You know how us marketing types LOVE the numbers. We’re all about ROI and who’s coming to our shows and who’s buying the tickets, and what methods of marketing are working and which are not.
I came across this the other day, and thought I’d share it with you.
Enjoy. I mean that. Really. Enjoy.
Here’s the link to the original post on Flowtown
Follow Flowtown on Twitter
So, I just got back from doing a series of workshops in Australia. Sorry, you’ll be really sick of me talking about this soon, but I am processing through all that I learned, and I want to share it with you.
One thing kept coming up repeatedly at all the workshops, and that is this:
I start to teach my course at Emily Carr tonight, and this is exactly the topic of tonight’s class.
In the past, we employed what my former boss at the Alliance, Judi Piggott, called spray and pray: you got as much marketing material as possible, and then put it in as many places as possible. Your goal was to reach as wide an audience as possible, because you never knew where they were. I’m talking, billboards, TV commercials, sides of buses, ads in the newspaper, posters, postcards, websites, the whole works. The problem with spray and pray is that it’s expensive. And the return on your investment was minimal, maybe, if you were lucky, 10%.
Now, if you’re a big business with lots of money in your marketing budget, maybe this isn’t a problem (although many big businesses are adopting the new rules of marketing, as well). But if you are small business, like an artist, you probably can’t afford to buy the side of a bus. So instead, look for your niche, and market to that.
But you can’t just spray and pray to your niche using the same methods. I mean, you can, and you will probably have a higher return rate. But increasingly, we are exploring methods of relationship marketing. I’ve talked about this ad nauseum, so I won’t get into it too much here. But I had a great conversation on Twitter the other day with Brian Seitel, and I promised him I would quote him in my class tonight. So, ladies and gentlemen, The Rule of Brian!
New Media, Social Media Marketing, is about creating a conversation with your potential or current audience. How is that marketing? Well, if we define marketing as being creating relationships based on trust, then being accessible to your audience and being responsive to them is a great way to make that happen.
If there’s one thing I want my class to take away with them tonight, this would be it.
The theatrosphere has been buzzing the last few days with controversy involving reviewers and what their rights are.
It all started out with this blog post that was published on August 17th. Mack D. Male’s friend, Sharon Yeo, who writes what is primarily a foodie blog called Only Here for the Food, had been asked, in a not especially nice manner, by the Artistic Director of a company who was producing at the Edmonton Fringe this year, to no longer attend or review any of their shows.
You can read all the posts and all the comments that come after for yourself. But for me, this brings up lots of interesting questions. The joy of the blogosphere, for me, is that anyone with a WordPress or Blogger or TypePad account can write about whatever topic they choose. I love that we have the power to create our own content. However, just because you have a blog, does that make you a reviewer? Or should we leave that job to the people who get paid to write reviews?
The second question this brings up for me is about addressing what is, essentially, a personal issue in a public forum. I’m not saying that Jeff Halsam was right in doing what he did, but I do think it was foolish of him to do it in such a public way. If I were his company’s publicist, I’d be freaking out, because this has all the makings of a PR nightmare.
As a publicist, I would never, ever turn down any kind of possible publicity, whether it’s from someone who gets paid to write reviews or not. A great example is Miss 604. If Rebecca writes a post on one of my clients, I know that post will be seen by thousands of people that day. Rebecca doesn’t get paid to write her primary blog, but her popularity is such that, even though she’s not a formal reviewer, I still welcome her to write because I know it will be excellent exposure.
What do you think? Do reviewers, formal or informal, have too much power? As a producer, do you have the right to tell them to sod off? (sorry, I’m in Australia right now).
As ever, I look forward to reading your comments below.
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
From an article called Geeks, Tweets, Bums in Seats from The Sydney Herald:
In a Nielsen poll, Australian social media use was deemed to be the highest in the world, ahead of the US, Britain and mainland Europe. Almost a third of arts consumers in Australia now use the internet to research a show or event, buy tickets, view art, listen to music or write blogs and share thoughts on social media, according to a recent report from the Australia Council for the Arts.
And it’s not just young consumers. Worldwide, the average Twitter user is middle-aged. Those aged 45-54 are 36 per cent more likely to visit the Twitter site than the rest of the population, according to a 2009 poll. These are figures the arts industry can’t afford to ignore, although most admit they are still feeling their way.
This really great article goes on to give examples of how artists are using social media (specifically Twitter) to create a buzz about their shows, address concerns and answer questions, and even to create art and plays.
The other reason I really love the Aussies is because they invited me to come to Melbourne and do a couple of Social Media Workshops. As you can imagine, I’m pretty stoked.
: : : : : : : : : : :
Ah, summer’s here. My schedule is slower, I’m only working a couple of hours a day. After that, I am mostly pool- and park-side with my 7-yr-old son. There are certainly worse ways to spend a summer.
While he’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine: and that often means that I’m catching up on my business book reading. This week, I finally finished The E-Myth. More about that in a sec.
In a not-unrelated segue, I also went to Canadian Tire last week to purchase a chair for my patio. It’s one of those ones that folds up into a little bag, so it comes with me to the pool, the park, or camping. While I was in Canadian Tire, a young, clean looking young woman came up to me and asked me if I’d like to collect a boat-load of extra Canadian Tire money, and if I’d like to continue to collect extra money on all my Canadian Tire purchases. It took me maybe about 5 seconds to realize that she was really trying to sell me a Canadian Tire credit card.
I thanked her, told her I already had all the credit cards I need, and went about my business.
But as I walked away, I felt a mixture of emotions. First, I felt bad for that girl. Bad, because I’ve been in University and had to do crappy sales jobs, too. Bad because she was just doing what she was trained to do, and was probably pretty good at it, but it wasn’t working on me (maybe making me feel bad was a sales tactic? I’d apply for a card out of pity?) I also felt a bit angry, which is how I always feel when I’m being “marketed at” either in person, or by phone.
Back to The E-Myth. There’s some good stuff in there. For example, I really love how Gerber talks about how you should run your business, not have your business run you, and this little gem: “your business is a means rather than an end, a vehicle to enrich your life rather than one that drains the life you have.” I will probably write more about the parts of the book I really enjoyed at a later date, once I’ve had time to digest it all and implement some of the practices Gerber talks about.
Having said that, it has taken me a long time to get through this book, and here is why: Gerber’s model is based on franchising. The whole goal of any business, he says, should be to franchise, OR to build their business to a place where they can sell it and retire. A great idea in theory, but it feels outdated to me.
In the Chapter 18, he talks about selling methods, and guess what? His system is exactly the system that that young woman at Canadian Tire tried to use on me!
Why doesn’t it work?
Franchises and sales strategies are based upon a couple of things: first off, each client should have exactly the same experience. So, if I walk into the Starbucks around the corner from my house, or the one on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, I should basically have the same experience in terms of decor, service, and menu. Our young woman’s sales pitch was based on a script that her bosses know will not work the majority of the time. But based on sheer volume, they figure they can get enough profit, anyway.
What’s missing for me, in both of these scenarios, is the personal touch. The individual, getting-to-know-you stage. I can walk into any Starbucks and order an Americano Misto, and know what I’m going to get. But I won’t know the person behind the counter, like I do at the smaller, independently-owned coffee shop on Commercial Drive that I like to frequent (their coffee is also way better than Starbucks, but that’s another post). If that gal knew me better, she’d know that I am a staunch believer in having only 2 credit cards: one personal, and one business. I’m not her target market.
For me, this book felt outdated, and the tone of it, honestly, was a bit condescending. However, there were some good things in it, as well, and I will devote another post to the things about it liked.
In the mean time, feel free to disagree with me….
: : : : : : : : : : :
Why?
According to Arts and Entertainment Infozine: People who participate in the arts through electronic media are nearly three times as likely to attend live benchmark arts events as non-media participants.
What does this mean?
Well, in the States, The National Endowment for the Arts did a survey in 2008 called the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). The survey measured demographic characteristics of U.S. adults that participated in the arts (such as concerts, plays, and dance performances) via electronic media (e.g., TV, radio, computers and portable media devices). It also looked at how people participate in the arts using their computers. The final result is called Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation.
The findings are very interesting: basically, American adults who participated in arts via thier computers (by, say, looking at paintings on line, or downloading and listening to audio books) were much more likely to attend live art events.
I guess this makes sense: if someone is interested in the arts, they will participate in it however they can. But I think we constantly live in the fear that, if we put our work out there, no one will want to pay us for it. No one will want to see it live.
This appears to not be the case.
Arts participation through the media does not appear to “replace” live arts attendance, personal arts performance, or arts creation. In fact, arts engagement through media is associated with higher rates of participation in those activities.
–Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation
Okay, so this is an American survey, but still, pretty interesting stuff.
Download and read the multi-media survey yourself: Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation
Source: How Americans Use Electronic Media to Participate in the Arts
: : : : : : : : : : :
Last week I got a very sad phone call from Cat at Biz Books.
She had made a very difficult decision. She had decided to close Biz’ storefront operation, and to make it be an online store only.
My relationship with Biz Books goes back at least 10 years. One of my very first publicity gigs was for an all-female version of Glengarry Glen Ross, and I remember seeing an ad for Biz in the program, and the producer handing me a card with the name “Bronwen Smith” on it.
A couple years later, Bronwen was cast in a play I was producing and acting in, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and today, she is part of my inner circle of friends. I have been jealous of Bron’s job as the manager at Biz since I can remember–what a perfect job for an actor–but now she’ll have to figure out what’s next for her.
Bronwen helps to hype up my book at Biz
I remember their old location in the super dodgy part of E Cordova, with the theatre space right next door, and being so happy for them when they got their new, current location on the corner of Cordova and Cambie.
Cat and Bronwen and the gang at Biz did more for our film and theatre community than just supply us with audition monologues and copies of the plays that the Arts Club was doing this year. Biz was a central hub in our community. There was seldom a time when I’d drop in when there wasn’t someone there I knew, or someone would come by that I knew. They ran workshops, hosted parties (remember Harry Potter releases?), and employed some of the city’s finest actors while they were building a career.
Cat has been incredibly supportive of my own work, hosting a free social media workshop, and selling copies of my book.
While the show will go on on line, I for one will miss dropping into the store to pick up a book, or just to say “hi” to the gang.
Thanks, Cat, Bron, Carrie, Spence, Brian, T, Mel, Shane and Carol.
Here is Cat’s official announcement:
After almost 14 years of being a physical hub for Vancouver’s film, television and theatre communities, we at Biz Books have decided to close our Cordova Street doors and focus on the window to the world that is the internet.
With all of the many changes in filmmaking, television creation and theatre production… not to mention book selling, it has become apparent to us that we need to refocus ourselves on providing you fast, cost effective access to the best and newest resources available and not to be distracted by maintaining a brick and mortar store. Over these past 14 years, the collective efforts of some of Vancouver’s best and brightest actors and writers have come together to build the 10,000 strong Biz Books community. We have loved your visits, support and patronage, and thank you for that and hope that it will follow us to our online store where we plan to continue.
What is changing?
We are closing 302 West Cordova Street on August 15th. We will then be conducting all of our business from our online home at http://www.bizbooks.net
What will continue?
The many things you love about Biz Books will continue on BizBooks.net. Our efforts to bring you the latest and greatest in the areas of film, television and theatre as well as our active role in bringing you the classes, workshops, book launches, author readings, events and contests that you have come to appreciate from our variety of industry partners and presenters.
Where are we going?
We will still be based in the Greater Vancouver area but will not be maintaining a retail space. We will continue to grow our stock levels so that fast local shipping and our presence at many local classes and events will provide you great access to books and software.
Why now?
With all the many changes to Gastown we have been hearing from customers about the challenges they face in coming to see us. Looking towards the future, we do not see those challenges getting any easier or the costs for maintaining a retail space in this neighbourhood (or frankly any in the Lower Mainland) being at a level that any independent bookseller could shoulder, much less one whose customers have had such a challenging few years keeping themselves going.
What about the staff?Over the years, Biz Books has been so very fortunate to have had the time and talent of so many great people focused on building it. It is with a heavy heart we realize that we will no longer be able to provide regular access to the incredible knowledge of Bronwen Smith, Jennifer Spence, Carrie Ruscheinsky, Teresa Weir, Melanie Walden, Brian Sutton, Carol Hodge and Shane Kolmansberger. We know that they are a huge reason that we have gained the support of so many of you and thank them, with special appreciation to Bronwen for her incredible efforts during her time at Biz (How could we ever sum up her 13 years!?!?), and we wish them all well with their future endeavours. They were the heart of Biz on Cordova Street and they will always be in mine.
We also want to recognize the contribution of the group we lovingly refer to as the “Biz Books Alumni”: Patricia (without whom we would have never opened!), Harlan, Kyle, Cam, Eileen, Jason, Alexa, Gillian, Sydney, Daniel, Melanie, Alana, Jane, Kristin, John, Stacie and Jazmin.
And while we are thanking people… Dave at Webbervision, Ian at Atomic Fez, Rebecca at Rebecca Coleman Marketing and Media Relations, Jasper at NovaCurrent Creative Solutions, David Cowan, our computer genius, my fantastic in-laws Herm & Shirley (for building all of the beautiful wood fixtures that helped to create such a cozy atmosphere here) and our wonderful landlords JP & Barbara… thank you so very much for all of your support over the years and for your kind wishes for us on our new phase.
We are planning a sale to start on July 2nd (we will of course be closed for Canada Day July 1st!) so stay tuned for more details on that and also, please use your gift cards before August 14th or bring them by to have them converted for use on our online store – again before August 14th!
And now the invitation part….
Our last day of operation on Cordova Street will be Saturday, August 14th and we are planning on it being a celebration so we invite you to come by for our BizBooks.net Going-Online Party!
Thanks for 14 great years on Cordova Street and we’ll see you out and about at events in the community and of course, at BizBooks.net!
Cat
: : : : : : : : : : :
Monday night, here in Vancouver, we celebrated The 28th Annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Vancouver cultural landscape, The Jessies are our answer to Toronto’s Doras or Broadway’s Tony Awards. They honour theatre excellence over the past year.
You can say what you like about awards shows: that they don’t really mean anything, that they are shallow, that the same people are nominated and win every year.
But what I witnessed Monday night was none of those things.
What I witnessed was unbelievable support for each other, and rallying in the face of some really, really dark and difficult times. I saw a lot of love. I saw a note of glamor in our otherwise “I wear Stage Manager’s blacks” lives. I saw us not take ourselves too seriously.
@SMLois and I clean up pretty good!
Let’s face it, since the first round of arts cuts in August last year, our community has been reeling. A conversation I had with Bill Millerd, Artistic Managing Director of The Arts Club, indicated that they may need to turn to programming smaller shows: 2-3 handers, instead of the bigger-cast, bigger-budget stuff they have been doing. Deb Pickman of the Shameless Hussys joked (seriously) that they can only afford to do one-woman shows from here in, and Ruby Slippers Theatre has put a list of shows that have been canceled on their blog.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned this year from these arts cuts, it’s that we have the ability to come together and make a lot of noise as a community. Our whole is indeed greater than the sum of our parts. And part of what the Jessies are about are celebrating that community and the strength we have when we get together.
We only really get to do this once a year. All the other times, we see each other in our shows, on stage, or at openings or workshops. But this one night of the year, we get to come together and not work and hang out and laugh and celebrate.
For me, the acceptance speech of the night belonged to Anthony F. Ingram, for Shameless Hussy’s Frozen. “I’d like to dedicate this to my dad Gary who fought so hard for me not to do this, and over the last few years has become one of my biggest supporters. He thanked me for showing him that theatre can open your eyes to the world.” He added, “This is not a community–it’s an industry. Maybe if we start calling it an industry, the government will listen to us.”
The full list of the nights winners can be found on the Jessie Awards website.
I’d like to especially congratulate the producers of the shows I got to work on: Touchstone Theatre, Presentation House, and Leaky Heaven Circus.
You can read Miss604’s LiveBlog of the event here.
And, remember a couple of weeks ago when I said that Laara Sadiq was my favorite in the best actress, small theatre category? Well, she won.
Here is her acceptance speech:
: : : : : : : : : : :
I few months back, I discovered this new event listing website. As a publicist, I am always looking for new places to flog my client’s shows, so I was pretty excited about this. Then, at a trade show I was doing publicity for in April, I met the gal who started the site, and she’s pretty cool, so I thought I’d introduce her to you.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Anastasia Koutalianos.
RC: Why did you start Nadatodo?
AK: I started www.nadatodo.com out of frustration. I moved back to Vancouver in 2003 and felt like I was out of loop on things to do. Once you’re out of the club scene (which is pretty in-your-face), what does the city have to offer in terms of creative, entertaining events, that are off the beaten track? I had the idea a few years back. While in Montreal over the summer things came together and the vision became reality. Met with some designers (www.elliot-elliot.com) and came up with the look and away it went. Aimed to have it online before the Olympics. Come November 29, 2009, and the site went live. Over time, the site has morphed into more than an event calendar. I also plan and promote (marketing, PR etc.) events involved in the arts. Giving back and getting a ton in return! Ah, job satisfaction.
RC: What is your background?
AK: Pretty diverse I guess. I studied French literature, and History and Political Science at the University of Toronto. Have dabbled in historical research (former Indian Residential School claims), French to English translation, magazine editing and writing, organic farming (my family imports olive oil), marketing, sales, PR, design, taught ESL. Have a cookbook coming out in September (@frmtheolivegrov). A little bit of everything, which has helped with http://www.nadatodo.com .
RC: What is the purpose of the website?
AK: The site serves two communities: the event seeker and the event promoter. With the price of print advertising being so high, it’s a great way to get the word out on any event in the city (play, festival, show, talk, performance)… and for FREE! My goal is for http://www.nadatodo.com to be a one-stop shop for things to do. The site was designed with that in mind. Put all possible events on one site. Pretty simple. That way there can be no more “no fun city” talk in Vancouver. 🙂
RC: If I have an event I am promoting, how can I get it featured on Nadatodo?
AK: Nadadtodo.com is a user-content site. Know of an event that’s not posted? Add it. Got an event you’re promoting? Post it. The more the merrier. Quirky, uptight, too loose, creative, entertaining, boring… whatever and whenever. The purpose of the site is for people to know EVERYTHING that’s going on in town, and to pick and choose where they want to be on any given day or night. Choice is lovely! Simply go to http://www.nadatodo.com , click “Post Event”, register with a valid email and password and you’re good to go. Also, don’t forget you can upload video, pics and comments from any event you’ve attended. Once it’s passed, go to “Past Events” and upload; no registration needed. It’s about sharing, and presenting your events to a wider audience. If something fun crosses my path, I’m quick to let others know. I would love it if people did the same. Plus it’s summertime. No better time to connect and get connected.
Thanks, Stasia!
And the rest of you: no more excuses. There is no longer any such thing as “Nadatodo.”
: : : : : : : : : : :
I was shooting some video the other day for one of my clients, and they remarked on my camera, and that they were intending on getting one. I, of course, was excited, and launched into a monologue about which camera was the best one. But then I stopped.
“What are you using it for? Business or personal?”
Turns out, my client is looking to buy a camera to shoot video for their business.
Why?
“Everyone is doing it.”
There’s so much pressure right now to jump onto the social media bandwagon. Heck, I’m part of the group of folks that are generating that pressure.
If you have a business, arts-related or otherwise, are you missing out right now if you are not participating in social media?
Yes.
But.
I feel like there is so much pressure to get involved in social media that lots and lots of folks are doing it willy-nilly, and with no purpose or plan in mind. Here’s the thing: it’s actually pretty easy to get into. What’s hard is keeping it up, which is why the internet is littered with abandoned blogs, websites, and Twitter accounts.
Part of the issue here is that because these mediums are so new, it’s hard to know what is going to be the right fit for you until you get into it and test drive it for a while. But part of the problem is also that folks are jumping in, because they know they should, but they are not doing it in a way that is thought out and planned.
Insert shameless plug for my book here.
Also, be aware that some tools will fit better for you than others. I have an active LinkedIn account, with lots of connections, and I check it about twice a month. LinkedIn does nothing for my business. But there are lots of people that use it faithfully and regularly, and find it very useful. For me, Facebook, Twitter, and my blog are the areas where I get the most return, and therefore, put the most work into.
What is it for you? I don’t know. Do some research up front on the different social media platforms, educate yourself as much as you can, create some goals for yourself, make a plan, and then jump in.
And good luck.
: : : : : : : : : : :
The Art of the Business 