promoting a nightclub

[fromantv]

anybody have any innovative ways and techniques besides myspace, fliers, word of mouth....and possible sponsorships and celebrities?

im trying to gather as much innovative ideas as possible

thank ya kindly

[crackah]

how about those cards you hand out, where you get entry, and people give them to their friends.

Another way, is to piss of womens groups, eg say any chick dressed in a bikini gets free drinks all night.

They did it in aus, caused a massive media storm, and it was massive publicity for the club, who later axed the idea, but im use alot of people turned out.

[fromantv]

lol...well im not part of any club, me and my friends getting ready to start promoting parties at clubs...so im more intersted in how we can promote parties...not just at one single even,,,,good idea tho haha

[crackah]

haha damn alright.

I guess you could goto the local high schools etc, hand stuff out there?

[DrMoney]

Well, I haven't been on here in a while, but one project I was doing was like Crackah said, about the girls.

Lets get it strait, sex sells, it really does.

So as bars target young adults, the majority of their primary demographic is males 21+, so assuming this; what do males 21+ like?

Well, I am 18 and I happen to fancy women off all kinds, as well as entrepreneurship.

I was planning on starting and entertainment company, focused on getting girls or using girls for promotion purposes, and yes it works very well.

[teabenny]

Ladies nights! They always do well. Free drinks for the ladies, who don't drink as much as men. And where there's a crowd of drunk females, the men will follow, and THEY will buy drinks. Plant a couple of very hot chicks by the door posing as customers, they will tell every guy who inquires that there's plenty more inside!

[fromantv]

yeah thanks tea, ladies always bring the guys...no matter what

im still trying to find some ideas that havent been thought off...its kinda tricky

[jasaunders]

Word of mouth will always be your most successful form of promoting parties.
Beyond that, here are some other ones that may help in the right context and executed correctly...
- Drink Specials / Shot Specials
- Guest Bartenders
- Prizes (we used to give away DMB concert tickets and trips to Las Vegas)
- One big party I threw, we hired a stretch navigator limo for the night, one week before the party, people had to logon to our website and sign up for a time slot, and then the limo went around all night and picked people up with all their friends and brought them to the party.
- Games (Not sure what kind of party this is, but a lot of bars are throwing promotions with things like beer pong tournaments, flip cup tournaments, etc...)
- Hiring good entertainment and having good lighting and equipment for the party

I will tell you from experience, that the most important thing is word of mouth and then gaining a good reputation for promoting events. In party promotion, your reputation is everything. If you throw a good party, everyone will tell their friends and come to your next one, they will look to find out specifically when your parties are. If you throw a bad or just a decent party, 90% of the people there won't come to your next one. So you have to start strong and build upon it. You need to pack a place the first time, have a big line outside, and go all out. If you wish to discuss further, let me know.
- Josh

[crackah]

Guest dj's is good. They are on the radio, will advertise they are playing here and here.

Gets a crowd.

[teabenny]

Competitions are always good - like a 6-pack contest for men, who has the best abs. I've heard of that one. I'm sure you can think of others.

In my experience people talk for ages about a bartender show. You know, when he does a bottle-flipping act (think "Cocktail") and then lights the bar on fire. Those things get people crazy. I remember seeing one in Sydney during the Olympics, he was incredible.

Whatever you do, though, don't let it slow down. Hold your contests early on as they tend to interrupt proceedings. Build up the entertainment and then finish it all off with a great DJ, a happy hour and lots of dancing.

[fromantv]

thanks guys....guess bartenders is an interesting concept, the limo is a cool idea.......never thought of that...was it more to make money? or to get people to come?

thanks

and yes i will be contacting you JSAUNDERS

[jasaunders]

The limo idea was one of my best ideas. It was to get people to come, we didn't charge for the limo. It was first-come first-serve on the website to sign-up for a time slot.
We charged a cover to get into the party, $5 or $10, and the limo cost us around $500 for the night I think, so we made the money back on the people that took the limo by charging them the cover. It was just a kind of gimmick to blow up the party and attract more people. Who doesn't want to get a free ride to a club in a stretch navigator limo with all their friends?

[pyanizjid]

I own a special even company in Los Angeles and I can tell you this... If you are planning your very first event... if you focus on making a profit, your event WILL NOT be successful!!! Focus on packing the place! Go all out!

My very first event, I lost about $20,000... on my second event, I made about $1,000... On my 6th event I profited $35,000...

All those gimmicks above are great! In my experience... The VERY BEST way to attract people to your venue/event is OPEN-BAR!!! Buy out the bar; charge a bit more at the door (I usually charge anywhere from $30 to $45 depending on the event). The best part is... not only does the open-bar attract people to come to your event but it also attracts sponsors... Which means, 1) you no longer have to spend money from your wallet 2) sponsors attract MORE people to your event & 3) you make a profit before the event even happens!!!

[philv]

very good idea

[actariq2]

I have been promoting for about a year learn alot and hosted 14 events so far. Made money off of 70% of the parties and when I took loses it was thousands of dollars learning experiences. I would love to communicate with other promoters that are on this forum I believe we all can help each other out. If anyone interested please PM me..