Marketing Your Kansas Arts on Tour Performances, Workshops and Exhibitions
1. Have a website
If you don’t already have a website, here are some free or inexpensive website services*:
Ask your friends to help you if you’re not tech-savvy or not comfortable writing. Make sure your website is:
- User friendly
- Well written and describes your work in an engaging way
- Has lively photographs
- Has audio and video downloads or links (to YouTube or Picasa or other services) so potential presenters can see what you do
- Links to your email address and has a telephone number.
2. Input the list of Kansas presenters into a e-mail group for easy e-mailing
Right away:
- Send the presenters an e-mail saying you are available for touring and that the Kansas Arts Commission is accepting applications for program underwriting.
Even better:
- Subscribe to an inexpensive e-mail service such as Constant Contact or Patron Mail so that your e-mails are well designed and in html format.
- Plan a six-month series of e-mails – once a month – to presenters. Each month, feature a different news item about you or your artistic career (you won an award; your troupe is featuring a new play; you just completed an east coast tour and received rave reviews, etc.).
3. Design, print and mail a postcard to all presenters
Templates are available at www.overnightprints.com or fedex.com/office.
- Make the font easy to read and at least 12-point in size. Your postcard should be informative but not too crammed in.
- Keep the text lively, informative and fun – use engaging action words to make presenters want to learn more.
- Drive presenters to your website for more information.
4. Get on the phone!
- Call presenters and tell them you would love to perform in their venue.
- Let them know that your prices are reasonable and that you have shows/exhibits/workshops for different audiences.
- Provide references (other presenters).
- Tell them they can find more information on your website.
5. Participate in booking events
- Make sure you take advantage of every opportunity to present and talk about your work – booking events, the Kansas Sampler Festival, other festivals.
- Get listed on other touring rosters (Mid-America Arts Alliance, for example)
- Remember, you have to spend money to make money. Make sure you budget for marketing costs when you set your performance fees. Invest your earnings back in your business and consider marketing one of the costs of doing business.
* The Kansas Arts Commission lists these services as a courtesy to our constituents to provide an idea of what is available. No endorsement or recommendation of these is implied.
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