Are you Ready for the Corporate Market? Tips for Building a Corporate Client Base as a Small Business Owner

Many Balloon Business Owners start out by offering balloons for birthdays and parties. Over time, we develop our skills and grow in confidence, and now we want take that next step - the corporate market! 

This stage decor was created by Sue Bowler in collaboration with Ali Welsh of Ali Welsh Events for Christmas corporate event.
Each letter stood over 10' tall and was perfect for this DISCO theme party! The room was also filled with one hundred and thirty 3' Silver Confetti Balloons that represented Disco Balls! 

So what is a corporate client?

The term "corporate client" typically refers to a business or organisation that seeks and purchases goods or services from another business or organisation for the purpose of fulfilling their own business needs. It is easy to think that corporate clients are all huge corporations that typically wouldn't hire a balloon decorator for an event. However, this is untrue, as corporate clients come in all types and sizes and can operate in various industries such as finance, healthcare, retail, and more.

In the context of a small balloon decorating business, a corporate client might be a business that wants to decorate their office or host a corporate event, such as a product launch, trade show, or company party. Building relationships with corporate clients can be beneficial for a small business as they can provide regular and potentially large orders, as well as referrals to other businesses in their network.

My Journey into the Corporate World: When I first dipped my toe into the corporate decor world, my initial projects were designing seasonal window displays for a local jewellery store, and creating wedding displays for a bridal shop. For the latter, I collaborated with the owners and they promoted my services in exchange for the decor I created for their shop displays. This proved to be a successful arrangement, as I received regular bookings from brides. As my confidence and portfolio grew, I secured decorating contracts with the local council, designing for all their events and functions, and even worked for a local brewery who hosted regular events for their pub owners and landlords. My list of corporate clients continued to expand. However, I eventually stopped my decorating business to become an industry instructor. A few years on, an old ballooning friend who had started her own events company offered me many incredible opportunities to create decor for various events for her clients, and these fit perfectly into my teaching schedule. This fruitful partnership lasted for years and once again demonstrated the power of collaboration.

Here are some amazing examples of decor that was created for corporate events.

This stunning entrance arch was created by designers: Alexander Solomatin, CBA, Moscow, Russia, Dmitry Novikov, CBA, Moscow, Russia

This Car Showroom Decor was created by Chris Adamo, CBA of the Balloon Crew, Sydney, Australia.

These Striking Balloon Arches are by Dianna Glandon, CBA, of 
Above the Rest Event Designs,  
Knoxville, TN , USA.

Vodafone Store Decor was created by
Chris Adamo, The Balloon Crew, Sydney, Australia

So how can you find corporate clients to work with?

1. Attend networking events and trade shows to connect with potential clients - Start by searching for "Networking Events near here (your location)" on your preferred search engine. You will be surprised at how many organisations hold these events. The meetings can be held in person or remotely through virtual channels. Choose events that are most relevant to you. The cost is usually minimal, and it's an excellent opportunity to connect with other local businesses while participating in discussions on various topics.

2. Utilise social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, to showcase your work and connect with decision-makers in companies.  Fact - Linkedin is the most effective B2B marketing tool, it is a lot more powerful than Facebook and Instagram for reaching the people who matter!

If like me, you do not really use Linkedin, here are some tips for using LinkedIn to connect with other businesses:

• Optimise your profile: Before you start connecting with other businesses, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and professional. This will help establish your credibility and make others more likely to accept your connection request.
• Identify relevant businesses: Use LinkedIn's search function to find businesses that are relevant to your industry or niche. You can search for companies using keywords, industry, location, and other criteria.
• Personalise your connection request: When sending a connection request, make sure to personalise it and explain why you want to connect. This can help increase the likelihood of your request being accepted.
• Engage with their content: Once you've connected with other businesses, engage with their content by liking, commenting, and sharing. This can help establish a relationship and increase the chances of them engaging with your content in return.
• Offer value: If you want to establish a deeper connection with other businesses, offer them something of value. This could be sharing an article or resource that you think would be helpful, or offering to introduce them to someone in your network.
• Attend industry events: LinkedIn can also be a great tool for finding industry events. This can be a great way to meet other businesses in person and establish a deeper connection.

3. Offer special promotions or discounts to businesses to entice them to try your services. For example you could approach your local car dealership and recommend decor for their showroom for a seasonal event such as Valentine’s Day or Christmas, and you could give them an introductory discount for using your service. Fact - Always think outside of the box when it comes to ‘finding’ your leads, car dealers often use decor to create interest in their showrooms, think of what other businesses could use your decor to enhance their business and products! 

This car showroom St Patrick's Day Decor was created by
Colin & Jeannie Stewart of STEWART's Baskets & Balloons,
 in Ontario, Canada

This car showroom St Patrick's Day Decor was created by 
Colin & Jeannie Stewart of STEWART's Baskets & Balloons,
 in Ontario, Canada

4. Partner with event planners or other businesses in the event industry to expand your network. Building a good relationship with an Event Planner was probably my greatest tool when growing my corporate work. Event planners and other businesses won’t necessarily find you, you will need to find them! Search on Instagram and Linkedin, follow them, like and share their posts. It could be a local hotel or events venue, not necessarily a person, your aim is to make contact without being a stalker! 

5. Create a professional website that highlights your portfolio and services, and make sure it is optimised for search engines.

Here are some tips for creating a professional website that showcases your portfolio and services and is optimised for search engines:

• Choose a clean and modern design that reflects your style and brand.
• Use high-quality images and graphics to showcase your work.
• Clearly list your services and pricing.
• Include client testimonials to build trust and credibility.
• Optimise your website for search engines by using keywords that are relevant to your business and industry.
• Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.
• Make it easy for potential clients to contact you through a contact form or clear call-to-action buttons.
• Regularly update your website with new content to keep it fresh and engaging.
• Integrate your social media profiles to increase your online presence.
• Consider hiring a professional web designer or developer to ensure that your website is of the highest quality.

6. Attend local business events and seminars to meet potential clients and learn about their needs.  - check out and join your local Chamber of Commerce.

7. Send out email newsletters to past clients and potential clients to keep them informed about your business and services. Make sure that you adhere to GDPR rules, you cannot just send out emails to past clients unless you have agreed to be ale to do this. This is generally done through a tick box system in your previous marketing with them.

8. Build relationships with local hotels and event venues to become their go-to balloon decorating business.

9. Collect testimonials and reviews from satisfied clients to use as social proof and to help build your credibility with potential clients - Don’t feel afraid to ask for a testimonial or review from a satisfied customer. If you have a Google profile for your business (Google My Business https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/business/) then you can send a direct link to your customer, making it easy for them to do there and then! 

https://www.google.com/business/

Remember to tailor your approach to each potential client, taking into consideration their specific needs, budget, and industry. With a little bit of effort and persistence, you can find and attract corporate clients for your small balloon decorating business. Develop good research skills, create a strong professional image and a good network, which is essential for growing your corporate market.

And finally...

• Growing a corporate client base can be a time-consuming process, unless you have strong connections from the beginning.
• Remember that every interaction counts, from the way you present yourself to how you communicate with customers.
• Taking steps in the right direction, no matter how small, can help you achieve your goal.

Good Luck! 

Happy ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me: @suebowler

It's All About the Framework

I am always in awe of the incredible balloon sculptures and those who build them. I have to confess, this style of balloon design is definitely not something that is within my skill level. There is a great deal of detail in the planning and preparation.

Something that I was told very early on in my ballooning career is that a balloon sculpture is only as good as the frame that it is built on, and I could not agree more! 

At the recent Moscow Balloon Festival, the Qualatex sponsored team, Alexander Solomatin, Vadim Shushkanov, Dmitry Novikov, Vadim Nesterenko with other fabulous artists created this incredible Gorilla sculpture! I have always loved the work of Alexander Solomatin, Vadim Shushkanov and Dmitry Novikov. Every sculpture that they have ever created has been outstanding, but for me, this has to be one of their very best! 

When I first saw this sculpture, I was as impressed with the framework as I was with the end result! 

As I stated at the start of this post, it's all about the framework, so today, I would like to talk a little bit about frames and what you will need to make them.

As with any design, you will first need to determine what you are going to make. This could be something specific for a client or it might be your opportunity to build a sculpture for a competition.

You first need to determine how your sculpture is going to be supported. For example will it be suspended or freestanding? Taking all aspects of the job into account will help determine how ridged the framework needs to be.

The three basic framework materials that are used by balloon specialists are PVC pipe, EMT (or conduit); and aluminium rod. Looking at the framework below, the majority of the frame is made from different thicknesses of aluminium rod, with thicker rods for the main structure and thinner rods for the detail on the face and arms. Once the frame structure is made, it is carefully wrapped in a strong netting or sometimes chicken wire, which is how the balloons are attached.

PVC PIPE

PVC pipe is the white plastic pipe commonly used for plumbing and drainage, and is readily available from home-improvement stores. PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride. PVC has an extremely durable nature, and is lightweight, making it an appealing material when constructing sculpture frames. It comes in many different sizes, but the most commonly used in the balloon industry is the 1/2" - 3/4" piping as you can easily add balloon clusters and it is also easy to cut and bend. PVC piping can be used to create arches and circles, and when heated you can create right angle bends and curves within the piping.

EMT/CONDUIT

EMT, also called conduit, is tubing used by the electrical trade to encase electrical wires. It is readily available for purchase from hardware and home-improvement stores.

Like PVC, conduit comes in many sizes from 1/2" to 1" and in a variety of different lengths. 

EMT can be bent using a pipe bender tool, these are also available from hardware stores. Conduit can be cut with a hacksaw, but the preferred method is to use a pipe cutter.

ALUMINIUM ROD

Aluminium rod and bar is produced by several different processes namely extrusion, rolling and coiling, or drawn directly from molten aluminium. Aluminium wire is used primarily in electrical transmission applications due to its superior conductivity and non-corrosive nature. Though aluminium rod is generally not available from hardware or home-improvement stores, some balloon wholesalers also sell it and it is also available from metal suppliers.

The most common sizes of aluminium rod used by balloon artists are 3/16" (4.76mm) , 1/4" (6.35mm) and 5/16" (7.93mm), however, there are many sizes available. The thicker the rod, the more difficult it is to bend.

The best way to cut aluminium rod is with bolt cutters. Investing in a good pair will help you to save time and energy! 

The easiest way to bend aluminium rod is to place a 4" - 6" length of EMT over the rod when bending to give you leverage. Make sure to keep the rod flat when bending it so that the frame does not warp. With lots of small bends, patience, and practice, you will create some great looking frames! 

Duct tape is the best method for securing aluminium rod frames. When taping two parallel pieces of rod together, overlap them by at least 4" - 6". If you are taping two perpendicular pieces of rod together, male and "L" shape first, then tape both ends securely. Duct tape can also be used to cover the sharp ends of the rod and EMT too.

BASES

To support your framework construction, you will need heavy bases. These are not so easy to buy off the shelf these days, so you may need to look into having some made for you. Steel base plates are the best, especially for outdoor work. Wooden bases, though not as heavy as steel can be weighted down by adding additional weights. 

When I visit events such as the Moscow Balloon Festival, the World Balloon Convention and other ballooning events, I love to watch the sculptures being made. 

Who cannot be spell-bound by those riveting eye's in the picture above! And for anyone who loves Fantasy Flowers, those leaves are made from 3ft balloons stretched on an aluminium rod... I tried this once without much success.

The Team!
Alexander Solomatin, Vadim Shushkanov, Dmitry Novikov, Vadim Nesterenko, 

I know that the Russian team loves to compete, and I asked Vadim to explain why?

"For me, there are two of the most important benefits of balloon contests. First of all, every competition is a great opportunity to create a sculpture you hardly ever make in different circumstances. Almost all of the balloon competitions in the world relate to art, not business. There are no customers with their wishes and requests, you don't need to think if somebody can buy your work, you're completely free to share your thoughts and ideas through balloons. Isn't it the best option to feel like a true balloon artist?

And secondly, each competition makes you improve your professional skills. If you would like to build an impressive sculpture, you have to solve a lot of problems. You need to search and try many colour combinations, balloon technics, methods and materials for frames or create something completely new. This sort of experience always rises your professional level and gives a huge background for using in everyday work."

I hope that you find this sculpture as incredible as I do! If working on a large sculpture like this is something that appeals to you, I recommend that you attend a balloon event/convention that has a large sculpture competition and sign up as a helper. It will be one of your best experiences ever, and who knows, it may lead you to entering  your own sculpture one day! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Qualatex @ The Moscow Balloon Festival 2019

Beautiful "Mythical Caticorn" Column Design
by Larisa Ketskalo, CBA and Anhelika Vahurna, CBA.

This year the Moscow Balloon Festival celebrated its 20th Anniversary, and it certainly did not disappoint! I first attended the festival in 2002, and so much has changed since my first visit! This event is sponsored by different balloon, equipment and accessory manufacturers, and many of the competitions are sponsored by different balloon companies. It is always very interesting to see how different manufacturer's products have  an impact on a design - but in my opinion the Qualatex Chrome balloons really stood out this year! 

1st Place Winners of the Master Sculpture Competition
Olga Baranova, Olga Samoilova, Tatyana Dyusmetova,
Ekaterina Poroshkina, Artem Sadovnikov, Tatiana Afanasieva.

Many of the Russian balloon professionals who attend this event are extremely talented. I would even go as far as saying that they are probably some of the best in the world! It was an absolute joy to be able to see their incredible work up close!

Attendee's attending the festival were greeting with fabulous Qualatex decor created by
Olga Baranova, CBA & Olga Samoilova, CBA.

Two of the teams at this year's festival were sponsored by Qualatex, and I am delighted to report that each team did exceptionally well. Between the two of them they won many of the competitions!

SD Shar Team:
Alexander Solomatin
Vadim Shushkanov
Dmitry Novikov
Vadim Nesterenko
Olga Nesterenko
Armen Egshatyaan

Olga Baranova,
Olga Samoilova,
Tatyana Dyusmetova, 
Ekaterina Poroshkina,
Artem Sadovnikov,
Tatiana Afanasieva.

First Place Winner of the Masters Large Sculpture - Team Captain Olga Baranova, CBA

Here are a few words from team captain Olga Baranova who, in a message on Facebook, describes her joy, happiness and gratitude to her team members. The text was in Russian and with the help of translate I have changed it to English, and although it's probably not a perfect translation, you can definitely feel her excitement!

"The 20th Balloon Festival in Moscow!!! The most prestigious and most awaited event of the year!!! The whole thing flew by one breath!! Joyful meetings, nice news, open family faces!!!This year, the team "Group of Comrades" performed at the Moscow Festival for the seventh time, and showed a very high level of skill in all categories of festival works!!! We did it! We did it, we have the first place in the nomination "Big Sculpture" in the Masters League!!!! We made a gorgeous dress, very worthily worn by Katya on the podium!!!My dear, comrades, thank you for this competition, for the atmosphere on the set, for understanding with half words and half-looks! And despite the fact that the preparation was not easy at all, we did decent work and became winners!!! Our bird of happiness revealed its wings!!!! and yes, happiness is!!!!!"

Here are a few more photographs and designs from Olga's Team!

Grand Prix Winner (the team that scores the most points overall) and Third Place Winner of the Masters Large Sculpture - Team Captain Alexander Solomatin, CBA.

Team Captain Alexander first attended the Moscow Balloon Festival 2008. He attended one of Alberto Falcone's classes, and this experience changed both his balloon perspective and life forever.  

 I asked Alexander if he would tell me a little bit about this years festival and what it meant to him.

"This year the Moscow Festival was very important for me. This was the first time after a long break that we reunited with almost our original team, which in 2014 saw us win our first prizes in the industry. Working with my old friends side by side gave me great happiness.  

It took us a very long time to find an idea for our large sculpture; it was our 20th sculpture and we didn’t want to do something boring or repeat ourselves. As a prototype we chose the dragon 'Drogon' from the 'Games of Thrones' series. We have waited a long time to create this dragon. The biggest problem creating such an impressive figure for the balloon festival is that it is very difficult to make it realistic and well detailed. So we decided to make only a head, and the image that we chose made it rather risky because we decided to build it on the diagonal of the site, and with the direction not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom. Initially, we transferred the image to a large scale grid, and day-after-day we measured each corner by a millimeter, this allowed us to create an accurately scaled wireframe structure. 

In total, the creating of this figure took us around two weeks. It was precisely calibrated and meticulous work on each line and every corner of the figure that gave such a realistic result in the end. We are very happy that we decided to do it and we believe that at the moment it is the pinnacle of our career. I would like to express my gratitude to all members of our team: Dmitry Novikov, Vadim Shushkanov, Vadim Nesterenko, Olga Nesterenko, Armen Yegshatyan."

The picture of the complete Drogon head can be seen above and in greater detail on the video.

It is always an absolute joy and pleasure to attend the Moscow Balloon Festival. Seeing in excess of thirty large sculptures in one room is awe-inspiring! The level of design, creativity, and skill is truly breath-taking! I love how each team embraces the competition categories, and different members of the team take on lead roles in each of these categories. The fashion show is one of my personal highlights; not only are the costumes pure works of art that demonstrate an incredible skillset, the designs and models are also choreographed to music, which makes the show even more exciting!

My role at the festival was to share some of my design ideas and to showcase the magnificent range of Qualatex balloons to the delegates. Here are a few of the designs that I demonstrated:

"Selling the Dream" Tropical Balloon Wall by Sue Bowler, CBA

Valentines Designs by Sue Bowler

International Woman's Day - March 8th by Sue Bowler

Halloween Surprise Box design by Sue Bowler

A huge congratulations to the organisers, Europa Uno Trade and all those involved for another tremendous event! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler

International Women's Day and how to make this fabulous Number Eight Sculpture by Alexander Solomatin, CBA.

International Women’s Day in Russia was first marked on March 8, 1913, when women demanded the right to vote via a public demonstration. It became a recognized public holiday in Russia in 1918. In fact, in Russia, this holiday is not called “Women’s Day”. It’s such a big public holiday that it’s just referred to as “the 8th of March”. On this day, Russian men and women bring gifts and flowers to all the important women in their lives and tell them “C vos’mym Marta!” (Happy March 8th!).





March 8th, or Women’s Day, is roughly comparable to Mother’s Day in the rest of the world, except that it celebrates all women – mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, and so on. Mother’s Day is not celebrated in Russia, so March 8th functions as a celebration of both mothers and women in general. Women’s achievements in the personal, public and political spheres are widely acknowledged and celebrated - this excerpt was taken from "A Guide to International Women's Day in Russia" by Varia Makagonova.






Women's Day is now celebrated globally and is a national holiday in many countries. It is a day that honours women and their remarkable contribution to society.The day also commemorates the inspiring role of women around the world to secure women's rights and build more equitable societies.

To honour International Woman's Day, Alexander Solomatin, CBA of Balloondog, Moscow, Russia, created this fabulous Number Eight sculpture that incorporates both balloons and flowers that he shared on Qualatex TV - Russia, a YouTube channel that has been created for Russian speaking balloon artists. 

Alexander explained to me that while flowers are very popular in Russia and play a major role in this celebration, balloons are often not considered to be elegant or stylish. His aim was to design and make something that would change this perception. 

Alexander asked me if I would select a soft colour pastel palette - using the colour blending (double-stuffing) technique that he could use for his design. I selected five different colours that I thought would fit his goal.

Here is the video that Alexander created. I have voiced over the tutorial in English so that we could share the video and Alexander's beautiful design on the Very Best Balloon Blog.

Alexander Solomatin, CBA

Alexander Solomatin started working with balloons at the age of thirteen. As a teenager, the temptation to earn 200 dollars at one time was very appealing, and so his balloon journey began. A few years later, when Alexander was in college, he met Dmitry Novikov with whom he quickly gained a lifelong friend. The two started working together, gaining experience in different balloon companies.

In 2008, Alexander participated for the first time at the Moscow Balloon Festival. He attended Alberto Falcone's class, and this class changed both his balloon perspective and life forever.  Alexander realised that balloons could become a profession, and not just a part time income.

Alexander with his inspirer Alberto Falcone, CBA.

He met Vadim Shushkanov one year later in 2009, who also had developed a significant  interest in balloons. Together, Alexander, Vadim and Dmitry created SD Shar Company.

Dmitry Novikov, CBA, and Vadim Shushkanov, CBA, with Alexander.

In 2010, Alexander, Dmitry and Vadim participated in the Moscow balloon Festival as an independent team.

In 2012, they went on to win first place at BACI (Balloon Artists Convention Italy) as an independent team. This allowed them to expand their balloon vision and gave them inspiration for future party shops. 

Together as a team they have won:

• Three times consecutively at the Moscow Festival 
• WBC with a 3 head Cerberus – 1^st place
• Multiple 1^st and 2^nd places 12 minute and other competitions.
• BACI large sculpture 

Currently Alexander operates three party shops, a decorating business, and as a side project in February 2019, they started Qualatex TV in Russian for the Russian speaking balloon artists.

There is no end in sight for these men, and they have big plans for the future!

Thank you Alexander for sharing with the Very Best Balloon Blog! 

Happy Woman's Day and Happy Ballooning!


Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler