How do I start, what do I charge?

[H. M.]

I was wondering how you all started getting gigs for children's birthday parties. I was planning on doing one for a friend and asking them to spread the word to people they know who may be interested in a mermaid at a party. Also, how much would you charge for this? I don't actually have the tail yet, I just ordered it and I'm excited!

[Mermaid Momo]

Even though I don't do parties, I always get people who are interested in hiring me when I go to the pool for swims :) maybe go to a pool during peak hours where you know there will be kids and parents to get some exposure for yourself.

[H. M.]

Thanks! I should get some more information to hand out then, be prepared :). I'll definitely try the pool

[Mermaid Momo]

No problem :) how about some business cards? Vistaprint offers 250 for free (you have to pay shipping though and the design options are lacking ) and you could laminate a few of them to carry with you in the pool :) and if the local pools,craft stores ,day cares, and library will allow you too, maybe print out some fliers and staple some cards to it (or staple an envelope onto the flier and wall with a few cards in it)good luck ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

[AniaR]

You can buy my ebook in my signature link: "Fishy Business: How to be a Mermaid". Also, I've written many tutorials on professional mermaiding that are all bookmarked and indexed in the professional mermaiding area of this site :)

[deepblue]

I was wondering how you all started getting gigs for children's birthday parties. I was planning on doing one for a friend and asking them to spread the word to people they know who may be interested in a mermaid at a party. Also, how much would you charge for this? I don't actually have the tail yet, I just ordered it and I'm excited!


FYI- until you have your tail in your hands, I'd say be very careful about booking anything... depending on who you ordered it from, sometimes these things take... a lot longer than one realizes.

I have no personaly experience with it, just going by something a reputable tail maker says, and I'm glad they do.

[H. M.]

I was definitely waiting until I got the tail :).

[Mermaid Momo]

just curious, where did you order your tail from?

[H. M.]

Mermaids R Us, they provide tails for Weeki Wachee

[Seatan]

I was wondering how you all started getting gigs for children's birthday parties. I was planning on doing one for a friend and asking them to spread the word to people they know who may be interested in a mermaid at a party. Also, how much would you charge for this? I don't actually have the tail yet, I just ordered it and I'm excited!

I know this question was asked a long time ago, but no one answered the "what do you charge?" part... I haven't started my business yet, but I have been doing research and I joined a clown forum. On there I learned a lot about what entertainers charge for parties and fantastic places to list yourself and get gigs. Basically what you should do is look up magicians and clowns and other kids entertainers in your area and see what they charge. Then take into account whether or not you are the only mermaid in the area. People will spend tons of money on kids' parties, and I have found pretty much every kind of entertainer charges by the hour, with the lowest of the low in my area (Dallas) being about $100 an hour. They go up from there.

I found this thread in particular to be very helpful about starting a local party entertainment business:

http://www.clown-forum.com/showthread.php?t=13344

[AniaR]

It really depends on where you live, your experience, your materials, transportation etc best to use a rate calculator. My parties are all the same length typically but go from 140-320$ + transportation + additional mermaid fees and I'm on the lower end of the scale. I live in a very low income with high unemployment rate province. At this time its impossible to charge much more.

Look at other mermaids websites and online ads for a sense of what they charge.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Oshun]

Place an ad in a local paper or upscale magazine. Photo flyers on bulletin boards at day care centers. aquariums, zoos, petting zoos, farms, wharfs, pet fish stores, pools, churches, sea food restaurants, hair salons, boys & girls clubs, party stores. Join parents groups & community centers....everything that has to do with kids,swimming, fish, water or parents.

[AniaR]

but just a reminder I already have tutorials about this stuff all over this forum and in my book. Not to sound repetitive but there's no exactly a lot of us consistently out their working as mermaids and using the forum so maybe give it all a read ;)

[Seatan]

I am doing "fairy" as well as "mermaid," as I believe that it will open a lot of good doors for my biz. As a fairy I can actually go to places where families hang out (like the pizza buffet on Saturday night) in costume and hand out cards, something that is a little more difficult in a mermaid tail, even if you are in a wheelchair! Also, my cousin is very rich with young children and all her friends are very rich with children. Word of mouth goes a long way with any small business.

You should also check out some of the articles on Etsy. Many of them are very helpful even if you are not trying to start a craft business. There are lots of posts on marketing and branding. I also suggest books by clowns and magicians. I have read a couple and they are very helpful. Raina's right, there aren't a whole lot of consistently working mermaids out there, but you don't have to just rely on just info on mermaiding. It seems like a lot of people think of mermaiding as being drastically different from anything else, when really (if you are planning on doing kids parties like I am) it fits very neatly into a niche market. Her book and articles are VERY good and I 100% recommend them as a starting out point, but you shouldn't limit yourself to that information because you would seriously be missing out on info by people who have been doing the same sort of thing you want to do for decades--they just do it OUT of the water. Same target market, same forms of advertising, similar abilities.... Seriously, some clowns are AMAZING, and I have found them to be the best fount of information on working in the children's entertainment industry.

Can you tell the clown community has impressed me? LOL.

[Blaze]

Looks like I'll have to be branching out on my own too; the company I was able to do a few gigs with didn't work out. Working on my pricing and such now.