FIVE SECRETS TO SELL-OUT SUCCESS

By Ian McGregor
Posted Sunday, October 10, 2004

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.

About the Author
Ian McGregor is a professional actor and publicist committed to developing New Australian Plays and Films. He is the editor of PAN, (http://performing-arts-news.on.to) "Free inside knowledge of discount tickets, new Australian plays, films and local and global industry news."