By George Dimarelos
There are many do’s and don’t’s to getting the word out for your festival show. Here’s a list on some of the more well-known methods.
Friends
DO
Politely ask friends to come along, a lot of the time they genuinely don’t know about the show and are more than happy to come along if asked.
DON’T
Fake your death and schedule the funeral for your opening night. They won’t be as happy that you’re alive as you think.
Paid advertising
DO
Think about paid advertising, is it right for you and your audience? After all, if you have a show about rats then it makes sense to post an ad about it in Melbourne Rats Weekly in their thriving ‘things to do about town’ section. Just let Glenda know I recommended you and you’ll get a good price.
DON’T
Pay a witch to promote your show with the dark arts. The animal cruelty is not worth the small increase in audience size.
DO
Use Facebook, not just the paid advertising but also thinking of communities or groups that would be interested in what you have to talk about. Facebook is the online community noticeboard, use it!
DON’T
Throw books at peoples faces screaming “I LIKE YOU NOW COME TO MY SHOW.”
Gigging
DO
Think to yourself “I’ll gig around, the best way to get people to see what I do is to show them some of my moves. If they like me for my 5 minutes they may be interested to see me onstage for a full hour.
DON’T
Think to yourself “I’ll sleep around, the best way to get people to see what I do is to show them some of my moves. If they like me for my 5 minutes they may be interested to see me onstage for a full hour.”
Flyering
DO
Plan your flyering for maximum effectiveness, unless you’re superhuman you will have a limited amount of energy to exert on flyering, make sure you use it wisely!
DON”T
Stick flyers to peoples backs without their knowledge, turning them into mini walking noticeboards for your show. Don’t do that unless you want an effective flyering strategy that will get people to your show.
Articles
DO
Send Squirrel Comedy an article on 5 Good Reasons To See Your Show.
DON’T
Spend all your time playing Clash Royale on your iPhone and then rush through a lazy half formed article masquerading as something useful.
George Dimarelos is performing Self Sabotage at The Bull & Bear Tavern