Every promotional company strugles with getting people through the door.
What some new promotional companies in my area do, is that they collobrate with other new/old promotional companies that are established and split the cost/profit 50/50 sometimes 60/40 or even 70/30., you may think it’s a bad deal, but inreality you are getting a lot of experience and networking with people - which you can’t put a price on.
Best way to get the word out on you party, hands down is word of mouth, best way to do is that is have your friends at different colleges spread the word. Creating a street team is somewhat difficult, you have to network with people and meet the right people. YOu have to have the right social circle, if your circle of people you know just stay at home on friday night studying, your going to have a hard, but it can be done though. Expanding your networking, going to other events and meeting people, and being scene at events helps a lot.
edit: it doesn’t have to stay that way, but early on especially, you’re going to lose money while you establish a name. Sadly, most promoters never make it past that phase. If you look at it as giving back to the community and just want to break even and occasionally make some cash, that can be done by being smart. If you want to make a whole lot of money/make it a career, that can be done, but don’t count on it, especially not if you want to maintain your morals.
Agreed with completely. Like, this couldn’t be more true.
I started promoting at the ripe age of 16. 2 years later I became an event manager in London. Cool stuff. A year after doing that, I thought I could handle starting my own night. 6 months after launch I was barely scratching even. It’s a lot more work than you could ever believe. In order to turn profit, I had to lie through my teeth. Eventually I just sold up and went to university.
While I stand by what i just said, I does occur to me that it probably wasn’t the most helpful response, so here’s some real advice on lineup creation: It’s all about balance.
Don’t fill your lineup with all your buddies
You might think it looks impressive to have a 20 dj, multi-room event but it looks (and is) unprofessional and it does you no good if the music suffers. Believe me, people see through it in a second if they’ve never heard of 3/4 of your lineup.
Don’t go headliner happy
On the flipside of that, its also a bad idea to fill your card with nothing but big names from out of town. There are a number of reasons for this. First off, it’s bad for the scene. I’ve watched it happen multiple times where promoter oneupsmanship leads to bigger and bigger parties with out of control rising prices(for both the promoters and the partygoers). This is absolute poison to a party scene. Secondly, local DJs will begin to resent you, and then who is going to play your party when you don’t have the cash to bring in another headliner to fill your 4-5 am slot?
What you want is a balance. Bring in a big name if you have to or want to, but make it someone people haven’t seen a thousand times. Balance that out with some hot local DJs that are up and coming and lastly, nail down a core group of locals that you can count on week after week to do their job.
And get yourself a “workhorse” and an “x - factor”. the workhorse should be the promoter’s equivalent of a resident DJ. They should be someone who is just all around solid in every facet of their game and can be counted on every party to deliver a set that might not be mindblowing, but that will universally be described as good. The X factor is simply someone who does one thing exceptionally well, whether it be scratching and tricks, uncanny track selection, ultrasmooth mixing or whatever. This is the guy that sometimes has an off night, but when he’s on, oh man is he on.
or do it a completely different way, but this is a way I’ve seen work well.
also you might know the old sales slogan “ABC - Always be Closing”, well in promoting its more like ABN - Always be Networking. This can be the most taxing and yet most rewarding part of throwing parties. You’re going to have to be able to smile in the face of people you intensely dislike(and who might dislike you right back). You’re going to have long conversations that go nowhere with frustrated local djs who’ve had a bad day and feel like venting. You’re going to have to make diplomatic judgement calls when a group of 15 people show up late in the night and don’t want to pay full price. And you’re going to have to do all of that without ever showing your irritation at the situation.
Conversely, you’re may pull off some amazing saves where an old work connection comes through with some projectors when your light guys bails at the last minute. Or maybe an hot local DJ that owes you a favor comes through and spins an incredible set when your headliner misses his flight. For me, at least, those moments were the most rewarding part of the game and you’re going to have to be happy with them all happening behind the scenes.
There’s a reason most promoters burn out. I did, but I still wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
I just wanted to pitch in that this has been a great read for me too, as a lurker. Thanks everyone for the posts. And what I agree with the most is this:
Online work is effective, but on its own it’s nowhere near enough.