Ifrah has made a big impact on my business over the past few months, specifically in terms of my branding and my website. So I knew I had to bring her on the show to share her photo shoot planning process!

Before we dive in, we’ll hear about how Ifrah’s business blossomed to the point where she decided to leave her job she otherwise loved. She even hopes to return to it after she’s grown Wowlloons enough to take a step back and let others keep the business running.

Then we dive into why she considers branding photo shoots to be so important for her business. She tells us what three outcomes she wants from each of them and the kind of impact they’ve made. I share how moving the “about me” piece of my website to a more visible spot, like she’s done, has helped people feel more connected with me right from the start.

When we start chatting about product photo shoots, you’ll hear how she plans for trends, scale and best-sellers. We also dive pretty deep into the customer and ordering experience on the website. Hear about the background she opts for, what steps she took to decide which products belong on her website, how she turns her photos into content and where she got the inspiration.

We also chat briefly about Instagram versus real life, and I’m guessing you’ll nod your head and get a little chuckle when you hear it!

Then in the UGlu Hotline, we get a tip and a great example of why you should consider interacting with other local businesses.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

wowlloons.com

The ultimate guide to planning a stunning brand photoshoot - Balloon Business Magazine

- - - -

Get bonus episodes

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube

Today’s episode is about an unfortunate situation. Rachael of It’s Your Day Balloons had a vendor relationship go south and we hear what happened, why and how she was able to learn from the experience. I appreciate her coming on the show to tell her story and I know there is a lesson for us all in it.

Before we dive into the relationship gone south, you’ll also get to hear how she transitioned into balloons from being a real estate agent and how that job has now become her side hustle! She also shared how she spent some time renting out furniture for events but has since discontinued many of those offerings.

Then we dive into the hot topic…

Rachael tells us how a new and budding partnership even turned into running promotions together, before suddenly she noticed her partner posting about more and more jobs with balloons that Rachael hadn’t done. Then came broken promises and undercutting prices.

In the end, she swallowed the hard truth that things like this are sometimes just part of business - to which I can totally relate. She’s since moved on to work with a different vendor and offers some good thoughts for doing what you can to prevent negative situations like this from occurring, plus how to move on emotionally.

I really appreciated Rachael’s openness and honesty about this whole scenario because things like this are hard to relive and share.

And in the UGlu Hotline, we get a calendar-related tip for tracking your rental items!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

@itsyourdayballoons

- - - -

Get bonus episodes

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube

You may know Jesy for the very cool way she combines her floral and balloon artistry. And in this episode, you’ll hear more about that creation process, plus mindset shifts, some tangible things you can do to reach your goals and how she’s fallen in love with teaching in our industry.

Jesy offers a nice reminder that everyone has to start somewhere, and to not compare yourself to people at another stage of the journey, including the process of becoming an instructor! She shares how she first discovered there might be an avenue for her as instructor and how it’s since blossomed into a bilingual experience for her students.

Then we dive into her passion for developing and strengthening a strong business owner mindset. She shares some of the practices she’s implemented that have made a big difference for her in both the big picture and day to day.

When we talk about her signature arrangements, you’ll hear about the inspiration, how she worked with manufacturers and some of the ways the arrangements can be used. I find product invention and manufacturing a mysterious but really intriguing process so I loved hearing all about it!

It was so fun to chat with Jesy and I know you’ll be uplifted from her positive outlook as well.

In the UGlu Hotline this week, we’ll hear a good tip for removing UGlu dashes!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

@jesydecorations

- - - -

Get bonus episodes

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube

Jeff is one of the new owners of the company that creates the most valuable tool in my toolkit: my magnets! I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly at FLOAT and was happy that he could come on the show to tell us more about how he and his business partner made their way into the balloon community through Clik-Clik. I loved his openness and honesty and it was really a delightful conversation!

You’ll get to hear a bit of surprising Clik-Clik history, how he and his business partner chose it over other businesses, where else you might see Clik-Clik out in the world and a bit about their plans for the future. You may also get a bit surprised to hear about the size of their team!

I can tell that Jeff is here to support balloon decorators for the long haul. He emphasizes how the products are all about keeping us safe on the job while helping us look very professional. He tells us about who else has been a huge part of their success thus far and how they’re looking to make their products more accessible to a wider range of businesses and decorators.

I’m looking forward to watching them grow!

And in the UGlu Hotline, you’ll hear about a cool way to donate balloons!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

clik-clik.com

- - - -

Get bonus episodes

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube

I’ve felt my business grow over the past couple of years, but there have also been some life changes that kind of made things feel a little out of whack. So in this episode, I share how I’m trimming the “fluff” and tuning up my business by going back to the basics!

This process is actually inspired by my previous time as a 6th grade art teacher. So much of what we would cover was foundational principles. And I always found that without them, troubleshooting becomes much more difficult. So, I took this mindset and applied it to my garlands, framework, clutter, inventory, product offerings and finances.

In some cases, I had introduced too many variables to the task. In others, I just didn’t even notice the buildup. And in one scenario, the changes were a little bit out of my control. Listen in to hear what changes I made to my recipes and offerings, the bags I use at install, what I’ve committed to never using again, some good advice I got about retraining and my next step in this process.

So far, I now have less clutter, more efficiency, better consistency and more reliable profit margins. Plus, another resource for you!

And from the UGlu Hotline, we have a tip for always having your contact info readily available.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

Basic Bases

- - - -

Get bonus episodes

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube

Travis and I purchased our marquee letters from the same vendor at about the same time, and in this episode we share our thoughts about the upsides and downsides of owning marquees.

We start with all the good things about our marquees, including:

• How they help us land more corporate and convention jobs
• How they’re a good anchor for balloons & serve multiple decor purposes
• Why they’re an easy sale that can help you break even pretty quickly
• How you can actually charge per day for the rental
• That there’s no franchising involved
• How there’s virtually no prep time needed

Then we cover the downsides with complete honesty. Here’s where this part of the conversation took us:

• The physical labor involved
• Electricity needs
• Transporting them
• Needing to return for pick up
• Troubleshooting on site
• Inventory tracking

If you’re in the spot where you’re considering adding marquees to your offerings, this will be a good, honest episode for you to hear!

And in the UGlu Hotline, we get some tips for transporting our framework so that it can be easily put back together onsite.

Thank you to PremiumConwin for sponsoring our monthly "throwback" episode!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

Ep. 145 - Local networking with Travis Green

@squeakballoondecor

My guest in this episode is very familiar with the balloon industry and has become hugely helpful to me as I've needed graphic design elements in my business. Emily of The Party Method helps event decorators fulfill their customers' requests with custom backdrops and other printed products!

In our chat you'll hear about Emily's background and how she was introduced to the balloon community. She also shares a bit of her experience with branding and what is included in her brand toolkit before we dive into her insanely robust pool of images that are available to match the themes we're decorating for.

When we talk about the jobs we've worked on together, you'll hear how efficiently she and her third-party printer can get your orders in process. These products are such a great addition to our balloon decor... not only because of how well they print, but because they give that extra bit of texture to the display, too.

And it doesn't stop there! Listen in to hear what kinds of digital and apparel assets she can provide as well. Emily has been a great partner of mine and I know she'll be able to help you, too.

Then in the UGlu Hotline, we have a tip for the balloon stuffers!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

17hats (get 50% off your 1st year)

Balloon Suite

Havin' A Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT)

UGlu by Pro Tapes (save 5% at Havin’ A Party with code BRIGHT)

Call into the UGlu Hotline to ask a question or leave advice! (262) 221-8514

‬Balloon Boss Mastermind & Summit

PremiumConwin

2024 Bright Balloon Business Planner

ALOFT (save $10 with code BRIGHT)

The Balloon Guild (save 20% with code WeLoveSara20)

thepartymethod.co | @theparty.method

- - - -

Join the book club

50 Ideas for Email Marketing | Join the Bright Balloon email list

Courses

@thebrightballoon

The Bright Balloon on YouTube