A few months ago I was interviewed by Valerie Hayes on Pageant Talk Radio about one of my favorite subjects: Directing Beauty Pageants.

At the time I shot a little video during part of the interview. When the interview took place the Saints were in the middle of the season and undefeated. Since then they went on to win the Super Bowl.

The feeling in New Orleans and the whole Gulf Coast is unbelievable. It is even more intense than winning a pageant. Everyone that is a Saints Fan knows the intense sense of jubilation from the win.

The story of the Saints winning even though the national media ignored them and the Las Vegas odds maker said it was hopeless can be used to inspire any one to keep on striving to reach their goals.

Whether you are entering your first pageant or directing your first pageant believe in yourself and your success. Use the New Orleans Saints as a role model. Drew Brees the quarterback and MVP of the SuperBowl bought copies of the book Finnish Strong for all his fellow players.

You too should strive to finish strong in your endeavors in pageantry.

Check out the full audio interview at Valeries website at this link:

Yours in pageantry

Shelly

Pageant Nation is one of the fastest networking and social sites dedicated to the Pageant Industry. This is a wonderful tool for directors to market their pageant business and photos. Share pageant tips and get contestants in your area. I am so thrilled to be one of their featured members. Join Pageant Nation and stay connected.

Yours In Pageantry,
Shelly Winters Black
http://pageantnation.ning.com/profiles/members/

I recently received a letter from some one who purchased my ebook “How to Start and Direct Your Own Pageant”. In the letter they mentioned that some of the information in the book can be found for free on the web, in fact a lot of it on my own websites.

The Internet is a wonderful resource for people interested in starting any new business, including the Beauty Pageant Business. When I decided to put together a book and then a kit to help others interested in starting a new pageant I scoured the web to see what was already out there.

What I found was bits and pieces of advice from people all over the world. Some of it good and some of it not so good. What I didn’t find was one source of information that had all the essentials needed to start some one in the right direction.

I spent years working for other directors and even more years directing pageants and learning from my own mistakes. What I have put together is based on my 16+ years of experience running Beauty Pageants that have made me money. In fact with the terrible economic situation the extra income I earned from pageants in the last two years has kept me and my husband afloat as his business dropped off.

There is a lot more free information available on the web today about the pageant industry than when I started writing about it. If you look closely you will see that most of it is on my web site directyourpageant.com. I give a lot of good stuff out and will continue to do so.

But I don’t give everything away. I worked long and hard to learn my trade and I believe I’m entitled to a fair compensation in exchange for sharing this information. This is the foundation of good business.

If you really scour the internet you can find a lot of information from many different people about the pageant industry. If you are very industrious you can grab this info and put all the files together in one doucument. You can even make an index and add some pictures and make it look like a book. You could spend a few weeks working on this project.

Or if you want to let some body else do the work for you and put it it in nice neat package then my Pageant book and kit are for you. If you want to be certain the information is coming from a trustworthy source that has real experience in the pageant industry then my ebook and Kit are for you.

I keep adding articles and giving away information on my site directyourpageant.com because I’m learning everyday from my experiences and from the experiences of many other pageant people, many who started by purchasing my Kit.

If you are really serious about succeeding in the pageant industry I suggest you continue going to all the other web sites out there. Keep buying books and products from other authors. Get a subscription to Pageantry Magazine. Keep accumalating knowledge from free sources and from paid sources.

Never stop searching for good information and never stop learning.

Yours in Pageantry

Shelly

Running a Beauty Pageant is about more than glamor. It is also about being financially successful. The business goal is to walk away from the event with more money than you spent.

There are many different ways to monetize your Beauty Contest. One way is to add extra awards.
For Children Pageants I like to add Overall Most Beautiful and Overall Fashion.
When the parents register their children they can choose to pay for a slot in the Overall Most Beautiful category. Only the kids registered in this award category will be eligible for the award.

This award has no bearing on who becomes King or Queen. Giving these extra awards helps spread 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 score on their sheets. The judges select who they think fit the Overall Most Beautiful ideal. The Overall Fasion award will go the one with best outfit.

It is important to have all the contestants on the stage at the same time for the judges to compare and select.  If your pageant is very large and you have more than thirty kids on stage it can be a problem because of the stage size. Also the judges job can be very hard with that many contestants on stage at once.

When my pageants grow too big to offer this award I drop it from the pageant. You are already making good money because of the large registration. But if you are just starting out and you have a smaller group of children in your pageant then these awards are a great way to earn extra income at your Children Pageant.

Yours in Pageantry
Shelly

Dear Shelly,

It’s time & kick off your successful 2010 new year for Shelly s Pageant Express in style. Yes, we’re quickly beginning production for the largest and most anticipated edition of the year, the Pageantry and PromTime spring fashion editions and we’re looking foward to promoting Shelly s Pageant Express to the most glamorous audience in the world. Not only is this the oversized edition featuring the top rated Pageantry & PromTime Fashion Showcase, but it is also the Media Kit version we send to all leading fashion boutiques, major advertising agencies, pageants, modeling competitions, Spring Fashion Markets, and to the hundreds of companies requesting information each month. No one else can deliver your message and story worldwide like Pageantry has for over 30 years. No one else can deliver your message, to your customers like Pageantry. Now, with the major social network of MySpace (with Facebook on the way), your audience just keeps getting easier to find. Oh, and let’s not forget the hottest addition to the family, our digital sister publication, Pageantry-Digital . In-print, Online, Digital… You Can Get It All!

Shelly, we’re in the early phase of the pre-production schedule for our next exclusive and fashion packed edition. With only (4) must-read issues each year, it is critical we promote our partners to their largest audience, both in-print, digitally, and online. In fact, with up to 32 million visitors per month to the Pageantry website, our online presence is a priceless addition and promotional tool for our partners. Shelly, these readers and online visitors are the very people who look for leading companies like Shelly s Pageant Express and turn to Pageantry for our expert advice and recommendations of the best companies in the industry. Our job is simple… to put as many millions of eyes on Shelly s Pageant Express as possible!

Whatever you need, Pageantry can help you design the perfect individualized cost-effective marketing program to bring your customer to Shelly s Pageant Express.

With over 200 ways to advertise, Pageantry has the right program for Shelly s Pageant Express. From display to classified to “As Seen In”, we’ve got you covered.

Contact us today and discover the perfect partnership between Pageantry & PromTime and Shelly s Pageant Express.

To a successful 2010,

Carl Dunn, CEO/National Marketing Director
Pageantry magazine
Pageantry-Digital
Pageantry & PromTime Online Fashion Boutique 407-260-2262
email: Marketing