The Mission Paradox Blog

Looking for my 2012 clients

Here's the deal:

Every once in a while I work directly with a handful of individual artists and arts organizations.

For example, this year I worked with a visual artist, a theatre that focuses on highlighting artists with disabilities and a few other interesting folks.

We are headed toward a new year so I wanted to open the door to a few new clients. I'm going to do this the old fashioned way. I'm going to explain what your getting and offer you a discounted price for a limited time.

Technically what I'm offering is called marketing coaching. You are going to come to me with your marketing challenges. Challenges like these:

You need to sell more of your jewerly on Etsy.

You need to build awareness for your Kickstarter campaign.

You need to sell more tickets to your plays.

Then we are going to break your problem down into pieces and tackle the thing one week at a time. We do that through a series of phone calls.

The phone calls last about two hours. At the end of each call, you'll get some homework. DO THE HOMEWORK.

We do that for six weeks, maybe seven if we need it.

At the end of the process you should have some answers to your challenges. That's cool, but that's not the point. The point is the process. The goal is that when the next tricky marketing challenge comes up, you'll have a way of finding your own answers.

The price is normally $750.

If you sign up by Monday, Jan. 2nd, I'll knock it down to $500. I'm comfortable with taking payments in installments. If you need an installment plan, email me and let me know. Payments are done via Paypal.

Need some testimonals, click here

Got questions about the process? Email me at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com

Ready to get to work? Email me.

Business Day

Let's do a little housekeeping:

1.  THANK YOU to the hundreds of folks that get this blog via your email or an RSS reader.  Your presence is both noted and appreciated.  

2.  If you're in Chicago tomorrow and up for a good workshop, then we still have some availability for this social media training 

3.  Don't forget that some of my very best advice on connecting art and audience lives in my e-book, Authentic Arts Marketing.  You can get a free PDF download, or a low cost version for your Kindle App by clicking here.

4.  Every year I work with a small number of clients directly by doing personal coaching.  For them, it's a good way to really solve some deep arts marketing challenges.  If you're interested in learning more about that, click here

See you Friday

Welcome to Paradox

This is the Mission Paradox Blog. I'm your friendly host, Adam Thurman

Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketing, leadership, diversity and other topics.

The main source of that insight are the blog posts that appear right below this one. Typically you'll get a new one every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can get the blog post directly in your web based reader (like Yahoo or Google news) by clicking here

You want more? I got more.

My e-book Authentic Arts Marketing is available as both a free download and as a cheap buy in the Kindle Store. Get details on that here.

Want to work with me directly? I do a limited amount of presentations, workshops and private coaching. Details are here. Testimonials are here.

I hope you find this place a helpful resource as you go about the hard work of connecting your art to an audience. Feel free to drop me a line at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com.

Remember, new blog posts appear below.

 

Arts Marketing 101 - Setting Financial Expectations

 

I really like this one.  Originally put up in Jan. 2010.  New posts tomorrow.

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Setting financial expectations is a linchpin skill.  If you do it well, everything else becomes easier.  If you do it wrong, nothing else you do matters that much.

So what can you use to set your revenue projections for an artistic event?  Here's a list:

1.  Organizational History - You want to look back over your history to see what previous events bought in AND what they were projected to bring in.  Looking back over the previous three year or so is fine, any further back probably will not be that helpful.

2.  Venue comparisons - Many arts organizations perform in multiple venues.  Does the venue you are in hurt or improve your average attendance?

3.  External factors - This is where you consider all the things happening in the world during your event.  Things like:

-  The weather

-  What competitor arts organizations will be doing

-  Does the event tie into any major holidays

You get the idea.

4.  Internal factors - Maybe you didn't have a marketing person for the past 2 seasons and now you do.  Factor that into your projection.  Maybe the reverse is true.  Factor that in.  When I talk about internal factors I mean considering everything going on within your group that may impact how well the show sells.

A good projection factors in all four things.  An informed decision is always a better one.

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Let's break out a hypothetical event and see how this works.

XYZ Theatre is planning to do a three week run of a musical.  What should the projection be?

History - We've never done a musical before.  So for the sake of starting the projection let's say that it does as good as our best selling drama.  Let's call that $10,000 over the run.

Venue Comparison - We have produced in this venue before, so let's assume this doesn't help us or hurt us.  FYI, if this was a new venue for us I would probably lower the projection to reflect the difficulty of drawing people to a new venue.  But for now, we keep it at $10,000.

External Factors - The city we are in has 5 musicals opening at the same time.  That's not great news for us.  I'd lower the projection to $9,000.

Internal Factors - We just hired a new marketing person.  Hurray.  But she hasn't really had time to get her feet wet.  So let's say she will have an impact, but not that big of one.  Maybe $1,500 worth of impact . . . . the new projection is $10,500.

Obviously your process will be more involved, but this isn't rocket science.  Use the information you have, make informed guesses . . . and when in doubt, be conservative in your projections.

So, we have $10,500.  All done right?

Nope.

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So there you are, ready to get your 10,500 in tickets when your boss/Board chair/whatever comes in.

He reminds you that musicals are expensive things.

He implies that the competitor shows aren't really that much of a threat.

He also thinks that a new marketing director, rookie or not, should be able to bring in much more then $1,500.

So instead of the goal being $10,500 it should be more like $18,000.

"That" he says "is what we need the show to make."

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Ah yes, need. 

Please remember the following:

No one cares what you need to make in ticket sales.

The public is not going to magically buy more tickets just because the show cost more to put up.

This is our fatal mistake.  We draw a fake correlation between what we need and what others are willing to spend.

So what do we do?  Do we just tell the boss that he (or she) is an idiot?

Nope.

Maybe there is another way.

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So the boss wants 18,000 and all the research indicates that 10,500 is the best this show can do.

Time to have a meeting.

We get all the key players in a room and present the 7,500 gap between what we can get and what we need.

And then we ask what SPECIFICALLY can we do to fill that gap.

Work harder isn't an acceptable answer.

Work longer isn't an acceptable answer.

Market better isn't an acceptable answer.

If people can come up with clear, tangible, logical ideas that could possibly fill part of that gap then increasing the revenue goal can be considered.

But if all people have is fluff, or half thought out ideas, or ideas that simply can not be executed with the resources you have then you CAN NOT increase the goal.

You can not do it.

And if you work at a place where people insist on increasing revenue projections based on magical thinking then you really need to find another place to be.

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When it comes to setting financial goals, fighting the magical thinking is the hard part.

The ability to do that is what separates mature, successful arts organizations from a bunch of people determined to crash into the brick wall of reality at the highest possible speed.

Poor projections kill arts organizations.

I can't be any clearer about that.

Don't let it happen to you.

  

 

 

 

 

 

The $600 Question: Assets and Marketing

Another day into the archives.  This one from August 2010

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On various blogs and on Twitter I've been "challenged" to answer this question:

"How do I market my show (most of the folks asking are theatre folks) with a budget of $600 or less?"

If that's the question then here is my response:

"Is that all you have?"

Marketing is about leveraging assets.  Yes, money is an asset but there are others.  Here are a few:

1.  Time

2.  Connection to the community

3.  Knowledge of your audience

4.  Artistic reputation of the company as a whole

5.  Name recognition of the play or actors

6.  Effective use of web and social media

7.  An understanding of your local media (newspaper, TV, etc.)

I could think of 10 others, none of which require much (if any) money to make happen on a high level.

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 So you've got $600.  What else do you have?

Because if you don't have many other strong assets it wouldn't make much of a difference if it was $600 or $6,000.

Do you understand your customers well?  Do you want to understand them well?  Then maybe we should invite 25 of your most loyal, passionate fans to have lunch with the artistic team.  You can explain the season and give them passes that allow discounted admissions to their friends.  Spend the $600 on some damn fine catering.

Do you have a good understanding of the local media in town?  Then maybe we should spend the $600 to get you and a guest a ticket to that gala where all the media folks hobnob.  You go, be charming, pitch the season and then do a lot of follow up.

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Now that may not help you sell the show you have coming up in three weeks, but if that's all you want then save the $600 and get yourself neck deep in Twitter, Facebook, email, whatever.  Then hope that the art gods smile upon your show and that saves the day.

But if you want something more then you have to consider how to use EVERYTHING you have.

The sad truth is that some arts organization simply lack assets:

They don't know their audience.

They don't take time to meet with community leaders, or interact with those outside the boundaries of their theatre

They don't understand the press dynamics in their town . . . they just want coverage for everything they do.

And yes . . . they don't have much money to spend.  But this isn't about the money.  It's 2010, megabrands have been built without spending much on advertising.

That's the other sad truth, some arts organizations have a ton of assets and knowledge they could leverage to fill the seats with the audience they want.  They either don't recognize them as assets, or don't work to make those assets stronger.

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So I'll be honest.  I hate it when I get the "I've only got X amount of money, what do I do?" question.  I understand the question, but I hate it all the same.  The very nature of the question implies that if you don't have a lot of money you can't market effectively.  I could spend a week giving you examples that say otherwise.

You don't need money, but you do need SOMETHING.

So that's my official answer to the question.  If all you have is $600 then save your money and get to pounding away on social media.

But if you have $600 and an understanding of your other assets then you can do damn near anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arts Marketing 101 - Advance Sales Part 2

Revisiting some ideas on advance ticket sales.

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Ok, so you want more advance sales for your art and you've taken a critical look at your pricing structure.  You REALLY looked to see if you had prices or discounts that undercut your goal of advance sales right?

Right?

Because if not, then stop reading and go do that.  The main reason you aren't selling in advance is because people have no price incentive to do so.  Give them some incentive.

Here's the second thing you need to do:  Tell Them Why It's So Important For Them To Buy in Advance.

You and I know how vital advance ticket sales are to the work you do.

Nobody else does.

Trust me on that.

Nobody else does.

So let's say your a film maker and you need to sell advance copies of your DVD.  What's stopping you from doing a short video and saying in clear terms the good things that can happen when 100 people buy your movie in advance?

If you're a theatre needing to sell advance tickets what's stopping you from featuring something on your website like this:

Buying your ticket in advance is one small way to ensure the future of this theatre.  It gives us some much need financial stability and helps us plan for the long term.  So if you plan on coming, buy your ticket now, we will love you just a bit more for doing so.

That isn't the greatest copy ever, but you get the idea.

Here's my point:

Ask for what you need.

That's probably the biggest lesson I'll take away from working at my day job.

Ask for what you need.

If you've created a price incentive for advance sales and it still isn't happening then you need to directly, clearly, ask for people to do it.

Arts Marketing 101: Advance Ticket Sales - Part 1

A few thoughts on advance ticket sales from March 2010

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It's one of the questions I get asked the most:

"How do I get the public to purchase tickets to my art in advance?"

I understand the desire to learn this.  Getting people to purchase admission in advance provides much needed cash flow and is also a bit of a "hedge" against bad reviews, poor word of mouth, etc.

The flip side is that purchasing anything in advance goes against the "buy now, get it now" consumer instinct so many of us have now.

Figuring out how to increase advance sales starts with understanding exactly why people would want to purchase in advance.  Here are three reasons:

1.  They get their ticket significantly cheaper

2.  They are guaranteed admission into an event that may sell out

3.  They understand how important purchasing in advance is to the organization, so they do it as a way of showing support.

If you want people to purchase in advance, one of those three things has to be in play.

In this post I'll focus on reason 1:  Price.  Next Friday I'll cover 2 and 3.

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Most artistic events that sell tickets have this simple problem:

There are too many prices. 

I think this happens because we try to emulate the pricing practices of large arts institutions without thinking if those practices make sense given the audience we are trying to reach.

Because there are so many prices, it is almost certain that you have at least one or two prices in place that completely undercut your goal of advance ticket sales. 

For example, imagine a dance company that wants advance sales.  Their standard price is $25, but you can purchase tickets the day of the performance for as little as $15.

Once that information gets out, why would anybody purchase in advance?

So here's your first step in driving advance sales, write down each and every ticket price you have.  If you have different ticket prices for seniors, students, industry, whatever, write them all down.

If you offer any standard discounts, i.e. "$5 if you show this postcard", write those down as well.

Then take a look at the entire list and see if your pricing structure makes sense given your goal of advance ticket sales.

You may find that looking at your pricining structure forces you to make some hard decisions, such as:

1.  Eliminating popular discounts during the run of the show and only offering them in advance

2.  Restricting the time certain discounts can be used.  So maybe you offer a 20% discount on tickets, but it lasts for only 2-3 days.

3.  Raising ticket prices for the run of the show and lowering them significantly (like 50%) if purchased in advance

But if you want the security of advanced sales, those sorts of changes may be necessary.

Give those ideas some thought and when I we will cover more ideas during next week's Arts Marketing 101.

A Good Day For Coaching?

I did this a few months ago and it worked well so let's do it again.

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I have three arts marketing coaching slots available for three individuals or organizations.  Coaching is an intense process where we work together for 4-5 weeks on your most pressing marketing and/or strategic challenges.

Normally I charge $750 for the entire coaching process.  For a limited time I'm lowering the price to $350 BUT there are some conditions:

1.  You must be willing to do the coaching over the phone.  The basic idea is to meet once a week on the phone for 60-90 minutes.  There will be some scheduling flexibility because of the holidays, but it will all be done on the phone.

2.  You have to sign up Friday, November 12.

3.  You must put in a 50% deposit for the sessions by Wed. November 17.  Deposits will be made via Paypal.  The second payment will be due a few weeks into the coaching sessions.

4.  The goal will be to have the coaching complete by the end of the year.

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The coaching process works best for those who are serious about improving their marketing but have had difficulty making progress.  If you want a few testimonials from people I have worked with before, click here.

So if you meet the criteria, or just want more information, email me at mission.paradox@yahoo.com and let's get to work.

 

 

The Culture of Cheap: Part 1

I know I said no other blogging this week, but I lied.  The e-Book is still free until Thursday night.  Get it by clicking this link.

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Let's talk about being cheap.

I remember talking to people when my day job's website was being redesigned.  I mentioned the cost of the redesign and inevitably someone would say:

"You could have done it for half as much."

Maybe. 

But of course I wasn't just paying for the technical aspects of the redesign.  I was paying for them to work with our ticketing software.  I was paying for their expertise.  I was paying for reliability.

Some things are worth the money.

I understand that many individual artists and arts organizations are not well resourced.  I understand that financial decisions have to be made carefully.

But for every artist that is being frugal, there is another that is undercutting her progress by not spending money in a worthwhile manner.

Now it seems like we take a perverse pride in not spending money on marketing ("all you need is a Facebook page") or artist salaries ("we work for the love") or training and development of employees (which I'll talk about tomorrow).

But sometimes the cheapest option will get you two months of short term financial gain and then years of headache.

You are not going to cost cut your way to success.  You have to know when to spend for value, versus trying to limit the amount spent.

The easiest way to get to that point is by not making any "automatic" budget decisions.  Don't go into negotiations with artists, vendors, etc. with a set idea of how much you want to spend.  Consider what they are offering, consider the cost . . . and then think about whether the value and the cost match.

It's about value.  Not cost.  Remember that.

 

 

Arts Marketing 101: Breaking Your Own Marketing Rule

If you're a long time reader of this blog or if you have my e-Book then you know that I'm not a huge fan of the "we are awesome" approach to arts marketing.

(Sidenote:  Get my darn e-Book people.  It's the best $12 you'll spend this week)

The "we are awesome" approach is where we use reviews, accolades, awards and the promise that the art will be an incredible, mind blowing, experience to market the work.

I don't like the approach because it's so widely used.  When so many theatres, painters, dance companies, etc. rely on that method it becomes difficult to get your individual voice heard through the symphony of the same.

So that's my own rule, try to avoid bragging about the quality of your work.

Now let me tell you why I broke it.

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First, a bit of background.  When I'm not doing the whole Paradox thing, I'm the Director of Marketing and Communications for a fairly large, established theatre in Chicago.

The theatre has been in the midst of a pretty impressive run of shows.  The last six productions in a row (dating back to June 2009) have received very strong reviews from a variety of critics and had stong ticket sales.  Obviously this is a credit to the artistic team and I have been in the biz long enough to know that such a strong run is a rare and it needed to be leveraged in some way.

So give the circumstances I figured that we could go with a "we are awesome" marketing campaign that people may actually believe.  If the theatre had just done 1 or 2 good shows in a row I wouldn't have tried it because . . . let's be honest . . . a lot of people can do A strong show, or have ONE strong art exhibition.  That isn't nearly as impressive as some would have you believe.

But the big thing I want you to remember here is that this marketing strategy was a response to a situation. 

When it comes to effective marketing it is CRUCIAL that you understand your own situation. 

Marketing becomes extremely difficult when people either don't understand what they are actually selling, or they are pitching it to the wrong audience.

In marketing, awareness is key.

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Alright so we have the idea.  The key was trying to figure out the execution.  How could we deliver the "We are awesome" marketing message, which is still a very common message, in a way that would make it stand out? 

I decided that the best way to do it would be by going way over the top.  We weren't going to imply that the work was good, we were going to scream it and hit people over the head with a visual sledgehammer.

That's why we created this print piece for possible new subscribers, take a look:  Download Theatre Brochure 

It was a piece designed to be folded so the third panel you see is the front cover.  The stuff on the second page is the inside of the brochure.

You can see it wasn't very subtle.  The front cover has 14 quotes from critics, we slapped so many stars on it that it looks like a small universe.  I figured it was the best way to keep the message across.

The piece isn't perfect, for example, I'm not in love with the order form (it's too complex) and I'm working on fixing it but I do think it's an decent example of turning an idea into something tangible.

Any questions or feedback leave it in the comments.  Otherwise I'll see you Monday.