What Happens after the Pageant

The Miss New Orleans Pageant I direct is finished and I am drained. I’ve been preparing for this Beauty Pageant for months. Many hours were dedicated to putting together contestant applications, brochures and flyers, and then passing them out around town. Taking the time to answer to emails and phone calls. Dispatching and receiving faxes from applicants. There are lots of plans to make for a great Beauty Contest.

It all gets incredibly heavy and you get an intense adrenaline rush. An incredible rush builds within as you pour your heart into the Pageant Event. And when it is completed you have a huge crash. All the adrenaline stops and you feel the crash and burn. This feeling I call Hormonal has been experienced by many mature ladies.If you’ve had a baby you know what I mean. All those hormones that your system was pumped up with are gone.

A major change happens to a director when the Pageant Event finally comes to an end.

{I suggest you take a whole week.  Forget about Pageant stuff. Tell people who want score sheets or other things to give you a week before contacting you.
Your body and mind need to chill out.

If you are like me you put off all your housework and ignored your family. So you need this week to catch up to your normal life.

Before long you will be thinking about your next Pageant Project and you will be happy you took the time out to recuperate.

Yours in Pageantry
Shelly

Taking In Extra Money with Children Pageants

Starting Up a Beauty Contest is not just about the pageantry.It is also about being financially productive. The business goal is to walk away from the event with more money than you spent.

A Beauty Pageant can generate extra money with a  couple of different techniques. Adding extra awards is a big tool to have in your Pageant Directors tool box.

For Childrens Pageants I like to add Overall Most Beautiful and Overall Fasion.When the parents register their tikes they can choose to ante up for a slot in the Overall Most Beautiful category. Only the kids registered in this award category will be eligible for the award.
This prize has no standing on who becomes King or Queen. Giving these additional awards helps distribute awards to other kids.

The kids registered for the award all go on stage at the same time. The children hold paddles with a number printed on it. The judges use the number to mark on their sheets. Detecting the Overall Most Beautiful from the crowd is the Judges task.The Overall Fashion prize is given to the contestant with the best outfit.
Bring all the kids on the stage at once for comparisons. If your pageant is very large and you have more than thirty kids on stage it can be a trouble because of the stage size. Too many kids makes the judges job difficult.
When my pageants get too big to offer this award I drop it from the pageant. If you have lots of contestants then registration fees will be great already.
But if you are just starting out and you have a small group of kids in your pageant then these prizes are a great way to earn additional income at your Childrens Pageant.
Yours in Pageantry
Shelly

How to Use A Restaurant as a Pageant Sponsor

Think up imaginative and interesting tie-ins to your Beauty Contest.
New restaurants are looking for novel ways to advertise their business.  Get them to be the host for the Winners Banquet. In exchange they get a page in the Program Book and put their menu in the contestants goodie bag.
The banquet is held a few days after the contest The winners’ meal are free.Since the girls had family come with them the family members paid for their own meals and beverages. When its all said and done the restaurant served twenty paying customers and ten free  dinners.It was a win win situation for all involved.

Beauty Pageant Sponsorships

Photos of the queens and the restaurant owners are used in advertisements and in the restaurant’s celebrity gallery. The night became the first appearance for the girls as queens representing the pageant with me the director there to give them pointers.

You can use this device to for a profitable relationship with a restaurant sponsor for your Beauty Pageant.

Yours in Pageantry
Shelly

Advertising Your Beauty Pageant

Now that you know the location and date of your first Beauty Pageant it’s time to advertise for contestants. This is where you as a pageant director can start utilizing the staff you hand-picked.

Create a Pageant Flyer with this information. Hire someone with graphic skills if possible to make it look really excellent and professional.

Distribute the advertisements at Day Care Centers, Beauty Salons, Nail Shops, Dress Stores, and wherever you think potential contestants like to shop or hang out.

I found that placing ads in the small community news papers really draws well.  Ads are usually cheap compared to the large news papers.

Word of Mouth is always your best referral. People trust other people they know.

A website is very important in this day and age. Go to one of my beauty pageant websites for ideas on how to construct yours.

http://www.shellyspageantexpress.com/

http://www.missplusamerica.com/Louisiana.asp

http://www.missneworleans.org/

Word of mouth is always your best referral. People trust people they know, and sometimes they trust someone they don’t know,  but like their personality.

Accept entries by mail and online. So make sure you have a mailing address on the flyer. On the website you will need to include a form page that can be sent via email.

Set a deadline before the event to apply. Usually thirty days works best.

Encourage the contestants to pay the entrance fee by the deadline with the incentive of waiving the Side Optional fee.

(For instance I previously gave an example of the Supreme Award with a registration of $20.) This way the contestant saves a few bucks and gives you funds to pay the deposit on the crowns and banners.

Set a final deadline for the entry fees. Also set a deadline for turning in the Program Book ads.

You may still accept entries at the door but tack on a
$10 late fee.

Yours in Pageantry

Shelly