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I hope this summer is going well for you and you are making lots of money. I have heard a few stories from customers that I will relate to you in a later blog so you can see how some of our other customers are doing.

So you think you are keeping your airbrush gun in tip top condition. You keep it clean and after every show, you take it apart and do a thorough cleaning of every part. You cannot understand why it just doesn’t seem to be operating smoothly. Hmmm, what could be the problem?

A lube job is the answer. We sell a special lubricant for airbrush guns at TAT International. You can also use Vaseline or 3 in 1 oil. The important thing to remember is “A little dab will do ya.” After applying the lubricant to your needle, take your clean index finger and thumb and run them along the needle to remove the excess. On your trigger, all you need to do is apply a dot of lubricant to the end tip of the toggle that fits into the airbrush gun.

It is easy to forget to do this because it is not necessary to oil your needle and trigger every time you clean you airbrush gun. Although I am told if you do oil your needle every cleaning it prevents ink from sticking to the needle. I guess it is a good habit to develop.

I’ll be back next week. I promise.

Bonnie

Hi guys. I know Thursday is not my usual day for posting, but we recently received an interesting e-mail here at TatStore that I wanted to pass on to you guys. Before I get into this topic I’d like to express the two distinct reasons I’m sharing this post with you. One, I think this could be a great opportunity for our customers. Two, Visa’s marketing strategy is very interesting, and at least nominally, we received this because we blog.

As for the first point, the Visa Business Network is an application developed by Visa to cater to the needs of (small) business owners, specifically their networking needs. This program is unique in a couple of important ways. First of all, it is legitimately free and accessible. That’s kind of a big deal when information products and business networking services are fetching a pretty penny, many of which fetch it monthly. Also, they developed it to synthesize with facebook perfectly. I’m hesitant to call it a “facebook app,” even though they do, because it is not exclusively available on facebook to the best of my knowledge. It seems like the content is consistent no matter where you access it whether at visabusinessnetwork.com or apps.facebook.com/visabusiness. However, the app parts of it seems well executed.

Once within the program you will have access to several tools and resources that seem to include video training programs, forums, and networking tools. I would like to say that I only signed up yesterday and didn’t poke around a whole lot, but I felt like I looked around enough to know that at least it seems valuable. If you’re still not sure whether it’s worth checking out or not, Visa is willing to offer you a $100 credit toward facebook advertising. The one piece of advice that I have heard that I would like you to keep in mind is that you need to be very careful when managing your facebook advertising campaign. I have heard from several sources that you should be incredibly focused with your targeting, and also track it closely. Make sure that it’s making customers and making money for you, because people on facebook tend not to want to be advertised to.

Now the second larger point that I would like to make, is that this particular marketing effort pursued by visa is very innovative, and I think will be successful and become more common on our steady march into the future. Mark received an email from a real person containing the following opening paragraph.

“Tatstore Blog last week and I’m digging you guys. Kudos to you and your team for being a well-written and informative resource for your readers. I dig the hybrid of geeky tech reviews, tattoos and marketing. I’m hoping that you guys will find my information below useful and relevant to your readers. Hopefully, it will be another resource in making their business websites more search-engine optimized and a platform where they can show off their unique art work. Please don’t take this as spam. I’d truly love to get you and your staff’s feedback on our launch announcement.”

Now, for a very simple paragraph this tells me a lot of things. First of all, this may be spam, in the fact that I may not want the content (in this case I did), but it is definitely not spam in the sense that it was not written for me. This salesperson at least took a moment to quickly scan our blog and put together a pretty concise and pertinent compliment. But not only that, with her first comment she actually transferred to us something of social value, namely a digg. Not surprisingly, it seems that Digg was not particularly happy with her and banned her account, but the marketing principle is right on. And then, the most important element to any marketing campaign, is the quality of the offering, and she follows through with a wonderful form email which explains her program and her incentives. Keep in mind though, it could have been an even better offering, and we would have missed it if we didn’t have a blog for our business.

Like my grandpa says, “Let this be a lesson to ya’.”.

Read the press release from Visa here.

I HOPE YOU ARE PLANNING ON OFFERING YOUR CUSTOMERS THE SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS AS AN ADD ON TO THEIR TAT. $1 PER CRYSTAL CAN MAKE A NICE LITTLE ADDITION TO THE BOTTOM LINE… I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT THIS IN MY BLOG FOR SOME TIME NOW.

MY INTENTION FOR MENTIONING IT AGAIN IS JUST TO LET YOU KNOW IF YOU NEED CRYSTALS, WE HAVE THEM ON SALE. THE SALE WILL EXPIRE FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2009. SO IF YOU NEED ANY CRYSTALS YOU CAN GET THEM ON SALE NOW. BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE USA VETERANS WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY, HATS OFF TO YOU, NOT ONLY THIS WEEKEND BUT EVERY DAY. ONE OF MY FAVORITE BUMPER STICKERS IS “LOVE YOUR FREEDOM? THANK A VET.”

HAVE A SAFE PROSPEROUS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.

Bonnie

I would like to recommend one magazine I used when I did art shows. It is called Sunshine Artist. This magazine is directed more towards artists looking for fine art shows, therefore, I don’t recommend you subscribe to the magazine but just order a copy of one issue. I have not seen the magazine at the local Barnes & Noble Book Store here in Grand Rapids, MI, but I have seen it in the racks of Barnes & Noble’s in other cities. If they don’t have them in stock at your local news stand, ask if they could order a copy for you. If they cannot, here is the phone number of the magazine: 1-800-597-2573 their web address is: www.sunshineartist.com. When I visited their website, they only had information for those looking to subscribe for one year or more, so your local book store or a phone call to the magazine may be a better bet at getting just one copy of the magazine.

I think this magazine would be helpful for you because it does offer a wealth of information that you would be able to use. The magazine focus on outdoor art shows so it is chock full of ads for everything you would need to set up at a show, such as canopies, chairs, display equipment, credit card processing, lighting equipment, tables, etc.

There are a few articles in each magazine that are written by the magazine staff that may have some helpful hints for you. Each month the magazine has a state by state recap of show critiques written by artists that have participated in that particular show. They address everything from the attendance at the show to the treatment of the artists by the promoter. Near the back of the magazine, there is an Alphabetical Index of Events, entered, state by state. In the back of the magazine is an Event Listing of shows, month by month. In the Event Listing section it gives the dates of the shows, application deadline, cost, contact information, number of attendees, number of spaces available and the percentage of artists who want to do the show again the next year.

I do think it may be worth a try to call some of these promoters listed in the magazine and try to get into some of these shows. Most of these shows I have attended have a section with food vendors. This would be a good location for a tat artist. Many of the customers have children who came just for the food. How nice would it be for the children to make a purchase at an art fair and get a cool tat?

A lot of art shows listed in Sunshine Artist magazine are part of another event. For example, the fine art show of Happy City is part of the Blueberry Festival. You could call the contact person listed in the magazine and ask for the phone number of the event coordinator to see if you could get into another part of the festival.

I think getting one copy of Sunshine Artist magazine will be a great help to you. Even if you book one event or get one idea that would be helpful for you, it is worth it.

If you have a teenage girl in your family, a babysitter, neighbor, or a friend’s daughter who is active in any extracurricular activities, ask her if she knows of any groups at her school who are looking for a fundraising opportunity.

You could call or visit the local high school and ask the receptionist for the name and phone number of any advisers of clubs that may be looking for a money making idea. You could even bring some samples with you so the secretaries could see some of the different designs and colors. I would suggest wearing some crystals on your body so they can see the true sparkle of the crystals.

The club members selling the crystal tattoos could set up a table in the cafeteria at lunch time and sell directly to the students. If you purchased some of the crystal tattoos with multiple designs like the buds or the stars, you could suggest the sellers each wear one of the small stars or buds so the customers could see the brilliance of the crystals on the skin.

I wouldn’t give up on the idea of selling to salons. You could call around and set up an appointment with the salons that indicated an interest.

If you took my suggestion and purchased the package of 100 crystal tattoos for $147.00 and sold the tattoos to the school or a salon for $3.00 each, you would make $153.00 for every 100 crystal tattoos sold. The club or salon selling the tattoos would make $397.00 for every 100 crystal tattoos sold. This is just suggested pricing, you can play with the numbers and find something that works for you.

Because of the economy, you will need to be more vigilant of your kiosk’s operations and focus on running a tight ship, so to speak. Perhaps you will need to work more hours yourself as opposed to hiring extra help. If business seem slow, try running a sale on tats. You may want to try offering glitter tattoos and crystal body tattoos for added options.

If you have negotiated your contract with the mall on a month to month basis, you are only locked in for one month. If you give it your best shot for one month and feel that it is not working for you, you can pull up stakes and go back to fairs and festivals.

Malls are the place for our customers, preteens and teens, in the summer. We have had some very successful customers operating kiosks in malls. If this seems like a good fit for you then I encourage you to take that step and try it.

Good luck!

Bonnie

Very sorry,
Benn

*– Awesome Bonnie Post –*

I promised this week to address the issue of hiring additional help to work at the kiosk. The information I will be sharing was obtained from Andria, a TAT International employee, who ran a very successful airbrush tattoo operation at the local mall for us when we first started this business.

Initially Andria was the only employee working the cart. Her experience was what you would define as Baptism by fire. She set up her cart, and went to work without any experience spraying tats. Her first customers were her Guinea Pigs. After she felt comfortable spraying tats, she started her search for employees.

Here are the criteria she used for hiring: The employees need to be friendly, outgoing people. She required that they have some artistic talent and must be open-minded. She encouraged her employees to show off their tattoos and body piercings. She wanted to hire people who were “approachable”. Her definition of approachable was people who were like most of us; average looking, a little over weight perhaps, a little too short or too tall. Her reasoning was that the majority of the population is not perfect and she didn’t want a potential customer to feel intimidated by Mr. or Ms. America applying the tat, or deciding not to get a tat because they felt self-conscious.

Her first employees were friends and acquaintances that met her hiring standards. She would always work with the new hire, during a time when the mall wasn’t busy. During their training session, she went over everything with the newbie, how to take the airbrush gun apart and clean it (This was before the Power Palette or Spectrum Color Changer), how to prepare the customers skin for the tat, how to clean the stencils, sales techniques and up-selling. She trained the newbie on how to apply a tat and watched to make sure they did it right. After she and the new employee felt comfortable with their ability, she would let them work on their own. She gave them her cell phone number and was always available to take their calls.

During the time she ran her kiosk at the mall, the minimum wage for Michigan was $5.25 an hour. She paid her help $7 an hour and eventually hired a manager for the cart at $9 an hour. She did not pay commission.

I know some of these hiring pointers are contrary to what is advised on our web site, such as requiring a person to have artistic talent. This issue was important because it said more about the individual applying for the job than the fact that it does not require any artistic talent to apply the tats. An artistic person may be more enthusiastic about applying tats than an accounting student and this enthusiasm is not lost on the customer.

Another contrary point from our website is the pay rate. Our employees were making more money than other kiosk workers at the mall. Our employees made $28 for a four hour shift, while the person at the kiosk next to them only made $21. This made them feel more valuable and happier about going to work and not sad that they would be working the kiosk during “dead” time. The manager did not have to figure out percentages either.

Well, we are not done yet. Next week we will be looking at day to day operations of the kiosk.

One aspect of operating a tat business in a mall as opposed to doing fairs and festivals is that you have the mall to answer to. If your kiosk is not up and running during mall hours you could get fined by the mall. If you have an employee who leaves the kiosk unattended excessively, you could get fined by the mall. So hire responsible people to work for you.

It is important that your employees know the value of the equipment they are using. Hold them responsible for damage to equipment caused by misuse. This is why you will need to do a good job training your employees. If employees are trained on the proper care and use of the equipment, you should not have a problem. When we had our kiosk we did not hold the employees responsible for damaged needles or cones but everything else, they were responsible for and we never had a problem. Again I say, “Hire responsible people to work for you”.

I think if I were doing a mall again I would have one complete system and a back-up Power Palette, compressor and two or more back-up airbrush guns. This extra equipment will allow you to set up another work station if you get too busy, and you will also have a back-up if something breaks down. I would also have additional airbrush gun parts, especially extra needles and cones. If your equipment breaks down and you don’t have a back-up, you are out of business. I would recommend having a single airbrush gun set up to spray only black tats in addition to your Power Palette. Now if you have customers waiting in lines, you have another station ready to spray black tats, which are the most popular.

As Kirk stated in his article on malls, 1/3 of your business for the week will be generated on Saturday, 1/6 on Friday and 1/6 on Sunday. You know the busy times so schedule for them. Plan on stopping by the mall on the busy days to relieve a worker, collect money and insure everything is running smoothly. Whenever we did malls, we only had one worker scheduled, even for the busy times. We did have lines of customers waiting for tats but our workers were experienced and pretty fast at applying tats. If yours are not, you may want to schedule two people to work during the busy times.

I would have a sign at my kiosk advertising that I did parties and private events. However the mall may object and ask you to remove the sign because you are generating outside business from your mall location and the mall will not get any of that money. This is why you printed your name and phone number with “We Do Parties” on the back of the “Care of tats” paper that you will give each of your customers. You may also want to direct their attention to the fact that you do parties when you hand them the care of tats paper.

I have one final note regarding the economy. People are still going out to dinner, shopping at the mall and looking for a good time. They may be scaling down but they are still buying. It’s true they may not be willing to spring for that $100 “real” tattoo but the $10 tat at the mall will satisfy them. People may not be taking the kids to Disney World but they will go to the mall and buy them a tat. Teenagers still want to be rebellious and hang out at the mall during summer vacation. People will still go to the mall to cool off on hot summer days and take the kids to the mall on rainy summer days and people still want to celebrate a special event with a unique party.

I live in Michigan. The unemployment rate for the rest of the country has now reached the level it has been in Michigan for the past few years. Right now the unemployment rate for Michigan is over 11% the rest of the country has an unemployment rate of just over 7%. When I go to the movies, I have a hard time finding a place to park, when I go to the mall on a Saturday afternoon; I have to drive around the lot looking for a place to park. If I don’t want to wait for a table at my favorite restaurant, I have to go there on Sunday night. As dismal as the economy in Michigan may seem, people are still spending money. Our tat kiosk in the mall had an awesome money making track record. I think today with the addition of the party tat business, it would be even better. Don’t be discouraged about the economy; there is still a lot of money to be made in this business.