Thread: Bellygrams??

I have been asked to my first bellygram for a birthday party and I was wondering what you guys charged. I was thinking 125$ since it's my first one. Is that too low?

Depends on where you're located. That's actually the going rate in my area, but in bigger cities and more affluent areas it can be twice that much.

Where are you?

I am in the Atlanta area.

It depends on your area. Samira Shuruk has some handy guidelines at:
belly dance rates

I'm in Boston, and start at $175 for a 10-12 minute bellygram (plus some time for photos with the guests). The price increases if I have to travel more than a few towns over, if I have to pay for parking, if the show starts after 11pm, etc.

Oooh, there have been long and heated discussions on this before. If you're going to perform, then charge the going rate. If you feel you're not good enough to charge the going rate, don't start performing.

A 10 minute bellygram starts at $175 in my area.

Thanks! I'll look there....

Samira's site says $150 starting rate for the Atlanta area, so I'd go with that. Is there anyone locally you can confirm that with? Any local dancers who list rates on their websites?

Oh, you can also call a singing telegram agency and ask about their price ranges. I'd do this pretending to be a potential customer, rather than as a competitor -- think of it as market research.

ETA: Never mind, I found this:
Eastern Onion® - Singing Telegrams (specialty characters starting at $165)

And this:
Southern Stars Atlanta - Singing Telegrams, Karoke, Comedy (character singing telegrams start at $150)

So you should be good with $150.

Notice that the singing telegram agencies always include a little gifty. I usually pick up a plastic sword and helium balloon at the dollar store, tie the balloon to the sword and tie some hole-punched business cards to it. At the party, while I'm doing sword, I balance the sword-and-balloon on the guest of honor's head and pose for photos. If there are children present, they really enjoy balancing the sword, too, and he has that to remember me by.

When I worked for an agency, they'd also give me a poem to read and a card to leave with the GOH, but I found that too cheesy for me.

Cool! Thanks, Lauren!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Notice that the singing telegram agencies always include a little gifty. I usually pick up a plastic sword and helium balloon at the dollar store, tie the balloon to the sword and tie some hole-punched business cards to it. At the party, while I'm doing sword, I balance the sword-and-balloon on the guest of honor's head and pose for photos. If there are children present, they really enjoy balancing the sword, too, and he has that to remember me by.

When I worked for an agency, they'd also give me a poem to read and a card to leave with the GOH, but I found that too cheesy for me.

I've heard of dancers picking up a birthday card (or whatever would be appropriate to honor the GOH) but your idea is WAY superior!

just a note on the gifty stuff - you don't have to do that if you don't want to. one company I worked for required that we sing happy birthday and give out balloons, another offered a 'sultan gram' upgrade where I had to feed them fruit. omg, I HATED that! so many time, in a rush on the way to a gram, stopping at the grocery store in my costume to pick up balloons and a banana... :P not to mention the cheeze factor which really wasn't necessary in order for the gram to be fun and entertaining.

I'm in a far smaller area of GA and $125 is the going rate for bellygrams here... in Atlanta, I would think the $150 listed on Samira's page would be the absolute minimum you should ask for.

Originally Posted by veritate

I've heard of dancers picking up a birthday card (or whatever would be appropriate to honor the GOH) but your idea is WAY superior!

I agree! I make a personalized birthday card on my computer and stick my business card inside it, but your way is really awesome, Lauren!

Kind of makes me miss the bellygram days. LOL. Ok....not so much. But I do think Lauren's idea is supurb.

Well, when I worked for a singing telegram service as a BDer, I not only had to get a little gift thing, I had to SING; not only did I have to sing, but I had to MAKE UP MY OWN LITTLE DITTY to sing. Oy! .w.:

Re: remuneration: I price my 'grams (about 10 min) a little lower than a full show (15-20 min) because I want to encourage the 'grams! Less dancing for me, but more in line with attention spans for the average party guest, especially for most bday parties and such.

Deborah

Originally Posted by elisagamal

just a note on the gifty stuff - you don't have to do that if you don't want to. one company I worked for required that we sing happy birthday and give out balloons, another offered a 'sultan gram' upgrade where I had to feed them fruit. omg, I HATED that! so many time, in a rush on the way to a gram, stopping at the grocery store in my costume to pick up balloons and a banana... :P not to mention the cheeze factor which really wasn't necessary in order for the gram to be fun and entertaining.

OMG, I wouldn't have lasted a day at that company. I can't sing. And my inner germophobe cringes at the idea of sticking fruit in a strange man's mouth....eeeeeeewwwwwww.

Kudos for suffering in the name of your art!

Feeding fruit to a 'sultan' -- ugh! Me singing might be even worse.

And no, of course you don't have to do 'gifties' or cards of any kind. But it's important to note that your competitors are including this stuff in their pricing when you set your prices.

we had the person of honor a card that says who its to, what its for, who it is from.......BUT...we only get $100.00 for 30 min here.....BUT really good tips!