Hi BAC Members! 🐒 I was just talking with Niel about pricing as a Line Artist, and I wanted to open up the conversation to everyone. Terminology, in case you're unfamiliar (because I didn't know what my type of work was called until very recently): Line Work is when you have a line of people ordering balloon animals from you a la carte and paying for themselves. So, this is when you’re working in public, and you’re not paid by an organizer to provide balloons for free. I’m sure we all know that a lot of people have the notion that $1 is an appropriate tip for a balloon. That may have been fine in the 90’s, but balloons are highly prone to inflation, so $1 doesn’t cut it anymore ;) A single balloon typically costs $0.10, so if you get $1 for a balloon, you still have a 90% margin, which is pretty phenomenal for a business. We’re lucky that our material is generally affordable, our skill is rare, and our product is something that makes kids excited and good parents are willing to spend money to see their kids smile. However! If you can inflate those margins (ok, I'll stop), Balloon Art can make you a TON of money. I’m not gonna say exactly how much I make, but a bad day is when I go home with less than $200, and on good days I can take home well over $1000. Now, granted, I am living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, a notoriously affluent part of a ludicrously wealthy nation. Plus, I’m very fast and good at making intricate balloon art, so I can charge $25-30 for a balloon animal, and many people are totally cool with it. Most other locations likely won’t accommodate prices that high, but that’s fine. These are pricing principles that should work anywhere. It all comes down to your Menu From what I’ve seen, every artist designs their own menu, and I love seeing other Twister’s menus, because everyone pours a lot of thought and effort into them. I constantly tweak and redesign my menu, but here is how my current menu is organized: 1. I divide my designs into sections based on price, which I determine based on a) the time it takes to make that balloon, b) the amount of material it takes, and c) how much I like making that balloon (Labubus are $25 because I hate making them). I have 7 sections: $3-5, $7, $10, $15, $20, $25, & $30. 🤠Note for Americans: If you say these are “Suggested Tips” and not “Prices” then you can work in any public area in the nation. You are not selling anything 😉 You are performing and creating joy, and people are welcome to tip you for that. So, if you’re on a busy sidewalk, and the police come to tell you to stop selling things, you just say, “these are suggested tips” and you’re protected by the 1st Amendment. This also helps you get into events. I’ve walked into a lot of public events uninvited, and when the organizers come to tell me I can’t sell here, I say “No problem, I’ll leave, but I’m not selling anything. I have a menu with suggested tips, but if anyone doesn’t want to pay for a balloon, that’s fine” and they often let me stay and ask me to come back in the future. I'll keep referring to them as prices, though.

Has anyone tried making this little alien hat? 👽 It was my very first one! What do you think?

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be part of this community! My name is Nani, and I'm a balloon artist from McKinney, Texas. Instagram: @animart.events I recently started my own party entertainment business, AnimArt Events, and I'm always excited to learn new balloon designs and improve my skills! I'm looking forward to learning from all of you, sharing ideas, and making new balloon friends! 🥰 I'd love to know: What's your favorite balloon design to make at events?