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Pricing Strategies for Online Events

pot of coins with a plant growing out of it

When venturing into the uncharted waters of virtual events, many new questions arise. Among these: How should I handle pricing? What kind of charges make the most sense with this new platform?

Fortunately, there are many options. And best of all, they can be mixed and matched to suit your needs, maximize your returns, and keep your audience interested in your events.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

Conventional Ticket Sales

You know the drill. Set the price, sell the ticket, admit the ticketholder. But with virtual events, there are opportunities to get creative.

  • In addition to regular pre-sale prices, consider offering VIP tickets that grant an encore performance or Q&A session with the performer, an on-air shout out for a friend or business, or a custom-written song.
  • Even though the event is online, consider offering physical tickets to provide the purchaser with a souvenir and add to the feeling of a traditional event.

Brown Paper Tickets offers physical ticket fulfillment for ticket buyers as well as bulk ticket orders. Our customers get creative—we once ticketed an engagement!

Virtual Tip Jar

Anyone can access public social media pages to tune into a live streaming event, so pre-sales are often less of a focus. In addition to pre-sale, VIP, or other special pricing, your event page can include prices with names like “tips” or “contributions.” Allowing tips or contributions for free events can help your artists feel valued and your attendees feel part of a larger community.

  • Create multiple “tip” prices at various values, so viewers can choose how much to contribute.
  • Consider giving extra proceeds directly to your performer. Your attendees will feel they’re making a contribution in a direct and personal way.

Sliding Scale or Pay What You Like

In times of financial uncertainty, having a sliding scale or pay-what-you-like option may entice more buyers than a standard pricing structure. Buyers want to help their favorite events and artists, and with this welcoming option, you may end up with a larger turnout than you ever imagined. If you need to make sure you recoup enough funds to pay your overhead, set a minimum amount and allow buyers to pay more if they are able.

Donations

Your audience’s generosity may surprise you. People don’t want to lose their favorite theater or lose touch with their favorite performer. If your organization is a registered 501c3, adding a donation option can help ensure continued future events and keep you and your audience united in supporting the arts.


Once you pick a pricing structure, it’s time to list your event so you can start sales ASAP. Brown Paper Tickets’ flexible ticketing platform can support pricing models of every kind, from tips to tiers to anything you can think up. Learn more about how Brown Paper Tickets can support your online event.

Event Tips >

How To Turn Your In-Person Event into an Online Event

Reflection of woman in striped dress with orange sunglasses

In just a matter of weeks, we’ve become accustomed to connecting screen-to-screen. Friends are hosting virtual happy hours. Late-night talk show hosts are cracking jokes from their kitchens. Kids are attending Frozen-themed birthday parties via video chat. When your fun is virtual, the wifi is the only limit.

If your current in-person events are on pause until we get the all-clear from authorities, here’s a six-pack of power questions to get you on your way to your first online event.

1. What type of online event is right for me?

Online events come in different flavors. The seemingly endless possibilities for customization can be overwhelming. Luckily, if you were hosting in-person events previously, you don’t have to start from square one; most events can be moved online with a little bit of creativity.

Think about why your audience attends your events in the first place. Is it for entertainment? Education? Social connection? Now, how can you deliver that value virtually?

Live performances can be streamed to an online audience. You may have to perform from your living room instead of your usual venue, but you won’t be alone.

Workshops and classes can go virtual with simple online meeting software, making it easy for everyone to learn and collaborate from the comfort of their own homes.

Films and other pre-made content can be made available for a limited time so your audience feels like they’re attending an event, rather than just paying for Netflix.

2. Should I go live or pre-record?

Depending on the type of event you’re hosting and your resources, you can choose to do the event live, pre-recorded, or both.

Going live will most closely mimic the feel of an in-person event. Your audience will get to watch the action unfold before their eyes and interact with each other and with you, depending on the platform you choose. Live events have a sense of immediacy and excitement—you never know what’s going to happen next.

Pre-recorded content can be great if you have a busy schedule, are hesitant to go live, or if audience interaction isn’t a big factor. Recording ahead of time also allows you to perfect the event by doing multiple takes (be sure to factor editing time into your planning).

For a bonus, record your live event. You can then rebroadcast it or make copies available for your audience so they can relive the experience whenever they want.

3. How will my virtual attendees participate in the event?

One thing that can be difficult to translate from in-person to online is audience participation. Performers feed off a crowd’s energy. Panelists take questions to spark further discussion.

While the energy of a live audience won’t be felt the same way for virtual events, there are multiple options for fostering audience participation that can be just as effective.

Live verbal participation (aka talking) – This type of participation is best for small groups, like classes or workshops, where the audience will benefit from interacting with one another. You’ll want to make sure everyone has the right audio equipment (earbuds with a built-in mic work perfectly).

Pro Tip: Ask attendees to mute their mics when they aren’t speaking to avoid background noise.

Live comments – Live commenting is most popular for live streams with large audiences on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube Live. Viewers can tune into the event, but don’t have to commit to active participation. Instead of applause and cheers, they’ll leave comments and emojis to show their appreciation.

External community forum – If your event has a loyal fanbase, you can create a community forum to foster conversation outside of the event. Create a Facebook group and invite people to come share their thoughts. Your fans will have the opportunity to connect, and you’ll have a ready-made platform for promoting your future events.

No audience participation – Sometimes, audience participation isn’t necessary. After the event, you can send a follow-up email to thank attendees.

4. How should I price my online event?

Pricing your online event can be intimidating. You know people will pay to experience the event in-person, but is it still worth as much when it’s online?

The short answer is yes.

The value of your event is not dependent on the location, but on the entertainment, education, or experience you’re providing. While live events can be dressed up with free food and Instagram-able décor, the true value of your event will shine online. Focus on this, and don’t be afraid to price your tickets to match.

When setting your prices, also consider your audience and overall goals. If you’re hosting an event for an already loyal fanbase, they’ll be happy to pay to attend. If you’re fairly new to the scene and want to expand your audience, consider a free event with opportunities for viewers to contribute (see how one Seattle musician did exactly this). Collect contributions through a platform like Brown Paper Tickets, and you’ll also collect valuable attendee email addresses to start building your list. If you’re not sure where to start, you can always try a sliding scale or pay-what-you-like model.

What video-hosting platform should I use?

There are a plethora of video-hosting platforms and the one you choose will depend on your answers to the questions above. There are two main types: social media-based and software-based. Below is a brief overview of each type with specific examples and guidelines for best use.

Social Media Platforms

Examples: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube Live

Features:
• Typically free to use
• Ability to broadcast to an unlimited audience
• Viewers can join at their leisure
• Participation via comments and reactions

Best for: Free events, live streams

Not for: Paid events, private events, gated content

See our comparison of free live streaming services.

Software-Based Platforms

Examples: Zoom, Bluejeans, Livestream

Features:
• Typically generate a private event link
• Can be password-protected
• Ability for audience to speak to and see one another
• Collaboration tools
• Often have limited free services with paid subscription tiers that allow for more attendees and tools

Good for: Paid events, private events, social events

Not for: Unlimited attendees

6. How do I get the word out about my event?

There are so many online events happening right now that it can be hard for people to keep track of all of them. Just look at Facebook, Instagram, or your email inbox—there’s no lack of organizations and individuals asking you to tune in to their upcoming live stream.

Start by listing your event online ahead of time. This will create a single landing page for the event that’s easy for your audience to find and for Google to index. Your listing should convey the event’s who, what, when, and where. It should also allow attendees to register, purchase tickets, or make a contribution.

If you list your event with Brown Paper Tickets, we’ll handle your ticket sales and attendee registration. You’ll also gain access to our suite of event management tools, including page customization, real-time reporting, and live customer support for you and your buyers.

Once your event is listed, use all your available resources to get the word out. Send email blasts, post on social media, and look for fans in new places. Thanks to the internet, you now have the opportunity to reach a global audience.

Visit our help site for more event promotion tips.


Ready to get your online event up and running? See how Brown Paper Tickets can support you.

Event Tips >

Tips for Defining and Reaching your Target Audience

When it comes to promotion, there are a lot of options, and it can be difficult to know where to start. The key to effectively marketing your event is establishing a relationship with your potential ticket buyers. Before you take a look at how you want to promote your event, you will need to understand who you are promoting to – this is called your target audience.

Your target audience is the demographic group of people most likely to be interested in your event. If you have a sense of the type of people most likely to attend your event, you can market your event far more effectively.

Let’s start with an example:

Let’s say you have a stack of 100 flyers advertising the jazz show you’re putting on this Friday, and you’re trying to figure out the best way to pass them out. Sure, you could just walk down the street and hand the flyers to the first 100 people you see, but there’s no reason to assume that these folks have any interest in jazz, and many of your flyers would probably end up in the trash.

Now let’s say instead of choosing people at random, you hand out your flyers outside a popular instrument repair shop, or leave a stack in the local record store. You’ll find that far more of your flyers find their way into the hands of music lovers.

By targeting a specific demographic, (music fans in this example) where they’re likely to spend time (music stores) you’re wasting less flyers, getting more positive response, and interacting with people who are more likely to buy tickets to your event–or even become long-term fans.

This same concept applies to every type of promotion–social media, traditional media, posters– whatever methods you use to market your event. The effectiveness of your promotion is determined by knowing who your target audience is, and how to reach them.

What is a customer profile?

The idea of a “target audience” may seem like an abstract concept, but it’s not– your potential ticket buyers are real people with interests, habits, likes, dislikes, and–most importantly– shared traits that can help you effectively reach them with your promotion. To understand who these people are, start by create a customer profile- a “portrait” of your ideal ticket buyer. A common starting point for creating this profile is by looking at your audience demographics, including:

  • Age
  • Location
  • Gender
  • Occupation
  • Family status
  • Income level
  • Education level
  • Hobbies
  • Interests
  • Shopping habits
  • Values
  • Behaviors

From this demographic information, you can then ask yourself more specific questions:

  • How can I adjust my message to appeal to this demographic?
  • What type of social media promotion is most likely to draw the attention of my target audience?
  • How might my target audience respond to advertising in traditional media sources, such as newspapers, event calendars or radio stations?
  • Where does my target audience spend time, and can I use this information to better reach them with my advertising?
    For example: If you’re putting on an opera, you want to reach opera fans. What age range do you tend to see at the opera in your area? Are there a lot of people from the age of 18-24, or more 35-55 ? (Hint: you can sometimes find event demographic data online depending on what type of event you’re putting on, to test this out, try Googling “Opera Attendee Demographics”)

Let’s say you find that the average age of your attendee is 48 years old, that’s already useful information. Many studies break down trends in social media usage among different age groups, and you can use the data from these studies to assess what social media platform will best reach a potential customer based on criteria such as their age. The Pew Research Center offers a good starting point for social media usage data.

Studies have shown that a 48 year old is statistically far more likely to be on Facebook than Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat. So instead of spreading your promotion efforts across every social media platform, focus on the one that’s most likely to work.

Customer profiles will vary depending on the specifics of your event. A punk show will draw a different crowd than an opera, and the way you promote these events will be different, but understanding the concept behind targeted advertising will help you adapt your marketing to best reach your potential attendees, and will ensure that you aren’t wasting your money promoting in ways that don’t reach the right people. While data and research can help you more effectively promote, you can also identify your target audience through observation:

  • Think about your past attendees. If you have done events in the past that are similar to your current event, this puts you at an advantage. If you are able to, keep your past attendees up to date on your upcoming events, and consider how they heard about your events in the first place.
  • Ask yourself: am I part of my own target audience? If you fit the profile of the type of person you’re trying to reach, think carefully about where you would best be reached by marketing, and plan your promotional strategies accordingly.
  • Take a look at similar events in your area. Do some research into the methods other event producers in your area use to promote their events. Social media makes it much easier to see how events are marketed. Do you see a lot of paid Facebook ads for events in your area? Do you see event organizers asking people to join their email list? Have you noticed print advertising or calendar listings for events similar to yours?
  • Compile a list of relevant places to advertise your event. Think about this broadly: if you get a lot of college students at your events, think about how your average college student gets their information (social media, college bulletin boards, flyers in on-campus laundromats, libraries etc.) How about an older demographic? Might they rely more on traditional media? Calendar listings? Posters?)
  • Lastly, an excellent way to make contact with your target audience is to think about any contacts you might have within the community you are trying to reach. If you have even just one friend, colleague or employee who is willing to help you with your event and has a solid network within your target audience, they can be a great asset in promoting your event. They could send out invitations to all their friends on Facebook, post your event on social media and have it seen (and ideally shared!) by their friends who share similar interests.

The last step in effectively marketing to your target audience is remembering to think ahead about future events. At your next event, pay careful attention to who attends. Consider putting a questionnaire on your ticketing page that asks attendees how they heard about your event, and using this information to refine your advertising in the future.

If you have more questions about defining your target audience, contact our promotions team.

Event Tips >

The Essential Guide to Merchandise, Part 1: Selecting a Vendor

BPT_buttons_2_300x300Whenever someone tells me that there’s no money in merchandise, I want to scream. Merchandise programs can become your league’s greatest return on investment. Especially once your merchandise program is established.

This is the first of a three-part series on derby merchandise programs and the best use of your merch committee’s time. Although this series is specific to roller derby, the following applies to bands, performers and anyone else who might sell merchandise at their events.

There is Money in Merchandise 

Two examples that speak to the value of merchandise sales:

-Bands make their name on the road. Most will tell you it is merchandise sales, not a cut of the door sales that support their ramen-noodle habit and van.

-My son loved watching the monster truck TV series, “Monster Jam.” One episode, Dennis Anderson, owner of the iconic Grave Digger, made a prolific statement about merchandise sales. In his early years, he ran the truck until it was wrecked, “to get the most out of merchandise sales.” That’s right, he traveled the country destroying expensive trucks to boost merch sales.

Roller derby merch has the same potential.

Though there are many types of merchandise you can sell, clothing will draw your greatest sales and profit. T-shirts are critical to any merch program. They are relatively inexpensive to make and can generate a strong profit.

Your relationship with your clothing producer is a critical one that’s reliant on trust, so be choosy when it comes to your vendor.

Choose Vendors Wisely 

The three factors to be aware of when choosing a vendor are reliability, the cost goods and the quality of their work. Too often, leagues have “merch problems” from making a poor choice of vendors. Many leagues are offered great deals from startup print shops, a league-mate’s friend or even someone within the league.

What could possibly go wrong?

Reliability

You get a great deal. At first, your orders may not have time sensitivity. Especially if it’s off-season or the league is in early stages. But when you need inventory by a certain date and it doesn’t show up, it’s a big problem.

If you are out of sizes or styles, those are lost sales. How could this happen? More than likely, they’ve offered this same killer deal (undercutting the price of other printers) to a number of others. The print shop is looking to build its clientele. The general concept of creating printed t-shirts is not difficult, but bulk printing is. Problems arise when the printer takes on more work than they have staff, equipment or time. For some shops, it isn’t a full-time business; it’s a “hobby.”

How to Sniff Out an Unreliable Vendor 

  • Ask to tour their shop prior to committing your business. If they keep stalling, they don’t have a shop. They have limited equipment (potentially homemade) in a corner of a basement or garage. One or two screen presses won’t keep you stocked, especially once there are other customers.
  • If they made their own screen printers (fairly easy), the turnaround time on each piece will be a killer. If a tour of the shop shows you professional equipment for creating screens, printing bulk shirts, advanced drying equipment, heat presses, CAD cutters (printers that cut a vinyl material) and the like, you’re working with professionals.

Don’t be afraid to look into larger companies. When I had my own t-shirt company, all of my screen-printing was done by a large facility contracted by the likes of Nike and Reebok. Yes, my orders were squeezed between large corporate ones, but done with consistent quality, available as promised and often less expensive than if done in smaller shops.

Remember, league money needs to be held tight. Spend it cautiously, especially early on and know that every dollar spent needs to earn more dollars. Choosing the right shirt printer is a vital first step.

What’s a “Good” Deal?

There are two ways to maximize the contributions of your merch program—find the right selling price and keep costs low. Your goal is to make quality merch at the lowest price possible. Clothing printers will provide you with shirts and do the printing.

They buy the t-shirts at wholesale prices and mark the price up. If you’re told blank t-shirts are $4, work on driving that price down. Let me arm you with reality. A quality, men’s black tee, at wholesale price, is no more than $2.50. It’s also not uncommon for wholesalers to run specials for under $2.

My goal was to create a final product for $6 maximum and sell at $15, which is an acceptable price for fans. As my own company however, I bought shirts at wholesale and either applied the print myself or sent them to my screen printer to use. Some printers will not allow this, some will–they have to make money too. But if your single-color tees are running $8 to make, force them to bargain or walk away. You hold the cards in this decision, don’t let them pressure you into a cost that is too high.

How to Test Merchandise Quality 

Roller-Derby-T-ShirtT-shirts don’t have to be anything special, but they should be quality. Gildan is just one example, but a very popular choice for good reason. Gildan is popular because it’s a reasonable for the quality, they make a sturdy 5.1 oz. cotton tee and provide them in men’s, women’s and children sizes.

When choosing a t-shirt vendor, ask for a sample. Put your hand inside the shirt. If you can see your hand clearly through the cotton, don’t use them. It indicates poor quality. The shirt will shrink drastically and the print will chip in a short period of time.

As you will learn, start easy with safe bets on merch and slowly build as the demand rises. Begin with t-shirts only; one or two styles with a decent stock of sizes. Upcoming blog posts will explain building an inventory plan, projecting merch needs and the kinds of merchandise that are risky or not worth the return.

What do you think? Comment below with your merchandise experiences or questions.

Roller Derby >

The Best Derby Marketing Tool You’re (Probably) Overlooking

Derby Business Tips - AnnouncingBy now, I hope your league knows its best marketing tool: announcers.

This blog is not self-indulgent nor written to over-justify the role of announcing. It’s to dispel the myth that announcing isn’t all that important. I am going to tell you how a lack of good announcers can hurt your league, what good announcing looks like, why “borrowing” announcers isn’t the solution and one way to try out announcers.

What Happens When You Don’t Develop Announcing

A heck of a lot. Six things that could happen if your announcers are underdeveloped or do a poor job:

1. The crowd disconnects from the game. Announcers connect the game to the crowd. Don’t downplay this idea. If you do, please ask someone to kick you. Kicking yourself is totally ineffective. I’ve tried. Takes balance. Doesn’t leave a mark. ‘Nuff said.

2. Nobody knows who you are. The crowd may not know your name or it may be pronounced incorrectly, enunciated poorly, or purposefully “played on” all night. For example, imagine the horror of fans yelling, “Lyin’ Fart” instead of “Lyin’ Heart.” And heaven forbid if the league’s name is never mentioned.

3. The game remains a mystery. The crowd has no idea what’s going on.

4. Spectators will not return. If spectators leave not knowing anything about the game, league or skaters, odds are they’ll never return. Spectators are one-timers while fans come back. Sure, you get their money once, just not twice. Spectator and fan retention is at an all-time low.

5. Long-time fans leave. A change to less-developed or less-known announcers could alienate long-time fans.

6. Sponsors will not renew. Let’s just say, solely as an example, your sponsors never hear their names (I know, that never happens). Worse yet, the name was pronounced incorrectly or used as part of a “harmless” comment. (Now I’m swinging with full sarcasm.) But it’s important. You lose revenue and the goodwill of a local business.

“Bob, What IS Good Announcing?”

I’ll forever feel strongly about my time with the Mad Rollin’ Dolls, ten years go. Our co-founder understood the importance of announcing. The league absorbed Baam Baam, my highly esteemed co-announcer and me. We had roles within committees and league operations open to us, and I loved it.

Based on my routines and ideas adapted from announcers all over the world, here are three ways I define good announcers:

 1. They come prepared. It takes me 8 hours to prepare for Brewcity league night. I compile all the information into one document with everything in the evening’s timeline. Rosters, order of introduction, the charity (including what they represent), team records, standout statistics on skaters, every sponsor (with reads, not just names), names of staff, the entertainment for all three halftimes, upcoming games and appearances. I also add news regarding the travel teams, groups in attendance, anyone we should thank and even the name of our national anthem performer.

Having all this prepared and in order of flow means Doc (my co-announcer) and I rarely miss anything.

2. Good announcers not only know rules, they know the officials’ hand signals. Every announcer should know these. They can be found as rules appendix at the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. Knowing the signals allows announcers to explain the infraction.

3. Great announcers explain the game. There is so much focus on explaining what skaters can’t do (fouls), it can overshadow explaining the game. Explaining the game can be done without coaching from the mic. Early on, announcers were hounded about knowing skater names, rules and penalties. I realized we were leaving out why the skaters did certain things: basic dynamics and strategy. Since then, most of the compliments I receive from fans go something like this, “I learned so much about the game.”

Announcers with great emcee skills own the crowd. By pitching what’s next, keeping excitement levels high and entertaining the crowd, people are less likely to leave early and more likely to return. Plus, they always push merchandise, another under-utilized profit center I’ll cover in an upcoming post.

 How Announcers Learn the Game

Derby Announcing
I have a saying, “You can’t announce what you’ve never seen.”

If you close practice to your announcers, how on earth do you expect them to reach their potential? It’s impossible. An announcer’s ability to learn the game relies on the league. I’ll defer, again, to the Mad Rollin’ Dolls who gave me total access to practice. In fact, coaches allowed us to step onto the track as they were teaching skating techniques, moves and strategy. I would never have known nor continue to dig into the game if not for that experience.

 “Bob, we solved the issue. We borrowed good announcers from up the road.”

Here’s where criticize my own. Most dedicated announcers work for too many leagues. They love it, find more opportunities and hone their skills. So why am I being critical? It’s OK for a while, but it hurts the growth of the overall announcing pool. They take the place of others who should be developed. Eleven years later, I bet the sport still does not have enough accomplished announcers to permanently staff half its leagues.

Borrowed announcers are not yours. An announcer’s home league takes priority. If your game conflicts with the home league, you’re stuck.

Worse, after years of travel, many burn out and stop. Remember, they don’t have a travel budget either. They love you; you show them more appreciation than their home league, who is used to their excellent self (yes, that’s a “Bill and Ted” reference), but you will wind up back at square one.

My rules? I only do events for my home league (Brewcity in Milwaukee), and will help Madison on occasion (my first league and in my backyard). Otherwise, I will only announce for a league if it’s their first-ever bout or if they have dedicated announcers to train. I will arrive early and talk about roles, bring them training materials, work with them that night and be available to mentor at any time. This way, I’ve fixed the issue, not contributed to the problem.

Finding Permanent Announcers

roller derby announcing Don’t give the job to anyone, not even dedicated league members. Every role has a different skill set. Advertise on social media, your site and even in the newspaper. Have tryouts. Be creative.

One of the more popular ways is to get the league together for a night at a sponsor bar. Bring in a DVD of a recent bout and give every applicant a set number of minutes, or jams, to call the action as they see it. It’s not about accuracy; it’s about how quickly they think on their feet. Hand them some sponsor reads to throw in between jams. You can teach them the game later; just make sure they have the skill and personality first.

Training Materials

Make sure every new announcer understands the rules. Download the WFTDA/MRDA rule set. The Association of Flat Track Derby Announcers (AFTDA) also has some helpful material, including the official Announcer’s Handbook (an invaluable resource), which can be downloaded from the front page. It provides an expected code of conduct, and the forums are a great place to learn of upcoming events, to ask questions and keep up with derby changes. They also certify announcers, a requirement to work major WFTDA events.

If questions go beyond that, simply contact me at bob [at] brownpapertickets.com

 

Bob Noxious is a Doer specializing in roller derby for Brown Paper Tickets.

Roller Derby >

Powerful combination: How to mix music and philanthropy

You can make a positive impact on the world through your events. We were lucky enough at SXSW to ask three music industry insiders how emerging musicians can create change. Their insights apply not only to bands and solo artists growing their careers, but to all of us that hold or organize events. You have a stage. Here’s how to use it for good:

Size doesn’t matter.

Of your audience, that is. As long as you have one fan, you have one person you can impact. Mike Martinovich, manager for My Morning Jacket and Flight of the Concords had this to say, “It doesn’t matter if you’re playing pubs, or an arena, you can make a difference. Collect emails. Collect a donation at the door. Tweet. The earlier musicians do it, the sooner it becomes institutionalized within themselves and their fans.”

Erin Potts, Executive Director at Air Traffic Control Education Fund agreed. “Musicians have historically been important allies in social justice… music helps people feel personally connected to issues. Musicians have incredible reach. Even small, beginning artists have email or social media lists larger than most non-profits.”

Respect your authority!

As an entertainer, you hold the great ability to reach and influence others on a very personal level. Andy Bernstein of HeadCount (which promotes such established groups as Pearl Jam, Phish, Death Cab for Cutie, and Dave Matthew’s Band) explains, “Social currency is everything. Musicians have the power to bring issues to the forefront with their social currency.”

Tip: You can watch Andy tell exactly how he helps artists make an impact in this video.


Read More…

Event Tips >

10 ways to get more cash out of your fundraising events

 

 

 

 

For all the time and effort poured into your fundraising events, you’d like to raise the most cash possible. Transforming a meh fundraising event into a cash cow can be simple. Really. Here are ten of the best ideas we’ve seen for getting more out of your fundraising events.

Ten ways to get more out of your fundraising event:
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Event Tips >

Use Media Alerts to Publicize Your Events!

Every two weeks on Wednesday we send out our Event Success Newsletter to subscribers offering unique, one-of-a-kind advice on how to host successful events. This week we’re offering our blog readers a sneak peak at tomorrow’s newsletter. Make sure you subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter and invaluable bi-monthly tips.

The event was flawless. Everything went off without a hitch. The performers were on point! The servers and bartenders performed magnificently. Everyone deemed the food divine. Every single attendee had an exceptional experience. The ones who came, anyway. You really thought you’d fill more seats. What happened?
Read More…

Event Tips >

Sell more tickets on Twitter: Five ways to turn followers into ticket buyers

You know you can use social media to sell tickets online. If only you knew how… It’s easy! Here are five simple things you can do to turn your Twitter followers into ticket buyers.

1. Say exactly what you want.
Posting information about your events on your Twitter feed is an excellent start. Increase the number of conversations by saying exactly what you want people to do. For example, instead of simply posting “Excellent blues show tonight at the Red Door!”, try “Buy your tickets now to tonight’s excellent blues show at the Red Door!”. (Of course, remember to include the link!) This makes it easy for your followers to know that you aren’t simply posting nice-to-know information, but are asking for action.
Read More…

Event Tips >

Meet the Event Promotions Department!

Hello Event Producers,

We’d like to take a moment to introduce you to the Brown Paper Tickets Event Promotions department. As most of you know, the new Brown Paper Tickets website launched in January and as part of the launch the Event Promotions department was created.
Read More…

Event Tips >