Looking at the Brighter Side of a World-Wide Pandemic!

We all know that the pandemic has had a devastating impact on overall health, jobs, businesses and the economy to name just a few. But being the ever-optimist, I personally have found a few positives during this truly unsettled and rollercoaster year.

I thought that this would be a great opportunity to ask a few of my ballooning friends from around the world if they could share one or two positive things that they have been able to bring to their business or business life as a result of the pandemic! 

I will be sharing their stories over a couple of blog posts... Let's start our journey in Italy. Italy was the first European country to become overwhelmed by the pandemic and the first European country to go into a national lockdown! 

Alberto Nava, CBA, of Crazy Balloons in Milan, Italy 

"Let’s be honest here, the pandemic here in Italy, like in the rest of the world, hit us like a rock. And I am talking a mountain sized rock. We are invoicing about 10% of what we invoiced last year. Supply chain of Qualatex balloons has also been compromised because of the pandemic. 

If there’s one thing that this pandemic taught me, it  is that if you can’t adapt your business to a sudden change, you will not survive.

We started doing deliveries, embracing a totally new market for us. Also, we sat down and we decided to offer deliveries using only the balloons we had in stock (luckily we had huge inventory). That’s where creativity came to the rescue to fulfill every request.

We also started “not so virtual parties”.  This is a virtual party with a balloon delivery to the home of the birthday child on the morning of the party to create the mood, a live director during the party and an edited video clip of the party delivered the following week to the birthday child to treasure the memories.

We requested and received special EU lost funding for completely redoing our website, to be ready when people will be vaccinated and will just want to party....

My new motto is to "never stop creating, even in dark times, light can be found in balloons."

Learn how to create this adorable frame by Alberto Nava - Visit Balloon Images Issue 1 2020

Let's now travel to the other side of the world and ask Chris Adamo, CBA, of The Balloon Crew, Balloons Online, and BalloonPro.co in Sydney, Australia, what positives has he experienced during these difficult times?

"I would say that that a huge positive from this dreadful situation was the time to reflect and re-organise my business and business systems. Looking at the bricks and mortar retail shop we cleared out a huge amount of old stock, knocked down shelving and a giant old light box to make room for new hang cell walls and inviting more light to enter the our retail space. For weeks I felt so happy to work in such a clean and modern (comparatively!) environment. Next came our online store and website, replacing old images and content in the great spring clean of COVID 2020. We had a hard look at what products just didn't seem as profitable as we once thought: we ceased the hiring helium DIY tanks, changed our printing price structure, sold an old van and even updated our methods for the delivery of internal information such as systems and training. None of this would have been possible without two things: time and impetus to change, COVID provided both. We will come out of this leaner and more efficient than we started, and for that I am grateful.

On a personal note... to be honest, one of the most positive things has happened to my personal life, with the newly found time in the absence of the traditional business crazy hamster wheel! LOL.

I would like to share a video that Chris recently recorded with Greg Brown at BMTV where Chris shares some helpful and essential tips and tricks to improve your business' workflow! It is definitely worth watching! 

Many of you will have 'met' Greg Brown as the presenter of BMTV, but Greg also wears another industry hat, as the Director of Total Party Ltd / Balloon Market / Signature Balloons based in Southampton, England. I asked Greg as a wholesaler to the balloon and party industry in the UK how the pandemic has affected his business and the positives he has seen:

"When COVID first hit we thought the worst, and expected sales to be 30% of what they are normally. We thought that weddings, celebrations, corporate events, summer fayres, etc being cancelled would destroy the industry. As we now know, our industry flourished as we were all able to adapt quickly. I think that is one of the great things of being an industry that is made up of mainly small businesses. We can pivot quickly. I think people learned to do new things from putting videos out there helping others to improving their own skills. We have all been forced to do things differently and, arguably, better.

 

From our point of view it has been a challenge and we have really not liked not being able to offer the service we are known for due to the combination of an increase in business and keeping everyone COVID safe. We truly appreciate everyone that has continued to buy from us. However we also have adapted with new shift patterns, new processes on the website, new processes in the warehouse, new ways of filming BMTV, and changes regarding who does what and when. We have also been able to look at new premises that we were looking at before COVID but bigger than we were initially considering. It is very exciting.

 

From the team point of view, I think it is the little things that have made a difference in a positive way:

 

We have taken on a lot more people including casual staff and it has been great to see people getting to know each other and forming new friendships. The ‘Teen Team’ as they are known have also brought a different energy to the warehouse.  

The jokes our customers have started to put on their orders.

Moving the office upstairs and having a better view of outside – the office is brighter!

The extra calories burned climbing the stairs 30 times a day!

The is an appreciation for working in a company that has, thankfully, been doing well during the pandemic. People have not had to worry about redundancies." 

One of Greg’s favourite sayings is “Think health, think safety”! 

Here are some of the team sporting their new hi viz jackets to keep them safe when crossing the courtyard. #besafebeseen

Saying thank you is always very important, how cool are these thank you cards that Balloon Market send out with their orders! 

 

It is amazing how resilient we have become over the past 10 months! Finding solutions, adapting, using new found time to update systems, websites and online offerings has been some of the most obvious and most important changes many companies have made to cope during these difficult months and probably most importantly remaining positive! I love Alberto's motto - "never stop creating, even in dark times light can be found in balloons."

A huge thank you to Alberto, Chris and Greg for giving us a little insight to a few of the positives that have come from such a turbulent year! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Glen LaValley shares his Festive QuickLink™ Christmas Tree Design!

"I created an easy QuickLink Christmas tree, with the Gold foil 3' topper, it came out to over 14' high by about 10' across. I hope that you enjoy making it and have a great balloony Xmas!" - Glen the Balloon Guy

I just wanted to share this fabulous QuickLink Christmas Tree that was designed and created by Glen LaValley, of Glen the Balloon Guy in Edmonton, Alberto, Canada. Glen recently shared this great design with instructions on how to make it in the Qualatex Facebook Group, and I asked Glen if I could also share his design with you today! 

To make this design you will need the following items:

• 96 x 12" Green QuickLink balloons
• 84 x 11" Green Round (80 fillers and a 4-balloon cluster for the top)
• 114 x 5" or 11" Ornaments - make these into duplets (the size of the balloon you use will depend on how big you inflate the 12" QuickLinks.

Please note that this design can be made smaller by using 6" Green QuickLinks, 5" Green round balloons for the fillers, and 5" round balloons for the 'ornament' duplets.

Step 1. Using the 12" QuickLink balloons, inflate the vertical chains as shown below: 

Step 2. Using the QuickLink balloons,  inflate the horizontal chains as shown below

Step 3. Position the vertical and horizontal chains to create the tree shape. You will probably find this easier to do if you add in the 'ornament' duplets as you go to lock the design in place. 

The colours that you use and size of the duplets is your choice. 

To complete the design, make a 4-balloon cluster using the remaining 4 x 11" balloons to the same size as the filler 11" and add this to the top of the tree design. 

Finally top the tree with a 20" or 36" Gold Microfoil Star!

Tips:

• At the end of each QuickLink chain, use a Sharpie to mark the row and column number (R1, R2, C1, C2…).  This will help you keep the chains organized when you twist them together.
• With 260Q’s, tie down the ends of the first QuickLink to the legs of the tables (if working on tables), or use weights tied to the on the ends of the chain, to stretch out the chain.  This will keep the QuickLink chains from bending inwards and help keep the pattern stable while twisting the chains together.
• Pre-inflating, then re-inflating your balloons to the desired size will help the balloons to last longer for your sculpture.

A huge thank you to Glen for sharing his fabulous design! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Be Aware of this Instagram Violation Hoax Alert

I don't usually post things like this, but someone that I know, who has a very successful Instagram account was targeted recently and it definitely caused her a very worrying few hours thinking that she might lose her account... and it could have been a lot worse if she had followed their instructions! 

We all should be very cautious when using hashtags on our Instagram accounts. As we have come to find out, using a few 'wrong' words we can cause our Instagram accounts to be permanently deleted, so if we received what looks to be a genuine message from Instagram, then we will naturally be very concerned. 

Here is what you need to look out for:

You will receive a message pretending to be from Instagram’s help centre which threatens to close your account if you don’t hand over personal information, using language like the following:

‘We’ve detected contents in your account that will violate copyright laws. Your account will be deactivated within 48 hours unless you provide feedback. As Instagram, we respect copyright and take care to protect copyrights.' This message is followed by a button that says Appeal.

It threatens that as a result, your account will be closed within 24 hours if you don’t dispute the violation by following a link.

Once you click the link, the next web page asks to you to provide your username, birth date and password to make sure it’s you. In reality, these boxes will give hackers information as you feed it Once you feed the information, the page shows a ‘bogus’ web page showing the loading animation followed by a green tick with a message:

‘Your copyright objection notice has been submitted. You will be contacted by email after 24 hours.’ 

After this, the users will be navigated to the real Instagram login page.

As soon as your data goes to the scammers, they can take over your Instagram profile and modify the information you need to recover it. From there, they can start demanding ransom to give the account back to you, or start spreading spam and all kinds of malicious content using your hijacked account….

It is easy to understand why people might believe that the message is genuine. First, the fraudulent account uses the official Instagram company logo.The tone and layout of the message make it sound formal and serious.

To defend yourself against this type of attack sequence, Instagram users should protect their accounts with a strong password and enable two-factor authentication. They should also take the extra precaution of familiarising themselves with some of the most common types of scams that plagues users on social media like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

This is what Instagram recommends:

Security Tips

Here are some things you can do to help keep your account safe:

Pick a strong password. Use a combination of at least six numbers, letters and punctuation marks (like ! and &). It should be different from other passwords you use elsewhere on the internet.

Change your password regularly, especially if you see a message from Instagram asking you to do so. During automated security checks, Instagram sometimes recovers login information that was stolen from other sites. If Instagram detects that your password may have been stolen, changing your password on Instagram and other sites helps to keep your account secure and prevent you from being hacked in the future.

Never give your password to someone you don't know and trust.

Turn on two-factor authentication for additional account security.

Make sure your email account is secure. Anyone who can read your email can probably also access your Instagram account. Change the passwords for all of your email accounts and make sure that no two are the same.

Log out of Instagram when you use a computer or phone you share with other people. Don't check the "Remember Me" box when logging in from a public computer, as this will keep you logged in even after you close the browser window.

Think before you authorize any third-party app.

My recommendation is if you receive any sort of violation notice on your social media accounts is firstly not to panic and definitely do not click on anything. Do a little research to see if what you have received could be a hoax, there is plenty of great information on the internet. To my knowledge, if you have breached or violated a rule, Instagram will tell you what you have done wrong and give you the opportunity to appeal through their help centre and not through a link button.

Keep those social media accounts safe and happy ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

New Year's 2020 - A few Ideas for a Lockdown Party

Nothing says "Happy New Year" quite like Northstar Balloons! 

As with most of 2020, New Years Eve is going to be a little different this year, dependent of course on what country you are in, and the COVID restrictions that you have in place. However, from what I have read in the UK, restaurants and hotels are working hard to create socially distanced ways to ensure that their customers enjoy this annual festivity, even if it is a little different from the usual celebrations! 

It is a certainty that people will want to celebrate the end of this turbulent year, even if they plan to stay at home.  This means that decor will play a very important role in the occasion. Let's face it, it wouldn't be New Year's Eve without a glittery decoration or two! Adding the festive touch with fabulous 2021 balloons and balloon decor is an absolute must! Not only will balloons add a sense of fun and excitement, they will also be a perfect backdrop for those New Year's Eve pics!

Here are a few design ideas and products that you can offer to your customers! 

Gold Bottle Design
 by Sue Bowler

"Let the Bubbles Flow" with this creative design using the Qualatex™ Golden Bubbly Wine Bottle and Gold Confetti Dots Decor Bubble - complimented with Chrome™ Gold Balloons!

Don't forget that both the bottle and Bubble Balloons are perfect for personalising, which will add greater value to the design.

Tinsel Fringe Curtains with Organic Garlands

These "curtains" of tinsel totally transform a wall. Even better, adding an organic balloon garland and takes it to a whole new level! It makes the perfect New Years Eve photo backdrop! 

Elegant New Years Centrepiece
by Sue Bowler

How about an elegant centrepiece design? Adding beautiful paper fans in a centrepiece really compliments the "New Year Black & Gold Fans" Microfoil™ balloon. 

Is it really New Year's without the obligatory hats and headbands? These beautiful hairbands were created by Cam Woody and Eve Antonello. These were part of their Happy Hour class when they showed a range of designs using the Qualatex Animal print balloons, but they work really well for New Year's too, as do the other designs featured in the video below!

Beautiful Balloon Hairbands by Eve Antonello and Cam Woody

Hello 2020 New Year Party Arch

Wave goodbye to 2020 and say "Hello" to a New Year with this simple yet show-stopping party arch! QuickLink™ balloons make this arch quick to construct while creating elegant decor for any New Year's Eve party! Whether celebrating at home or in a large venue, you can adapt the size to suit your occasion. They are so great for photo opportunities, or to frame a buffet table or dance floor. Get ready to party the night away with balloons!

Designer name: Louise Hedges, CBA, Pioneer® Europe Ltd, UK

Helium-Filled Ceiling Balloons

Make New Years Eve even more special with a ceiling filled with beautiful latex balloons - make sure to tell your customers not to release them!

And finally, bring a little sparkle to the party with beautiful Confetti-Filled Balloons! Learn how to make these confetti-filled Deco Bubbles with Tina Giunta of Shivoo Balloons in Melbourne, Australia. 

There will definitely be a demand for New Year's decor and Party Accessories this year! Make sure that you show your customers all the fabulous products and decor ideas that you have... early marketing will be essential to capture those sales, we don't want them going to one of the big online companies when we can offer them something better! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Are you Getting Ready for Christmas and the Festive Season?

Christmas this year will be very different for many, both in our businesses and in our personal lives!

This year has certainly not been what anyone could have imagined. With parties and events cancelled in most countries around the world, the usual Christmas and New Years trade seems completely wiped out, however, that does not mean that all is lost!

This year has definitely seen a greater demand in both balloons and balloon decor for private and home events. It is very well known that during recessions there has always been a greater demand for balloons, and that has once again been proven this year with many companies, wholesalers and manufacturers reporting bumper sales.

So how do you prepare your business for Christmas 2020?

COVID has had a significant and immediate effect on consumer behaviour;

• Consumers have started to prepare and shop earlier than usual.
• Many consumers are turning to online shopping for the first time.
• More people are "searching" for local businesses.
• A large percentage of customers have no intention of spending less at Christmas than they did last year.
• Consumers are trying out businesses they have never previously purchased from.

Much of this information was from a report in JPI Media Local - Uplifting Business Predictions for Christmas 2020

It is apparent from looking at balloon-related Facebook Groups that many balloon companies have already started their Christmas campaigns. 

The annual 'Return of the Elf' sees many balloon companies inundated with orders for their impending arrival on the 1st of December! Side note: the term 'Elf on the Shelf' is a registered trademark and if you use these words in your marketing, you are very likely to encounter problems; many businesses have had their social media accounts disabled and often completely lost because of their use of trademarked names in their marketing, and 'Elf on the Shelf' is no exception. It is always worth checking first before using official names within hashtags! I have written a post on this topic - How to Avoid having your Instagram Account Disabled, or worse, Lost Forever!

Balloon & Party Stores

I am sure that many have already started to install their seasonal displays, NEVER underestimate the power of a great display. 

How fabulous is this display by Trish Robertson of Barossa Helium Balloons and Party Supplies in Tanunda, South Australia. Trish was inspired to re-create Luc Bertrand's beautiful QuickLinks Santa Mural  which has taken centre-stage in her window! 

Trish said; "I look at my window as real estate, just like shelving in stores is real estate. But the window is the most important real estate because it can decide if someone comes in or not. The other thing I don't do is fill it. I keep it simple so it jumps out. 

Trish also leaves her lights on in her store allowing her window displays to keep on working even when the store is closed!  

Design Ideas

Offering new and appealing designs will help you to attract customers and also set you apart from your competition, so taking the time to do a little research and learning will definitely help! 

Have you been joining Cam Woody and Eve Antonello for Happy Hour every Tuesday? This weekly Facebook live show covers different themes each week and has some truly fabulous ideas! Just in case you missed their Christmas session, I have added a link below! If you want to catch up on past classes, simply visit Mr Q's Facebook Page and select a video, they are all available to watch! 

Santa’s Little Helper - This delightful elf brings magic and cheer to any holiday gathering. Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

The Joy of Christmas - Share the sentiments of the season with this beautiful display.

Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

Christmas is in the Air

Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Social Media Marketing

There has never been a more important time to reach and inspire your customers with your social media posts.

As I have already mentioned, many more people are buying online - the convenience of online shopping has always been a huge benefit, but more importantly, the ability to order any product from the safety of your own home is highly valued during these tumultuous times. People are also trying out companies that they have never bought from before, and also seeking to buy from local and small businesses. 

Being creative and consistent with your posts will pay off greatly, and maybe just a little paid (local) advertising would be a benefit too - have you ever tried Facebook or Instagram advertising? For very little cost you can promote one of your posts - this can help you to reach more customers. It is very easy to do, you set your own parameters and budget, I would strongly recommend that you try it out. Be sure to check out your insights to see the effectiveness your posts, and hopefully you will also see a growth in new followers, as well as more enquires and sales too! 

Firstly, decide on what you want to promote and sell. This is dependent on what type of balloon business you have. There are those with stores, others who work purely with mail order, and balloon companies that can offer both collection or delivery services. Be careful not to overwhelm your customers with too many items, be selective and creative - anything and everything personalised is extremely popular, so maybe show a range of balloons and products that you have personalised. Leading on from the Elf in a balloon craze, has anyone ever thought to do a 'Letter from Santa' balloon? Just search 'Letter from Santa' and you will see some lovely ideas that could easily be adapted to balloons or could be sold along with a beautifully personalised balloon!

Qualatex have a fabulous range of ready-made social media posts that are freely available for anyone to use as part of their marketing campaign. These are available in a range of languages, or kept blank to allow you to tailor them specifically to your own business. Here are a few examples; some of the posts are animated, which is great as videos often attract more attention. If you start to ramp up your posting schedule, you might be very grateful to have some additional ready-to-go posts.

Our social media posts should get people into the Christmas and holiday spirit, they should be engaging and should create the desire to place orders. Make sure that you use stories as well as posts as stories have many easy-to-use features that encourage audience engagement — from one click polls to instant emoji slider stickers. Stories are also an opportunity to keep your business in front of your followers. 

Have you thought about running a competition? Competitions help to build community. When a contest is run effectively it is a great way to build a strong following, and it can incentivise people to follow you. It helps to build brand awareness. It will help you to increase your subscribers, increase engagement and of course increase sales too! 

I hope that this has given you some food for thought, a few ideas and maybe a little inspiration!

Happy ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

 

We all get a Little Bit Excited when we see a New Balloon Colour - Magical Custom Colours

I will always remember seeing someone's first reaction to a display of Jewel Tone double-stuffed with Chrome Balloons - the colours created by this combo are rich and vibrant, with an almost glass-like appearance! The most exciting thing about creating custom coloured balloons via double-stuffing is that the options are endless!

I suppose that we have been doing this for as long as I can remember, however before it was only used as a last resort - the extra cost and time factor was a determining factor. 

 Today, that is definitely not the case!

Balloons and balloon décor have become increasingly trendy over the past few years and with this, consumers have become more discerning and often demanding of their requirements.

I love colour and love creating custom colours. Probably one of my favourite custom combination is the Jewel Tone balloons double-stuffed with Chrome balloon colours. I'm also a little infatuated with all the stunning pastel colours that you can create.

Shimmering Emerald Stars

Be the envy of party decorators everywhere with this "star-studded," gorgeously green Column!

Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

To create these fabulous colours, Eve used Jewel Lime and Jewel Teal with Chrome Silver inside.

Pastel colours are extremely popular and I loved having the opportunity to design and make a beautiful balloon and flower wall for a client. 

To create these colours I used "Chalky" & "Warm" pastels.

Chalky pastels are created by stuffing vibrant colours inside Qualatex White latex. Using the double-stuffing method, these balloons take on a matte appearance that creates a unique look, similar to chalk on a blackboard.

For warmer pastel shades, stuff balloons into colours with warm tones like Ivory Silk, Pink, and Blush. The double-stuffing provides an extra dimension that simply cannot be achieved with a single balloon.

These Instagram posts from Mañeca Balloons, in New York, USA are simply fabulous!  Not only are they showing their beautiful decor, they are also showing that they are using custom coloured balloons.

Boho Safari Theme Baby Shower 🦒
Mañeca Balloons, in New York, USA. 

Beautiful Organic Garland by
Mañeca Balloons, in New York, USA. 

For quick reference, Qualatex has created a range of custom colour charts which feature common colour combos that we can share with our clients when searching for the right colours. To see all the charts and in full size click HERE

Did you know that there is now a Facebook Group that is dedicated to Custom Balloon Colours - "A group to share and discuss balloon colours - this is existing, or custom colours. A group for any skill level or enthusiast. Share your amazing designs with the colour combos you used!" 

Below is a great video with Zoe Adam-Jones of Jaz Trading in Queensland, Australia. Zoe recorded it for Q Corner, and in it she explains how she created a fabulous range of pastel custom coloured balloons for a Hot Air Balloon design that she taught in one of her classes... How beautiful it was! I also recommend that you check out Zoe's business - Jaz Trading's Pinterest account too, as it too is packed with inspiring ideas and inspiration! 

And finally, don't forget to check out the great article on the Qualatex website - Hot Trend: Custom Pastel Colors that features beautiful custom colour decor by Sarah Courtney of Belle Balloons in Melbourne, Australia, Tina Giunta, CBA, of Shivoo Balloons in Melbourne, Australia and Jenny Wang of Bingo Party Studio in China.

This Colour chart was created by Zoe showing one of the hottest colour combinations - Dusk Dreams from a design created by Elari Events.

Flamingo Hat Box Design
By Sue Bowler

As much as it's more work and of course more expensive to do, I really love the effect of double-stuffing, not purely based colour but also because it can make the balloons look more solid, often glass-like, and it also makes the balloons last so much longer in a design, which is an absolute bonus when creating long lasting displays.

Thank you to Mañeca Balloons, and Zoe Adam-Jones for sharing their fabulous designs and creativity with the Very Best Balloon Blog! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler