How to make 15-20K in 4 hours..EVENTS!

[ZeroTo100]

@ZeroTo100 and @others

I would like to get into this type of business, I am from Cleveland, OH. Got couple of questions:
1. I see you mentioned that the most important thing IS music, however, I wonder what is the most important thing in MARKETING your event. Is it a party "theme"? Big names attending? Connecting with regular local 'nightclubbers' who can bring the audience?

2. Besides music, what is the formula of a successful event? Is it basically music + a lot of alcohol = happy people?

3. How does 'FREE drinks' thing work? I am not sure if an entering fee of $15 is enough to handle drinks. When you advertise free drinks, do you limit those to a specific amount? If so, do you use some type of a 'drink coupons'?

4. Do you let girls 'enter for free before 10pm'? Or does it really depend on type of an event you're doing?

5. I have one location (used to work there) which is basically a restaurant w/ a 'basement' where parties take place. I've used to work there so I know for the fact that 1) underaged individuals can consume alcohol 2) parties do not END at 2pm, they work 'til the last client'. Is this going to be a problem if I were to throw a party in this location? Do I assume all responsibility on the owner of this location should something bad happen?



Thank you in advance

Hey Buddy,

Not to be a jackass (I would love to answer this question) but I think you owe it to the forum to introduce yourself. Once you do, I'll gladly answer the question for you.

 

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[kubikdanon]

Hey Buddy,

Not to be a jackass (I would love to answer this question) but I think you owe it to the forum to introduce yourself. Once you do, I'll gladly answer the question for you.

Just got home, posted my intro, and saw your reply Now you can feel free to answer these questions

 

[ZeroTo100]

@ZeroTo100 and @others

I would like to get into this type of business, I am from Cleveland, OH. Got couple of questions:
1. I see you mentioned that the most important thing IS music, however, I wonder what is the most important thing in MARKETING your event. Is it a party "theme"? Big names attending? Connecting with regular local 'nightclubbers' who can bring the audience?

2. Besides music, what is the formula of a successful event? Is it basically music + a lot of alcohol = happy people?

3. How does 'FREE drinks' thing work? I am not sure if an entering fee of $15 is enough to handle drinks. When you advertise free drinks, do you limit those to a specific amount? If so, do you use some type of a 'drink coupons'?

4. Do you let girls 'enter for free before 10pm'? Or does it really depend on type of an event you're doing?

5. I have one location (used to work there) which is basically a restaurant w/ a 'basement' where parties take place. I've used to work there so I know for the fact that 1) underaged individuals can consume alcohol 2) parties do not END at 2pm, they work 'til the last client'. Is this going to be a problem if I were to throw a party in this location? Do I assume all responsibility on the owner of this location should something bad happen?

Thank you in advance

1. There are a lot of strategies that you can use to market your e event. I would say after your initial party, word of mouth is the biggest influence in people attending. You also have to keep them coming back so yes, music is important, how people are treated is important, quality of patrons, girl/guy ratio, who the promoters are (which is why you have to build your name), the music, everything really. We did it all! Sometimes we would have tickets printed and put $80,$90,$100 on the price of the tickets and give 100 comps away knowing that if 2 people out of 6 in there group had tickets, the others will be going with them. Than, you charge them $35 and they think they're getting a deal. There are 100s of ways to promote and market your club but the truth is once you have them in, the way you create long term value is making sure they have an amazing time.

2. We didn't really have a secrete sauce other than reputation. In this, weekly club goers (at least when I was in the business) want to know who is throwing the party and who is spinning. Themes are fun too and they can help in marketing the event but if you're doing weekly events, music and quality of people are key. Build your email list too.

3. Nothing is free - not drinks, not entrance fee, nothing! You can give some comps (drink tickets, bottle tickets) to your diligent followers but only after they proved to be valuable to you. Reward them with comped bottle here and there and be greatful for them. Be a likable person!

4. You should start building a line at the door at 10. A line is a good thing for obvious reasons. Depending on women, you should be subjective with it. The best looking we always let in free lol. That was just the nature of the business. Most girls got the reduced rate. Guys always paid full and for big events like Halloween, we always scale the event. Every week closer, the prices start going up.

5. Listen, people aren't going to pay top dollar to get into a club and buy bottles if there are college kids in there acting like fools and drinking underage. Bottom line, your event is your product. Treat it like crap and you'll make crap.

If something bad were to happen, the owner would most likely assume responsibility unless you have a deal with him in writing that you were renting the place out. Almost always though, he could potentially lose his license and be shut down. Don't be that guy!

Good luck.

 

[kubikdanon]

1. There are a lot of strategies that you can use to market your e event. I would say after your initial party, word of mouth is the biggest influence in people attending. You also have to keep them coming back so yes, music is important, how people are treated is important, quality of patrons, girl/guy ratio, who the promoters are (which is why you have to build your name), the music, everything really. We did it all! Sometimes we would have tickets printed and put $80,$90,$100 on the price of the tickets and give 100 comps away knowing that if 2 people out of 6 in there group had tickets, the others will be going with them. Than, you charge them $35 and they think they're getting a deal. There are 100s of ways to promote and market your club but the truth is once you have them in, the way you create long term value is making sure they have an amazing time.

2. We didn't really have a secrete sauce other than reputation. In this, weekly club goers (at least when I was in the business) want to know who is throwing the party and who is spinning. Themes are fun too and they can help in marketing the event but if you're doing weekly events, music and quality of people are key. Build your email list too.

3. Nothing is free - not drinks, not entrance fee, nothing! You can give some comps (drink tickets, bottle tickets) to your diligent followers but only after they proved to be valuable to you. Reward them with comped bottle here and there and be greatful for them. Be a likable person!

4. You should start building a line at the door at 10. A line is a good thing for obvious reasons. Depending on women, you should be subjective with it. The best looking we always let in free lol. That was just the nature of the business. Most girls got the reduced rate. Guys always paid full and for big events like Halloween, we always scale the event. Every week closer, the prices start going up.

5. Listen, people aren't going to pay top dollar to get into a club and buy bottles if there are college kids in there acting like fools and drinking underage. Bottom line, your event is your product. Treat it like crap and you'll make crap.

If something bad were to happen, the owner would most likely assume responsibility unless you have a deal with him in writing that you were renting the place out. Almost always though, he could potentially lose his license and be shut down. Don't be that guy!

Good luck.

A little feedback + more questions...

1. Thank you for the tickets strategy, really cool.
Now question regarding tickets: do you collect money at-the-door so you can keep cash, or you have your tickets online? My understanding of this:
advantage of cash - it is cash
advantage of online tickets - you know how many people to expect BEFORE the actual event. So basically you can sell tickets first, then make arrangements with the location. Also, it can create 'act fast' effect on people (e.g. buy online and save $10 (regular price $30, online price $20)).
So in your experience - what do you preffer? Have some type of 'security' or cash?

Now more questions based on multiple points:
1) You're talking about reputation everywhere... What did you do when you just started? How did you gain your reputation? Was it collaboration with 'local party people'? Was it collaboration with others promoters in your city? Was it just a lot of advertisement along with relatively cheap entry fee/drinks and high quality service?

2) Entrance fee - what price would be the best when starting out? I understand it all depends on the value you provide, and if you are in the situation where you built your name, you can charge top dollar, but I want to know, once again, about first events when nobody knows you. Should it be FREE or should I avoid that by all means?

3) You also mentioned the fact that no one is going to pay 'top dollar' if there are >college kids< in there acting like fools and drinking underage. Now I remember when I browsed this thread, one person mentioned that he focused on local colleges/universities to promote his events with flyers and such. Was it you? If yes, then why did you mention college kids as someone who are not supposed to be present at these kind of events? If no, then how did you promote your events? What was your target audience? In my understanding 'college kids' would be primary audience for myself (assuming them being 21 and older)

4) Finally, what locations do you choose for your parties? Are those mostly restaurants and you focus on drinking/music?
Are those mostly big party centers where you focus on drinking/music AND also dancing?
Are those ?warehouses? with a huge amount of space and huge capability? In case of those, I assume you should have alcohol license/security on your own?

Thank you in advance

 

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[ZeroTo100]

A little feedback + more questions...

1. Thank you for the tickets strategy, really cool.
Now question regarding tickets: do you collect money at-the-door so you can keep cash, or you have your tickets online? My understanding of this:
advantage of cash - it is cash
advantage of online tickets - you know how many people to expect BEFORE the actual event. So basically you can sell tickets first, then make arrangements with the location. Also, it can create 'act fast' effect on people (e.g. buy online and save $10 (regular price $30, online price $20)).
So in your experience - what do you preffer? Have some type of 'security' or cash?

Now more questions based on multiple points:
1) You're talking about reputation everywhere... What did you do when you just started? How did you gain your reputation? Was it collaboration with 'local party people'? Was it collaboration with others promoters in your city? Was it just a lot of advertisement along with relatively cheap entry fee/drinks and high quality service?

2) Entrance fee - what price would be the best when starting out? I understand it all depends on the value you provide, and if you are in the situation where you built your name, you can charge top dollar, but I want to know, once again, about first events when nobody knows you. Should it be FREE or should I avoid that by all means?

3) You also mentioned the fact that no one is going to pay 'top dollar' if there are >college kids< in there acting like fools and drinking underage. Now I remember when I browsed this thread, one person mentioned that he focused on local colleges/universities to promote his events with flyers and such. Was it you? If yes, then why did you mention college kids as someone who are not supposed to be present at these kind of events? If no, then how did you promote your events? What was your target audience? In my understanding 'college kids' would be primary audience for myself (assuming them being 21 and older)

4) Finally, what locations do you choose for your parties? Are those mostly restaurants and you focus on drinking/music?
Are those mostly big party centers where you focus on drinking/music AND also dancing?
Are those ?warehouses? with a huge amount of space and huge capability? In case of those, I assume you should have alcohol license/security on your own?

Thank you in advance

1. Depends on the event. You'll always charge at the door, however, you can offer online sales as well if it's a big event.

2.No it should not be free to get in, even if it's your first event. When I first started many many years ago, I worked for someone. People got to know me and I built my own clientele. Then, I partnered up with another promoter and that's how I got started. I proved myself and then gradually got into my own stuff.

College kids are one thing but drinking underage is another. It may have been me that posted. When I first started, I was a senior in high school doing 18 and over parties but as I grew up so did my following. I used to post things all over and my target was a younger demographic. When I was 26 things changed obviously.

4. A lot of times, owners came to us. Think about it, if you're an owner who just invested 3M in a night club, what would you want for your place? It also depends on the place. If it's a college bar near campus, it's different than anything we did.

5. Never carried a liquor license. We have worked with hotels, night clubs, restaurants, and one yacht club. Never done warehouse stuff, never done pool parties which are big now, never done day parties.

When I was in the game, joonbug was big. There were a few others also but everything's changed. Sometimes we paid JB to run an email blast for us. You really have to figure out what works for you.

 

[kubikdanon]

1. Depends on the event. You'll always charge at the door, however, you can offer online sales as well if it's a big event.

2.No it should not be free to get in, even if it's your first event. When I first started many many years ago, I worked for someone. People got to know me and I built my own clientele. Then, I partnered up with another promoter and that's how I got started. I proved myself and then gradually got into my own stuff.

College kids are one thing but drinking underage is another. It may have been me that posted. When I first started, I was a senior in high school doing 18 and over parties but as I grew up so did my following. I used to post things all over and my target was a younger demographic. When I was 26 things changed obviously.

4. A lot of times, owners came to us. Think about it, if you're an owner who just invested 3M in a night club, what would you want for your place? It also depends on the place. If it's a college bar near campus, it's different than anything we did.

5. Never carried a liquor license. We have worked with hotels, night clubs, restaurants, and one yacht club. Never done warehouse stuff, never done pool parties which are big now, never done day parties.

When I was in the game, joonbug was big. There were a few others also but everything's changed. Sometimes we paid JB to run an email blast for us. You really have to figure out what works for you.

Thank you for the replies. More comments:

Yes, I do want to do 18+ parties and 'mark' those 18-20 so they will not be able to get drinks. Since I'm 21, I would like to have people somewhat my age, therefore, will target young audience.

Regarding #4: could you please elaborate on "If it's a college bar near campus, it's different than anything we did". How those differ (not taking into account the lack of music/DJ/dancefloor)?

Regarding #5: I want to start off working with hotels/night clubs/restaurants, however, I would really love to do day/pool parties since I am planning on moving to Miami(or anywhere in Florida) soon. I guess those kind of events will be pain in the a$$ (liquor license, dealing with cops, etc.) Not even sure about legal side of all of that, but I guess I will figure it out once needed.

 

[USN-Ken]

Holy cow this thread was SUPER fun to read. Thanks for the great input, everyone!

 

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[Late Bloomer]

Looks like a really cool gig for a young social butterfly! My only question is, what about an "expiration date" on this line of work? Will these kind of parties be unrealistic for someone to throw once they leave their 20's? (If you say your age I missed it, this looks a lot to me like what I've seen as appealing to folks in college and a few years older.)

 

[ZeroTo100]

Looks like a really cool gig for a young social butterfly! My only question is, what about an "expiration date" on this line of work? Will these kind of parties be unrealistic for someone to throw once they leave their 20's? (If you say your age I missed it, this looks a lot to me like what I've seen as appealing to folks in college and a few years older.)

The goal for anyone entering this market would be to eventually own a venue, restaurant, festival, or event production company. It's a market that will help build your relationship development skills, your marketing skills, and your negotiation skills as well.

 

[Late Bloomer]

The goal for anyone entering this market would be to eventually own a venue, restaurant, festival, or event production company. It's a market that will help build your relationship development skills, your marketing skills, and your negotiation skills as well.

That looks like a totally believable and very powerful exit strategy, when you're ready to move into the next level up in this industry. Very cool!!

 

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[El Príncipe]

@sWALK90 @ZeroTo100 @Mac @iAmAttila and @Stevo1 thank you all for your contributions to this thread. This is a pure gold mine for me.

I've recently moved into a position as the "events guy" for a big bar/restaurant and of course I've thought about organizing my own events, so this thread really gets my juices flowing!

Just turned 29 and done with the party scene so looking for other industries though. What are some other spaces you guys have looked at or got experience with? Concerts/live music? Food events? Career/business events?

Also, while reading TMF I was thinking this road violates the commandments of entry (anyone can decide to throw an event right?) and scale (you can make a couple grand, but can you make a couple million?), and wondering about time (how do you detach yourself from operations?).

What are your thoughts on this guys? Know it's an old thread, but hopefully you guys are still out there and active Thank you for all the insights already shared!

 

[ZeroTo100]

@sWALK90 @ZeroTo100 @Mac @iAmAttila and @Stevo1 thank you all for your contributions to this thread. This is a pure gold mine for me.

I've recently moved into a position as the "events guy" for a big bar/restaurant and of course I've thought about organizing my own events, so this thread really gets my juices flowing!

Just turned 29 and done with the party scene so looking for other industries though. What are some other spaces you guys have looked at or got experience with? Concerts/live music? Food events? Career/business events?

Also, while reading TMF I was thinking this road violates the commandments of entry (anyone can decide to throw an event right?) and scale (you can make a couple grand, but can you make a couple million?), and wondering about time (how do you detach yourself from operations?).

What are your thoughts on this guys? Know it's an old thread, but hopefully you guys are still out there and active Thank you for all the insights already shared!

At least for me, I learned a lot from this business. I learned a lot about the web(web marketing, funnels, building sites, ecomm, branding, promotions) grassroots marketing, negotiations, proposals, sales, project management - I mean I really learned a lot.

Think about how you can apply those skills. I’ve looked at all that you have mentioned above minus food - read my intro in my first post.

No - not everyone can throw a good event. Not everyone has the network or the following to make it happen. Not everyone has the budget. We had worked deals where we brought big DJs in who had followings already and would basically push the event for us. We knew their managers so we would get that special price. If someone who didn’t have the network reached out, they would be paying them the money they saved us. Nature of the beast. Events changed though so keep that in mind. Club scene is different these days.

For your comment on violating skills - get your business going before you worry about any of the other stuff. I didn’t worry about time because when I was doing events I loved it. I was so involved that I didn’t really care about anything else in life. I really enjoyed it and to be quite honest, I never felt that way about a new business as I did about that business. So In a rare case like this - time didn’t matter. All my friends worked for me and we were pretty much living the dream. Things change and you grow up. Now, I am focused on being a dad and a husband. After that I’m focused on business.

PS there were a lot of times where I had deals with venues where my team and I would show up and we would get a $2k flat on a Thursday night just to walk in the door and drink for free. We were suppose to run a few campaigns for them but we would just show up. Our people knew the deal. Lots of times we never even showed up and our money was always there. Hotel deal, only place to go on a Thursday night.

Any questions I’m always here.

Keep in mind if I don’t get back it just means I’m trying to pack up my house or I’m out finding a new pad. I have a pregnant wife and a baby too so you know that isn’t easy to deal with. Just hit me up here.

Ciao

 

[El Príncipe]

At least for me, I learned a lot from this business. I learned a lot about the web(web marketing, funnels, building sites, ecomm, branding, promotions) grassroots marketing, negotiations, proposals, sales, project management - I mean I really learned a lot.

Think about how you can apply those skills. I’ve looked at all that you have mentioned above minus food - read my intro in my first post.

No - not everyone can throw a good event. Not everyone has the network or the following to make it happen. Not everyone has the budget. We had worked deals where we brought big DJs in who had followings already and would basically push the event for us. We knew their managers so we would get that special price. If someone who didn’t have the network reached out, they would be paying them the money they saved us. Nature of the beast. Events changed though so keep that in mind. Club scene is different these days.

For your comment on violating skills - get your business going before you worry about any of the other stuff. I didn’t worry about time because when I was doing events I loved it. I was so involved that I didn’t really care about anything else in life. I really enjoyed it and to be quite honest, I never felt that way about a new business as I did about that business. So In a rare case like this - time didn’t matter. All my friends worked for me and we were pretty much living the dream. Things change and you grow up. Now, I am focused on being a dad and a husband. After that I’m focused on business.

PS there were a lot of times where I had deals with venues where my team and I would show up and we would get a $2k flat on a Thursday night just to walk in the door and drink for free. We were suppose to run a few campaigns for them but we would just show up. Our people knew the deal. Lots of times we never even showed up and our money was always there. Hotel deal, only place to go on a Thursday night.

Any questions I’m always here.

Keep in mind if I don’t get back it just means I’m trying to pack up my house or I’m out finding a new pad. I have a pregnant wife and a baby too so you know that isn’t easy to deal with. Just hit me up here.

Ciao

Thank you so much for the feedback @ZeroTo100 it's appreciated more than you might imagine!

Congrats on your kid and the other one on the way, I hope they and your wife are doing amazing!

I've gone back through this thread and your first introduction thread and noted down everything valuable in a pad. Thanks for all the insight.

How is your current business doing? You commented on a big RE deal but also wanting to build a remotely run business?

Also, how did you exit your event business exactly? Did you sell it? (if not, why not?) Find someone to operate it for you? (if not, why not?) From your posts I get the impression you just pulled the plug on the whole thing.

This last week I've been thinking a lot about venturing into this business and wrote down a to do list. One thing keeps nagging at me though.

You wanted out of this life once you met your wife and got serious with her. I want out too. My reasons revolve more around health and lifestyle. But basically I don't want to create a business for myself where I have to be in and around clubs at late hours on a regular basis.

Apart from that I love events though. Planning and setting them up, meeting with different parties, talking deals, etc. Also I love Hiphop and I'd love to contribute to the culture in my city, country and even whole of Europe (I love Spanish rap, and one idea is taking Spanish rappers to Amsterdam, but I'm doubtful whether there is a market for it here).

That's why I'm thinking more of maybe festivals or something involving live acts, maybe a block party, or some sort of indoor event. Day time/evening events basically, not night. There are events being done in this space (I'm visiting all Hiphop festivals this summer), and I think they're not bad. But neither are they really pushing boundaries I feel (except for one). And here the demand still outweighs the supply in this space. There is room for another player.

Some sort of food festival geared towards vegans could be interesting too (turned vegan for aforementioned health reasons). This market is taking off here, the first players have arrived, but everything is still up for grabs. Also this demographic has more money to spend.

Mentioned business events because that's where most of the money is. But I got very little affinity with that market.

I guess the first order of business in front of me, is figuring out how to start off a small, day time event in the Hiphop space. How to make it different or better than what's currently out there. And how to get people to know about it. Would you say that's about right?

If you were to start out with (small) festivals instead of night clubs, how would you do it?

 

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[ZeroTo100]

Thank you so much for the feedback @ZeroTo100 it's appreciated more than you might imagine!

Congrats on your kid and the other one on the way, I hope they and your wife are doing amazing!

I've gone back through this thread and your first introduction thread and noted down everything valuable in a pad. Thanks for all the insight.

How is your current business doing? You commented on a big RE deal but also wanting to build a remotely run business?

Also, how did you exit your event business exactly? Did you sell it? (if not, why not?) Find someone to operate it for you? (if not, why not?) From your posts I get the impression you just pulled the plug on the whole thing.

This last week I've been thinking a lot about venturing into this business and wrote down a to do list. One thing keeps nagging at me though.

You wanted out of this life once you met your wife and got serious with her. I want out too. My reasons revolve more around health and lifestyle. But basically I don't want to create a business for myself where I have to be in and around clubs at late hours on a regular basis.

Apart from that I love events though. Planning and setting them up, meeting with different parties, talking deals, etc. Also I love Hiphop and I'd love to contribute to the culture in my city, country and even whole of Europe (I love Spanish rap, and one idea is taking Spanish rappers to Amsterdam, but I'm doubtful whether there is a market for it here).

That's why I'm thinking more of maybe festivals or something involving live acts, maybe a block party, or some sort of indoor event. Day time/evening events basically, not night. There are events being done in this space (I'm visiting all Hiphop festivals this summer), and I think they're not bad. But neither are they really pushing boundaries I feel (except for one). And here the demand still outweighs the supply in this space. There is room for another player.

Some sort of food festival geared towards vegans could be interesting too (turned vegan for aforementioned health reasons). This market is taking off here, the first players have arrived, but everything is still up for grabs. Also this demographic has more money to spend.

Mentioned business events because that's where most of the money is. But I got very little affinity with that market.

I guess the first order of business in front of me, is figuring out how to start off a small, day time event in the Hiphop space. How to make it different or better than what's currently out there. And how to get people to know about it. Would you say that's about right?

If you were to start out with (small) festivals instead of night clubs, how would you do it?

Thanks dude. I appreciate all the love and I'm alway's around if you ever need. The past year has been pretty wild for me. I had a pretty sweet real estate flip in a high end area in Queens, NY. The house was a hurricane sandy house but only the first floor was damaged and the original owner had it inspected for mold, fixed all the electric, etc. She just never put walls or flooring up. I jumped on it and flipped it. It was a brutal experience that I would never recommend anyone to do ever. I did a lot of work with my dad who's been a GC for many years. His company manufactured PVC fence in the NY area but he came on to work for me. Pretty weird hiring pops to help out but no better person but him.

My system is a little different than probably 80% of the people on here. You see, I did everything I was suppose to do as a young adult. Went to college, started businesses, all that jazz. The thing that will push me exponentially ahead in the coming years is the thing I've been doing the past 14 years...I go to this job every single day (monday to friday 6-2), sign in and basically work (if thats what you call it lol). It's one of those jobs where you get a pension, health benefits free till I die, 401k, etc after 20yrs. I'm 34 and I'll be done in 6 years. BUT I do consider myself an entrepreneur. This job allows me to hustle on my ventures all I can DURING* work and obviously after work (getting out so early). It supports my entrepreneurial ventures like MJ recommends doing but with an added twist - that pension after 20 and those health benefits.

In terms of my life, most of my "BIG money" that paid my wedding, townhouse that I just sold, engagement ring, cool vacations, cash for investments - came from ventures and hustling (NOT A JOB).

I got out of nightlife because I felt like I had to grow up. I looked around and people that worked for me were much older than me at the time. I looked a their life and I wondered if it was right for who I was. I sold off all the assets of the business - pretty much our email list at the time was the main thing. I dissolved the company and shut it down. I launched a few business after, one being a nutritional supplement box. This was the most successful failure of my life.

After that, I studied internet businesses that were selling on all the top brokerages. Bought a couple of sites, launched a few sites. I learned a lot about buying sites and selling sites.

Through life, opportunities come and go. Sometimes you can be so bent on making a move and something steps in front of you that is ripe and you put everything on pause - which I did with that flip. Now I just sold my house and I'm buying a new one. I'm also going to buy a rental for cashflow (check out to buy or to hold thread). I would suggest following the guys in that thread for real estate and ecommerce advice. They are animals in that field, totally crushing it! I always leave myself with enough cash for opportunities. When I get through my home purchase and the rental purchase, I'm back to business.

For your event questions...
First you have to decide what event space you want to get into. Than you have to study your competitors. You can always be different than them in terms of what you're producing BUT find out how they are marketing their events to your target audience. Go through their funnels, follow their social pages, go to their events, buy their tickets, literally know their every move. Connect with their people and let their people sell to you. Spy on them!

Once you know who your competitor is and you know who your customer is you'll know how to be different and you'll know what you can provide to your patrons that isn't being provided. You may even find that your competitors employees want something more than their employer is offering...You can offer it and bring them on board .

You have to get really creative...You want to throw a festival and push the boundaries? How about throwing a festival but marketing it as an 3 day weekend camp for adults.

There's no such thing as a small festival. You don't run an event, marketing the sh!t out of it, to not blow the doors off it. If I were new in the field and I wanted to start a business in this field, I'd go work for someone for a few months. You may find a cofounder.

If you want a direct answer, I would find out who I'm selling to (actually find them), what I'm selling to them(my experience vs my competition). Than I'd go find a venue and see if we can work a deal and if I can get the numbers to make sense.


P.S. I'm not re-reading this for typos lol

 

[El Príncipe]

Thanks dude. I appreciate all the love and I'm alway's around if you ever need. The past year has been pretty wild for me. I had a pretty sweet real estate flip in a high end area in Queens, NY. The house was a hurricane sandy house but only the first floor was damaged and the original owner had it inspected for mold, fixed all the electric, etc. She just never put walls or flooring up. I jumped on it and flipped it. It was a brutal experience that I would never recommend anyone to do ever. I did a lot of work with my dad who's been a GC for many years. His company manufactured PVC fence in the NY area but he came on to work for me. Pretty weird hiring pops to help out but no better person but him.

My system is a little different than probably 80% of the people on here. You see, I did everything I was suppose to do as a young adult. Went to college, started businesses, all that jazz. The thing that will push me exponentially ahead in the coming years is the thing I've been doing the past 14 years...I go to this job every single day (monday to friday 6-2), sign in and basically work (if thats what you call it lol). It's one of those jobs where you get a pension, health benefits free till I die, 401k, etc after 20yrs. I'm 34 and I'll be done in 6 years. BUT I do consider myself an entrepreneur. This job allows me to hustle on my ventures all I can DURING* work and obviously after work (getting out so early). It supports my entrepreneurial ventures like MJ recommends doing but with an added twist - that pension after 20 and those health benefits.

In terms of my life, most of my "BIG money" that paid my wedding, townhouse that I just sold, engagement ring, cool vacations, cash for investments - came from ventures and hustling (NOT A JOB).

I got out of nightlife because I felt like I had to grow up. I looked around and people that worked for me were much older than me at the time. I looked a their life and I wondered if it was right for who I was. I sold off all the assets of the business - pretty much our email list at the time was the main thing. I dissolved the company and shut it down. I launched a few business after, one being a nutritional supplement box. This was the most successful failure of my life.

After that, I studied internet businesses that were selling on all the top brokerages. Bought a couple of sites, launched a few sites. I learned a lot about buying sites and selling sites.

Through life, opportunities come and go. Sometimes you can be so bent on making a move and something steps in front of you that is ripe and you put everything on pause - which I did with that flip. Now I just sold my house and I'm buying a new one. I'm also going to buy a rental for cashflow (check out to buy or to hold thread). I would suggest following the guys in that thread for real estate and ecommerce advice. They are animals in that field, totally crushing it! I always leave myself with enough cash for opportunities. When I get through my home purchase and the rental purchase, I'm back to business.

For your event questions...
First you have to decide what event space you want to get into. Than you have to study your competitors. You can always be different than them in terms of what you're producing BUT find out how they are marketing their events to your target audience. Go through their funnels, follow their social pages, go to their events, buy their tickets, literally know their every move. Connect with their people and let their people sell to you. Spy on them!

Once you know who your competitor is and you know who your customer is you'll know how to be different and you'll know what you can provide to your patrons that isn't being provided. You may even find that your competitors employees want something more than their employer is offering...You can offer it and bring them on board .

You have to get really creative...You want to throw a festival and push the boundaries? How about throwing a festival but marketing it as an 3 day weekend camp for adults.

There's no such thing as a small festival. You don't run an event, marketing the sh!t out of it, to not blow the doors off it. If I were new in the field and I wanted to start a business in this field, I'd go work for someone for a few months. You may find a cofounder.

If you want a direct answer, I would find out who I'm selling to (actually find them), what I'm selling to them(my experience vs my competition). Than I'd go find a venue and see if we can work a deal and if I can get the numbers to make sense.


P.S. I'm not re-reading this for typos lol

I'm happy for you making all the right moves as a young adult and coming out on top! Bet it took a lot of focus and perseverance. Very curious about the job you're holding also, but I got a feeling you can't say, so I won't ask haha

The width of experience you have is impressive, having been in all kinds of businesses. Also funny how you exit a business and the most valuable asset is the email list, just goes to show I guess that people are right about the importance of building one. I'm still curious why you didn't try automating it? Ever considered owning a venue and your thoughts on it? Still too much "in the life"?

And yeah, definitely been following the RE stuff on here with great interests. Namely, the Stop Paying Rent: Live for Free thread. Of course the details are all different since I'm in a different country, but it definitely got me thinking. I'll check out that To Buy or Hold thread as well.

Thanks for the input on the events stuff.

You're right, maybe I'm thinking too small, not wanting to take risk. When the risk might be in actually not going big and not pushing it for all it's worth.

The bar/restaurant I work for currently is co-owned by a guy who formerly ran big, big festivals here. I'm learning a lot from just being around him and sitting in on meetings etc. Since I've taken on the events and marketing duties there I've kind of been under his wing a bit. He's sold all his interests in festivals though and I think he's done. So probably not a potential partner, but definitely a mentor.

I asked him before what I should do if I wanted to continue in this space and he told me to start organizing my own events. Yeah, already a very significant person in my life professionally. In return I make his life a lot easier by taking on all the events and marketing ground/grunt work his current business lol.

It's funny. I'm already doing a lot of what you said; I bought tickets for all the festivals in this space and going obviously, and I follow all their social media channels. Definitely a case of "being in your own target demographic". Thanks to what you said I'll approach it even more focused and goal oriented though.

Other than that, I'll be on the look out for part time work opportunities with one of the festivals here.

Basically time to put in the "market research" and further learning the business.

I'll keep you posted!

PS. Can you elaborate on the 3 day adult weekend camp idea? Is it something you've done? One of the players here is doing a weekend festival with overnight stays. Not sure if it's the same of what you're thinking of though.

 

[Late Bloomer]

while reading TMF I was thinking this road violates the commandments of entry (anyone can decide to throw an event right?) and scale (you can make a couple grand, but can you make a couple million?), and wondering about time (how do you detach yourself from operations?).

Entry: If you know great places to hold events, great themes, entertainment, decorations for those events, great ways to publicize them... then your contribution is very much worth paying for.

Scale: Look up articles on the business side of the nightclub scene in Vegas, and you'll see this absolutely does scale up.

Time: Make a lot of money in each event, keep on throwing events day after day, make enough money to hire a great team. While you're still in charge of the overall vision, vibe, quality control, and chatting up both big and small visitors so they know you're so happy they came to have a great time.

I lived in Vegas a while. If you could afford to take a few weeks to visit there, I think you would see so many incredible opportunities between daytime business conventions, evening entertainment for the conventions (they often hire major performers for private concerts), ongoing casino resort hotel operations and special contests (poker championships etc.), weddings, big events (concerts, boxing), and the nightclubs. I think you would absolutely see that you can build an events-based career with whatever daytime or nighttime hours you'd like to set for yourself.

 

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[El Príncipe]

Entry: If you know great places to hold events, great themes, entertainment, decorations for those events, great ways to publicize them... then your contribution is very much worth paying for.

Scale: Look up articles on the business side of the nightclub scene in Vegas, and you'll see this absolutely does scale up.

Time: Make a lot of money in each event, keep on throwing events day after day, make enough money to hire a great team. While you're still in charge of the overall vision, vibe, quality control, and chatting up both big and small visitors so they know you're so happy they came to have a great time.

I lived in Vegas a while. If you could afford to take a few weeks to visit there, I think you would see so many incredible opportunities between daytime business conventions, evening entertainment for the conventions (they often hire major performers for private concerts), ongoing casino resort hotel operations and special contests (poker championships etc.), weddings, big events (concerts, boxing), and the nightclubs. I think you would absolutely see that you can build an events-based career with whatever daytime or nighttime hours you'd like to set for yourself.

Hey thanks for addressing those specific points @Late Bloomer ! And thanks for opening my eyes to the possibilities and being a positive voice

I’ll look up those articles too

As a job I already liked this path. But I'm also each day more convinced now that this is also a path that I can turn into a viable, entrepreneurial Fastlane! It's gonna take some time to build more connects, specialized knowledge and skills though. This is my Process, and key to Entry.

Thanks Late Bloomer!

 

[USN-Ken]

This thread got me thinking about how little entertainment there is in my hometown (pop. 23k)...so, i went to a local facebook group (a 'community chat group') and created a poll, asking people what type of entertainment they want to come to town. I was surprised....

Of course, you have the goofballs who suggest mudwrestling (got 3 'likes'/votes) and 'midget wrestling' (2 'likes'), but in the end, the top two were: comic conventions and ...the winner by far....stand-up comedians.

Thats right -- comedians won by nearly 60% over the next option.

I guess the folks in my town need a laugh. There used to be a funnybone nearby but it closed down long ago.

So, then a flood of questions popped into my head...

How do you choose a comedian (Based on their price? Based on their availability? Based on their following? Based on which ones have historically drawn a large crowd in this area?)

How far out do you book the event?

How many pre-sales does one need before realizing the show is going to be a flop and canceling it?

What other unexpected costs will be incurred? (sound system? Hotel for a comedian? transportation of comedian to/from airport? license to put on show in someones venue?)

Will eventbrite work to sell tickets? How about at the door (can you sell eventbrite tickets through cell phones using stripe or something similar?)

I don't expect anyone to answer these questions here, but my point is that it would be great if there was a one-stop shop to learn all of this stuff.

Holy moly! Business idea: someone should start an events coaching business. Id pay to have someone walk me through some events, help with negotiation strategies, developing pro-formas/budgets for shows, etc.!

 

[El Príncipe]

This thread got me thinking about how little entertainment there is in my hometown (pop. 23k)...so, i went to a local facebook group (a 'community chat group') and created a poll, asking people what type of entertainment they want to come to town. I was surprised....

Of course, you have the goofballs who suggest mudwrestling (got 3 'likes'/votes) and 'midget wrestling' (2 'likes'), but in the end, the top two were: comic conventions and ...the winner by far....stand-up comedians.

Thats right -- comedians won by nearly 60% over the next option.

I guess the folks in my town need a laugh. There used to be a funnybone nearby but it closed down long ago.

So, then a flood of questions popped into my head...

How do you choose a comedian (Based on their price? Based on their availability? Based on their following? Based on which ones have historically drawn a large crowd in this area?)

How far out do you book the event?

How many pre-sales does one need before realizing the show is going to be a flop and canceling it?

What other unexpected costs will be incurred? (sound system? Hotel for a comedian? transportation of comedian to/from airport? license to put on show in someones venue?)

Will eventbrite work to sell tickets? How about at the door (can you sell eventbrite tickets through cell phones using stripe or something similar?)

I don't expect anyone to answer these questions here, but my point is that it would be great if there was a one-stop shop to learn all of this stuff.

Holy moly! Business idea: someone should start an events coaching business. Id pay to have someone walk me through some events, help with negotiation strategies, developing pro-formas/budgets for shows, etc.!

The good ol’ “don’t dig in a gold rush, sell shovels”

 

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[ZeroTo100]

/

The width of experience you have is impressive, having been in all kinds of businesses. Also funny how you exit a business and the most valuable asset is the email list

The most valuable asset was me. I had the contacts through years of hustle. I had developed the network. I was the brains behind every marketing campaign I've ever executed. It wasn't the kind of business I could just sell. I had a team of people that worked for me - that enjoyed working with me. I had so much control that when I left, other promoters tried to step in and scoop them up but some left the business and others started doing their own events and are doing well still.

I'm still curious why you didn't try automating it? Ever considered owning a venue and your thoughts on it? Still too much "in the life"?

Try automating an event on big nights when you're doing 3000-5000 patrons paying $100 a head to get in the door in "cash." When you structure your deals a certain way with venue owners, you have to be there or at least have someone you trust closely counting that cash and clicks. It's the real world brother - when you're bringing in a lot of cash and you have people to pay you better believe you're not going to be sitting home on your a$$ playing "automate my business and live life the digi nomad style." That's called a pipe dream. All due respect to those that do, but they are 1 or 2 man internet businesses. If you want to automate something, limit your ticket sales and sell them only online or sell rips to other promoters and let them sell. If you consider this automation, I've done it a million times. My team did all the leg work but you still have to be there.

You're right, maybe I'm thinking too small, not wanting to take risk. When the risk might be in actually not going big and not pushing it for all it's worth.

Here is a tip for you, hire a dj that has a massive following. Scale the ticket sales. Get them through the door and make your money on your bar deal. Try to squeeze out 20% of what the total bar brings in. Again, the business changed. Festivals weren't huge at the time. They are now. Back than we had dungeon style nightclubs lol.

The bar/restaurant I work for currently is co-owned by a guy who formerly ran big, big festivals here. I'm learning a lot from just being around him and sitting in on meetings etc. Since I've taken on the events and marketing duties there I've kind of been under his wing a bit. He's sold all his interests in festivals though and I think he's done. So probably not a potential partner, but definitely a mentor.

Agree, get him to mentor you!

PS. Can you elaborate on the 3 day adult weekend camp idea? Is it something you've done? One of the players here is doing a weekend festival with overnight stays. Not sure if it's the same of what you're thinking of though

.

We will save this for another day. Prob not a good place for a brainstorm session.

Good luck bro.

P.S. Start connecting with promoters, you're going to need to pull them under your wing.[/QUOTE]

 

[ZeroTo100]

/

This thread got me thinking about how little entertainment there is in my hometown (pop. 23k)...so, i went to a local facebook group (a 'community chat group') and created a poll, asking people what type of entertainment they want to come to town. I was surprised....

Thats right -- comedians won by nearly 60% over the next option

I guess the folks in my town need a laugh..

Well, knowing where your customers hangout online is half the solution.

There used to be a funnybone nearby but it closed down long ago.

Why did it close down? Do people spend on entertainment in your town? I don't see why they wouldn't unless you're pricing yourself out. It's easy to say this town needs something over a poll until they actually have to open their wallet, go inside, and hand you it.

How do you choose a comedian (Based on their price? Based on their availability? Based on their following? Based on which ones have historically drawn a large crowd in this area?)

Based on their following. If their numbers make sense, it might be worth breaking even on the ticket sales but making your money up on the bar sales (bottles included).

How far out do you book the event?

If have no clue what you're doing or you never done it before, you should hire a consultant and give yourself at least 3 months. Study companies already doing it (in other areas).

How many pre-sales does one need before realizing the show is going to be a flop and canceling it?

Forget canceling it. You're taking a loss so you better make it work!

Depends on how you'rep reselling. In this case, you should scale your event tickets in a way that the price of the tickets go up as you get closer to the event. Also, you may find groups of people online that hang together. Give out a few comps that will force the others to come with and buy their tickets. It's all in the way you market the thing. There are so many ways to go about doing it. If you have a good lineup and you're priced right, there is no reason why your target audience wouldn't jump on board. Unless of course, they have something better to do.

What other unexpected costs will be incurred? (sound system? Hotel for a comedian? transportation of comedian to/from airport? license to put on show in someones venue?)

Depends on who you're working with. If you're paying a guy $17k to spin for 2 hours like we did, you better believe he's getting his own room. No license. You may need permission to put names on marketing materials though. In some cases, artists didn't want certain names on the flyers either if their name was on it. I've been in situations where people just pulled out last minute over this - It can get messy.

Will eventbrite work to sell tickets? How about at the door (can you sell eventbrite tickets through cell phones using stripe or something similar?)

Is this a serious question?

I don't expect anyone to answer these questions here, but my point is that it would be great if there was a one-stop shop to learn all of this stuff.

You're welcome!

See you guys in a few weeks.[/QUOTE]

 

[Late Bloomer]

the winner by far....stand-up comedians.

Thats right -- comedians won by nearly 60% over the next option

I lived for a while where the bowling alley & pizza place had open mike comedy night once a week. That would be a dirt cheap way to find out if people will actually show up for comedy, and if so to build a list. As you talk to these people, you can start to gauge whether it would be worth your while to move up to rent some kind of venue (movie theater perhaps?) once a month for some pro comics you bring in. Who to bring in? Whoever's in your audience's top 10 list, which you get from asking them! And, available and affordable for your event.

If there is someone else in your town who puts on any kind of events that bring in people from outside, you should be able to pick their brains about logistics like the trip from the airport, sound system, etc. Ask whoever puts on political rallies, concerts, seminars, etc. in the town. Add event insurance to your checklist. Someone else has produced an event with comparable logistics. Maybe you could get an operations manager on a project by project basis by splitting the revenue with them, until you see how to do it yourself. Or maybe you'll find a strong team where you're the idea man and work the crowd, and your ongoing business partner runs around with the clipboard!

Eventbrite has some of the easiest to follow "how to use this service" guidance I've seen from any site or company, ever. It's what I plan to use for some events I might want to put on this winter. Go explore on their site.

You can see a lot of logistics details (along with snarky remarks) for comedians here: Backstage: Comedy | The Smoking Gun

 

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[ZeroTo100]

I lived for a while where the bowling alley & pizza place had open mike comedy night once a week. That would be a dirt cheap way to find out if people will actually show up for comedy, and if so to build a list. As you talk to these people, you can start to gauge whether it would be worth your while to move up to rent some kind of venue (movie theater perhaps?) once a month for some pro comics you bring in. Who to bring in? Whoever's in your audience's top 10 list, which you get from asking them! And, available and affordable for your event.

If there is someone else in your town who puts on any kind of events that bring in people from outside, you should be able to pick their brains about logistics like the trip from the airport, sound system, etc. Ask whoever puts on political rallies, concerts, seminars, etc. in the town. Add event insurance to your checklist. Someone else has produced an event with comparable logistics. Maybe you could get an operations manager on a project by project basis by splitting the revenue with them, until you see how to do it yourself. Or maybe you'll find a strong team where you're the idea man and work the crowd, and your ongoing business partner runs around with the clipboard!

Eventbrite has some of the easiest to follow "how to use this service" guidance I've seen from any site or company, ever. It's what I plan to use for some events I might want to put on this winter. Go explore on their site.

You can see a lot of logistics details (along with snarky remarks) for comedians here: Backstage: Comedy | The Smoking Gun

I never ever rented a venue. You have something to offer, owners have something to offer. Deals are the best way for everyone to make money and not lose money. Sometimes, if you don’t really have any contacts and you’re new in the business you may have to come up with a float Incase your event bombs.

All deals are structured differently but most usually the were 80/20 deals with full door ours. That means the owner earns 80% of the bar and the 20% plus the full door was ours. We paid the DJs, promoters, and anyone else that contributed to the party. Sometimes we would throw in things line 30 comp bottles, 150 free drink tickets, on top of the deal. Maybe push for a small marketing budget.

Point is don’t rent. Start with a proposal and get yourself an attorney to look over the deals. Forget the list for now. Build that list by getting out there and connecting with real people. Focus on the business and the list will follow.

 

[USN-Ken]

Terrific guidance and suggestions! Thanks so much!