The Green Brush Part 1: Introduction

The Green Paint Brush with Heather Green

This is the first installment in The Green Brush, a Marketing and Business tips and tricks series by Heather Green. sponsored by Silly Farm Supplies.

Why

I have spent the past six years making youtube videos on face painting to help you to become better painters, but I totally neglected that being the best painter isn’t good enough. It’s like living on McDonald’s, but then working out every day of the week. You have to combine business skills with talent in order to achieve a winning combination…. So I am dedicating one video blog a month to helping you improve your business, grow your business, and answer your questions.

What

What makes me qualified to be in a position to give advice? For those of you that don’t know me… My name is Heather Green and I am the owner of Silly Farm Supplies, the creator of FABAtv, the co-producer of the FABAIC, publisher of the FABA Blog, a business partner for My FAB Events, a mom, a friend, a face & body painter, and the First Lady of Greater St Mark Ame church. I have been painting for 15 years, have grown my companies into something I am very proud of. I spend much of my time researching, reading, and investing in learning how to be a successful entrepreneur. My goal is to condense my findings into useful information and business advice that you can use and make money from. I feel my face painting Youtubes and teaching style have been so well received because I take a lot of concepts from all the classes I have taken and simplify it to make it attainable for all levels of painters. I want to do that in the business sense too.

Who

My business video blogs are meant to help anyone, not just painters, but all entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. I know that watching my face can be boring, but hopefully the content will make it all worth it.

When

My goal is to publish video blogs at least once a month. If you like them I will try my hardest to post 2 a month.

So what’s on the agenda for today?

Getting Started

In order to get ourselves in the business frame of mind there are a few things you need to do to get started on the right path.

Start with time management…. There is a direct correlation between time spent/ invested and success. When I bought silly farm almost 9 years ago I told myself I wouldn’t take a paycheck until we were out of the red. I face painted on the weekends and used that money to live. I didn’t mind working 19 hours a day, and I believe that my time spent obsessing, building, growing Silly Farm is the reason we have grown from 2 employees to 27 employees. If you are only spending two hours a week improving your company, investing in yourself as an artist, or your phones aren’t ringing like you would like then it’s time to take a look at how you are spending your time. I wrote the book on No Time. I get up at 5:00 am, go to the gym, get home to get my son ready for school, go to work, go home, feed him, bathe him, and then go back to work. Now my life style isn’t for everyone, but if you don’t make the time, you can’t expect the results.

Start by dedicating one hour a day to yourself and your business. Spend an hour emailing customers, or taking a class on FABAtv, or seeking new leads. If you invest an hour each day it’s easier to increase the time you spend on your business daily without feeling overwhelmed.

Setting Goals

How many times have you said to yourself I just want to loose 10 lbs or 20lbs? How many times have you said tomorrow I am going to eat better and start laying weight? For better or worse, goals are a huge part of the human psyche. Goals are important because they help create vision and focus. Set, type, and print your goals, make them visible at all times so that you don’t loose sight of what you are working towards. When I launched fabatv I printed a paper out that said 1,000 subscribers … Ready set go! Every morning I looked at my goal and within 9 months I reached my goal. I wish I could say the same about these last 8 baby pounds, but I won’t be too critical. If you make a goal to book five new parties a month, or a goal to save 30% of all your take home, then you keep it where your mind continuously views it. Then you will train yourself to keep the pot at the end of the rainbow in mind. Don’t let your goals become out of sight and out of mind.

Invest in Yourself and Your Business

We learn from others and feedback is essential! Please like and share this post if it helped you. Leave a comment below or send me an email if you have any questions! Who knows, maybe your question will be on the next video!

The Green Brush Part 2: Marketing Mindframe

The Green Paint Brush with Heather Green
This is the second installment in The Green Brush series sponsored by Silly Farm Supplies. Marketing and Business tips and tricks by Heather Green. Heather is the CEO and Owner of Silly Farm Supplies, an international supplies shop for face and body art. Heather is also the co-producer for the Face and Body Art International Convention.

In this segment of The Green Brush I will show you how to get into the Marketing Mind frame.

I breakdown the FREE steps to marketing your business and introduce the 4 P’s which I will explain in detail in future segments.

Marketing & Sales GraphMarketing and Sales are not synonymous, they compliment each other,. You don’t have to fear marketing your business. Marketing is relationship building. Marketing is taking the time to get to know how you can best service your clients. I will guide you on how to achieve effective marketing campaigns.

I urge you to choose a soundtrack that gets you motivated; to get in a working mode and pursue new business avenues.

I also explain sources of free marketing including grass roots campaigns and getting yourself organized to be able to effectively follow up leads. I have created a “Follow Up Form” for you to download and use free of charge. My goal with this form is to help you keep better records, so that you can keep in touch with your customers and build better relationships.

[button type=”ambitious_button” url=”http://www.fabablog.com/wp-content/uploads/forms/event-followup-form.xlsx” target=”” ]Download Follow Up Form(Excel Format)[/button]

I am focused on helping you create and build a business you are proud of. I hope you enjoy this segment of The Green Brush and I encourage you to share your ideas, stories and business successes. Please leave me a comment with your ideas or questions and don’t forget to like and share this article with your friends!

5 Tips for Budding Entrepreneurs

By no means do I assert that I am no longer “budding” – I remain deeply entrenched in my fledgling status – but I would like to share with you some words that have stuck with me in this journey. Some pearls of wisdom fall on deaf ears, but some seem to ring loudly just when we need them. These are the ear-piercing bits, the ones that resonated with me and shaped my outlook on business.

“Work hard now, coast later.”0acf4f8b2a5234f6fbb4932589da5245
-Mr. Hikel
This was the mantra of my first boyfriend’s dad, which he gave me a solid lecture on during freshman year of High School. Climb towards your goals with all the tenacity you can muster, and you’ll be able to coast on your successes later. The longer I adhered to this, the more obvious it became that the people who work so fervently towards their aspirations don’t actually intend on ever stopping to “coast”, but the point was that success grows exponentially, and hard working people tend to get swept into wonderful opportunities.

“I could be getting in on the first floor of…Google!”
-Claire Stoddard
I’ve always had a penchant for business, starting around 14 years old. The first business I opened was for a clothing line, and I asked some close friends and family for assistance with seed money. Turns out that banks aren’t keen on giving 14 year olds loans. Claire wrote me a check for $500; I was astonished that one person was willing to fork over that much to my measly operation. The quote above was her response, and it was profound for me to consider. It made me realize that if she had so much faith in me, I should too. I assumed it was impractical to aim high, but who’s to say that you won’t end up at the top of the food chain one day?

“Automate it.”
-Dan Gargano.
Dan is a tech savvy fellow who completely redesigned the way I look at business from both an internal and external perspective.  His main focus was to automate, streamline, and simplify as many aspects of his business as possible. I didn’t realize how much energy I was expending towards menial tasks; now I operate with automated email templates, payment systems, databases, and have more time to devote to core functions. Dan also made killer sales pitches and owned the room when he walked in, which would be especially impressive if you could see how mousy and young he looked. I’ve done my best to assimilate his well-dressed confidence into my own life, and started making a point of surrounding myself with other powerful people who I could learn from by example.

“Realize that Despite Your Worst Fears, You are now a Salesperson”
-Kurt Johnson
This quote was part of a longer, and very insightful article that I highly recommend. I briefly worked retail sales, and it was certainly not my forte. I refused to harass passer-bys, felt awkward during my sales pitch, and not even a commission bonus could convince me to do cold calls. But when you run 97e31e6c8ed196012fb09ba7307d896eyour own business, you’re head of the sales department. And marketing department. And secretary. Embrace it! Find ways to promote yourself that are within your comfort zone, but also make a point of stepping outside the box from time to time. You have to become wonderful at all aspects of business, and you don’t really have much of a choice!

 “A good entrepreneur is a heat seeking missile”
– Josh Kopelman
I read this on a website while researching investors, and it was like that missile hit my brain. BOOM. My days of running a business tentatively were over. With renewed determination, I decided all of my goals were within reach, and that my business was going to succeed because I would give everything to make it happen. On hard days, days when I’m tired or feeling burnt out, I remember this quote and it pulls me through.
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
-Kim Demulder
I’ve worked with Kim frequently over the last four years. He’s an incredibly talented artist with a big smile and a bounce in his step. He’s worked for DC Comics and is currently teaching at the Joe Kubert School of Graphic Arts and Cartooning in Dover, NJ. He’s spouted off this saying to students for at least the few years, and it seems to have done well by him. Remember that whatever your current business venture is, that you’re in it because you love it. That’s ultimately the end game here – to do so much of what we love that people start to pay us for it. The money is great, but the art is better.

Keep on keepin’ on, friends!
-Caitlin

Spotlight: Alex Hansen – Bones & Muscle Structure

Alex Hansen is an accomplished artist for body painting, airbrush and special effects. He has competed numerous times winning multiple awards all over, and has done special effects work in movies, such as 300 and Death Race. We’re excited to announce that FABAtv is bringing him to South Florida for a FREE LIVE class! That’s right. FREE.

Alex Hansen - Bones & Muscle Structure FABAtv LIVE

Each month FABAtv hosts an entirely free, live class on face painting, body art, magic, balloons and more! Tune in April 15th at 8PM EST to watch Alex Hansen and his class on Bones & Muscle Structure in body art.

We were able to catch Alex away from his busy life to share some details about himself and his journey as an artist.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from?

AH: Well, I’m originally from Brazil now living in Montreal Canada
Was raised my whole life in Canada, I have been an artist since the day I was born

Q: Are you an artist full time or do you have another job?

AH: Yes my other full time job is my Family Life!! My two daughters and my Queen, Lymari Millot

Q: What type of face and body art do you specialize in?

AH: Well Pretty much everything.. but my forte is airbrushing and special effects

Q: How did you get your start(in face and body art)?

AH: I started off in the night clubs scene in Montreal and then moved on to working my own concepts and body artwork…. and then went into teaching and competing

Q: What’s the most enjoyable part of what you do?

AH: Being Creative and also being an inspiration to other artists, teaching and learning new art forms and other stuff

Q: Do you attend any conventions, like the FABAIC?

AH: Yes I do.. I try to be as many events as possible. I might be cutting down alot on my travels pretty soon… I believe that the world needs a break from me and me from the world…

Q: What would you like to do more of, art or otherwise?

AH: Well art is my life…. being a great family man is what I love the most, besides that what else is there?

Q: Outside of art, what do you do for fun?

AH: I love going to movies, playing soccer, sculpting, and dancing with Lyrian my daughter

Q: Do you have any pet peeves?

AH: Well I have three…. Stupidity, tardiness and egos!

Q: Where do you see yourself in a couple years?

AH: well for sure a lot less traveling and starting out something I always wanted to do… Develop my own art school / studio

Q: Do you have any projects going on or in the works?

AH: I have way to many!!! Stencils and many other ideas… a book on the art of body painting which is a big dream of mine, I have had it since I started out in bodypainting

Q: What do you think of FABAtv?

AH: Well I think it is a great idea…. but I also believe you can never get the same effect with a teacher in person!!

As great as FABAtv is, Alex is right. You can’t beat a LIVE instructor! So be sure to tune in for his LIVE class Bones & Muscle Structure, and get a chance to ask him your questions LIVE!

Well, now you know a bit more about this talented artist. His services include and are available for editorials, television/film/video productions, photo shoots, trade shows, workshops, fashion shows, special occasions, promotions, events, and live performances.

If you want to reach Alex, he is available by email or facebook.
Email alexhansenart@gmail.com
Like him at Facebook.com/AlexHansenArt

Spiderman for Girls: Face Painting Tutorial

A few weeks ago we had a special guest come visit from Chicago. Chantal of Fanciful Faces stopped in to Silly Farm and guest starred in a YouTube tutorial for us!

Chantal will show us one of her popular festival faces, a spiderman face painting design for girls! This Spidey Girl is a quick and easy to create and girls love it! Want to paint it on a boy? Just switch the colors up! Instead of pink and purple, you can do red and blue!

For more tutorials by Chantal, check out her YouTube!