students. The kids do all the work and the team leaders show them how and we supply the equipment. Each method has a different price and normally they select the 3rd method. It saves them some money and gives them so much more for the money spent. We have been working with three high schools for three years and the expenditures vary up to 2800 C-shells. Are you meeting with the teacher or the entire commitee? Usually I find that the teacher turns the meeting entirely over to me. Before the meeting I ask where the dance will be held (check to see how much time you'll have on site), what their theme is, what their budget is, what colors they'd like, the feeling for the event, etc. Do your homework and check the Anderson's, Stumps and other decor catalogues - the kids are probably going through and purchasing prom favors, etc. Use their ideas as a jumping board, but don't duplicate them. Try NOT to have the students help you to save money - a major headache (at least for us), and most likely an unwanted photo for your portfolio. At the meeting, come prepared with some samples - it's a heck of an easy sell if you have a sample that can be "broken apart" so that each of the five couples at the table takes something home. They will always spend more for that type of centerpiece. They most likely will want centerpieces, dance floor decor, entry decor and perhaps photo backdrop decor if the photographer doesn't provide it. Our average prom budget is 500-1000 C-shells and they always find more money if they get excited about how it will look. Sometimes I meet the committee at the site and use a lot of adjectives to describe how the room will look AFTER we're finished -- it's usually gloomy, empty and VERY un- magical so even a simple double bubble looks smashing if you've added something glitzy to it. I bring three samples - one much higher than their stated budget and I pass around photographs (the larger the committee, the few photos I bring) and listen to the comments. Go with what they like - let them vote on them. Majority decides. Prepare a contract and send it to the teacher's/sponsor's attention and remember to bill the school 3 or 4 days before the event - they usually take a bit of time to pay. Prom contracts: our experience is no deposits, no up front money. Bill ahead of time. The staff advisor to the students submits the bill, the check is cut and the advisor guards the check with his life. On completion of the work... ie the job is struck and cleaned up. He relaeses the check to you. We have had no problem with cancellations after they ask for the bill. We have always billed for prom decor the Monday after the prom. However, they have always asked if we needed a deposit. If you are unsure if they are serious I wouldn't hesitate to ask for a deposit. I am sure that you wouldn't be the only vendor to ask for something up front. Also, we charge the same as we do for wedding work. An exception is if there are extra charges for something because you are doing all purchases as opposed to a rental that you might do for a bride. I once had someone tell me that they figure everything for a prom to be a sale; nothing is going to be returned. We have done rental centerpieces and only one was taken by one of the students. One was broken, so they paid for two of them. Of course, they knew up front that they would have to pay for anything broken or not there when we did teardown. CAR DEALERSHIPS Most car dealerships have their own helium tank and put up their own balloons. But a balloon artist can still do lots of things for a car dealership that they can't do for themselves. We can: Build a canopy around and over the STAR CAR that month.... We can obtain Custom Imprints with his logo or "SALE" or anything he may want to get across his clients......( Check his dealer co-op advertising plan...sometimes big companies like Ford and Chevy will help pay part of his advertising costs if the logo is included!! ) We can build a giant Hot Dog and Coke Can ... Or a PIG sculpture for his next BarBQ/Pig Roast. For that matter...we can build a BALLOON CAR in his showroom !!! We can install a star shaped balloon drop to spill out over the clients while the name of the big winner in that months contest is drawn...... We can do a CLIENT APPRECIATION bouquet.....Suggest he send a nice display of Thank You Balloons and a few of his imprints to clients to THANK them for purchasing with him....Buy enough in a month and give him a deal ... remember...each one of those bouquets has YOUR name on them somewhere!! :) We can use RIBBON..instead of kite string.....lol....oh pretty :) What we can do that "JUNIOR" can't do is limited only by what we think we can do....use your imagination and go talk to them.... Sometimes they don't know what they want till WE tell them :) RENTALS Selling vs. renting - we almost always rent Centerpieces that have any kind of expensive design components. What I do is come up with a price of what the centerpiece would sell for (using my QBN job cost form, of course!), and then I add up all of the design components that can be re-used in the centerpiece (design dish, acrylic tube, pedestals, votive candles, etc.) and take that number off of the selling price. For example, if I am building a two-tier pedestal arrangement with votive candles and expensive wired ribbon spiraling down the pole, I would add up all of the re-usable items - let's say the cost just for design components is $10.50 (not balloons or any type of filler - just the main "skeleton" of the centerpiece). We have calculated that the selling price for this arrangement will be $40.00 - so by subtracting the cost of design elements ($10.50) - the rental price I would charge would be $29.50. When I caculated the selling price I figured in the cost of the components + profit - so by taking off the cost of the components on the rental price I am only giving up the profit on the components themselves (not the whole centerpiece). I am still coming out way ahead because I have charged the client for the cost of the components and when I rent this centerpiece again it will be pure profit. By figuring both prices for the client - you are letting them make the decision as to whether they want to rent or buy. Most people will not have any use with the centerpiece after the event anyway, so they will probably choose to save some money and rent. Then you can point out to them that since they just saved $315.00 on their 30 table centerpieces, you can add an awesome entrance arch for their guests to walk-thru when the enter the party - since they rented the centerpieces, it's like getting the arch for free (or so they think!). Oh yeah - Don't forget - always take a deposit or credit card to secure any rental items!

Rentals: Arches and Frames

We are adding more frames to our selections. Do you charge a security deposit on each frame or a basic fee for the whole thing? The columns cost me 50 C-shells each. I would hate to lose them, but 200+ C-shells in security seems a lot.
It's easy to do security. If anyone ever objects, I say it's just like renting a car.
We have a standard rental contract that's part of the decorating contract. If there are no rentals, I zap it out before printing the contract. (Look to friends in the party rental business for contract ideas.) At the end of the contract we have a security deposit amount. We request either a credit card # with signature, or cash. We do not accept checks for security.
If any damage or losses occur, then we run the credit card or don't return the cash. This is rare! Most clients are very good about their rentals if their money is on the line. As far as an amount, I usually estimate what the total will be and put that on the contract. We don't run the credit card, unless we suspect it isn't any good, then we run a test sale and reverse it.
Believe me, we get our rentals back!! The other thing we do is charge a high fee to go out after hours (especially after midnight) to retrieve rentals, if a facility is unwilling to store them overnight. Most facilities are very cooperative, but some are snippy. If we know in advance, it's to everyone's advantage to pick up rentals right away. A clean-up, or striking, fee can also be included.
It sounds silly to me to say 'That will cost 30 C-shells and that's a rental price... so...you Hafta return the frames ... cause I said so... or else I'll bill you.'
Instead, all of my proposals say 'The rental price for the item is 30 C-shells and the purchase price is 200 C-shells. Which would you prefer?' Make the purchase price high. You don't want them going to K-mart and buying balloons next year and trying to refill the frame.

Want to form better relations with the other balloonies in town? When introducing yourself to them, let them know that you are willing to rent to them your SDS panels, base plates, electric inflators etc rather than them having to buy additional equipment. Again, you get some income to cover capital expenditure ..... they might return the offer to you .....and thereby reduce your initial expenditure on new equipment. Everone wins! Adopt a company policy of renting equipment to reputable balloon pros ONLY. NEVER rent out your professional balloon equipment (base plates, etc.) to laypersons if you are not doing the balloon work! You have invested lots of money into your education to make you the balloon professional that you are. You are under NO obligation to give away any trade secrets that you spent this money to learn. I have had people ask and I look at them sweetly and say with a smile on my face "I can't tell you that! It's a trade secret!" The hardware that you use is part of what you have spent money on to learn! Without the right hardware, nothing works. Just be super sweet while you tell them "No." Or by using the term "company policy" it comes across a little ... softer. It's kind of like the decision was made by a third person (the company). You would really love to oblige ..... but it's against company policy. Drats! have at least 2 electric air inflators. As a means to gradually recoup your capital outlay on equipment, rent out the spare electric inflator for those customers who need to inflate hundreds of latex without using lungs. Eg; the local scouts group who don't want a decorator ..... just the balloons for the kids to inflate themselves. We have about 6 inflators and 2 or 3 rented out every weekend. I have been using archways, columns, tulle, lights, ivy and so on in my decorating as rental items. I set up a form that the client receives along with all of the rental items that explains exactly how I would like the rental items returned. For example, Ivy Candle Bowls: Rinsed and dried, rewrapped in plastic provided and put into tubs.... Everything is explained in simple terms with everything supplied to cut down on the time I have to spend repacking, wrapping etc. these things when they come back. I have on the form that if the items are returned in any other fashion (like tulle balled up) they will lose a portion of their security deposit to cover the time it takes us to do these things. This helps keep my prices affordable. We always ask for a signed credit card imprint when renting items. We tell renters that the imprint will be returned so long as the items are not damaged and returned according to the rental agreement. If they don't have a credit card...always ask for a security deposit worth at least 3x the rental value...It's better to be safe and ask for a large deposit then be sorry afterwards. Our rental agreement specifically states that if the items are not returned in the proper fashion, or are returned damaged, or are not returned at all... the owner shall be authorized to charge the Renter's credit card for all damages resulting from their actions... also, if the items are not returned... you should have the right to repossess the items or take legal action against them... which legal fees they shall be responsible for... All this should be stated in fine print on the bottom of your rental invoice... and Renters must always sign and date it to indicate their acceptance... this is where you request a signed charge card imprint... It's similar to when you rent a car..... I'm not sure whether you've adopted this procedure already. If so, that's great. If not, we suggest you do asap, even if it means altering your rental invoices and procedures. Oh, and lastly..always make sure your rental invoice specifies all the pieces rented...and exact dates and times for return....and...that the items are to be returned in the proper fashion or there will be a 25% surcharge on their credit card (or whatever % you wish to charge). The surcharge must be specifically set out and BOLDED (on the invoice) so that they are aware of it...and always verbally advise them of your policies while they are filling out the rental agreement...They can't come back later and say they didn't know...Posting your rental procedures at the front desk is also a must..Trust me...it's really important, especially if it ends up in a dispute...we've had horror stories in the past and had to set strict procedures... Please don't be afraid to surcharge...renters know their responsibilities..some just don't care...do not let Renters get away with leaving you with hours of work and never tolerate items that are returned damaged. You must charge them! Your time is $$$$. I have gotten into many rental items in my shop and really have no method anymore as far as how to price them. I used to say after 3 rentals they should be paid for, but now am pretty much going on what the competition is charging. Some of my items pay for themselves the first time they are rented, like white corded lights and tulle, others like my columns took 2x, my archways took 3.5x, ivy and flower garlands 2x rented to be paid off. I was trying to figure the 3x, but I was way under the competition on some things and felt that I should get the same $$ as they! This may not be the best method, but it has worked for me and my rentals are paid off and making me money quickly! Since there is a signed agreement between the Client and yourself, should you request a deposit for the items to cover the cost of possible damages? Absolutely!!! Otherwise, how are you going to replace an item that they return unuseable! I do a lot of rentals which are prepaid at the time that they are rented, with no return of monies if they "change their mind" because of the possiblility that I could have rented it out for the same date. I also take a separate check in the amount of the replacement cost of every item that they have rented which I hold until the items are returned. I have a 3 day inspection period in which I either return the check if nothing is damaged, or cash the check and take out the replacement cost of item(s) that were damaged and refund the difference. This is all in writing so there is no doubt in anyone's mind as far as what my rules are! Either obtain a security deposit or have the customer sign a blank credit card voucher (and make sure they are clear on the policy that their credit card will be charged if the item(s) are damaged or not returned). If the item is damaged or not returned, you just apply the appropriate charges to their credit card. GETTING YOUR STUFF BACK When you're doing a decor job, say for an evening wedding on a Friday night, when do you go back to pick up your products (centerpieces, heart frames, weights, whatever)? Bride is not sure when party will end, so you can't really go back that night. Bride doesn't want to be responsible for items left over night. How do you all handle this? If you want your props to not grow feet and walk, you pick them up the moment the party is over. Often times, I will be at the facility 1/2 hour before the party is over (especially a bar or bat mitzvah) to make sure I keep an eye out for my things leaving - like mirrors for centerpieces, turn tables, etc. Some people just like to take things just to prove that they can. I have had people try to walk out of the party carrying an 8 foot stanchion filled with balloons. (Now, what are they going to do with it?) I yell "Freeze! Balloon Police! Put the XXXX down and keep your hands where I can see 'em!" Anyone caught red-handed has to help you load your van. You should also make sure that you have your client sign, as part of your contract, that she/he is responsible for your props and products (centerpieces, heart frames, weights, whatever) if they start to "walk" before the party is over. She must to reimburse you the replacement value of the prop/linens/etc. Otherwise sell the job in a way that it doesn't require you to return to pick anything up. We have it noted within our contract what needs to be returned to us and what the cost will be if it is not or if it is damaged. We give them three days to return the items. A signed charge slip is on file just in case we have problems. If the return isn't made by the second day, we give them a call to remind them. When they return the items, we check them for damage before disposing of the charge slip. We put our name and phone number clearly on the items (top of baseplate, bottom of mirrors, etc.); notify the hotel staff that we will be back for them and ask where they will be and what time they can be picked up. We are there exactly when they stated the stuff would be ready for pick up. We have only had a problem once with mylar curtains that were probably very difficult to take down and keep in one piece anyway. The client chose to keep them and pay the predetermined price. LINENS RENTALS I rent linens out to clients all the time and I make a nice profit on them. I use a local company. You can check in your business to business directories or just call rental services such as Taylor Rental. You can also get valuable information by attending local networking parties held by NACE (National Assoc. of Catering Executives) or MPI (Meeting Planners International). If you work with a caterer and have a good repore, you can ask them. I like to rent linens because I can offer another service to my clients. I can also be assured that the colors that I am using with my balloons and flowers will match the linens. Linen companies will send you out swatch charts. The client picks out the colors that match, or compliment, the balloons. Sometimes the caterer supplies the linens but the client wants more. In that case I often rent a print or lace overlay. Again, adding $$$ to the bottom line. The biggest pain about renting linens is that you have to go back to get them after the party is over (but then I have to go back a lot of times to pick up my props anyway). Most caterers that I work with bag them up and all I do is just pick up the bag. One tip . . . make sure you count the pieces and make sure the client knows that they are responsible for replacement. The same goes for chair covers. Many linen companies rent them as well. And yes, they are expensive, but the look is fabulous!! There is a company called Sculptichair that ships chair covers to you in a duffle bag, then you ship them back the same way. I think they also sell them. SculptChair 16114 North 81st Street Scottsdale, AZ 85260 1-800-USA-2750 www.sculptchair.com We added linen rental and chaircovers to our decorating service about 5 years ago and since then we have made ALOT of money on this without having to invest hardly any money at all. We have several linen companies that we work with, which I will list at the end of this. The way we started out was by requesting catalogs from the linen companies listed in "Special Event" magazine and we just keep them on file for when we need them. After collecting a bunch of catalogs (a laundry basket full!) I picked out a few of the table coverings that I thought my customers would like and I had them shipped to me, along with matching chaircovers, so that I could set a table up and take a picture to put in my portfolio. Some of the companies even sent them out to us at no charge. As another way to let people know we did specialty linens and chaircovers, we used them on our tables and chairs at all of our bridal shows. Now, this is definitely not something we do in our area every weekend, because it is very expensive, and our average bride does not have the budget for it. But once in awhile you will get a more upscale (polite way of saying "rich and spoiled") bride with a bigger budget that will love the look and will go for it. All you have to do is order the linens, count them when they come in, install on the tables, pick them up from the reception and then ship them back. (Of course, we always have contracts signed and a large deposit taken.) We mark up the rental price (what we are renting the linen for) a certain percentage and then we add on an installation and removal fee per item. Then, we have to figure in the shipping back and forth. Then, that's when we can set our price that we will charge the client. Sometimes after adding all of that up I just about have a stroke and think "there is no way they're going to go for this", but often to my surprise they won't bat an eyelash. A client can literally have HUNDREDS of dollars into each table, but if it's the right kind of client and that is the look they want, they won't care. One of my linen jobs last year (it was the wedding shown in issue #4 of Weddings with Style) was out of control - their total specialty linen and chaircover bill was over $10,000! And I didn't pursuade them at all - they came to me because I am the only one in my area that offers specialty linens and told me what they wanted - all I did was service their need. Again, we don't do these types of weddings very often, but the 5 or 6 we have every year is very worthwhile and is kind of like "bonus" money (we usually end up doing other decorating too). Especially when there is virtually no investment - just labor in installation and teardown. Here are a few of the companies I work with: BBJ Linens Skokie, IL (800) 722-0126 Carousel Linens Highwood, IL (800) 238-8182 Munkeboe Party Linen Nashville, TN (800) 255-6385 Table Toppings Miami, FL (305) 836-8807 Gotcha Covered Linen Rental Metairie, LA (800) 992-3930 Connie Duglin Tampa, FL - tablecloths, napkins, skirting, and chair covers, 1-800-243-6888 Ultimate textiles 1-800-567-4451 You can see some of our specialy linen jobs on our decorating web site for Elegant Occasions at http://www.specialtymile.com/elegantoccasions. Look in the photo gallery. We get most of our linen suppliers out of the Special Events magazine. If you don't take it, you should. It's a great magazine for decorators and has lots and lots of resources in it. We don't get our linens from any one supplier, but from many. Just Click here: Special Events Magazine and it will take you directly to their website. Hope this helps. A-1 tablecloth company number is 1-800-party-usa They have the best prices I have found on both rental and sales of table linen and chair covers. A-1 table cloth will rent you chair covers. I believe they are $3 or 4 to rent. ( cotton\poly ) $8 to 9 to buy. I just bought a whole bunch of table cloths and skirts at what I thought was a very reasonable price from A-1 tablecloth company. They are located in New Jersey. (USA) Their toll-free number is 1-800-727-8987. They also do wholesale rentals. You might want to check out Issue 4-5, 1998 of BALLOONS & Parties Magazine. This double issue had an article entitled "Linens-Your Hidden Decor," part of which dealt with the pros and cons of renting vs. buying linens. We started offering linen rental to our line of services a couple of years back. We contacted several local companies, who deliver directly to the venues we work out of. Call the local catering manager of various venues and ask who they are currently using. I got quotes from several companies before placing the order, especially on themed linens, because they vary quite a bit in price at times. We've now developed a relationship with two companies in particular, who offer us discounts on a sliding scale, depending on how big the order is. If we place a small order, we only receive a 10% discount. But on larger orders, we've negotiated as much as 25% - quite a nice profit, considering I'm just making a few phone calls. A caution though. If you leave the linens in trust of the hotel where the rental company will return to retrieve them, and they're not all there, you're the one who will pay for anything missing. If our strike crews are going back, we have them bag and bring the linens back to our warehouse, and make arrangements for pick up there. It's alot safer, depending on the hotel. Overall we've found it to work well and be profitable. I own a party store--supplies and rental--along with balloon decorating. While it is true subrenting the linen will allow you to provide a greater range of linen choices, it also reduces the income you can earn (assumption since I don't know what type of mark-up you are planning). My basic linens pay for themselves after 2-3 rentals. I pay 10-12 C-shells for a 60x120 and rent them for 5 C-shells. While I would love to have a variety of printed linens, my town is too small (5,000) for anything other than white or ivory. But the companies I buy from have a great selection of patterned, moire, and sheer. They also offer chair covers.

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Classic Balloon Decor 101

Classic Balloon Decor
- How Long Does It Take To Make Decor?
Table Decor - Centerpieces
Arches

Classic Balloon Decor 102

Note:
Some of the following comments include amounts of money in the imaginary unit called "C-shells." These units are used to avoid any hint of illegal price fixing in the balloon industry.

Classic Balloon Decor

Classic balloon decor refers to Columns, Spiral Garland Arches, String of Pearl Arches, and balloon centerpieces. This is the foundation of balloon decorating. Almost everybody starts here and once you have these components mastered you can move on to more challenging work. Classic balloon decor is found at weddings, fairs, dances, grand openings, and almost anywhere balloons are used to enhance the atmosphere of an event.

How Long Does It Take To Make Decor?

Any time you have a job you should time yourselves on the various tasks so you know how long it takes you to inflate and tie, say, 100 balloons on ribbons with 8" curled tails at the neck. How long does it take you to convert those 100 balloons into 3, 4, 5 or 6 balloon centerpieces? Spiral arches - how long per 5 feet? Work on speed WITH perfection. You should not be concerned at all with how fast you can crank out a crappy looking arch, because there is very little demand for crappy looking arches.
I can crank out 20' of spiral arch in about 10 minutes, but if I had to hi-float all those balloons (about 120) it would take 30 or 40 minutes, not counting a 3 minute de-sliming break every time one popped.
I know for a fact that together, my partner and I can inflate and tie 100 balloons in 12 minutes. That would mean that we can do, together, 500 balloons in one hour. However, there are some factors: inflator used, pressure of tank and the ability to keep that pace up for one hour. (We don't curl when we do large quantities that will most likely be on the ceiling, but put a loop at the neck of the balloon.)
Alone, I can inflate and tie 100 balloons in about 20 minutes. Therefore, I could do 300 balloons in one hour given the right conditions. So how many can you do in one hour?
Being a former "balloon entertainer" I can blow, tie and lace 18 balloons per minute (5" balloons in clusters). I can keep this pace up for about 1 1/2 hours... that's about 1000 balloons an hour. However it's important to know that I blow two 5" balloons at time, and tie them together instead of individually (as you would shoe laces.) This is a big time saver!

Table Decor - Centerpieces

We do a great centerpiece that has a nautical or tropical theme: For nautical: Take one 16" Geo donut inflate with air. Use a balloon sand weight and run the neck of the weight thru the hole of the balloon and tie your bouquet to the top. Use ribbon or colored vinyl to create stripes on the donut like a life preserver. Surround with blue shrizzle grass. Maybe write "SS Name of swim team"
For Tropical: Same concept but we use a clear 16" Geo and we use Qualatex Fish Bowl balloons above. We buy brightly colored fish stickers and apply them around the geo donut and use a green sharpie marker to draw seaweed. Sometime we stick in some blue shrizzle inside the geo before inflating, and of course use some to surround it.
For centerpieces, I like to inflate the balloon, fill it with about 1/3 or less water (can be colored or clear), place a fresh flower inside, and then decorate with tulle netting, ribbon, lace, or whatever. To finish the centerpiece off, place the finished balloon on a lit base.
For Christmas center pieces: A battery operated candle inside the balloon, in a flower candle ring, looks really nice. I found some really nice rings that had white roses and gold glitter on them. I put them inside the balloons with a white bow on top and sprayed some gold glitter paint and that fake snow on top the balloon and on the tables and used fake snow around the base to cover the tray. It was beautiful, classic and easy.
Battery operated candles work nicely in stuffed balloons. I just did a wedding and put a flowered candle ring around the candles (turned candle on) hot glued it to the bottom of the balloon (everyone should have a balloon stuffing machine). Then set the stuffed balloon on a 260 (blown up and tied in a circle) for the base. Run a bigger ring of flowers to around the bottom (to cover the 260), put a pretty bow on top, maybe some curled ribbon, and you're done. The candles stayed lit for 2 days without any problems (of course that depends on what batteries you use). The balloons do not get hot or steam up. It looked really nice. And when the party is all over, you just grab your balloon (to reuse the items or let them keep it, how ever you work your business). Fast, easy, and cheap and yet very impressive.
Some one asked how we do our on-site table centerpieces. Here is what we do. We do pre-cut our ribbons. We take the number of ribbons needed for each bouquet and clamp them to a table and then inflate the balloons and attach them to the ribbon. Once you have a full bouquet, take them in your hand and arrange in clusters like you want them. If you are working in a room with high ceilings, you may want them to be tall and, to save on making really long ribbons, we tie the whole group at the bottom of the lowest balloon and then tie the longest lengths of ribbons to the weight. Curl the ribbons that are left hanging above your weight and you will have a very pretty effect. This way you can use all one length of ribbon and not have them too short, if you follow me. If you tie the whole group of ribbons on the weight first you may end up with a very short bouquet or else have lots of waste ribbon because you will have to make them all really long. If you are working in a room with a low enough ceiling that is smooth, you can just let the balloons go until you are ready to assemble your bouquet instead of clamping to a table.
When confronted with doing umbrella tables at our local race track (Nazareth Speedway) for hospitality marquee decor, I went to my local *cake and candy* supply shop and purchased disposable bundt/angel food cake pans! They work great. Simply slide the CP down over the lower portion of the umbrella pipe then add the top of the umbrella. As they are quite tall and the pan shows, I spray paint them in a coordinating color.
Don't let the pole stop you. Use it to your advantage. Why not wrap the umbrella pole with balloons? Or twirl #9 or #40 ribbon around pole? Or twirl 260's and round balloons? What about using the 4 Square balloons that are used in SDS. Make a box shape, place oasis down around the pole and add some foam wire, some small balloons and some foil tuffs and you're done.
To decorate umbrella tables, we make a puff ball of air filled balloons (6 balloons twisted together), twist it onto the umbrella post and add lots of ribbons. For a birthday party, I might add cut out "1"'s and add to the ends of the ribbons. We snug the puff ball up as high into the umbrella as possible and usually secure with a 260Q. It really adds a lot of color especially with ribbons. Make sure the balloons have been overinflated and let out a bit so they will "grab" onto the pole.
Spiral Centerpieces
Mark the back of the mirrors for the distance between the balloons and use your hand and elbow for the height of the balloons. First balloon, 2 hand-to-elbow lengths up; 2nd balloon, 2 1/2 hand-to-elbow lengths up, 3rd balloon, three hand-to-elbow lengths up, etc.
Or you can pre-knot your ribbons at the right lengths -- including the neck curls if you are using them, inflate the balloon and tie on at the first knot, tape to the mirror at the second knot with the knot outside the tape. This is kind of time consuming on site whatever way you do it, and we always charge extra for this set up.
I have been in a discussion with two of my customers. One says the ribbons on table bouquets should be very long, so people can see each other and talk through the balloons. The other says they should not be long, but high enough to see through and talk through.
- For a guideline I use this technique. Place your elbow on the table with arm up (like you are going to arm wrestle) from your elbow to the tips of your extended fingers is where your balloons should begin. Then people sitting down can see across the table!
- I believe very strongly that the lowest balloon should be at least 6' from the ground so that when most people enter the room they see more than just a wall of balloons. This places them high enough for people to see through the ribbons and conversation is not a problem!
- I have found that the length of the ribbon depends on the height of the ceiling in the room and the amount of balloons on the weight. If the ceilings are high and there is nothing hanging above it, I think that the balloons should be in between the table and the ceiling.
- In the case of a short ceiling, I think that the idea of the length of your forearm is great!. If your arm length is too short then add maybe another foot, most of us have at least one of them to use as a measure. The message here is, as my first instructor Jean-Michell Lucie said so many years ago, " A serious decorator must be willing to use every part of his body, his arms, hands, feet, they're all constant measurements that your carry with you.
- There are numerous suggestions regarding this height. I received them in class notes and seen them in videos there is even a section in the CBA tapes. Even florists have to be concerned about this height. It all makes sense when you sit at a table and can or cannot see across to the other side.
- The general rule is nothing over 14 inches from your table. So is you would like to put a foil as a base, try to use one of the smaller foils. But if your client really wants that 18 inch foil then by all means go ahead. The 14 inch rule is a guideline not a commandment. Now if you want to float balloons from the centerpiece, it is recommended to start your bottom balloon 4 to 5 feet above the table. This keep the vision of people standing from being blocked.
- The correct way to do the ribbons is the way your customer wants them - the customer is always right. If the customer is leaving it up to you and your expertise, then do it your favorite way.
What is the best way to anchor a bouquet to a living plant centerpiece?
- You can stick floral picks into the dirt at an angle with the curling ribbon attached. This will hold if you don't have a lot of pull to your bouquet.
- Another way is to use two or three 1/2" or 3/4" machine nuts stuffed into a 5" emerald green latex balloon and hide it down inside the plant. You can attach enough mono line to come from the weight to the top of the plant and then tie your bouquet in at that point. It will look like the balloons are sprouting from the top of the plant.
- I use a wooden floral pick. Make sure you put it in at an angle the if you can get under a root even better. The wood expands and helps secure it. You can get different sizes at a floral supply store.

Table Decor Bases

As a base for table decor, I use mirrors, sand weights decorated with ribbons and flowers, cake bases with small puff balls, sometimes boxes, etc.
You can also cut shapes out of foam board or styrofoam for centerpieces with no balloons. Use mylar paper tuffs to cover the shapes, and stick the cut-out stuff into the styrofoam bases to give it a finished look.
I have recently started using gift bags made for wine bottles as vases for my balloon flowers. They hold 3-6 260 stems. I usually put a small round balloon filled with sand or water in the bottom to provide a stable base. I have found several nice bags for around $0.80 each. I found some great ones with balloons as the bag design I plan to use for birthday presentations.
For table decor bases, find a small floral container (glass would work but plastic is better) of a fairly small size. Preinflate a 16 or 24 inch balloon and cover the base with the balloon (cutting the neck off beforehand helps) to match the balloon color you are using. Now mix up some concrete and pour it in the floral container and shove in tie downs, structure, etc.. Voila - bases and enough weight all in one.
I just did a job yesterday where we put packed helium arches bouncing from each table to the next, for 20 tables. Needless to say we mixed a couple of bags of concrete and used somewhat larger floral containers. But because we could cover the base with the balloon, we could match the polka dot balloons in the arches with the polka dot bases. The client thought we were so clever.
In the Images article "Satisfying Brides on a Budget" by Christopher Horne, he speaks about gluing two round cake boards together and pushing an inflated balloon onto the board why deflating it, wrapping the edges under the board. How do you get an 11' balloon around the board?
- This technique is fully demonstrated in both of the Chris Horne videos "Wedding workshop in a box" and "Themes and Dreams."
- The round boards available in the US are of corrugated cardboard and are not strong enough on their own to stand the stresses caused by stretching a balloon over them, so glue two together with the grains running in opposite directions to make them rigid. Alternatively, use a circle of foam core or some other rigid material.
- Make sure that you use a balloon significantly larger than the board you wish to cover. So if you wish to cover a 12" circle, use a 16" balloon. For an 8" circle, an 11" balloon is fine.
- FULLY inflate the balloon with air, but don't tie it. Lay the balloon on the table, holding the neck out to one side. Place the cake circle on top of the balloon, and press down on in firmly with your free hand, spreading your fingers so that the pressure is evenly distributed over the surface of the board.
- Release the neck of the balloon so that it deflates and continue to push down on the board so that it is pushed into the balloon as it deflates, finally becoming wrapped in the balloon. If you use a big enough balloon and push hard enough this is very easy and you won't need to use the adhesive around the edges of the board.
- The procedure is quite easy after the third or fourth try. Fill the 11" balloon full, do not tie. hold the neck to one side, the balloon being on a hard surface, and put the card board rounds onto the top. Apply light pressure. When you release the neck use both hands and press the cardboard down to force out the air. You must press hard in order that the balloon squishes itself above the cardboard. When all the air is out the balloon will cover the bottom side and be held by the remainder of the balloon on the top side. The key to this is the pressure you use to push down and balancing while pushing so that the part of the balloon that remains up is even all around.
- This is a technique which I believe I introduced at IBAC 1991 in Dallas (but I'm sure someone will correct me and say they did it first elsewhere!) where I made a "square" latex balloon using a sapphire blue stars-around which I "shrunk" around a square board to serve as the field of stars on an American Flag. The technique is this: inflate a balloon, but don't tie the neck. Lay the balloon on a flat surface, take your insert (cake board, square board, I'll bet a square CD cover would work well, you can experiment with variations on this with 3-D objects - just go play!) and "thrust" the insert into the side of the balloon while slowly deflating the balloon. As the balloon deflates it will shrink around the edges of the board and grip the edges. You have to finesse this a little, but if you do it right the balloon will be wrapped evenly around the edges of the board and at some point will not deflate any more because you've sealed off the air on the other side of the board. You've created a sort of dome or "half" balloon. It's hard to describe, you've just got to do it.

Mirrors For Centerpieces

Centerpiece weights - These weights can be made of almost anything. They need to weigh enough to hold a number of helium filled balloons down on the table. You can use something that matches the theme of the event or you can use something as simple as a balloon sand weight.
Instead of the regular glass kind, plastic mirrors can be used under centerpieces. Renting out mirrors to go under the centerpieces really adds to the look, but transporting and storing them is a pain because of chipping and breaking. Plastic mirrors are much lighter and almost impossible to accidentally break.
Bruce Walden suggests using the foil/cardboard lids for aluminum foil containers. They are "mirror like" on one side, cardboard on the other and are used as lids like Pizza Hut uses to transport their spaghetti pies in. They are about 7-8" in diameter and are great for using as "mirrors" and they only cost about $0.12 each. I found them at a party store called Party City. They also sold lots of containers and different kinds of party things.
Bruce Walden taught me this trick years ago and I have used it a lot since. Try using a 10" take out food container lid as a mirror base. They are round cardboard with mylar silver foil on one side. They look and reflect light just as a mirror does and they come in HUGE cases for pennies each. They come in a variety of sizes and I find them at the restaurant supply warehouse in our phone book. The best part is they are disposable and I do not have to replace when chipped, cracked or dropped! And, I no longer waste time scraping off wax! They can be a good alternative to a mirror!
We use cake bases. They come in several different sizes, and about four colors; absolutely fantastic for table center designs.
I saw Marvin Hardy use the most incredible "mirrors" under centerpieces in a class he taught years ago. They looked exactly like regular mirrors, no warped reflection or anything.... but they were PLASTIC! We didn't realize they were plastic till he picked up one and tossed it. They looked so real that we all screamed and ducked. He said that they took abuse much better than glass but the quality was amazing. If you want mirrors as rental pieces these are really worth the investment. You can probably get these from a local plastics dealer if you have one.
Another fabulous alternative for round mirrors are "mirror mats". These are 16" round-scalloped pieces of mylar. Advanced Creative Products carries these in several different colors that all have silver on the back. That way you can use the color OR use the silver. They are VERY, VERY affordable (I believe they run about 20-30 cents each) and look terrific under centerpieces. Although the price is the best part of it, the other great thing about them is that since they are so economical to purchase, they can just be thrown away after the party or wedding. We have had brides and clients prefer them over mirrors because they are actually much prettier on the table and still reflect almost as well as a mirror does. Obviously, they cannot be used for spiraling balloons around them, you would need to use a heavy mirror for that. However, for everything else, they're a dream!
I need some round mirrors for making the "spiral staircase" centerpiece bouquets.
Any glass company can custom cut the mirrors for you. We had some made a few years back, 1/4 inch thick and 12 inch diameter. Remember to store them in bubble wrap after each use.
I have them made at Regal Plastics out of acrylic with a mirrored back. They are lighter weight and will not break like a regular mirror does. I order 3/8" or 1/2", as 1/4" is too light to hold down anything like helium balloons on ribbon. However, you can attach washers to the underside if you need more weight. They scratch more easily than mirrors, so you just have to put paper towels between them for protection.

Weights For Centerpieces

I use a fishing sinker from a fishing store that makes their own weights. The weight is tear shaped and flat. They have a hole at the top. I put two together with the wire going through the hole to tie to the balloons. A 5 inch balloon slides over the weight and they can be set into any centerpiece. They hold down 5 foil balloons. I also use them with the Le Pouf machine. Cost 6 cents each. The fishing tackle store has a growing list of balloon artist customers here locally.
Tape the weight to the table so they don't walk.
Consider rock salt pellets instead of sand inside a piece of mylar or cellophane. We have also used water inside latex balloons over-wrapped with cellophane or mylar. Pea gravel would also be low cost and would work.
Cover a juice box. Often times when children are at events or for proms I use floral Oasis. It works great. Wet it and cut it into whatever size piece you need. I cover it in a plastic bag then use mylar over it. You could also use boxes and put little rocks in them.
A can of tomato sauce works as a low cost weight.
Another idea is plaster of paris. You can pour it into small Dixie cups and if you need something to tie on to just before it gets too hard, put a large paper clip sticking out of the top, end up of course.
I have been making my own weights for years. I take the jello pudding cups, fill them with concrete and add a wire [to tie the ribbon to]. Pop them out when they are hard and reuse the cup again. Wrap it up and there you go.
We have discovered the wonderful world of "DOBIES". They can be found at your "Home Depot" type stores in the concrete or brick departments. They are little concrete blocks which are used to hold rebar in place when pouring concrete. They cost less than a dime a piece, measure about 2 inches square, have a wire hook in them and will hold down a three footer. They also come in larger sizes. We buy them by the case and always have inexpensive weights available.
Dobie Bricks - balloon weights Dobie Bricks are used to hold rebar up off the ground when pouring concrete slabs. I had trouble finding them too. My Home Depot said they didn't have them, but I found them back by the cement mixers and materials for pouring concrete. SKU for Dobies: 729353 for 2"; I don't have the SKU for the 3" (or is it 3.5"?). You need to look where the bags of concrete are. The Dobies are usually on a shelf close by. They come several together like a block, 12 I think, but you can break them apart for any quantity you need. At 11 cents each, buy the whole darn block! They are the same "grayish" color as concrete and have 2 wires sticking out the top.
One of my commercial clients, a department store, has asked me not to use sand weights any more. They put balloon bouquets around on the clothing racks and customers/children sometimes fuss with the mylar wrapped sand weights causing them to break open.
Several years back I had a real problem with sand used for a junior high dance. The weights were just too tempting and some wise guy started playing with them and the next thing you know the balloons were on the ceiling and the sand was all over the gym floor! Then the kids danced the night away. Needless to say I received a call from the teacher/advisor on Monday morning. Good thing the school administration had already decided that they were going to re-do the floor during the summer. I still do that job BUT we use a plastic bag - usually a recycled balloon bag - and put landscaping stones in it, then cover it with mylar paper. The cost is about the same and you don't have nearly the mess. We use stones almost all the time now. Another idea is to cover a tile - costs about 15 cents - and use that for a weight. This way it looks like a little present and it's flat and less noticeable.
I have stopped using sand because of the problem that you stated. Several years back I did a prom that was held in a gym. The prom advisor called me up on Monday morning to tell me that we could never use sand weights again. One kid got the bright idea to play with the tissue wrapped sand filled balloon and the balloons went up to the ceiling. That was not the problem. Then other kids started doing the same thing and before you know it the sand-filled balloons were broken and sand went all over the floor and then to make matters worse, the kids danced the night away with sand on the hard wood floors. I thought I would lose that account for sure, but they assured me that after the principal and the janitors got over it, they had decided to re-sand the floors during the summer anyway. And, I guess I impressed them with the decor, because six years later I am still doing their prom. That was when I changed to landscape stones, the same price almost for a bag of sand. It takes less - much less - time to fill the bags than to fill a balloon with sand and I have not had a problem since.
If you are going to make a balloon sand weight, find a funnel which has the biggest opening and 11" balloon nozzle can fit around. Inflate the 11" balloon with air first (to stretch the balloon). Put the funnel into the nozzle of the balloon and add fine sand.
A 16" filled with sand will be more than enough to support a cluster of three 11" latex. To save your precious 16's, pre-inflate an 11" with air, then let the air out. Now it will be "bigger" and will hold more sand. Filled with sand, it too will be more than enough to support the 3 11" heliums. Cool, huh? Then take a square of tissue and maybe cello (placing the cello on the outside), put the sand weight in the middle of the tissue, wrap it up, tie it off with ribbon (so it kinda looks like a "Hershey Kiss") , and Tah-Dah -- a pretty attractive looking weight.
COFFEE MUGS, they are everywhere. But more importantly they hold almost any balloon and do it very well (low center of gravity/weight). A table full of standing balloon sculptures is rather impressive. As Marvin Hardy says, better display does elevate the ART higher.
The simplest, cheapest, quickest, nicest looking weight that I can think of is uses two clusters of 5" air-filled latex accented with sprays of onion grass, pearls or whatever accents are appropriate:
Take a defective, separated 18" mylar, silver side down and place one cup of sand into the center. Tie with a piece of balloon ribbon leaving both ends of the ribbon approximately 12" long. Trim top to 2". Air inflate the clusters - colors can be mixed, banded, or grouped - and size them down to about 4 1/4". You can make your own sizer from a glass, bowl or whatever. Tie duplets and twist into clusters of 4. Arrange the colors and place the first cluster onto the weight. Bring one of the ribbons around two opposite balloons (figure 8) and then around the third. Place the second cluster atop the first, move into position and use that same ribbon wrapping the same as the first cluster. Pull the wrapping ribbon up through the center and bring up the second piece of ribbon. Knot together twice and trim. Use two pieces of onion grass - cut off the ends with a wire cutter to approximately 2" and wrap with floral tape to cover all sharp ends. Dab with either cool glue or floral adhesive and position into the center of the top cluster. Use your thumb nail on the underside of 4-6 strands of the onion grass to curl downward. Bag them up in long bags - 12 per bag.
They are indestructible - can be done easily a week ahead. Cost: 8 x 5" latex = .32, 2 sprays of onion grass = .30, Misc. sand, mylar, ribbon, glue, tape = .20. Add about 5 minutes labor. I charge a base fee for basic colors in this design and upgrade components, colors and floating balloons with collars, mylar, tulle, etc.
If you want to use floating helium balloons - I suggest just using a single 16" so it won't be tangling and blowing into guests' faces. You will be able to inflate all the clusters and have everything ready. Tie the floating balloon to the weight and use ] that ribbon to wrap the clusters - this keeps everything pulled together - continue as above and use the loose ribbons from the weight to retie everything before putting in the accents.
Colored rice. Add about a few drops of food coloring to a cup of rice and shake in a jar and you'll get nicely colored rice which can be used as confetti for weddings as well. You can wrap this up nicely in tulle and ribbons. You can mix different colors, too, and they'll look nice through the tulle netting.
Using sand to weight my centerpieces etc. has always been my favorite way of weighting my creations. I've also discovered another unique way, ju-ju-bees. I can pick up a roughly one pound jar of the cheap No-name ju-ju bees for about $8.00 Canadian. I normally use 2 ju- ju bees per 9" and three ju-ju bees per 11" and 18" mylars. It works out fairly inexpensive and is a little different.
For my wedding centerpieces I've used those little white scotch mints and they too work very well. I always carefully try to up-sell a bride to the mints and more often than not she is more than happy to pay a little extra for the added touch. I just wrap them in tulle with a bow coordinated to the wedding colors and it looks good! The only thing you have to watch is you and your staff eating your weights before you get finished :]
I have tried everything from wrapped blocks of wood to sand weights, and the best solution I have found is using colored glass marbles.
They may cost slightly more (a 1,000 count bag runs me about $16.00) but I find that with my LePouf machine, I can use them for almost any type of occasion. I can make pretty "poufs" using tulle, star shaped mylar paper, scalloped circle mylar paper, etc. and I put approx. 26 marbles in each weight. I find this is enough to hold down a centerpiece consisting of (6) 11" latex balloons and (1) 18" mylar balloon.
Also, if there should be anyone who wants to "investigate" what is inside the weight, there is no mess on the tables, just pretty colored marbles!
Although we've used sand balloons and in emergencies, water balloons, we've now started to use heavy plumber's washers. We get them wholesale through a plumber's warehouse, and depending on the size and weight, one washer holds down five latex balloons. They are not real expensive either. It depends on the size. They are small and therefore easier to wrap - and don't need as big a sheet of mylar paper to cover. Regarding behavior at these affairs, you would not believe the stories that I hear from parents when they are planning these parties. They ask how firmly I can secure the balloons so the kids can't take them off the centerpiece. The worst is when you are a guest at an affair that you have decorated and you watch the kids, often with their parents approval, take your hard work apart.
I use water softener salt instead of sand.
I use water balloons, covered in mylar sheeting when on a table.
Personally, I do not like water balloons for CP bases. I think they look tacky and unprofessional, but that is just my opinion. You can always get regular or silica sand or even salt pellets (used for water softeners) in large bags and they are quite inexpensive. Desperate times do call for desperate measures. ONLY if on-site and absolutely necessary, like they want another quick base, will I even consider a water balloon weight. and then it must be covered w/mylar (if you're really pressed, used a hotel cloth napkin (preferably colored) and lots of ribbon!!!)
You are right about add on bouquets. On a job I always carry lots of extra balloons and ribbons just in case the customer wants more balloons. Water weights are really good in a pinch.
If you are using water balloons, which I never thought was a good idea, but in an emergency double stuff or even triple stuff them. A long time ago, I did a decorating job for a bar mitzvah and the catering manager added a table or two and I did not come prepared with enough weights. Believe it or not, the two water balloons that I did do were found by the kids and they had a great time bouncing the bases off the walls. Now, I ALWAYS go prepared with extra weights.
If you HAVE to use water balloons, double stuff them, and always cover them with mylar paper. In a pinch, I have asked the catering hall to use a cloth napkin. Obviously, tissue or paper napkins are not the best to use, but will do in a pinch.
I normally use landscaping stones and recycle all plastic bags and cover them with mylar paper, tied with curling ribbon or #9 satin. The Qualatex balloon bags are heavy weight plastic and make great bags for those large weights when necessary.
I have never used water balloons because a sand weight, in my opinion, looks better and is pliable. Using water balloon weights seems more *hazardous* than sand because a misguided cigarette could leave a puddle on the table or even worse; an observant child (or adult) might realize what he had and all hell could break loose!
It seems to me that any children who would bounce water balloons off the walls of a reception hall might would toss around the bags of stones or sand too. Was the event at least over before they took apart the decor? I know kids will be kids so I choose water balloons over bags of sand when I am concerned about unsupervised play after the event just in case they get into them. (This is a real concern right now during prom season.) Water is easier to clean up than a spilled bag of sand and does much less damage than a bag of rocks that is tossed in the wrong direction. Of course when there is concern like this I often ask the client (and the banquet hall manager) which they would prefer. And if you use a large balloon (at least 11") with only a small amount of water they are almost impossible to pop. We tested this one day by bouncing some against a brick wall for almost a half hour before one finally popped.
As far as water balloons looking tacky and unprofessional, I just don't get it. When I use water balloons, I always use three small water balloons tied together at the neck. If you use one it does not sit stable. With two, they form "wheels" and roll to the lowest spot on the table, and tables are rarely perfectly level. Then, remembering the first rule of floral design that my mother taught me, "Never let your 'works' show" (meaning the styrofoam and tape and that kind of things) I completely cover the water balloons with a matching mylar and close with a rubber band (so much easier than trying to tie it closed with curling ribbon). Add a bow or some ribbon curlies and it looks perfectly professional. Without taking it apart I can't see how you could tell if there was water balloons or bags of sand in it, so the idea of one "looking more professional" than the other seems silly. When I have plenty of prep time to completely prepare my weights ahead of time I usually use bags of sand or those floral design marbles. I usually use water balloons when all the work is done on site. For a while I even used empty film canisters with snap on caps (thanks to a donation from a local one hour developer) filled with everything from sand to gravel to cement. This makes great busy work for your kids if they like to help out like mine do. As long as it is covered with mylar in the end it really doesn't matter what you use, in my opinion.
I'm a professional, and I use water weights all the time, and I know several other professionals who do the same. Water weights are quick and easy, and I usually carry a few gross of "instant" water weights (just add water) with me to every job. They're called "leftover balloons", and they've saved my neck several times when the caterer decided to add 3 extra tables, or I needed a cluster "over in the corner", etc.
An uninflated 11" balloon, water-filled without expanding (about the size of an egg) will hold down up to ten inflated 11" balloons, and is almost impossible to burst (an elephant can step on it). Use your imprinted neck-up balloons with your logo on it (everyone has these right? If not, you should have both neck up and neck down logo balloons to promote yourself)
Be bold enough to question anyone who says you shouldn't do something which has already worked for you. In the immortal words of John Candy in "Splash" after he tosses some change on the ground and bends down to pick it up so he can look up a woman's dress, and Tom Hanks scolds him for still doing the same thing he used to do when he was a kid... "Hey, when something works for me I stick with it!"
Not that your customer needs to know what's inside the mylar paper, but if you've explained the mechanics of the weight to them and they don't object then it is no other "professional's" place to tell you that it's wrong. Of course it is more profitable to sell a more expensive and elaborate base, and when you have enough business that you can afford to turn down customers who can't afford expensive centerpieces, then by all means insist on more elaborate, expensive weights.
The reason that we shy away from sand and water-filled weights is that if they do happen to break, there's a mess! We routinely use a 4x4 ceramic tile wrapped in mylar paper. It looks great and there is no risk of "spillage". There are so many wonderful ideas out there for weights, that we'd rather not risk a spill at a formal gathering. Price-wise, we get the tiles from contractors, etc. who have leftovers from various jobs. Color and style don't matter because the tile won't be seen. The price averages around 2-4 cents. The mylar paper is around 15 cents, and we feel that the nice look covers the cost!
We use sand in a baggie - of course, we have an arroyo that runs behind our house so we have easy access to it - we then tie the baggie. The baggies are then wrapped in tissue. This is our simple weight. We have never had a bag break and spill the sand. Also, use different amounts of sand depending on how many balloons and sizes of balloons each weight has to hold down. Water seems ok but it's a lot easier for us to fill the baggies than to fill the balloons with water. We do use balloon sand weights for our arches.
I have to agree regarding using water for centerpieces bases - although I have to say, water will dry and isn't as messy as sand. While we have used sand for bases in a pinch, we have never used sand or water when it goes on a table where guests are seated or food/beverages are being served. We only use sand in a pinch (no pun intended) or use sand to fill 4 and 9" foils.
If you have ever attended any bar or bat mitzvahs you would be surprised at what the kids do. I sometimes offer "bouncer" services to my clients to keep the kids in line and the guys who do the bouncing come back to me with all sorts of stories. At this particular bar mitzvah the kids were only interested in the water balloons. Most of the time, even though the parents are present at the function, the kids are free to do whatever they please, and sometimes right in front of the parents or other adults.
There is one hall that I work in where the manager will not let any other balloon decorator in that uses water balloons. That is always the first thing he says to me when I come in to decorate - it is now a joke with him and me. When I HAVE to use a water balloon, I always will double stuff it or triple stuff it - but that is very rare now since I always come prepared.
We do a lot of bar mitzvahs and have found that children are naturally curious creatures. The have been known on many occasions to poke at water-based cup bases with knives and forks (lovingly provided by function facility) and when this happens, the tables get soaked and the balloons end up on the ceiling.
When doing simple weights, I use a 16" balloon with Pea Gravel inside because it's easier to sweep up than sand if it breaks, and it's just about the same price. Or if I've been warned that the crowd is going to be destructive, I put cement in the balloon, add a bit of water, knot the balloon, squish it around and let it cure for a few days - voila, an indestructible weight!
We primarily use "rock salt" for a basic economy base. We take two pieces of cello wrap placing one on top of the other in opposite directions - so you have a corner point facing out all around. We make a tie off line (ribbon knotted at the ends to create a loop) and tape down to the center of cello (clear postal tape works best). Then place a scoop of salt on top, gather the cello up and tie off with another piece of ribbon. Then fluff/fan out the cello so it looks full.
We use the appropriate amount of weight needed to hold what ever number of balloons - i.e. - a bouquet of twelve 11" requires approximately 7-8 oz or a 1/2 cup. If it is going outdoors you may want to add a little extra. Our cheapo postal scale that we purchased for $10.00 worked great to give us the proportions we needed - i.e. 1/2 c for twelve 11", 3/4 - 1 c. for nine 16" etc.
We prefer the rock salt because it cleaner to work with and we can use clear cello and it still looks good. Sometimes we will trim the neck of the base (where we tied it off) with small 5" clusters or extra curled ribbon.. We also have used colored and metallic wraps and broken foils work great too.
Other things we use to weight bouquets and arches are bricks - of course we wrap them in tissue or mylar then add a tie of line.
We still use sand but primarily to weight 4 or 9" foil balloons that are being used as a weight. And we have found that the "tube part" of a turkey baster is a great funnel for getting the sand into those little foils.
We too use the rock salt for our "economy bases". We used to use aquarium gravel, which was my favorite for many years because we could get it in an assortment of colors. However, our wholesale source is no longer in the area.
As for professionals informing the customer, that is fine. But when your customers has 300 guests at a party, are they going to caution everyone as to the contents of the centerpiece weight? And what about the one "guest" who can't leave things alone and pokes the base just because they have to know what's inside. Then you do have a mess.

Weights For Floor Bouquets

I don' t know how clever I am, but I think I have come up with a good idea. I was using Linda Bruce's idea to use tomato sauce cans (8 oz.) as weights for floor bouquets. I needed to disguise the cans, so I covered them with balloons that had their necks cut off. It didn't take as much tulle or cellophane to cover the can, and the color was perfect. I found that if I inflated (and deflated or stretched) the balloon before cutting off the neck, it was much easier to cover the can.
I use gallon size mustard (empty) containers as bases for a balloon flower arrangements. I get them from the school cafeteria. I paint them with shirt paint (Wal-mart) and they make great vases.
In a True Inflations Newsletter there was a base made out of a coffee can. Wrap it in nice paper. Use the plastic top on the bottom of the can to hold the paper. Tuck the paper inside the top. Stuff 260's in until it's full. A coffee can has enough weight to hold up 260's.
When making a floor model (size) topiary that will have a plastic flower pot base, use your hot glue to fix an empty curling ribbon spool to the base inside the pot. The stem of the topiary must then be the same diameter as the hole in the middle of your ribbon spool (ours are 5/8"). Hide the whole thing with shred or other inexpensive pot filler.
Advantages:
- No need to mix plaster, cement, or use sand- if decor is indoors.
- Recycles ribbon spools
- NO COST
- Holds topiary stem snug and vertical.
Disadvantages;
- Not suitable for outdoor decor unless you use cement, sand or plaster as well.

Arches

Arch Bases
String Of Pearl (SOP) Arches
Mylar SOP Arch
Geo Blossom Arch
SOP Arch Length
Fishbone Arch
Queen Arch
Butterfly Arch
Double-Stuffed Arch
Giant Arch
To Fill With Air Or Helium... That Is The Question
Magic Arch
Creating A Spiral Arch
Patterns
Tie One On

Arch Bases

If you are looking for an inexpensive, heavy, stable, and "recyclable" base for a helium arch try whatever canned goods are on sale. Place a can in the middle of a sheet of mylar paper, pull the corners together above it and secure with a rubber band. Then cover the rubber band with curling ribbon or a bow. If you have not included tear down and clean up into the job and you don't have to come back after the event. Be sure to tell your client that the cans are there and that you wish them to be donated to the food bank. (Much of my work is done in reception halls of churches that collect canned goods for their own or community food banks.) This will be seen as a goodwill act on your part. Just be sure not to use pork-n-beans for a bar mitzvah.
We make the bases for our arches and other various sculptures. We invested in some white plastic planters in the shape of urns. We fill these half-way with plaster. Before pouring the plaster, insert a piece of 1/2 pvc pipe into the center. (Tape the top end the pipe does not fill up with plaster). These work very nicely for an arch or sculpture using 5-inch balloons. They look nice, are heavy, and are reuseable. Once the plaster separated from the base, so we used drywall screws up through the bottom and painted them white... they have stayed in place ever since.
My bases consist of plates with multiple welded-on pipes. That way I can use them foto hold bent conduit for star bursts or side-by-side decorations/sculptures. I also have a set of super heavy, double layered plates. (second plate has only a hole in the center and hand holds so they can fit over the first plate to give the weight I need for full dance floor canopies)
Most arches are best when tied to sand weights, bricks or cement blocks. Which to use depends on what size the arch is. A small string of pearls would best be tied to oversized balloon sand weights that have been decorated with mylar paper or opal essence. Larger String of Pearls arches should be on a decorated brick or patio brick. Spiral (or garland) arches should be tied to decorated cement blocks. To decorate a cement block it is best to first wrap it newspaper and then with the final paper or mylar. This helps prevent the paper from tearing. Certainly there may be other ways to tie the arches, but these are what we've used for 19 years.
The top of a smaller arch could be tied to the ceiling with monofilament line, and the bottom two ends secured with tape to tile floors or drapery hooks into carpet.

String Of Pearls (SOP) Arches

We use 50 lb. test monofilament line. Inflate the balloon and size it, place it on the line at the proper place behind the monofilament using your left index finger and middle finger behind the line and your left thumb in front (keep the line right at the point on the neck where the balloon begins to bulge) add any accenting ribbon, etc., to the front of the line and hold in place with your left thumb, stretch the balloon neck as far as it will go, tie the balloon and give it a slight tug. Remember to have one end weighted down and to have your working end weighted, but flexible, or to use the clothes line method and then tie down to your anchors -- you want to prevent the arch from getting away from you and hitting anything on the ceiling. If you need to move a balloon, do not slide it because it might burn the latex and begin to deflate, do wet your fingers with saliva and dampen the line from the balloon out to where you need to move it and it will slide along very easily. Novices should either buy the pre-mark line to simplify spacing, or cut a straw to the exact length of the space between each balloon to use when placing them on the line (or to spiff up if you are bagging it and transporting it to the site).
Starting from the weight, space the balloons (11") 1 foot apart until you get to the length you need! NOTE: You should always use an ODD number of balloons, i.e. 15, 25, 33... this way you have a center balloon to work from. This makes it easy if you're following a color pattern. Remember, keep it simple!!!
Use the monofilament that has black marks every 11 or 12 inches. This makes it extremely easy to position the balloons on the line - you do not have to reposition and straighten them out every so often. The only negative to this product is that it is only 30 pound test.
When we tie arches, we use a "fisherman's knot". When you loop the monofilament through to make a knot, put it through 3-4 times and then it won't slip and come undone. We do this at least 2 times to make sure it is secure. Also if we are tying it to something that will be covered, such as bricks, we also put duct tape on it before covering it just as a security measure.
Caroline at Balloon Fair and Party Ware in Australia has a great idea of threading pre-inflated balloons onto a line with a needle. If you use a blunt-end needle and you haven't tied the knot too tightly beforehand, you could probably slip it through the knot without even piercing the latex.
- How to do the "condensed" string-of-pearls arch:
  The string-of-pearls arch is easily transportable by just "condensing" the balloons and placing a large plastic bag over them. To "condense" the balloons: build the arch as you normally would at your shop, so that you will have the correct length. Then, slide the balloons along the monofilament line into each other so that the knots are as close together as possible. The balloons will automatically push each other out of the way as you do this. Now you have a very UGLY, but easily transportable arch that can be 'uncondensed' in about 2-3 minutes once you get to the site.
  When you know you are going to be using this method, you might want to use a little heavier monofilament line than you would normally use to avoid any chance of "slicing" the balloons while you are condensing or uncondensing them.
  This condensing technique will work better with a short arch than it will with a long arch because our plastic bags will roughly hold a 30 balloon arch.
- When sliding latex balloons along monofilament - wet the line directly in front of the balloon knot for lubrication. This will help prevent slicing, and will dry shortly afterwards, leaving the balloon held tightly in place by friction to prevent unwanted slipping of balloons. Don't tie the knot too tightly onto the line if you're using: heart or mouse shaped latex, geos tied to the line (as opposed to strung through the hole), or imprints which you'd like all to face forward, and you want the balloons to line up properly. Then you can "spin" the balloon while stretching the neck ever so lightly just above the knot and then releasing the tension on the neck so that it seats itself back into the knot. Also, thicker monofilament cuts less. I rarely use anything thinner than 30 lb. test for string-of-pearl arch. It's invisible enough, and much easier to work with than thinner stuff.
- Be very careful not to slide the balloons on far away from where they are supposed to be, even on 50 pound test monofilament line. When you slide them on the cord, you can cause friction tears.
- I've seen a technique demonstrated for making a pearl arch off-site, and then scrunching all the balloons to one end of the line (so they don't get tangled) rolling up the excess line, bagging the whole thing, and then getting to the job, unbagging the arch, and then spreading the balloons along the line again. - A helpful hint here - a little tongue oil (spit) on the line will help the balloon slide without friction holes, and will dry very quickly leaving the balloon snug and un-slippery in a minute or two. Even better - if you want to be able to slide the balloons along the line, leave the knot loose. Later, when the balloon is in place where you want it, tighten the knot and it won't slide as easily. Never pull the balloon side of the knot - always the lip side
Your "spread" in a string of pearl arch should be based on how you inflate the balloons, and what you feel looks best for the application. We usually space balloons for pearl arches between 12 and 14 inches. A suggestion... a gym full of people generates a lot of heat, especially 16 feet above the floor. Take care to under-inflate your balloons (9 or 10 inches for 11-inch balloons, 12 inches for 14 inch balloons, etc.) so that the heat won't expand them to the point of popping.
Spacing - use a spacer (this can be ruler, a stick, a piece of a box, or - my favorite - the full span of my outstretched hand plus about an inch or two between balloons as you go. Of course you've roughed out the length and height of your arch by slapping a balloon on the line every 6 feet or so to get started) Your arms are great spacers if you hold the knot of a balloon in between your thumb and index finger, then you can measure off anywhere on your arm - your elbow is probably 16" to 18", your shoulder is, maybe 2.5 feet, your neck is about 3 feet, your other thumb is probably 5 to 6 feet. If you measure precisely the length you want (let's say 18 inches - on me that's from my thumb to the middle of my bicep) just pinch yourself hard in that spot and you'll remember for the rest of the day exactly how long 18 inches is, and you won't have to reach for a ruler! This makes for easily centered pieces. Three bruises and I can crank out 30 (or more) identically spaced bunches literally with my eyes closed. Of course you need to be able to know the smells of the different colors to do this really well.
Two moderately skilled people, or one highly skilled person should