Now that I have my red nose, how do I get paid to wear it?!

June 29, 2009 3:25 PM

After a year and a half of teaching myself to do balloon art, I bit the bullet and went to clown school! It was a ton of fun, and I am now officially a clown! The problem is that now I have to book some gigs! I have a website, a Twitter account, aFacebook page, and business cards on the way. Still, I don't really know how to market myself effectively. It's a competitive market (NYC) so I'm wondering what I can do to get the word out!

I've posted on Craigslist, but I'm competing with big companies that have hordes of clowns and other entertainers. While I'm new to clowning, I have been working with kids forever and have tons of experience in that. I've also been a pre-clown for some time, working at birthday parties of friends' kids, which I can use on my resume.

While I have applied for some jobs with existing companies, they pay really poorly compared to what I could make on y own. Of course, in order to make that money on my own, I'd have to get some jobs.

I joined the NY Clown Alley to try to network, but it hasn't gotten me very far.

Help me clown around! Will provide silly jokes in response to your suggestions of course!

posted by iliketolaughalot to work & money (10 answers total)

[removed links - please put them in your profile if you'd like people to look at them, thanks]
posted by jessamyn at 3:27 PM on June 29, 2009

when i worked at a portrait studio i had a couple clowns that put their picture and business card in our scrapbook in the waiting area (the book you can flip through to get background/pose ideas and to keep you occupied while you waited). apparently they got quite a few gigs from it. we also kept some of the business cards up front so we could hand them out if we were asked. it helped us because other entertainers would think about the portrait studio for their promo shots after hearing stories from the clowns (most people think of the company as a kids'/family photographer).
posted by nadawi at 3:30 PM on June 29, 2009

if you have friends with kids, offer to work their parties for half-off or free—the best way to make new clients is networking after they've seen you perform somewhere and liked it. think of it as a loss leader.
posted by lia at 3:39 PM on June 29, 2009

Is there a good place you can think of to busk? Go out on the street and make balloon animals for passing kids, and hand out business cards. Put a tip cup out, of course.
posted by mollymayhem at 4:08 PM on June 29, 2009

Why not see if there are any NY-area mom bloggers out there? Read their blogs and offer your services at a discount for a party, provided that they write a blog post about the party and provide your contact information on their blog?
posted by shesbookish at 4:12 PM on June 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm sure there are plenty of NY area mom bloggers out there! Depending on your budget, why not invite the mommy bloggers (and their kids) to a party/performance whatever you want to call it. Maybe in a park? Have some snacks, do your thing, network, hand out your card, and then ask THEM for suggestions. You never know who they know, which friend is planning a birthday party, which of their religious organizations are planning festivals, etc.
posted by necessitas at 4:51 PM on June 29, 2009

What you need to do is get them hooked on you.

Teach preschool or camp or classes or otherwise get involved with kids and when they compliment you, or if they return to your classes often, let parents know your sideline is clowning. They'd rather have someone they know than someone they don't know. Once you have a great reputation you can drop the side gig.
posted by kathrineg at 5:53 PM on June 29, 2009

Not in NYC, but I helped organize an event for an animal rescue organization awhile back and we were looking for an entertainer to donate their services for the day. So I'd suggest keeping an eye on the schedule for local fairs and carnivals and offer to donate your time as a way to get in front of as many people as possible.
posted by cabingirl at 7:05 PM on June 29, 2009

On the balloon end, I think most ballooners work for tips only. You might want to go to some family-friendly restaurants and ask if you can work a weekend night. Most people will tip you a buck or two, which could add up.
posted by radioamy at 7:26 PM on June 29, 2009

Google Adwords. People type "clown", "clown rental", "clown NYC" etc. and your name shows up on the right of the search results with a little blurb. You only pay when they click on your link. My friend the bagpipe player went from doing one gig a season to having 17 gigs for this summer alone.
posted by furtive at 7:32 PM on June 29, 2009