Fringe Marketing for Dummies July 23, 2010

Here in Vancouver, there are 86 productions in The Fringe this year. Now, you aren’t going to be competing with every single one of those at any given time, but certainly you will be competing with some. On top of that, you will be competing with whatever else is going on in Vancouver at the time: other theatre, live music, movies, the weather.

If you want your show to be a sell-out, I’m offering up some tasty tips on how to market your production and stand out from the crowd.

Get started early. You’ll need to start getting your stuff together and planning 4-6 weeks before the Fringe.

What makes you unique? The first thing you have to figure out is what it is that makes you unique–what makes you stand out above the crowd. This is called your unique selling point. Your USP should form the basis of all of your marketing: from your poster/postcard image to your press release.

Get a great image. If you have a bit of marketing money to spend, hiring a professional photographer is a good investment. Deb Pickman and I endorse Pink Monkey Studios. But whoever you are using, here are some tips to keep in mind when shooting. Your shot does not have to be a scene from the play. In fact, I think it’s better if it’s NOT a scene from the play. Go back to your unique selling point. Can you create an image that communicates that? Your image should be arresting. The ultimate goal would be to stop people in their tracks as they are walking down the street, if they see your poster on a pole. Here is a blog post that I wrote on the topic: https://artofthebiz.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/the-importance-of-a-good-publicity-photo/

This is your competition, folks. (photo of Toronto Fringe poster board courtesy of Sue Edworthy)

Marketing Materials:

Posters: 11×14, hire a graphic designer if at all possible, have them printed in colour (they should only cost you about $1/ea), make sure you include star ratings from other fringes or positive reviews. Print around 100-200. Concentrate putting them up on and around Granville Island. There are specific places for Fringe posters, like the Fringe Bar and the Info centre. If you want to put them up beyond, through the rest of the city, call Perry the Poster guy: 604. 874.6828. He charges nearly $1/per poster, but they are put up in places where they will not be taken down.

Postcards/leaflets: Most people go with a scaled-down version of their poster. There are a few places you can leave postcards, but the real value of a postcard is as a “leave-behind.” “Hey–I’m doing a Fringe show–wanna come? Here’s a postcard with all the info.”

Industry Images is currently offering discounts on printing for The Fringe.

Part 2

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My Makeover March 24, 2010

I have a shameful secret. Because I work from home, and no one sees me when I’m behind my computer, I look like this:

My daily routine is the same: roll out of bed, pull on something made by Lululemon, make coffee, open the computer, get to work. It doesn’t matter what I look like, because no one is going to see me.

Now, when it comes to meeting clients or going out in public, I’m a bit better. I’ll throw on some jeans, or a clean shirt. Or even dress pants and a nice, white blouse. But over all, my dress is casual. I argue I can get away with it, because my business is pretty casual. And it takes a lot of time to do hair, makeup and pull together a nice outfit. And people are hiring me for my brain and my track record, not because of how I look. And sometimes heels are uncomfortable if I have to walk a long way, and I’m just going to pick up Michael at school, anyway….  The rationalizations go on and on.

I’m an avid fan of TLC’s What Not to Wear, and one night when I was watching, Clinton Kelly said “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my job, and despite the advice of my business adviser, am not even looking for corporate clients. If I can make a living in the arts, I’m happy. But I am a business-owner, and maybe it’s time I start dressing the part. And if I do, what will happen? Will new or potential clients look at me and view me as having a higher perception of worth? And how will my own perception of worth change? I feel different about myself when I dress up–more confident–how does a confident attitude affect my work?

I love to shop, but I am also hopeless, and I had no idea where to start. So, I hired Jasjit Rai, who is a stylist and wardrobe consultant. Jasjit says, “as in theatre, it is important to dress the part(s) that you want to play in your life.  Clothing is an easy and immediate way of transforming yourself. This is why uniforms are so important in some professions – once worn, they draw the person into the role. Others immediately respond in return.” She came over to my house and did a wardrobe audit. A bunch of stuff went. Then, she gave me a list of stuff to go shop for, including tear sheets from magazines with photos.

The result?

Photo by Pink Monkey Studios

I’m still trying to get comfortable with this new concept: spending money on clothes still seems a little frivolous to me, and I also feel a bit resentful that people might judge me on how I look. But the reality is, people do make snap judgments when they meet you. I might as well  put my best foot forward. And I’ll let you know if land any high-paying clients, or if my income goes up dramatically.

If you are interested in having your own makeover, I highly reccomend Jasjit’s services.

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YFrog December 16, 2009

If you are an avid Twitterer, you probably have been know to post photos sometimes.

I use Seesmic for my Twitter client, and it allows me to post photos simply. It will also connect to my webcam, so I can take photos and upload them through that.

But if you are not using this kind of a service, you are probably using something like TwitPic to upload photos to Twitter. Well, there’s a new Twitter-photo-sharing-kid-on-the-block, and his/her name is YFrog.

Here are some of the great things about YFrog:

1. The user interface is really easy, and it doesn’t require you to have an additional account. You simply use your already existing Twitter account.

2. It allows you to upload photos and video (which we all know is where it’s going!)

3. You can use YFrog to take a webcam photo, a 5-second-delayed webcam photo, or a video, and then immediately upload it. It will also post photos from a URL, like your Photobucket or Flikr account.

4. YFrog acts as an archive. In the same way that someone can look at your twitter stream and read your older tweets, people can look at your YFrog photo stream and see your older posted photos and videos.

5. They have developed clients for BlackBerry and IPhone. I have a BlackBerry, and use a service called TwitterBerry to tweet from it. However, the TwitPic option doesn’t work, because the camera is a 3.2 megapixel, and for whatever reason, TwitPic does not shrink down the image. So it takes too long to upload to the web. I am looking forward to testing the YFrog client for my BlackBerry.

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