The Arts Business

To Flyer or not to Flyer

Posted 08/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Promotion

That is the question

Yes, it’s tiring, emotionally draining, time consuming, environmentally unfriendly and you’ll probably get soaked to the bone due to the terrible and completely unpredictable nature of Scottish weather, but yes! To Flyer is always the answer!

The Arts Business have complied all the reasons you should flyer, the where’s, the when’s, the who’s, the what’s and the how’s all of which will make your flyering the most effective and enjoyable it can be.

1. Be Human – build up report, have a chat, some human interaction and conversation goes a long way. You want to show off your personality, see if it matches. If you’ve got some great banter with your flyeree chances are they will take a shot at your show.

2. Never Flyer Alone – Always have a partner! Flyering can be exhausting and the constant rejection can really get to you so have someone in the trenches with you, someone who is going through the same thing, someone to rant to, someone who will be your comrade!

3. Rope in the Family – no one is more on board with your show than blood relatives who will rave about you to unsuspecting flyerees! Chances are they are coming to see your show anyway and with crazy low budgets who doesn’t love a bit of free and passionate labour.

4. Schedule Times – Protocol usually dictates that you should flyer in the two hours a day before your show as this will be the most effective time to draw in the punters. Don’t over flyer: you have to keep up your flyer enthusiasm for the entire festival so better to have short but constructive bursts.

5. Have Breaks – very few of us are resilient enough to flyer for 2 hours straight so start 15 minutes earlier and have that cheeky tea break in the middle where you can try to chat about anything but flyering!

6. Mix it up – An entire month promoting the same thing day in day out can be boring so why not trade flyers with a company you know and trust for a day, they flyer you, you flyer them, it adds a little variety to what can otherwise become a tedious activity.

7. Location, Location, Location – obviously the Royal Mile but you are guaranteed a load of competition so other areas to think about are Princes Street Gardens, Bristo Square, George Square and The Mound, especially the paved area by galleries where the Half Price Hut sits. This is filled to the brim with undecided audience members just looking for your suggestion.

8. The Royal Mile – you have loads of competition here so make sure you stand out. Another cheeky tip is to have a wander up and down in the morning and check out the pop-up stage performers for that day. Any with a similar genre to you? Chances are those crowds who stop will also be interested in you and your show!

9. Flyer at your Venue – basically the only place you don’t have to ask permission to flyer so get up and down their box office queue, find shows that are like yours and flyer at the beginning or end of your show! Take advantage of your space, chances are you’re paying enough for it.

10. Flyer entries and exits – do your research into similar shows and ask if you can flyer either the start or end of their shows, maybe even ask them to leave flyers on chairs inside. Remember in queues there are bound to be paying customers just looking for their next show and if it’s a similar genre to yours chances are the audience will be interested.

11. Find your Audience – Take the gamble out of flyering by finding out where your Target Audience hang out. Are you a magic show for kids? Try mummy and me clubs or creches. LGBTQ+ Comic? Look into the gay bars and clubs of the city.

12. Have a Gimmick – something that makes you stand out in the crowds, wear your costume, create a photo opportunity, carry around that puppet, give out free condoms: draw attention to you! Think outside the box and have fun with it.

13. To hire or not to hire – street teams can be pricey, but they are also time saving. Their pros are that they know the distribution channels and the city better than you do but remember they don’t know your show as well as you and your crew! Just do your research and figure out if the money for time trade-off is worth it.

14. 5 second performance – think of it like a micro show, hook them in with a fun 5 seconds, then make a plan for the next 5, then the next 5 and the next. Reel them in and keep them hooked! If they like you then they will most probably like to see your show. And don’t be afraid to practice before you flyer!

15. Don’t force it – sure offer a flyer out but don’t force it into their hands, let the flyeree take it from you. If they show genuine interest in you they are way more likely to come and see you, remember one flyer gently given is better than 10 thrust into uncaring hands. It’s more environmentally friendly to!

16. Nail your Exit Line – Don’t let the goodbye be awkward, like a farewell after a one night stand it is better to be confident not weird. So, come up with a killer one liner which will make them remember you when they’re looking for they’re next show to see.

17. Stay Positive – I know this is easier said than done but at the end of the day flyering makes up a big part of everyone company’s fringe experience so you may as well have fun with it. Remember, we’re all in the same boat so turn that frown upside-down and don’t let the haters bring you down!

Don’t worry about flyering! Be Happy!

Have you got any flyering tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments so we can add them in!

Set SMART Edinburgh Fringe Objectives

Posted 07/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Start Ups

All businesses in the creative industries need objectives. These are, simply stated, stuff your business wants to achieve.

They’re generally pretty straightforward especially considering most artistic organisations have existing mission statements, visions and values in place to adhere to.

But when coming up with your objectives it’s important to think SMART:

Specific	If you are too vague in your statements no one will know where to start. Most of Edinburgh have the same objective to ‘Sell more tickets’, so instead think ‘Sell a minimum of 10 tickets per day’. This makes your goals both clearer and more achievable.
Measurable	You have to find some way to measure your outcomes so that you know if you have achieved them for example ‘Increase daily website views by 10%’ is a measurable goal whereas ‘improve website’ is not.
Agreeable	Make sure everyone who is associated with the objective knows about it and supports it. It is especially important at the fringe to keep everyone on the same page and ensure your team is on board with all decisions. It improves team morale when the whole company is beating to the rhythm of the same drum.
Realistic	Don’t be over ambitious. If you are a first time, one-woman musician in a 10-seat venue you probably aren’t going to set a goal of an international stadium tour within a year. It’s great to dream big but set achievable aims which motivate you to continue and make you feel great about your accomplishments.
Timely	Set a time frame for your objectives otherwise they won’t be deemed as ‘urgent’ and will slip by the wayside. If your objective is ‘Get 200 social media followers before the end of the festival’ your company has a common goal and will get to work on it straight away.

Once these are in place it is much easy to develop strategies! Basically, once you know where you want to go, it is much easier to plan the route.

Share your objectives in the comments below!

Make Fringe Friends, Romans and Countrymen!

Posted 06/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Networking

One of the best things about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the shear number of artists, practioners and generally like-minded people who are all in the same place at the same time!

Do you think they can find a freelance lampie in London? NO! They’re all in Edinburgh! What about up and coming poets for your open mic night? Edinburgh! An audience in general? EDINBURGH!

In fact, the population of Edinburgh triples from 500 thousand to 1.5 million! That’s 1,499,999 potential friends to make. I know what that sounds like but people inherently like to work with people who they know a little bit about, both in regards to their work and on a personal level.

So, run a meet up.

So simple! So effective!

Get in touch with fellow minded companies and individuals and invite them out. If you’ve got a bit of budget to spare you could take a group out for a meal and a show. Less budget? How about cocktails at Cabaret Voltaire. Shoestring? Go for a picnic in the park. No money? Throw a party at your digs!

With or without seducing people with food and booze the key selling point is the good company. Although this is essentially a networking event you are organising for yourself or your company it is sure to benefit all parties who attend so let them know who you’re inviting and why.

How do you invite them? If you find their show on the Edinburgh Fringe site you’ll find links to their social media and websites so send them a message on facebook or Instagram, drop them an email or, old school, give them a ring.

Keep your eye on the numbers at gatherings like this, too small and it can be awkward, too big and there is no way you can have a personal conversation with people. You’ll find a sweet spot between 10-20.

And that’s all there is to it!

For one month a year you can find similar minded individuals, with similar ideals and similar goals, to raise awareness of their show. So, take advantage of it! And you’re bound to meet all kinds of interesting people from all over the world!

Thinking of running a meet and greet?! Why yes, I’d love to come! You only need to ask.

Have you run a successful Meet Up in Edinburgh! How did it go? Let us know in the comments below!

Spread the Word of Mouth

Posted 04/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Social Media

The best way to sell out your Fringe Show still via word of mouth.

Up until recently Word of Mouth was entirely organic, like people sharing show ideas with friends down the pub. I once overheard someone raving about a Korean Adaption of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which remains one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen!

But when the internet began to take over the world, marketers realised they could begin to encourage the generation Word of Mouth themselves.

How?

Social Media of course!

So here are 10 pieces of advice to help you spread the word!

1. Make your show the best possible experience – people want to talk about experiences good or bad. Obviously, we’re looking to spread the positive but remember: no publicity is bad publicity (Unless you’re Harvey Weinstein)

2. Ask people to post – Most companies are doing this now so if you’re not buck up! It’s the norm. At the end of the show simply ask your audience to give you a social media shout out if they enjoyed it! Afterall, if you don’t ask you don’t get!

3. Share the fun – people love sharing jokes, gifs and interesting content they can relate to so don’t always keep it serious! Don’t just spam people with your flyer. Think outside the box and share the bants!

4. Don’t be afraid of gimmicks – or as I would like to think of it: Instagramable Promos! So, give out those condoms covered in your show branding! Share those cheeky pin badges! Your audience loves a freebie and you’ll get a bit of free advertising!

5. Think interactive posts – Hitler’s Tasters do some awesome tweets requesting people to reply gifs with how they’re feeling. It gets all the action! So think quizzes, polls, puzzles, questions, challenges, competitions, ticket offers, whatever will get people to interact!

6. Do your hashtag research – what’s trending, what’s hot, what are people searching for. The Edinburgh Fringe always create hashtags that get a lot of action so use #edfringe #edfringe2019 #MakeYourFringe and find some that suit your show and genre!

7. Go Live – Whether your streaming the backstage gossip and grabbing audience at the end of your show to get their opinion live on video or sharing hilarities throughout your day on stories, audiences love these ‘DVD extras’.

8. Never be missed – stick your social media branding on everything! Flyers, Posters, T-Shirts, Websites, Reviews, toilet doors with a sharpie! Make sure the public can’t miss you!

9. Real Life Interactions – shocking, I know, but not everything needs to take place online! Think about those photos taken at the end of escape rooms with hashtags and branding all over them! Take this idea and make your own experience when you flyer out on the mile!

10. Make Friends – are you an all-female acapella group? You know you probably have a similar audience and similar interests to other female acapella groups so use your posts to tag companies like you.

Viral Marketing can make sure your show ‘gets around’. Plus, all of it improves your credibility in the eyes of the algorithms of social and circulates the word!

Have you had some awesome social campaigns that have spread the word! We want to know! Tell us in the comments!

Props and Costume Solutions in Edinburgh

Posted 03/08/201903/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Budget, Business Skills, Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Spilt coffee down your only white shirt?

Halfway through the run and your only costume getting stanky?

Broken that priceless antique lamp which is central to your show?

Have no idea where to go to replace it and don’t wanna spend all your petty cash in one go?

And no time in your day to travel too far from the City Centre?

Don’t panic! Here’s a list of the places you should hit up for all your props and costume needs!

W. Armstrong & Son

The Best Vintage Shop in Edinburgh, nay the world! For all your costume needs! Find everything through the decades and specialist costumes as well. As I’m sure you can imagine it gets pretty rammed during the Fringe and they go through stock incredibly fast, but don’t worry. They have 3 different stores around town so if you can’t find what you’re looking for in one simply hit up the others. The real vintage stuff can be expensive but there’s plenty of faux vintage to. The main problem with costume shopping here is that your personal budget is bound to take a serious hit to.

81-83 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HJ – 0131 220 5557

14 Teviot Pl, Edinburgh EH1 2QZ – 0131 226 4634

64-66 Clerk St, Edinburgh EH8 9JB – 0131 667 3056

Nicholson Street, Clerk Street, South Clerk Street Charity Shops

There are so many charity/thrift shops on the walk from South Bridge out towards Cameron Toll you could easily while away an afternoon perusing them. Despite being in the centre of town they are all reasonably cheap and cheerful and fantastic places to look for both costume and props.

Stockbridge Charity Shops

Slightly further out of town (although not hugely, I’m a firm believer that to walk anywhere in Edinburgh only takes a maximum of 20 minutes) a more bespoke range of thrift shops can be found on Stockbridge High Street. Although they can be a little more expensive than others, they tend to have a more diverse stock due to the fact that they are a little out of the way.

Primark

If your based in the UK then you will know Primark only too well! The Target of the UK, it’s by far the cheapest place to buy basics or fashion clothes in Edinburgh. They have a pretty great range including womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, accessories, shoes and a home section. So, if you’re just looking for a couple of spare t shirts to make it through the run this is your place! You could always get some t-shirt transfer paper from the nearest Poundland and iron on your show details! Or write it on in Sharpie.

91 – 93 Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 2ER

Unicorn Antiques

Looking for specific antique items, look no further than Unicorn Antiques in New Town. It’s crammed full with so much stock that on sunny days (or at least in dry weather) it spills out onto the streets so it’s impossible to miss.

65 Dundas St, Edinburgh EH3 6RS

Ali’s Cave

A treasure trove of anything and everything you could ever ask for in New Town! Never a more random selection of items have you ever seen in one place, but they are almost guaranteed to have anything you could possibly need for your show along with a load you never knew you needed!

139-145 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh EH3 9AD

Poundsavers

It may look like a tacky souvenir shop from the outside, but inside you will find an enormous supply anything and everything from homewares to collectables at rock bottom prices and just round the corner from Assembly Gardens and Teviot Square.

37-41 Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9BE

Edinburgh Bargain Stores

Similar to Ali’s Cave but based in Old Town. It has the added bonus of having Party Zone, the costume shop, and Edinburgh Fabrics, a great haberdashery, just next door.

5-9 St Patrick Square, Edinburgh EH8 9EZ

Theatre Stuff

A specialist props and costume hire house down in Leith, a little further to travel but generally they will have exactly what you need or at least know where you can find it. Worth giving them a ring or dropping them an email before making the journey down to the shore.

22 West Harbour Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1PN – 07734 693534 – Visit their Facebook page

The Lyceum and The Traverse

The two major producing houses in the city the Lyceum is Edinburgh’s REP Theatre and the Traverse specialises in new writing shows. They’re tech teams obviously tend to be super busy in the fringe but they do have excellent props stores in City and are generally more than willing to support fellow artists, especially in an emergency, so drop them a phonecall or an email if you are really struggling to find what you need!

Royal Lyceum Theatre, 30b Grindlay Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9AX – Administration Department: 0131 248 4800 / info@lyceum.org.uk

Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED – Administration Department: 0131 228 3223.

Amazon Prime

Yes, prime will work! Either get it delivered to your digs or have a chat to the box office at your venue and ask if they can accept a parcel for you. They are always in so probably a better shout than leaving one of your team at home waiting in for the delivery whilst everyone else is out having fun. Unfortunately Edinburgh is yet to be on Prime Now so you will have to wait 24 hours rather than 2, but maybe next year!

www.amazon.co.uk

Ask your venue

A lot of venues around Edinburgh are in crazy old buildings filled with unfathomable amounts of weird and wonderful items. I once worked in a café in which we found an elephant foot made into a chair in the basement! I know it’s a longshot if you’re looking for something specific but if there is a small chance they have something you need it beats having to traipse around the city looking for it!

Ask other companies

Is there a show on at the Fringe similar to yours who you could potentially borrow props from? Maybe even in your venue? Just ask if you can borrow them. The worst thing that could happen is they say no. The best? They agree to lend it you! Just be sure to reward their kindness with some co-promotion through your social networks or a round at the bar!

So, save your budget by shopping smart!

Remember the fringe philosophy: BEG, BORROW AND STEAL!

Tried all of these options and still looking? Get in touch! We’d love to help!

10 Ways to Nail Your Fringe Press Release

Posted 02/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Publicity

A press release for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (or any other fringe or major arts festival for that matter) is different to any other press release you will write!

You have about 4000 companies to compete with so it’s important to stand out, but how?

Here are 10 sure fire ways to smash your Fringe Press Release all the way to John o’ Groats.

1. Have an Easy to Read Layout

Obviously you don’t wanna lose any of the information the press wants to see on a press release so make sure it still contains: company, show name, venue, dates (including any days off), time, show summary and contact information. The key is in the format, ensure it is simple, concise and easy to read so that editors with a limited time can scan it in less than a minute and get all the information they need without having to message you to ask questions.

2. Think Pyramid

Picture a pyramid, the bottom is a solid, wide foundation and it heads into a small sharp point at the top. This is what you need to think when you’re writing the summary of your show. The very first sentence should provide all the information needed to understand your show, the second should go into more detail, the third more again. It is also important to remember that a lot of Fringe Publications either can’t afford or don’t have enough time for copy writers so it is most likely they will pull copy directly from your press release. It is therefore important that wherever the press copy and paste information from within you press release that it make sense both in context to the show as a stand alone paragraph but also each paragraph needs to be different enough that the whole passage could be used.

3. Find your Unique Selling Point (USP)

There are thousands of shows, so that fact that you are putting one on is not special enough so find what makes your show individual and more importantly publishable. Then in your very first summary sentence spell this out. You will capture the press with a stand out, breath taking, heart stopping, attention grabbing, killer first sentence. Once you find the hook you have found your USP. It might come from the content of your show, your personal background or the history of your company but you need to find it to grab that press attention.

4. Keep it short

I always start off by composing my Press Releases in Word or Pages, that way I can ensure they never go over one sheet of A4. It also allows me to format it beautifully before I copy and paste it into an email. Always keep in the back of your mind that the receiver will have hundreds of emails just like yours daily so they don’t have the time or inclination to spend more than a few minutes on each one so the more concise and to the point the better.

5. Don’t Spam!

This means 2 things!

Firstly, don’t just send your show out to every publication ever! Pick the ones specific to your show! Basically, Chortle doesn’t care about your World War II Children’s Puppet Show in the way that CBBC News isn’t bothered about your Stand Show entiled ‘C-Bombs ‘R’ Us’.

Secondly, don’t send them out constantly. There is nothing worse than receiving hourly emails from the same company across the entire month of August. If anything it makes the press more inclined to ignore you! But, this doesn’t mean you cant send it out again if something awesome happens during the run that you believe is press worthy.

A good rule of thumb is to sent one out in the few months before the fringe, one in opening week, and one if anything important happens in the run like you get a 5 star review from the Scotsman or win a Fringe First.

You may also want to sent out ‘Diary snippets’, information that doesn’t warrant a whole article but is still a newsworthy anecdote. Maybe you have had to cancel a show or had a celeb in attendance. I once saw a performance of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ with Anthony Rapp (from the original Broadway cast of Rent) doing audience participation in with the performers made him spell out the word: ‘LEASE: Meaning another word for RENT’. Fun pieces like this are noteworthy!

6. Tailor your Press Release

Different publications have different opinions. Tailor your press release to suit that publication. The financial times would expect a much more formal press release than comedy blogedy for example. I know it can be crazy time consuming doing this and incredibly tedious (like writing individual cover letters when applying for jobs) but it can make a serious difference.

7. Be careful with quotes

Don’t go overboard cramming in every vaguely positive press quote you’ve ever had. One or two powerful quotes from well know publications will do just fine! Also, don’t go to vague! Editors won’t be conned if you include ‘Excellent’ as a quote as for all they know it could have originally read ‘This show was anything BUT Excellent’. Make sure the quote is specific and attention grabbing. Something like: ‘An excellent display of physical theatre creating a powerful image of our current day political world’ is much better. Finally, keep in mind that quotes don’t hold much weight if not from a reputable source. Simply, a quote from The Times is much better than one from your Best Friend’s Grandma.

8. Stating Awards won and Claims to Fame

All awards won and included in your press release should be relevant and from industry known organisations. The press don’t care that you passed your cycling proficient in 1994 (unless I guess your doing a comedy show about participating in the Tour de France). The do care if you or your company had a sell out show at the fringe last year or you won the Perrier Comedy Newcomer Award.

Exactly the same applies to claims to fame! Were you in the final of Britain’s Got Talent this year? Good for you, tell the press. Did you come 6^th in Dorridge Village Hall’s Annual Open Mic Night? Still good for you, but the press, probably not so bothered!

9. Be original

Both in terms of copy as mentioned above, but if appropriate, you can think about Gimmicks. They can definitely work if they’re small, clean and sent to the right people. Think more condoms with your show details on rather than blow up dolls, rock with you show name in rather than your show spelt out in alphabet spaghetti, a card which opens and plays one of your songs rather than a full barber shop quartet invading the office to sing it, you get the idea.

10. Do NOT send your Press Release as an Attachment!

I know it’s tempting, after all you have spent all that effort formatting and editing getting your press release to look beautiful! But don’t! Imagine for a second that you are the review editor for Broadway Baby and sitting in your inbox are 3,500 emails from different companies each with a 1MB attachment. That is 3.5GB worth of info clogging up someone’s business email! Nobody wants that!

So don’t send images either, although if it is key to your show ensure they are low resolution thumbnails.

Also don’t send a link to find your press release elsewhere like on your Facebook page, chances are it will simply not be looked at. The least interaction to get to your show information the better!

No attachment means no cover letter is necessary either! So both your life and the journalist your contacting’s life is made so much easier!

So nail those Press Releases Edinburgh! If you’ve got a Killer first sentence or a winning Gimmick then tell us in the comments below!

Welcome to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019

Posted 01/08/201901/08/2019 RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing

Welcome to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019.

Welcome to the largest Arts Festival in the world.

Welcome to the Jungle!

With thousands of companies and tens of thousands of performances it is difficult to understand what works. How do you stand out from the crowd?

Well, NEVER FEAR! The Arts Business is here!

All this month we will be exploring different types of shows and how to sell them out, from flyering to Facebook, PR to TwitteR and ideas to Instagram.

Ready to make 2019 the best Edinburgh Fringe Festival yet?

Join us for the Ride as we embark on our first co-production: A Little R and R, with Show Up Productions.

We’d love to include you in our articles, so let us know if you have any unique marketing or business techniques you’re using to promote your show at: info@theartsbusiness.com or in the comments below!

After all! What is art without a little collaboration!

So get in touch! We can’t wait!