A couple weeks ago, I made the following point: “Without meaning to, I’d say our industry has made it pretty hard to buy live entertainment. Ticket buyers are generally confused, frustrated, suspicious and trepidatious.” That’s right. As a group, we put obstacles in the path of people who are just trying to give us money and attend our events. This sucks, but let’s stay positive for a moment and look at the beginning of my sentence: “Without meaning to …” Well … true...

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Happy #TBT! Here’s an oldie-but-goodie post from Jim: You Know What Customers Love? Rules. I understand the reasons that the secondary market gives some venue operators the heebie-jeebies. Any kind of disorder or chaos created by sellers acting badly in the secondary market rolls downhill onto them when the customers who bought tickets from the secondary market actually arrive at the venue. Most obviously, fraudulently sold tickets are a real bummer. Imagine that a ticket broker sells a phony ticket, gets the...

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A recent Story of Telling post asks, "When did you last spend time watching what your customers do?" Its point is that people's actions can speak louder than words. The post explains: "We tend to think of our customers as intentional, rational human beings -- which is why we spend a lot of our time marketing to their heads. We make and market better products and services by working harder to get a glimpse of their hearts." Jim expresses a similar...

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According to Convince and Convert, four billion people will be online by 2020 -- which reinforces what Jim has written on this blog: Mobile gets you everyone. Below are a few more surprising statistics that confirm our need to be where the people are -- and you can read more stats at Convince and Convert. "97 Percent of Adults Use Social Media 97 percent of online adults regularly visit social networks. Also according to Global Web Index, social media captures up to 30 percent of an...

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Happy #TBT! Here’s an oldie-but-goodie post from Jim: All About the LUV. People in arts and entertainment (but especially the arts) are fairly self-critical about their attitude toward audiences, and with good reason. The arrogance that it takes to ignore the people who are paying your bills is unattractive by almost any measure. But it’s worth saying that this dysfunction of thought is by no means limited to arts and entertainment folks. By contrast, that arrogance I was just talking about seems...

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According to HubSpot, "78% of people watch videos online every week, and 55% watch videos online every day." Video marketing is a great way to reach and engage with your customers. Check out the infographic below from HighQ, which points out why 2017 will be the year of video marketing. Got a comment or question? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

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Happy #TBT. To celebrate, we’re sharing an oldie-but-goodie post from Jim: (What’s So Funny ’bout) Speaking Like a Human Being A colleague of mine got an email from a well-known e-commerce site the other day that said this. (I took out anything I thought could identify the company or product.) Dear [xxxxx], We at [xxxx] work tirelessly to bring our members luxury products and experiences that exceed their expectations, all at exclusive prices. We also strive to provide the best support possible, especially if...

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Are you creating marketing campaigns that allow people to experience what it is you're selling? This idea is called experiential marketing. "You’re creating an opportunity to interact with your brand in person," explains Amanda Zantal-Wiener for HubSpot, "and 65% of brands that use it say that it positively correlates with sales." Zantal-Wiener continues, "but you’ll still want an online dialogue around it. When you consider that 49% of folks create mobile video at branded events -- 39% of which is shared...

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At this year's SXSW, Whole Foods is launching a new food truck concept, offering open-faced sandwiches known as tartines, reports Brandchannel. And food isn't the only thing the chain is serving up. According to the article, there's a three-day free music event taking place on the rooftop of the downtown Whole Foods, and the retailer is hosting sunset yoga sessions and presenting a session at SXSW about on-demand grocery deliver. Read more here about how Whole Foods is trying new ways to connect with...

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Do you know what your customers love and loathe, fear or anticipate? This is just one of the questions Entrepreneur contributor Jayson Demers asks in his article listing 10 ways to know your target audience. We've highlighted four ways below, and then read about the rest here. "Challenge your assumptions. The first step is the most important, since it may even help you redefine your target audience. Don’t assume anything. Let’s say you’ve decided your target market is middle-aged women. Why?...

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