Hello! And welcome to the first installment of the Inspiration to Earn Business Blog!! The purpose of creating Inspiration to Earn was to help talented artists take what they are applying in daily practice and utilize it to get paid! The absolute worst thing for me to hear a fellow face painter say is, “I’m just not busy” … I think to myself “HOW?!” when there is literally opportunity to market yourself and get hired everywhere you go!
The first step is recognizing that opportunity is present every where you go! I do not leave the house without my business cards; My checklist before leaving is always keys, wallet, cell phone, and then business cards. Perhaps I’ll stop somewhere and it will give me a chance to leave some of my cards for potential clients to pick up, or maybe I’ll get into a conversation at the gas pump with someone whose been tasked to plan a company party. To leave home empty handed immediately hinders opportunity. And if you don’t speak up about what you do, it eliminates that opportunity all together.
The second step is being aware of your target audience and where opportunity may be primed and ready. One of my favorite things to do when I grocery shop is paint a cute eye design and shop with a pocket full of business cards. This creates opportunity for me that would not have otherwise. I recently found myself at a Food Truck Rally for dinner and as we ate, I looked around and observed DOZENS of families with kids running around… I took some initiative, grabbed my business cards, and began introducing myself to people. Not only was it well received, I gained 2 bookings out of it!
There are also opportunities in this industry for you to capitalize by finding ways to exchange your talent that may directly benefit you as both an artist and a small business owner. Be sensitive to these!! There is a HUGE difference between painting at a multiple hour event for “exposure” versus agreeing to collaborate with a local model or photographer on a photo shoot they have planned, that result in some professional portfolio pieces that you have the right to use as advertising. Not only will this offer you practice in skill, it could open up the opportunity to be hired for a paid photo shoot since your portfolio will reflect this experience.
Being self employed means saying YES – Say yes to opportunity. Say yes to crazy ideas. Say YES every single day when you ask yourself, “Can I really do this?” and say HECK YES to every opportunity you have to try!
Thanks for reading; I’m looking forward to sharing more Inspiration to EARN!
Mary Beth, Owner and Artist at CherriPaints, LLC
a lot of people wanted them, but couldn’t afford the big tubs in every colour. So I started selling smaller pots on a local group, of testers of each colours to help people decide which ones to buy. This went crazy with a huge demand, and at this point I decided it would be a great idea to do a similar thing with other products. Try and work out a way to sell add on products BtoB at the most affordable price I could to help everyone in the industry upsell at every opportunity, to grow their business and be successful. I invented a Christmas advent calendar for painters which I will be bringing back again for this year! And Bling soon followed. I watched the market and found out what was popular and trying to find my nieche, designing my new festival style large Bling pieces and the statement sticky sheet pieces. I started doing bling tutorials on you tube and love the support and positivity everyone was giving. After meeting the wonderful Heather Green whilst she was in London last year I became obsessed with glitter safety, and added a range of cosmetic glitter mixes 
Morgan Rose Vemu
Representative: Abby Solideo
memories of laying on the shelf of my bookcase while I drew on the bottom of the shelf above me. My love of art in all its forms has grown since then. I discovered face painting while working for the company I am now retired from. One of the supervisors was doing face painting for one of the company parties and asked if I’d like to help out since I was artistic. I did little cheek designs and loved how the kids faces would light up when they saw their artwork! I did it from time to time since then but I had no idea that little bit of face painting would lead me to a fabulous career years later!
industry is ever evolving and I plan to evolve with it.
Emotion guide for beginners could be title to. Joined this group totally clueless, about face painting,about brushes,about techniques.When Abby was saying that this group main goal is to paint every day,improving your painting skills I was like….”yeah right.”Some of us are here to learn,but did you see those “out of the world “artists!??OMG,I know!They are here for the win and prizes and glory! Yup,that is what I thought. But guess what,those artists were best thing in group;they were first to give support,they understood all insecurities,they were beginners to. Don’t be discouraged by someone who is at another level,learn from them,we are on same team. We are stars on ITP sky! At the beginning I thought that I was invisible,really!
Seemed like all comments,likes kind words are going to same people,and me…not good enough…Then I decided to get more involved,and guess what;when you give love and support you get it back to. ITP group is special because that kindness and love from people around the globe….from Chicago to Croatia…there’s no distance here that matters. Sometimes you won’t get why someone won that month,but be sure that every single winner is on that throne because they deserve it! It’s not only about painting things that blow our mind,it’s much more. I would get frustrated when I’d saw that assignment says OTJ(on the job)design and then see masterpieces that would take me few hours to do!Talk about pressure! I have answer for 
that one to;and gonna write it in big letters; DON’T COMPARE WITH OTHERS! If it was perfection that wins,there would be 5-6 same winners,and maybe not even one!So it’s about painting every day,support, improvement,and yes even You with five-six brushes and few paints can be a winner!! I know I am,although didn’t win any prize (not yet),as cheese it may sound I got much more. I’ve learned so much,improved my skills,my confidence,my business and that’s something that no prize can match.So I guarantee you that you too will see results of being part of this group and they’ll blow you mind and make your heart bigger.
I am 36 and live in Glasgow, Scotland.
After about a year of helping out with my friends business she decided that she was going to call it a day with children’s entertainment and focus on other things. She asked me if I’d like to take over her company. I agreed though changed the name from Mellow Drama to Enchanted Brush. I was really only happy doing the face painting part of it so I just decided to offer Face painting and Glitter tattoos, rather than all the other games and drama classes that Kat had also offered. I am happy to say that my wee business is doing great 3 years down the line.
BFA in Painting, I got married (exactly 2 weeks after actually haha) and we got pregnant with our first child right away! Unfortunately we lost our first baby which sent me into a huge depression. I refused to paint for almost two years after that. It wasn’t until my son was born that my mom told me I needed to get out of the house so she surprised me with my first face painting kit ( a DFX laptop starter kit) and literally drove me to my first gig. I played around with it for a year but it wasn’t until Abby showed up in my life that I really started painting seriously again. ITP has changed my life in that it gave me painting back and a painty power family to motivate and support me.
Inspiration To Paint 