Be Frugal, Not Cheap!

Doing quality work always pays off. We recently began hiring a printer to make our show bills (posters) with tremendous results. Not only do we get 11x17” full color, glossy photo quality card stock posters from a local vendor (gotta love that supporting the local economy) for less than a buck a piece (kinkwho’s?) But we have found that these beauties are attracting a lot of attention.

Before we did home printed posters and the largest format available was legal size. While our layout and design was above average as flyers go, that is what they were. We had almost no results form them. They were difficult to get rid of (nobody wants your ugly poster in their window) and our people were not excited about finding homes for them.

Now our posters are a valuable asset. They go up in almost any store that can because they are simply beautiful. People are actually walking in our door, hitting our website and calling us because of these posters.

Long story short, they have more than paid for themselves in a very short time. Our old posters were saving us money, we thought, and so we kept on doing what we had always done expecting different results. (which by the way I understand to be the AA definition of insanity) These new posters are not only paying for themselves they are creating a name for our company and attracted attention from another local business man that will make us even more. I’ll share that in my next post.

So, investigate your options, quality very often does not cost that much more, in fact if I factored in my own time and frustration in the old printing process, I probably save money! So take a look at the things you use to promote your work. Without the personal attachment of having done it yourself, are they really getting the job done? Then instead of giving up and continuing on in the same rut, make a few phone calls and see what it takes to fix it.

Putting Bums in the Seats!

I have a friend, yes I do have at least one, who we will call Dr. Huddleston. We will call him that because it is his name. Doctor, makes you kind of a little nervous to have lunch with a guy who is younger than you and already has, not an honorary doctorate, mind you, but, an actual PHD in theatre! But he's a nice guy, and usually quite inspiring.

He told me that during his time at The Royal Shakespeare company the best selling book in their shoppe (bitish spelling, get it?) was a book entitled "Getting Bums in the Seats". For us Americans that should read "butts" not "housing challenged individuals". Anyway, even at the Royal theatre in London audience development is a recognized challenge.

So I thought I would share what I believe is the main issue. Get your pencil, it's going to be good! Ready? Okay, here it is, artists are flaky! There I said it, creative people, present company included, are as flaky as a Betty Crocker pie crust! F-L-A-K-Y we ain't got no alibi, we're flaky, yeah yeah, we're flaky!(that's why theatres don't have cheerleaders, among other reasons)

Admit it, we Artistes are not the most reliable people in the world. So, consistency I believe is the key ingredient to building an audience. So here is a three step plan to increase your chances of selling tickets.

Step one: Brainstorm ideas for reaching your audience. Exhaust free sources first,email out press releases, newspaper calendar of events, websites, email, etc. Then move on to basics like posters, flyers, etc. and if you have the budget move on to radio and tv. List as many ideas as possible, good and bad.

Step two: Formulate the plan. Decide which of the ideas are a good fit for you. Consider your budget, the time needed, etc. Pick four or five good ideas and figure out how to implement them. Write it down! Figure out when they need to happen ie Four weeks out we design posters and print them, three weeks out we call the paper and mail out press releases, etc. WRITE IT DOWN!!!!

Step three: Cary it out! Do it every time, for every event, stick to the same plan for two or three shows, do everything on the plan then do extra if possible. Do it right, no excuses, then if it doesn't work, cry in your milk!

We are in step three right now, yep, I am a flakaholic. I am famous for trying something once, half heartedly, too late, ill planned and carried out in desperation. Then proclaiming that IT WILL NOT WORK! So i have decide to TRY, i mean really try sticking to a schedule and seeing what happens, so far, so good.

Have great ticket sales and now how you got them? Tell us, please PLEASE PLEEEEAASSSE!!! tell us. Send us an email with details to Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net