The web has literally opened up the world as your audience. Take advantage of every way to reach your audience with the new interactive marketing tools.

Chad Bauman iMarketing workshop

• PowerPoint presentation (4.2 MB) - This is a large file. Please be patient while it downloads.
• The Case for Using MySpace.com in the Marketing Mix

E-Mail Blasts

A great way to communicate with your audience is through e-mails. They are free to send, or, if you use a service to keep track of your communications, it is affordable (see below).

• Sample marketing e-mail

The most important part of using e-mail? Capture e-mail addresses!!!

How to capture e-mail addresses

• Every ticket sold through your office or box office should ask "May I have your e-mail address? May we send you information via e-mail?"
• At every performance, have a raffle. That's right, a raffle for something worthwhile. On the sign-up slip, ask for e-mail address and add the line "May we send you information via e-mail? Yes or No."
• At any special event where you have a booth (e.g. an art fair or festival), have a raffle (see above).
• On your website, on the HOME PAGE, have a way for people to sign up for information. "Sign up for e-mail about our new season."
• On any written form that people send in, ask for the e-mail address.

Text E-mails vs. HTML E-mails

You are no doubt very familiar with a regular text e-mail. It is all words. Sometimes there is a "hyperlink" which you can click on and goes immediately to another website. Any text e-mail will help you inform the recipient about your organization.

An HTML e-mail is more attractive and exciting. The phrase "HTML" refers to techno-jargon that you don't have to understand. But what it means is that you need a special program to create the e-mail (not just typing) and a special way to send it through the internet (not just "SEND").

Here are examples of the same information, one done in text e-mail and one done with HTML.

• RAC Brainstorm E-mail in Text
• RAC Brainstorm E-mail in HTML

Create a "MySpace" Page

Today many cultural and arts groups are using MySpace to market themselves. It's FREE! And it's a great way to publicize your calendar, let the public listen to your music or watch your video.

When you create a "MySpace" page, your organization immediately becomes part of an incredibly large community of people looking to make "friends" with other people and groups.

To create a free MySpace page:

1. Determine which kind of account makes sense for your organization:
   • a standard account
   • a music account - includes the capability to upload up to four MP3's of your group's music
   • a filmmaker account
2. Visit www.myspace.com and click the orange "Sign Up!" button. (Music groups: click on "Music" in the light blue bar and then "Artist Sign Up" in the red bar.)
3. Follow the prompts to fill out your organization's profile.
4. You're done!!

You can customize your MySpace page to your heart's content: add photos, video clips, and upcoming events - almost anything you can imagine!

Also, be sure to explore the other features of MySpace: start a blog for your organization, a forum group for those interested in the specific discipline (or join one if it already exists), and post your upcoming events to the MySpace Calendar.