If you ever feel like arts marketing is something that only an expert can tackle, this episode is for you. I’ll be the first to admit there are very smart people who have a thorough understanding of how to build an audience. A few of them like Alli Houseworth and... Read More »

The Indy Fringe Festival starts up this week. There are a lot of shows that I’ve been hearing about for weeks now, and some of them really have me chomping at the bit to see them. The kicker here for someone in Tim’s position, though, is: all of the shows... Read More »

It feels very appropriate to have Shara Ashley Zeiger as my guest on the Sold Out Run podcast because in this episode we talk about her recent… sold out run. In fact it was an extended run that sold out, and she was kind enough to share a little about... Read More »

A few weeks ago, I got a notice through Twitter that someone mentioned me in a tweet. That’s not at all unusual, that happens fairly regularly. But what was unusual was that I was mentioned by Ken Davenport. I’m guessing many of you listening recognize that name, but in case you... Read More »

You’re probably already familiar with some of the major players in the online ticket space. Vendini. Brown Paper Tickets. My guest today is William Rader, and none of the available ticket services were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. So he got to work creating one that did.... Read More »

Thom Britton reached out to me recently to talk about a problem that is usually overlooked here at Sold Out Run. Almost everything I create here is about growing your audience larger and larger. The assumption is that we always want more people. Well, after many years of dedication Thom... Read More »

A few weeks back I wrote a post on the blog about exactly when I send press releases to media outlets, and what I say when I’m reaching out to them. Almost immediately after I hit publish on that post, I started wondering how actual arts journalists would grade this... Read More »

I had the pleasure a little over a year ago of appearing in a show at the Lilly Theatre here in Indianapolis, which is a theatre that is contained within The Children’s Museum – a very large, well-respected… children’s museum… here in Indianapolis. It was a great experience for me... Read More »

This episode I want to talk about a question that was sent in by a listener. (Thanks, Jaco!) He asks about what to offer… he calls them investors, I use the word sponsors a lot… but these people that give you some money for the purposes of putting on a... Read More »

If you’re new to Sold Out Run, I make a marketing calendar available to download for free on the website. It’s a spreadsheet that lets you plan out when all the marketing activity for a show needs to be done. You can see how all the pieces fit together in... Read More »

Kelly and I come from the same school of thought in marketing: tell a story. And that’s not the only lesson she brings from her corporate marketing experience into the world of promoting theatre. In this episode: what theatres could be learning from “corporate” marketing – it involves knowing who you’re audience is and... Read More »

Season subscriptions are great for you, but are they great for your audience? The key to gaining and keeping subscribers is to make sure you provide them with something they feel is well worth their financial investment. Notice I didn’t say you need to provide them with something you feel... Read More »

Joni Lambert is not a marketing expert. She’s an artist who wanted to promote her show. With a little online searching she stumbled upon Sold Out Run, and that led her to completely sell out her show more than a week before she opened. I wanted to know how she... Read More »

A mutual friend introduced me to Curtis Shepard, and I’m very glad she did. Fringe festivals area a hectic time, and without that introduction I might not have made it out to see Curtis’s show Unmasked. (That’s marketing lesson #1.) Curtis is a thoughful, articulate guy who doesn’t have a... Read More »

In just a handful of years Bob has earned a reputation for consistently putting on quality productions, and the crowds that his shows draw are a testament to that. I wanted to bring him on and pick his brain about how he approaches finding the audience for each show. In this... Read More »

I wanted to bring Katie on the show because a lot of people in the general public have misconceptions about what her productions (burlesque) entail. This presents unique marketing challenges, and we dig into how Katie tackles these. Extra bonus this episode: In the comments below I invite you to... Read More »

I have a great listener question in this episode. Joni shares that booking agents she’s worked with swear up and down by using flyers to promote shows. She’s running into legal issues and wants to know what’s the right way to use them. The short answer is I think flyers can be a... Read More »

I was spending some time poking around Twitter on the subject of theatre marketing, and I came across Lollipop Marketing. They are an agency out of London with roots in Sydney, and I convinced founder Dave Levett to talk with me about what he’s figured out so far about marketing theatre.... Read More »

I talk a lot at Sold Out Run about the importance of having a marketing calendar for your theatre productions. (At least if you care about people seeing them.) But what goes on it? You can download the template I use and start making changes, but how far do you... Read More »

Some very successful discount aggregating services have popped up over the last few years, and they offer an interesting outlet to reach a new audience for your shows. As you might imagine there are both pros and cons to working with them, so when you balance all those out are... Read More »