Upcoming Public Events
| Sat, Sep 20th, 2008, @7:30pm - 10:30PM Newlands College |
| Build It, and They Will Come |
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In the movie Field of Dreams, the protagonist is driven by visions and dreams to build a baseball diamond in the middle of nowhere. After sufficient drama and angst, the movie ends with the diamond built, and queues of cars streaming to attend. The line “build it and they will come” features in the movie, and summarises the moral of the story, telling us that there are times when we must follow our passions and act on faith alone - that somehow the marketing will take care of itself. Back in the real world, where the poetry and simplistic dogmas of celluloid do not apply, it is almost never the case that building “it”, whatever it is, is enough to attract customers in droves.
Energy Out = Enrolments In. Putting up a few posters and sending out a newsletter takes little energy, and on their own get little by way of results. A good direct mail campaign realises 1% conversion when backed by TV and radio ads. So sending letters to 400 households will get maybe 4 tickets sold if you are lucky, and that is if you’re good at writing those direct mail letters. Posters add to a marketing effort, but unless they are advertising a big name act, like the Rolling Stones, they won’t sell many tickets on their own. Unless you are writing to a known, enthusiastic and receptive group, letters on their own will not do it. When the Stones toured, they had posters, bill boards, radio and TV to sell them out. And they already have a huge following. Don’t get me wrong - direct mail and posters are great ways to promote a show - because oftentimes people need to hear about something more than once to make up their minds to buy, and posters and flyers show the seriousness and professionalism of your event, while informing people of the date, time and how to buy tickets, etc. But they do not, of themselves, sell many tickets, unless they are directed to a known group of people who are already enthusiastic. We see this sometimes with clubs, where a small cadre of live-wire people respond quickly to every invitation, and their enthusiasm carries a huge number of others along with them. We have had club gigs and schools sold out. We have had clubs and schools book us, and then cancel from lack of ticket sales. Same show, same town. The key difference in each case is that after the booking, the promoters either got out there and sold their show to get a great result, or adopted a semi-passive approach, and got little response. It is tempting to think of letters and emails as selling, but they are not. To get 100 tickets sold that way needs 10,000 well targeted and professional mailers, backed by radio and other media. Usually that is not available for a fundraiser event, and the costs of good direct mail are huge to start with. Sadly, I have no following yet that rivals Mick Jagger. Perhaps I don’t have the lips for it. Posters on their own won’t book out That Hypno Show for your fundraiser unless you already have a highly motivated group. We have a truly excellent show. It is world class, and hugely entertaining. But it is nothing without an audience. Our job is to put the show on for the audience. And the promoter’s job is to gather an audience for their fundraiser show. Energy out = enrolments in. It takes a motivated and energetic sponsor or team to make a fundraising event successful. The more committed people you can find who are willing to go out and sell tickets, to ask for and collect real money (not just vague promises), the better your show will do. Sell tickets, and they will come. If you found this blog article interesting or if you have questions or anything to add, please feel free to comment below.
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