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

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

iliketolaughalot — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:25:52 -0800

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!

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:27:28 -0800

[removed links - please put them in your profile if you'd like people to look at them, thanks]

By: nadawi

nadawi — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:30:17 -0800

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).

By: lia

lia — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:39:11 -0800

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.

By: mollymayhem

mollymayhem — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:08:45 -0800

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.

By: shesbookish

shesbookish — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:12:23 -0800

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?

By: necessitas

necessitas — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:51:09 -0800

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.

By: kathrineg

kathrineg — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:53:42 -0800

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.

By: cabingirl

cabingirl — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:05:16 -0800

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.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:26:49 -0800

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.

By: furtive

furtive — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:32:18 -0800

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.