If you book them..they won’t always come

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending an all-ages concert at local all ages venue in Boise called “The Venue” (Terrible name btw) who had touring bands Norma Jean and Stick To Your Guns headlining, along with a smaller opener, and a local band. Now these are bands that are pretty big for underground bands, and Norma Jean has reached levels of mainstream success with a grammy nomination and a billboard top 200 record. That being said, these bands have been around the block, and are well known, so you’d think if people knew about the show, they would come out, right? Well, that statement does hold some truth..but if people don’t know about it..how are they going to know to come out and support the bands and the venue?

Through out the night of the concert, I kept expecting a big burst of people to eventually come through the door, because often people don’t show up til the middle of the concert since a lot of people could care less about seeing the locals/openers. That however, wasn’t the case. Although more people did come in as the night progressed, that big burst of attendees never occurred. By the end of the night, there couldn’t have been more than 50 people or so that had payed. That is disappointing for touring musicians who travel all the way to play Boise and are only playing to a handful of people, yet when they play other cities, the venue is jam packed with people. What would cause this? Well Boise is a small city but when a smaller concert with bands having little to no mainstream recognition can draw more people, it begs you to wonder why?

I have an answer…terrible promotion. One can argue that sure once your target market hits a certain age, they might be interested in your service or product anymore; all ages concerts aren’t quite as appealing to over 21′ers in comparison to under 21′ ers, but so what? Everyone’s always aging so you’re going to have a steady stream of new customers and attendees. If you’re able to provide an exceptional service experience, they’re liable to become brand loyal and brand enthusiasts..but that is a different topic all together. I’m focusing on the promotions aspect of this situation.

The thing with “The Venue” and their promotion is that there is barely any. Posting up a flyer outside your establishment, along with posting a couple Facebook posts isn’t going to do a whole lot. You need to be more actively engaged, especially with where your target market frequents. Having recently gone to the mall, walked around downtown, been to record stores..i’ve seen no such promotional flyers for their concerts. I haven’t seen any content through Twitter or any engaging content on Facebook. There is zero incentive for people to help promote The Venue, or barely any means for people to even find out about their concerts. Just because you have a band booked doesn’t mean that that’s all that’s required of you to be successful.  Now I don’t want to continue to bash on their efforts, because that isn’t the point of this post. I’m just wanting to provide evidence that they in fact have bands playing their venue that ARE popular, who people would come out to watch, but if they’re not putting themselves out there with ways to reach their target market, no one’s going to be aware, and the concert will be a failure.

Having been involved with concert/event promotion for several years, i’ve seen what works/doesn’t work and here  are some tips that I think could help The Venue along with others in the similar situation move in  a direction towards success.

1. Post frequent updates on your events, don’t spam or irritate your network, just friendly reminders
2. Create Facebook events so it’s ability to be shared with new networks is increased, and you’re able to engage with the attendees through comments
3. Contact local radio/newspaper publications to alert the public on the event, since not everyone is directly connected to your network, and often, you can get away with this promotion for free
4. Encourage the sharing of content, through Retweets and re-posts and provide an incentive to do so with a contest or some form of online recognition
5. Create attention grabbing flyers that fit with the event and the market, no one wants to look at a boring flyer or one that looks like no time or effort was put into it
6. Directly communicate with your market when you are promoting your event, it shows that you are interested in that individual attending, allows you to establish some level of a relationship, and if they have a good experience with you, they’re more likely to attend or tell their friends
7. In regards to your social networks, post content that will keep your target market interested, because posting content they’re interested is going to create more web traffic and increase the chances of your event information being viewed
8. Create a forum of some kind. Concert events aren’t just about music, they are a social experience. taking those relationships built offline and being able to carry them online allows the relationships to be strengthened, an increased likelihood that they’re going to continue to go to shows, and allows you the business the ability to engage with your community and get new insights and market knowledge

Not to say that these are the only things I’ve learned since being involved, but these are some major ones that definitely have the ability to take your failing or struggling concert/events and help them move toward success.

Social Network Quality vs Quantity, what is more important?

I found this blog post at http://www.jasonyormark.com/2009/08/09/social-network-quality-vs-quantity-what’s-more-important/

While reading through my twitter feeds, I found a blog posted my Jason Yormark and I started going through his other blog posts and this one struck my interest, so I decided to read and post my response and thoughts on the subject matter.

First, I’ll just summarize the main points of the article/points that struck me as important, then I’ll respond with my own thoughts in bold.

The article first discussed twitter and how so users have hundreds of thousands of followers, and when coming across such accounts, one can be filled with Twitter envy. When coming across users  who are in related fields with 10k plus followers, which isn’t exactly celeb status like Snooki haha but it still definitely is a lot of people following you, you can develop twitter envy. I found this quite relatable, specifically with people I know from school or IRL. It just always leads me to wonder “How’d they get so many?” “What are they doing right that I’m doing wrong?” I then find myself comparing myself to them when that is something I shouldn’t be doing. So reading about someone, who’s far more experienced in the marketing community and social space than myself feeling the same as me, it was refreshing.

It’s important to have a strategy behind building up a following. Having a strategy is critical. It’d be pretty easy to just follow as many people as you possibly can, but without similar interests/fields, the chance that you’re going to be able to strike up communication, and build a meaningful relationship is small. Further, why are they going to want to follow you or care about what you have to say or the content you share if there is NOTHING that connects the two of you.

The question is raised, quantity or quality? What is more important? And once you get into the tens of thousands of followers, is it more difficult to manage?  Jason discusses how he’s adding 30-40 a day on average, and is curious on if others have taken this approach in order to ensure your network is strong. Twitter has been an importance source of traffic for his blog, and his bottom line is if you work hard to establish a relevant network, those followers are gong to care what you have to say.  I think that quality is definitely more important. I want to build up real connections and trust, and it is not an over night success. Sometimes I think with people who manage an account with thousands and thousands of followers, it is harder to maintain relationships with so many, but it is do-able. I’m sure not every follower is trying to actively engage with you, and you have to make yourself stand out in order to get noticed. It’s hard for me sometimes to get those im interested in connecting with you to respond..and others times it isnt, and usually with the more established follower list, they’re usually harder to connect with. Despite the difficulty it may have, I dont plan on giving up. There’s a reason I started following them, and I’d like to connect, so I’m going to try. I dont want to come off as irritating or bothersome, but I mean, if we are in a related industry, there’s got to me some common ground that we could establish initial communication with and just work our ways from there. From personal experience, I’ve made some awesome friends through Twitter and connections, and although it might seem challenging at first, it has payed off, and if everything in life was easy, where would be the rewards?  I think I got slightly off topic, I’d say definitely quality over quantity. Id rather have meaningful relationships with a dozen people as opposed to single serving friends of hundreds. Those hundreds wont have a memorable connection with me, and will not be able to speak on my behalf. It kind of defeats the purpose of networking. With x amount of quality relationships compared to x amount of quantity relationships, the quality will be much more beneficial. Better conversation, closer connection, and more interest are going to be just some of the benefits. For instance, what if a new job position opens that would be perfect for me, a quality connection is more apt to think of me or refer me compared to a quantity. Another example, if someone is looking for someone’s help or assistance, users who engage in quality connections are going to have a better idea of who to recommend to help with the situation as opposed to quantity connections.

Building your network isn’t easy, and despite the software available, sometimes you need the human touch to really create the relationships, and the human understanding to really know who to follow. I definitely agree that it isn’t easy, but I do think the pay off in the end will be worth it. The relationships established will benefit both you and the parties involved.  With human interaction, you’ll be able to make yourself stand out, and find REAL ways of connecting as opposed to a piece of software .

Lastly, Jason remarks that quality reigns supreme. The whole idea behind social networking is about creating meaningful, useful conversation and relationships with those that are interested in what you’re offering. It’s not a get rich quick, over night success. With the time, persistence, knowledge, and dedication to creating these communities, the rewards will be worth it. YEP

Response to the article “8 Keys to Blogging Success”

Read a blog about the 8 keys to blogging success from:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-keys-to-blogging-success/

The article touches on how blogging has become an important way for a business to be successful, as blogs have changed their position in society, even being recognized by national publications. It follows by going into the 8 Keys

1-Be passionate: I agree 100% by this. There’s no reason why I’d want to read a blog about something, regardless of the subject, by somehow who is “faking it” or just writing it to write it. The more personally involved or interested you are on the subject matter, the better you’re going to be at writing about it. Readers will be able to tell your passionate about the material so you’re writing will showcase this, and the read will be more enjoyable and enriching. For instance, I wouldn’t want to read an blog about karate by a person that has only seen the Karate kid or is just writing it because it’s their job and they’re paid to do so.

2-Are You Patient: Agree, just because you post content, if you don’t put yourself out there and interact with people, they aren’t going to know about it. You could have the best content ever written, but if no one knows it exists, then what value does it hold to you and your brand? Little to none. Might as well have kept it to yourself and not put it out there. So go get out there and repost your content so you can share and actively engage with others and your content will get talked about and so fourth.

3-Are You Clear: I agree, you shouldn’t write in a context that is going to be over people’s heads..so to speak. By writing in such a specific tone, you’re limiting your contents reach. Maybe people would like to engage with you, or have some interesting things to say, or could help extend your network but you’re written in a tone that forces your content to be restricted..why would you want this? Not saying you should come off as un-intelligent or boring, but just write in a sense that can appeal to a larger range of people as opposed to a smaller one.

4-Are you brave? I think this is very important when dealing with blogging, or any type of social media for that matter. People are going to talk, regardless of whether you give them a place to do it or not. With social media, it allows you to see what people are saying, who is saying, and ways to respond and perhaps mend that relationship or strengthen it. The way that you interact with these people can also be viewed by others and allow you to strengthen your brand further since they’re seeing how situations are handled. With regards to blogs, if you are putting yourself out there, especially with opinions, people are going to potentially disagree. Being able to engage in communication and her new insights can possibly give way to new ideas, or just things that hadn’t necessarily been thought of before. I mean there are going to be those that just bash and try and tear you down since they’re hiding behind their computer screen, but the amount of “real” communication you can get and knowledge obtained is well worth the occasional “internet bully.”  Further, if you’re not comfortable with the content your posting…why are you posting in the first place? Keep it to yourself.

5- Are you seasoned? I agree with this, but have a couple differing viewpoints. I agree that you shouldnt be putting your content out there and opinion on the subject unless you know what you’re talking about. It can come off as pretentious and foolish if you’re telling people about something you have little to no knowledge on. Now if you’re just posting blog content hoping to get responses and learn from others, then I dont see a big problem in having to be “seasoned” to post things. I think it all is defined by the situation though, and the type of content youre even posting, but as an overall blog, especially a personal blog, if you’re looking to learn and grow, post things and see what you can learn and pick up a long the way. DONT copy others but LEARN and IMPROVE.

6-Are you helpful? This key point I agreed with but didn’t really spark much for me. Of course if you post content, people are going to potentially reply, and ask questions, especially if you’re knowledgable on the subject. You should and hopefully be willing to respond and try you’re best to help. If you fail to do so, or don’t like the idea, you should probably get off social networks since you lack social skills or dislike the idea of socializing. Perhaps writing a personal journal or books is the way to go instead..user generated content is a negative in those situations.

7- Are you organized? I really liked this part. The blogs I like to follow are the ones that are updated frequently, and always have something new to check out. After following a blog long enough, I’ll have an idea of when to check back, whether its automated or not. I don’t really like the idea of someone having their content being automated to post if they’re going to be busy or out of town, since I feel like they’re not posting the content for the joy of posting it, they’re doing it because they feel obligated to. However, if they’re still able to respond and connect with the responders, then I don’t really have a problem with it. They might be shorter on time and not be able to blog about it, but they might have time to respond. I’m also less likely to follow a blog if the content is posted randomly. It’s annoying to say the least.

8-Are You Focused? YES YES YES. Do not run a blog or post about something that isn’t going to drive you to continue with the blogging. If you’re posting on a subject that interests you, you’re going to be more inclined to keep posting, write better, and engage with the responders.

This was my response to what that blog provided as the 8 keys to blogging success. It was a good read and this was my first article response since I graduated…maybe I miss school? Or maybe I want to get my content out there and learn more

 

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