The Santa News Journal

Many people get spooked at the idea of marketing.  What is marketing? Or you may say to yourself, “I’m not a salesperson.” Or you may think that it is too early to start marketing.  We just finished the 2007 season.  Let’s start with the definition of marketing.  According to Webster’s it means:  1 a: the act or process of selling or purchasing in a market b: the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service 2: an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer.
For a professional Santa actor I would add that Marketing is the process of making customers aware of you and your services and convincing customers that you are a high quality Santa, who is reliable, trustworthy, and jolly and will be all the things that parents expect of Santa Claus. A Santa actor needs to market himself differently to each category of customers:
1.) The Company party coordinator
2.) the Mother who wants Santa in her home for her children
3.) the Photography company that wants Santa to pose for photos at Mall or in photo studios
4.) the Casting Director who wants a Santa for a TV commercial or a Print Ad.
5.) the International Customer that wants a Santa who will meet the expectation of the country’s customs
The business of Santa has become very competitive with over 1000 registered Santa’s nationally, it cannot hurt to start now and get exposure. You do not have to be a seasoned salesperson to do a great marketing job.  It takes a little time and thinking outside of the box to get the ball rolling.

Who do I market?

Sit down with a pen and paper and think of all the local clubs, organizations, events, people, planners, etc. that may need your service and write them down.  Then narrow these down by putting a star next to the groups, functions that cater to children or may have events pertaining to children (i.e. PTA, Churches, and Mothers groups).  If you are looking for more permanent work, write a list of the local malls and photographers who are in the area. And if you work through an agent – make sure they are on the top of your list.  Why would you put your agent at the top?  Believe it or not, a good agent starts calling your previous customers and marketing you for the upcoming season right after the New Year. Your agent needs current paperwork and new photo’s to properly do this year after year.  Make sure your agent has the tools they need to market you effectively.  Now we know who to market, let’s find out how to market.

How do I “market myself”?

If you have a good agent that is consistently getting you more work every year, then you do not have much to worry about.  The work is being done for you.  However, it can never hurt to do some marketing on your own and bring in more business.  The easiest and most inexpensive way is with business cards. You can buy these buy the 1000’s and hand them out – and it only cost you pennies.  Make sure to have your stage name, agent phone number and county/city that you want to service and website. If possible, have a photo of yourself on the card as well.  Keep these on hand with you at all times.  People will say “you look just like Santa” – what a perfect opportunity to hand out a card.  Another great item is signs.  The car magnets that you see on many cars cost about $50-$60 per pair.  Santa drives A LOT; why not advertise on your way to the grocery store or to a job.  People will drive by and jot down your number.  Bus stop signs….are inexpensive and can pull in a large amount of business for you.  Prices vary from state to state but can be as low as $100 per month plus a set up fee.  Websites are inexpensive to maintain (as low as $60 a year) and are very effective to this day and age of internet users.  Local periodicals are effective if the ad is eye catching.  To take out a quarter page ad with your photo in color can vary from $50 to $200.  School newspapers are effective and what better advertising than going home with 700+ students at one time for a nominal fee or donation to the PTA.

What should I charge?

It never fails – once you have someone’s attention the first thing they will ask is “how much.”  DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  You don’t want to go through all of this effort and find out that you were too expensive or bid to low.  Call local competitors and find out how much they charge per hour, ½ hour, etc.  Call children entertainers in the phone book – you may not realize this, but many of them have real bearded Santa’s that they send out for much lower than what independent Santa’s are charging.   Ask what that rate includes?  Do they offer a money back guarantee if the customer is not satisfied?  Do they have their own liability insurance?  Do they provide references?  Are payments collected prior to the event or on the day of the event?  What is the cancellation policy?  Does this include background checks and copies of the clearances for the customer if requested?  Your agent gets asked these questions and requests hundreds of times over the course of a season.  Ask unbiased friends or acquaintances what they would “honestly” pay for your performance.  DON’T GET A BIG HEAD.  Unfortunately, too many of us get a big head once we start getting repeat clients year after year and decide to raise our prices to unreasonable amounts.  This will backfire on you eventually.  The client will feel that they are getting ripped off and look elsewhere.

Follow – up

Always, always, always follow up with a potential customer.  If someone seems interested in your services, it is perfectly fine to ask for contact information.  A phone number, name or even an address.  Having worked for an agent, as an agent, I have been able to get phone numbers of people while getting my car serviced, sitting in McDonald’s, or at the bank.  What better way to advertise than having a captive audience!  Why do you want to get this information?  People will forget about you.  Unfortunately we all do it.  We have a great conversation with someone and have their information but never seem to get around to calling or getting on line.  I have business cards from people that I have never called, however, the people that got my information and called me a few days later and remembered tidbits of information about our conversation received my business.  This is the same with the Santa business.  Customers call by the hundreds over a season.  By engaging them on the phone and getting information about them (even if they are shopping around) can win you the business at the end.  Call them back within 48 hours and recap your conversation and ask for the business.  A good agent does this countless times during the year to get you booked.  Why would the customer choose me over another agency?  Because I/we showed them that they were of value to us and we were willing to go the extra mile.  I have clients that call year after year to get the same Santa to attend their event.  Why?  They feel that we care about them.  When a company can recall their children’s names or the events that have taken place with them over the years, they want to come back because they feel comfortable with you/us.  When Santa remembers the children’s names – it makes all the difference in the world.  Not just an average Santa, but a great Santa. Someone they would never think of replacing.  And it all starts with the opportunity to give them a call back and remind them of the great conversation you had.

Marketing yourself does not have to be scary.  Depending on how outgoing you are a sign or business cards may be the way to go for the shy Santa.  If you are a little more outgoing – approach people.  The worst thing that can happen is someone tells you “no”.  It is not the end of the world and there is always someone in line right behind them that will say “yes”.

The next article to be posted (next week):

How do I “Market Myself “through an Agent or have an Agent Market me?

You have now gotten past the first set of questions to ask yourself and are ready to go onto the next step.  The next thing you need to ask yourself is:

What type of Santa jobs do I want to do?
a.    Mall
b.    Corporate/Company events
c.    Home parties for families
d.    Photo Shoots at photo studios and for print ads
e.    TV Commercials
f.    Media/public appearance

This question is one of the most important to answer before booking your first gig.
Each type of job takes a different personality and can be physically stressful in different ways.  The most common Santa job is the “Mall Santa”.

Mall Santa’s require a very fit and happy person!  Most mall jobs are 10-11 hour days with a couple of 15 minute breaks and one lunch and dinner break.  There are long hours of sitting and smiling.  Santa will ask 100’s of children what they would like for Christmas and some of these requests will be hard to respond to.  A Mall Santa needs to be well versed in how to respond to the tough questions that some children want for Christmas.  For example, I heard of a child that asked Santa “Will you make mommy and daddy happy again so that they can live together?” or “My daddy is in Iraq, will you bring him home for Christmas?”  These types of questions always throw me for a loop when I am on the set with a Santa and I am always amazed at the wonderful Santa’s that I have had the privilege to work with that can answer these heartbreaking questions without faltering. A great resource to answering questions of this sort would be Richard Christies “Becoming Santa” and can be ordered on http://www.santabelts.com/.

Mall Santa’s need to understand that this job is repetitive and can be stressful when you see a line of 60+ kids that are getting anxious and parents that are losing their patience waiting.  Photographers and Set Managers may become irritable and snippy.  It is up to Santa to keep the peace and set the standard.  The Mall Santa is great for a person who is shy and does not want to necessarily be the center of attention and take charge of a group.  The atmosphere is more intimate with a child and parent smiling for the photographer in a structured setting.

If you are taking a mall position that is out of state and you are negotiating this contract it is important that you make sure all the necessities are covered.  For example, hotel, per diem, breaks, lunches, dinner, suit cleanings, a dressing area, transportation (air fare, cab, rental car), toll fees, parking fees, overtime hours, days off, and of course, your salary.

A mall Santa does not make a large hourly wage but the hours add up and the end result will be around $7,000 to $8,000 pay range for a six week period. There have been rumors out there that some Santa’s make 20K + in a season for a mall – and after 7 years in this business, I have not seen one yet!

A more outgoing Santa would be interested in doing Corporate/Company parties.  There is such a wide variety of Corporate parties and it would be wise to ask the person booking what they would like Santa to do.  Many companies have Santa come in and take pictures with employees and their children, but with the expense of Christmas parties and companies scaling down their budgets many of these parties do not include children or spouses any longer. Corporate parties over the years have become more adult oriented and Santa could be asked to hand out the bonus checks and take pictures with the employees in a traditional sit-down dinner or luncheon. Or there is the complete opposite (these are starting to increase over the years) to a rowdy open bar party with dancing and DJ’s.  In these settings Santa usually takes pictures with employees and is asked to stay and partake in the party.  There was a particular party in the past that asked for a Santa to hand out checks.  They also booked a Mrs. Clause through another company who specialized in X-rated characters.  Santa was VERY surprised and embarrassed to have a Mrs. Clause jump out of a fake Christmas tree to help entertain while he handed out checks. As stated earlier – IT IS WISE TO ASK WHAT THE CUSTOMER IS EXPECTING BEFORE BOOKING.  Otherwise this could be uncomfortable. If you do not mind the rowdy drinking parties, always remember, it is never wise for Santa to drink at any function – it is not good for marketing if Santa is on the 10 o’clock news being tested for a DUI.

A Santa that can get the energy going for a company party and leave without compromising his integrity or values will be highly recommended by all the participants of the party and will bring repeat business year after year. The pay scale for Corporate party Santa’s is and average of $100 per hour.

A more subtle take to the Corporate party is the Home party.  These are becoming more and more common over the years.  Most home parties consist of family and friends with small children and they have hired a Santa to make a special visit to their home.  It is very common for one person in the neighborhood to have a Santa, however, the next year the neighbor will want one for themselves and your clientele is endless!  There is a Santa that I know of that has 8 houses in one neighborhood that he does every year.  He charges them each a minimal fee and spends 5-6 minutes with each house.  In course of less than 1 hour he has done the neighborhood and made twice his hourly fee with one trip.

A Santa with an outgoing personality and the ability to seem harmless to small children who are scared of him will make a great Home party Santa.  The pay on these types of events varies from one end of the scale to the other, but the average is $100 per hour.    Keep in mind, if you are around small children – it is not uncommon for a parent or person booking the event to ask for a copy of your background check.  These are a must-have in this day and time.  It is also necessary when booking any event for a school or city sponsored event.

The Photo Shoot Santa is for the shy Santa.  This Santa needs to have all the “strike a pose” ability and be “America’s next top Santa”. There are no speaking parts in this job but you must possess the “Perfect” All-American Coca-Cola Santa look.  This includes the well manicured beard, mustache, and hair, blue eyes (contacts work fine) and rosy cheeks.  This job is mostly done in a photo studio for magazine and catalog advertisements. Pay for the Photo Shoot Santa is generally done in a flat rate for a block of hours.

The TV Commercial Santa is a perfect job for the person who enjoyed drama as a kid.  The ability to act and take instruction are a must.  Membership to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is also necessary when auditioning for these jobs. The competition is fierce and it is always good to ask as many questions beforehand to get an idea of what the director is looking for before auditioning. The pay for a TV commercial varies greatly depending on the amount of talk and camera time.  Residuals are negotiated at the time the contract is signed.

And lastly, there is the Media/Public Appearance Santa.  This is for the fine-tuned Santa.  The Media Santa needs to have the looks, the suit, the take charge voice, an ability to take the audience on a journey and hold their attention, including all the viewers that are watching them on television. This Santa needs to have ALL the answers and the ability to be interviewed without being stumped.  All eyes will be upon you and if you are camera shy – this is not the job for you. You must posses something special because you will be interviewed and auditioned to the limits.  It is a tough industry out there and Santa’s can be extremely competitive.  However, this is not the time to add “DIVA” to your resume. I have noticed that over the years the Santa’s that have become self-absorbed and have ego’s that are blown out of proportion to their abilities are being passed up for Santa’s that are very new to the Santa experience and have kept true to their values.

I hope that this has been helpful in determining what type of Santa job you want to book for your future events.  In the next segment of this article we will cover the small necessities that will be asked of you when booking your events such as:

Do I have helpers, Mrs. Clause, elves?
Agent vs. Independent contractor
Props
Marketing
Insurance
Special talents
Foreign languages
Overseas/travel
Pay

Lesley@SantaNewsJournal.com

Santa Suit? Check. Boots? Check. Belt buckle? Check. Belly full of jelly? Check.

It is getting close to the holidays and for the last year or so, friends and family have been telling you that your resemblance to Santa Claus is uncanny. So this year you think to yourself “I can be Santa” and you buy an affordable suit, some black boots and a hat.

If this is your first year playing Santa, it is not as easy as it seems and takes a little planning and organization on your part to be a successful Santa. Before you run out that door and perform your first Santa gig you should ask yourself some very important questions?

1. Do I have the patience to deal with children? (Infants to teens)
2. Better yet, do I have the patience to deal with their parents? (acting like infants or teens)
3. How are my Customer Service skills?
4. How do I cope with high stress situations?
5. Can I afford the time? (getting ready, drive to/from performance)
6. Do I have the stamina to keep up the performance for the length of the gig?
7. Will my family support me?
8. Am I in good health?

Let’s review each of these items in length.

DO I HAVE THE PATIENCE TO DEAL WITH CHILDREN?

Let’s face it, Santa is a children’s celebrity. At every home, corporate party, or mall gig there will be an abundance of children present. All these children want “their” time to talk to Santa about how they have been and share their holiday wish list. Children will rush and crowd you. Santa will need to have a calmness about him and be able to get the children to work “with him” and not “against him”. Creating ways to make a game of lining up and appointing one of the older children as the “lead helper” or “honorary elf” may be a benefit to you. Award that child with a special gift. A small token of appreciation such as a certificate stating honorary elf or a necklace with one of Santa’s reindeer bells, it does not have to be expensive. This helper will keep your stress level in check and everyone will respond to Santa’s positive interaction with the children and guests.

DO YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE TO DEAL WITH THE PARENTS?

Children can be a handful because they cannot contain the sheer excitement they have, however, the parents have a whole different set of circumstances that have put them at the edge of being rational. With the planning of the perfect event, verifying Santa’s arrival, invitations, decorations, shopping, re-verifying Santa’s arrival, food preparation, gift buying, gift wrapping, re-verifying Santa’s arrival again, making secret entrance arrangements for Santa, a parent will drive themselves crazy. The parents are now stressed, tired, and want Santa to be the biggest and best gift their children have ever had. Every parent has a “vision” of how this is going to be performed. Santa needs to make sure there has been sufficient communication and understanding between himself and the parent so that this will go as planned.

The worst phone calls for an agent or Santa to get are the calls that describe Santa as: grumpy, cranky, speaking harshly, un-friendly. Much of these Santa reactions are due to overbooking, over working, and lack of planning and communication with the party planner/parent.

HOW ARE MY CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS?

Some of this was briefly mentioned in the last section and having clear communication and planning. Santa is in the “Customer Service” business. Your product is “Santa”. The main goal is to provide the best possible service and experience for your client. Everyone is Santa’s client, whether it is the agent, employer, children, parents, photographers, party planner, etc. If you are wearing a Santa suit and are approached by any person – that person expects to see a jolly, happy, Santa. Customer service begins with the initial phone call to make the reservation, to the numerous confirmation calls from the client and to the client, the planning/instruction of the event, the performance at the event, invoicing, and the follow-up evaluation call. (Many of these tasks are done through an agent. This will follow in future segments of this article). This sometimes includes the refunding of an unsatisfied customer. If the internal “office” part of this job is not something that you are comfortable doing, consider hiring someone to do this for you.

HOW DO YOU COPE WITH HIGH STRESS SITUATIONS?

As discussed in the second section of this article, Santa will be surrounded by children and adults all fighting for Santa’s attention. It is natural to tense up or get the feeling you want to run! Are you the type of person who will physically tense up? Will your smile vanish? Will you become short tempered and unpleasant? Children and clients will respond to your body and facial language. Or are you more likely to asses the situation, pick out a few volunteers and make the best out of the situation. Not all parties or events are stressful particularly the events that Santa has communicated and suggested to the client beforehand the most efficient way to run a smooth event.

CAN I AFFORD THE TIME?

Being Santa takes a great deal of effort and time. Some time has already been put forth in scheduling, confirming, collecting and now you need to make sure there is enough time before and after each job to prep yourself to be Santa (make-up, hair, beard trimming, whitening, fluffing, dressing, etc). Most Santa’s take about 1 hour before an event to get ready. Depending on where you live then there is traffic, weather, transportation issues, and sometimes all of these are a factor. There is nothing worse than a Santa who calls at the last minute to get directions and is running late. It is always best to plan for some extra travel time. It is better to arrive early and hide out around the corner for 10 minutes than to be late.

DO I HAVE THE STAMINA TO KEEP UP THE PERFORMANCE FOR THE LENGTH OF THE GIG?

It takes planning with your client to pre-determine breaks and lunches for gigs that are more than one hour. Make sure you are going to have the high energy needed for the duration of the gig. If this is a multi-hour event make sure you have planned and agreed with the customer to have a 15 minute break every two hours and a 30 minute meal break every 4-5 hours. These breaks need to be AWAY from children and any potential persons who will want you to perform as Santa. Make good use of this quiet time and RELAX. It is very disappointing when Santa is not jolly and full of energy.

WILL MY FAMILY SUPPORT ME?

Make sure you have the support of family when deciding to become a Santa. A spouse or family member who is willing to drive you to the performance sites is a valuable asset. This time to relax is a great relief when traveling to multiple jobs in one day. It can be difficult to drive in full costume. Make sure your family will understand the hours you are performing as Santa are mostly evening and weekends with the exception of mall jobs. A mall job could mean being gone for a six week period. You will be much happier with the full support of your family.

AM I IN GOOD HEALTH?

Health will play an important factor in being a Santa. How much are you able to lift? The average child is 20-50 lbs. Constant lifting up to your knee can cause lower back pain. (Assistance with this task is important). How are your knees? Children and adults sitting in your lap for photos will put wear and tear on the knees. Long hours in a Santa chair at the mall can cause UTI’s (urinary track infections). Do you tire easily? The healthier Santa is the more enjoyable the job will be.

And finally – HAVE FUN! Santa is a magical memory children will share and hold onto for the rest of their lives. These children will grow up and share these memories with their children and grand children. It is not uncommon for a Santa to be a part of a family for multiple generations.

So getting back to our check list…….

Santa suit? Check. Boots? Check. Seeing that joyful sparkle in a child’s eyes? Priceless……

If you should have any questions and or comments on this article please contact Lesley@santanewsjournal.com