A difference of scale

In my past life as a theater marketer and fundraiser I worked really hard to get two nickels to rub together. A good day at my last place of employment was $500 in ticket sales. An amazing day was $1,000. We had a capacity problem when we brought in over $1,500 - our staff of 1 couldn't support that many calls!

Today, a rainy and unseasonably cold Monday, my new job brought in over $2,000. That translates into 4 new clients. To achieve that same sales goal, without ticketing fees, you need 100 new clients for most small theaters.

I sent out a team of 3 to the Addison el stop today, handing out brochures to people on their way to work in the morning and on their way to the Cubs game in the middle of the day. Cost = $125 (brochures were printed last year)

If I get 2 new customers out of that effort, I've made a huge return. And the beauty with sailing is that once people are taught the basics, they can handle our small boats. We keep making money off of them because they keep wanting to go out.

Often theater people talk about how small an audience there is for your work. It is rare for me to go see a show and not run into someone I know, they are usually in the industry. I'd guess this is true for other industries as well.

More theaters should think about ways to create their own industry audience. How do you give patrons a participatory element in your programming, that will keep them coming back for more?

There isn't really a thorough line to this post, I'm talking about a couple of different ideas.

1. how much effort it takes to get patrons in the door of theaters
2. ways to create an 'industry' member mentality within your audience

Run with these ideas where you want!