Hello and welcome to BMTV, this week we have a very special guest! This person is an industry instructor, she has taught thousands of people in person and through her training dvds, she writes for the very best balloon blog and Greg describes her as a balloon celebrity (which she humbly denies!). We are talking, of course, about Sue Bowler!

Sue has been in the industry a long time so the first question we ask her is:

How did you get into the industry?

Sue started out 26 years ago after she had a baby and was looking for something to fill her time with as she was off work. She came across a one word article in a trading magazine that simple said “Balloons!” Intrigued, she rang the number and was greeted by someone on the other end who was passionate about the industry and she decided to see what all the fuss was about and attend a trade show a few months later. “I could see balloons as a fantastic medium to work with”.

She got some balloons and started delivering balloons around Valentine’s Day and she says that she realised very quickly that balloons don’t just sell themselves. She was working from home, didn’t understand how to market herself or run a business and realised she wasn’t making any money. After 4 years Sue decided to go to a balloon convention and entered every single competition! Sue says this was the biggest learning curve of her life and was a huge amount of fun.

From this event, she learnt where he passions lay and what direction she wanted to go in. She went to more and more events but decided that sculptures weren’t her thing, her real passion lay in centrepieces. She did prove to herself one time that she could do great sculptures when she did a tiffany lamp at BACI 2012. The competition side of her balloon career lead her onto balloon training. She was lucky enough to place first in some centrepiece decorations which got her noticed. Many people may not know that Sue has a professional background in teaching, so it was a great move for her to adapt the skills and qualifications she already had to the balloon industry.

She teaches for Pioneer Europe but over the years, Sue has had various roles with Pioneer Balloon Company and Pioneer Europe. She writes the Very Best Balloon Blog, the Qualatex Facebook page and the QBN Facebook page.

Learn to charge more.

There’s a lot of people in the industry that are feeling frustrated that their business isn’t working within in the first few years. The same thing happened to Sue! It sounds like if you were to ask her within the first 4 years if her business was working she would have said no.

Sue goes onto say that there are a few people that start in the industry as a hobby, as a side to their regular jobs. You don’t have to invest a lot of money to start in the balloon industry, but she does think there is a big misconception that business comes to them. If you are working from home, you really must invest in your marketing or you won’t get seen! Sue says that she treated her business as a hobby in the first few years, if you keep doing friends parties for nothing then there is no value to what you’re doing and you’ll never be able to run a business.

Sue remembers when she came back from an event in America and realised she had spent a few thousand pounds on herself and training that she needed to et back! Overnight she put her prices up considerably and not 1 customer said she was too expensive. It’s a hang-up that we have that it’s just a balloon but sue says it’s the time and expertise to put them together that justifies charging more.

Sue says that a good technique to charge more is to list out all the costs to you over the job, everything from van hire to the food you’re going to eat. If you miss anything off that will cost you money. There has been times when she has looked at the price she’s going to charge and thought “wow that’s a lot of money” but she just takes a deep breath, creates a professional proposal listing the benefits of what’s she’s offering and submits it to her client. She then knows she has charged the right amount for her services and the client comes back with a yes!

Creativity in the industry.

Sue says there are two schools of people in the industry; those that are creative and those that aren’t. There are people that like to create new things and push boundaries and there are people that learn from others, copy and put their own stamp on a design. Sue says there is room for both in the industry and both succeed. This reminds Greg of lego and how he was a person that loved following the instructions but could never create his own designs.

3 most important things when starting out

Training – Absolutely essential to know the basics. If you invest in a Qualatex fundamentals course, it will set you up for success in your business.
Marketing – You’re never going to move on without marketing. Invest in a website and work on your social media.
Equipment – Precision sizing equipment like the Conwin inflators. You can go from 1 or 2 weddings a weekend to 7 or 8 weddings a weekend!

Marketing

One of the biggest mistakes Sue sees with marketing is people use their personal Facebook page for the business. You get a total different mix of messages so Sue says setting up a business Facebook page is essential. Then you can consider other avenues like Pinterest. Sue gets private Pinterest boards between her and her customers, where they can both add ideas to the board over time so when she sits down with the customer she knows exactly what they’re interested in. Another tip for Pinterest is to put other lifestyle images on your Pinterest board, things other than your business that are going to keep people interested.

Sue says that social media marketing is huge but you’ve always got to link it back to your website and you need to have a good website. Social media links bac k to your website and Sue says she’s shocked at how many people don’t update their website homepage. Events like Halloween should be promoted not only to give you’re website a fresh and exciting feel, but it also stimulates activity for Google.

Skills and mistakes when starting out

Learning is a huge skill and you’ve got to be prepared to learn. Sue says she’s always learning and is always blown away by the new skills and techniques that people develop all over the world. Common mistakes that people make are firstly they don’t charge enough. Secondly people sell a common product that is available anywhere like 3-balloons on a table. There’s going to be a market price for similar items and you’re not going to be unique, do something different by investing in training. Thinking you’re going to successful straight away is a common mistake. You need to invest in training, work hard and be patient.

Trends in the industry.

Current trends are how phenomenal bubbles have become, Sue thinks there is a lot that can be done with bubbles and a lot more there can be done with them. Also, die-cutting personalisation with a machine like the Cameo Silhouette is exciting Sue. She is all about the finishing touches and personalisation creates products that are unique to you and your customer!

Ultimate dinner party.

Sue would like to have dinner again with Linda, one of her friends who sadly died recently, and it would be a fantastic opportunity to see her again. Sue says that if she had a celebrity she would just be too silly! Although she does go on to say that she would like to have Louis Hamilton and Michel Roux Jr as well as Linda.

Something interesting that the BMTV might not know

Sue and her husband John ran a restaurant for a night in her home on TV! It was on a program called Instant Restaurant where you had to cook 60 meals in your home. What happened however was that she had a power cut in her house and didn’t get it back till 2 o’clock! This program occasionally airs on repeat on BBC 2 so keep an eye out!

Jam or cream first on Scones

Jam first! If you put cream on first you can’t spread the Jam

If you could be any food what would you be?

Rice! Sue was brought up in Singapore and adopted rice as her staple food very young. Rice is her comfort food if she’s feeling a bit down!

Favourite season of the year?

Autumn. It’s the only time of year where it’s beautiful to look out over the scenery when you’re travelling to work!

Best or worst Christmas present.

Sue says she has a think about Christmas cards and get offended if she gets a bad one! She says she loves to send and receive them and people aren’t doing so much of it anymore.

Normal balloons or QuickLinks

Normal at the moment. Sue loves QuickLinks but she finds them really challenging as she doesn’t have a lot of space at home to practice. She is in awe of what people can do with them and wants to one day be a QuickLink designer!

That’s it for this week, it has been along one! We hope that has been helpful and we’ll see you next time!

Rob

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