FIVE SECRETS TO SELL-OUT SUCCESS

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FIVE SECRETS TO SELL-OUT SUCCESS by Ian McGregor
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Proven Guerrilla Tactics To Create A
Stampede Of People To Your Event

Most independent theatre and film companies have to get
creative if they want to draw the kind of huge crowds that
guarantee a decent pay cheque at the end of the season for
everybody. We all would love to access to the resources
used (to great effect) by mainstream entities like State
Theatre Companies and Distributors. But there are ways to
get noticed and create a stampede of punters to your events
by successful use of a few simple ideas.

In this article you'll learn...

* What your IMAGE says about you

* How to get people TALKING about your work

* Who to get guaranteed media LEADS from

* How to create a media VIRUS

* OUTRAGEOUS measures to stand out from the crowd

Many people are blatantly unaware of potential publicity
goldmines that lay hidden at their feet. Utilising some
cost effective means to generate the kind of buzz you need
to draw a crowd is easier than you think. Valuable
implementation of print media, electronic highways and the
viral benefits of word of mouth will increase you profile
quickly and with great results. At the recent MEAA
conference, "Getting It Up", Lyn Wallace, Director of
B-Sharp at Belvoir St, hit the nail on the head...

"Despite leaps and bounds in the state of communications,
and in a sector full of young people where 21st century
skills are rife, we are still relying heavily on the same
old methods to reach audiences. Wildcard did the same things
for this show that I did 20 years ago and the results are -
pretty much the same. In an age of creative hydroponics we
are still using old McDonald's tractor."

By implementing these guerrilla tactics, you'll realise the
more creative you are at telling people to see your work,
the MORE people will come along. You can start with a few
tried and true methods and move on to downright outrageous
campaigns that have shocked even their creators by just how
successful they are!

GET AN IMAGE

Any dummy knows that postcards are a good idea, it feels
good to whip one out at an opportune moment and give it to
the right person but be careful to avoid the common
pitfalls; make the image multi-purpose and use it as a
poster, email flyer even stickers. You can 'brand' your
image onto the retinas of potential punters by keeping the
themes consistent, simple and striking. Get the words on it
as clear as possible and have it read by several people as
you'd be surprised to see what sometimes slips through. Get
enough… a couple of thousand is fine and you want to avoid
unnecessary wastage at the end. If you've got access to a
colour printer, top up the ink and print your own. Plus for
bonus points, make the image something that would stimulate
discussion or get a reaction. As an exercise, stand in
front of a rack or table of promotional cards and flyers
close your eyes for a moment, clear your mind then open
them. Which one do you see FIRST! Collect ones that work
for you and find out why.

CREATE A BUZZ

By telling people about what you are doing or planning to
do without sounding like a broken record over and over
again works - word of mouth spreads fast! Most people need
to be told 3 to 4 times before they'll come along. If they
get word form several different people they are even more
likely to get along to the show or screening etc. It may
sound airy-fairy but a vibe about something can have a
strong influence as to why people go and see stuff. Keep it
ENTERTAINING. One way of doing this is to have your email
do the work for you, but more on email later.

MASS YOUR FORCES

It's easy to overlook the tricks your colleagues and others
might have to share, right under your nose. If someone you
know has a work intranet, access to resources, who can slip
a flyer into a mail-out or publication, or any angle for
publicity… exploit it. Do this as an exercise, ask all the
members of the cast, crew or company for a short story
about themselves and get ideas from that. Don't hold back
from following any wild lead that might arise

UNLEASH AN EMAIL VIRUS

No not the sort that deletes hard-drives but ones that
plant your info right on people's computer screens. I
mentioned earlier about using your email signature to do
some of the work for you. Here is a clever trick that works.
Make your sig. file a P.S. and make it somewhat personal.
Look at this example of the one I use to draw people to
subscribe to my ezine, Performing Arts News:

P.S. Start making use of this awesome resource... Now!
Click >> http://performing-arts-news.on.to and discover free
inside knowledge of new Australian plays & films, discount
tickets and local and global creative vision.

After you finish reading this article write one for
yourself, send it out to your friends when you email them
and get onto email or web forums focused on your particular
field and start posting messages using your new signature.

If you aren't already, start collecting email addresses
from everybody you know. Once you have a few, run a
competition giving away tickets or something else of
perceived value, to all who forward the email on to, say,
five people and Cc it back to you so you can collect their
addresses. If you've got a website, even better, as you can
have a box for people to type in their email to join your
list. Have an "Email Book" at the event and ask those
people if they'd like to hear more about your company. Be
aware even though jpeg images look whiz-bang people respond
more effectively to plain text.

BE OUTRAGEOUS

"When a circus in the mid-1950s said they had a unicorn on
display, 50 percent more people came to see the show. How
can you argue with a 50 percent increase in business? Were
the people stupid? No. They were CURIOUS."
-- Joe Vitale, http://www.mrfire.com

There are no points for lying, but you can s t r e a c h
the truth and create some dramatic effects by making some
OUTRAGEOUS claims that you can dismiss or back up later.
Take for example the crazy line used by Theatre Songe on a
postcard for the recent 10X10 play festival: "Now More
Taliban Than Ever". Clearly chosen for shock value, the
statement is neither true nor tactful. However, it got
people interested on another level, whether they believed
it or not. The season sold out!

There you have it! Five surefire essential tips to get a
flood of interest in your creative pursuits. There are
literally hundreds more, so thoroughly work on these
principals and discover the potential for more creative
publicity that strikes the hearts, minds, and wallets of
your soon-to-be audience.

© Copyright, Ian McGregor - August 2002