Should You Show Your Prices on Your Website?

Pricing can be quite a sensitive subject for many business owners. There are many who do not want to display their prices for a number of reasons:

• Fear of competitors seeing it - the truth however, is that your competitors probably already know your prices. It's very easy to get a friend or a relative to call, and to be honest, you should also know your competitors pricing as well! If you're afraid that competitor will undercut you, don't be. Stop focusing on your competitors, as that takes up way too much energy. Instead concentrate on your own business and create the best product/service that you can.

• Nothing we make is standard, everything is custom designed for our clients -    Yes, clients are all different, but you should have an idea of the average cost of a design, and therefore you should be able to have a DESIGNS FROM price that you can show. You can still give your clients flexibility - for example, by swapping balloons and accessories in and out of similar value, or adding in additional balloons at an extra cost.

• You're afraid that your prices will put customers off buying from you.                  Most customers already have a budget in mind. Being honest about prices on your website will actually help you attract prospective customers/clients. Most people research prices before they consider buying a product or service. If you’re the only person talking about prices on your website, you will be likely to get more traffic to your site than your competitors, which will mean more leads and sales. Having no price looks even more expensive than actually having high ones. Imagine walking into a high-end fashion retailer that had no prices - most of us would think: If you need to worry about the price you’re not welcome here. 

Price is an important decision-making criteria, so if publishing your price on your website makes it easier and faster for them to decide in your favour, why would you get in the way?

So what is the best way to show your pricing structure? 

Here are two completely different ideas: 

Blenda Hughes Berrier of Balloon & Event Construction Company in Florida, USA, uses online catalogues to inspire her clients with categorised decor types. Each catalogue has a theme, and when a customer opens a catalogue, they will find detailed information to help them to make a choice, as well as a fabulous range of design ideas and guide pricing.  This is a very simple way for a client to navigate and choose what they want! 

This is a sample page from one of Balloon & Events Construction Company catalogues.

The great thing about creating this type of price list is that you can update and add new ideas on a regular basis.

The second idea comes from David Mahoney of Balloons Everyday in Texas, USA. This is what he says about pricing on his website:

"One of the best things I did on any of my websites was to add lots of additional information for clients to access to make their lives easier.
By doing this, it helped potential or current clients find answers to questions that they may have had regardless of the hour of the day. This saved me a ton of time and money and built better relationships with clients. If I was having a particularly busy day, I could easily send links to information on the website or communicate to clients that they could find that info on the site.
One area of our website that gets explicitly used a lot is our 'common decor guide.' This simple little pricing guide with illustrations of common decor work has helped us save time explaining what a specific design looks like but also allowed clients to use the guide to help budget or figure out their needs for their event.

A secondary benefit to having the decor guide on the site is that it helps prequalify potential clients. You see, if a client has a limited budget and wishes for a complicated or expensive request, the guided helps by showing them a baseline of pricing, which eliminates a lot of these frivolous requests. You know the ones I am talking about - Can we do an 80-foot organic wall for $100? - LOL!!!! 🤣
We are excited about working on our new website because not only have I updated the decor guide to have a more of a contemporary look but I also added a new backside for trending balloon designs.
I have to thank Rachel Porter and Blake Engel both for having Esty Sites that have a lot of pre-made clipart. Those resources have saved me a ton of time in updating my decor guide because I did not have to build everything from scratch. So if you have not added things like the decor guide to your website or considered adding more information to help clients access regardless of the time of day or how busy you are, consider the many benefits it may have not only for them but for your company too. The internet is open 24/7. Let it work for you whiles you sleep or busy working. I know it has made an enormous difference in our company and clients love the easy."

A huge thank you to both Belinda and David for very generously sharing their on-line pricing ideas.

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler

It's official: "Organic Balloon Decor" is a trend that is here to stay.

So what exactly is organic balloon decor?  If you look at Pinterest and type "organic balloon decor," you will see an array of designs including Arches, Swags, and table runners that use different balloons inflated to a variety of sizes with accent elements such as tissues, flowers, and foliage. This style of decor breaks all the rules that we would normally strive for in terms of elegant, precise lines and consistent balloon sizes.

Wedding Arbour by Sue Bowler, CBA.

If I am honest, I don't believe that it's a totally new trend. It's like fashion; they come and they go. Looking back on some of the designs that we made when I was part of the Conwin design team, the organic look was definitely present then, but maybe not to the same extent as it is today.

I asked a few of my wonderful ballooning friends if they would give their interpretation of this style of balloon art.

David Mahoney shows us how to create fabulous decor using the Balloon Overlay technique.

Balloon overlay is a technique that I have seen used by a number of different balloon artists over the years to create amazing logos and two-dimensional balloon sculptures. The techniques used vary slightly, but the end result is pretty much the same.

David Mahoney of Balloons Everyday in Carrolton, TX, U.S.A, is a great friend of the Very Best Balloon Blog. Once again, he kindly shares his knowledge and passion and shows us how to make these wonderful overlays in a few simple steps.

Overlays are a great way to create a custom design, especially if a customer does not have the budget for a three-dimensional balloon sculpture. David has mastered the technique and  acquired many happy customers in the process.

Materials

Most of the supplies needed for balloon overlays are available in hardware stores. Foam core or foam board can be found at art supply stores, craft stores, or sign shops. Overhead projectors and transparency film can be purchased at office supply stores or try searching online. Some audio visual stores may also have projectors for purchase or to rent.



1. Find the image you need to create your shape. Copy or print the image onto transparency film.
















2. Use an overhead projector to project the image onto your foam core or foam board. 

Trace the outlines with a marker. You'll be tracing two elements separately on different pieces of foam core: the "backing board"
that  the balloons will be added to, and the "detail pieces" that will add depth and detail to the sculpture.








3. Use an X-acto blade or hobby knife to cut out all the foam core pieces.

4. Spray paint the front side of the foam core to match the colour of the balloons that you will be adding.










5. Determine balloon size by finding the largest and smallest width in the design and decide on a size that will fit nicely in both areas. Typically on small designs, the balloons are 3-4". On larger designs, balloons are usually 6-8" in size. Inflate your balloons and tie each one individually, keeping the necks as long as possible.

6. Poke holes so that you can add your balloons to the backing board. To do this, you will need two awls and a foam Duplet template (as shown) that matches the size of your inflated balloons. Position the template on the edge of the backing board and poke the awl through both sides. Remove the first awl and rotate the template over to the other side of the second awl. Poke a third hole. 

An awl is a long, pointed spike.  A Bradawl is a tool for making holes in wood.

7.  Repeat Step 6 until you have poked enough holes evenly throughout the whole backing board.

8. Poke the necks of the inflated balloons through the holes in the backing board, using a small wooden dowel to push them through.

9. On the back side, stretch the necks of the adjacent balloons to tie them into pairs.

10. Once the backing board is covered, add the detail pieces. To do this, tape an uninflated 260Q onto the back of the detail pieces, then use an awl to poke additional holes into the backing board to slide the 260Qs through. Tie the 260Q ends on the back side.

11. Glue 1 x 2" wood strips to the back of the backing board to support and secure Electrical Metal Tubing (EMT) and EMT straps. THEN PLACE the tubing into base plates. 

Balloon Overlay Benefits

• High impact
• Ideal for corporate clients and private parties
• Simple to construct; no difficult techniques or framing required
• Budget-friendly option for customers who want a custom sculpture
• Easy to add details on the front to create any image, sign, logo, or character

Here are some more of David's wonderful overlay designs.

Download this great PDF and keep it safe for future reference.

I think that this is a great technique and one that could be used for many different design ideas. Thank you once again, David, for sharing your skills and knowledge with the balloon industry! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Our final 2013 review - 2013 was it a good year for the balloon industry?

Wow another year almost over, and 2014 is ready to spring into action! A time to reflect on what has been and to prepare ourselves for the new year ahead!

So it gives me great pleasure to introduce our final reviewers David Mahoney, Balloons Everyday, Dallas, Texas  & Rachel Porter CBA, Balloon Splendor, Seattle.

I specifically asked David and Rachel to review their balloon businesses over the past year because they have both been huge contributors to Qualatex Facebook groups throughout 2013, offering stellar advice, support and help to fellow members and felt it appropriate that they should conclude this blog ...and I can assure you that both reviews make fantastic reading, filled with great information and advice!