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December 02 2008
12 Random Improv Tips
So you want to open an improv comedy club?
Here's 10 things to think about.
1. Remember it's a business. You need to focus on the business. Making it all about your particular artistic vision and NOT about running a business is like being a band and deciding you need to open a rock club. That doesn't make sense for a band, and if your primary goals are furthering your individual performance or directorial arts, you might be barking up the wrong tree.
2. You need a marketing plan. Expecting that you'll just open the door, put on some cool shows and people will show up is just plain stupid. Marketing, in a fundamental way, is about Product, Price, Promotion and Place. What Product are you putting up on the stage? At what Price? How will you Promote the show (let people know where you're at and what you're doing - radio ads? newspaper ads? a dedicated group sales manager?) Place - where is the club going to be? Is that a good location? Will people come to that neighborhood other than to find you? Is your location easy to find? Club owner's who don't think about these issues become ex-club owners. Somebody needs to focus exclusively on getting people in the door. Get a sales person, put them on commission.
3. Customer Service is the single most important thing you'll do. Comfortable seats, starting shows near their start time, doormen and waitstaff who smile and are friendly, these are all necessary to help people have a good experience at your place and want to return with their friends.
4. Track your audience. How did they hear about you? Have they been there before? How often? Why did they come? (We're they just looking for an evening of entertainment? Is it a party?) Who are they with? Did they come alone, with friends, on a date? Encourage feedback from your audience. How? Talk to them! Stop them on the way out, ask them what they liked, what they didn't like. Just ask questions and listen. Don't overreact to what they're doing, but track the trends.
5. After you track your audience, play to the trends. Not necessarily on stage, but with your marketing. Lots of people coming on dates? Make sure your marketing message talks about how it's a fun night for a couple? Lots of bachelorette parties? Then advertise at Bridal shops and with wedding planners?
6. Empower your audience to spread the word. Somebody returns and brings a friend? Let them in free for once! Want them to come back and bring someone? Give them a 2 for 1.
7. Get a liquor license, if at all possible. If not, can you let them bring their own booze. Booze and comedy are best friends. If you have a liquor license, get a bar manager. Someone who is going to be creative and clever about driving up sales at the bar. The bar can be a cash cow run properly, or an expensive luxury when run improperly.
8. More booze tips: Have a fancy drink menu. No one is going to order an $8.00 Chocolate Martini unless you put that notion in their head. Trust me on that one. Don't be shy about your pricing. Encourage upselling by waitstaff.
9. DON'T COMPETE ON PRICE. Compete on the quality of your shows. People don't buy iPhones because they're cheap. They buy them because they're good and do what they promise, and do it well. You've got to price the show reasonably, but will people come see a show because it's cheap? No they come because it's funny, or a friend told them it about it. Give them a good show and you can charge what a movie charges, or possibly in the range of a traditional theater.
10. Exploit alternative revenue sources. It's a rough business and you're going to need every revenue stream you can generate. Try to get corporate shows, offer classes, sell t-shirts, snacks, whatever it takes. But, take a look at tip #11
11. Pull it all together. Your place should have a look & feel that reflects your marketing message. Is it a fun time out for a group of friends? Then don't make it look like a place where you might get mugged (black paint, poor lighting, surly staff, etc.) Is it edgy, off-off main street entertainment for the alternative indie kids? Then DO make it look like a place where you might get mugged. This look and feel, should tie into who's coming in and what they value. Couples in their 30s on dates or out with friends for post dinner entertainment, don't want edgy in your face attitude (so drop the Pabst and .25 cent chips, and replace it with a Martini menu and gourmet snack mix). Primarily a young hip crowd, give them the Pabst and cheap chips. Don't be so eager for every single dollar that your place loses its unique charm. See tip #12
12. You can't be all things to all people. You end up being nothing to everyone. Once you figure out your core audience work on getting them and all their friends just like them back in the joint. Do you buy the same music or movies that your grandparents and 10 year old neice buy? Probably not. So why would you try to build a place that caters to everyone? Look at how restaurants niche themselves and try and get a certain crowd - that's what you're after.
One final note: these are just my thoughts and experiences. There's nothing hard and fast here. You can probably do none of these 12 things and still survive. But you want to give yourself the easiest path forward. Innovate on stage - not in your ability to try and run a business without regard to marketing, or other business considerations.
Good luck, and have fun. Even if you fall flat on your face, you can always say that you had the balls to try it, and can look back on your days running the joint and take pride in doing it.
Here's 10 things to think about.
1. Remember it's a business. You need to focus on the business. Making it all about your particular artistic vision and NOT about running a business is like being a band and deciding you need to open a rock club. That doesn't make sense for a band, and if your primary goals are furthering your individual performance or directorial arts, you might be barking up the wrong tree.
2. You need a marketing plan. Expecting that you'll just open the door, put on some cool shows and people will show up is just plain stupid. Marketing, in a fundamental way, is about Product, Price, Promotion and Place. What Product are you putting up on the stage? At what Price? How will you Promote the show (let people know where you're at and what you're doing - radio ads? newspaper ads? a dedicated group sales manager?) Place - where is the club going to be? Is that a good location? Will people come to that neighborhood other than to find you? Is your location easy to find? Club owner's who don't think about these issues become ex-club owners. Somebody needs to focus exclusively on getting people in the door. Get a sales person, put them on commission.
3. Customer Service is the single most important thing you'll do. Comfortable seats, starting shows near their start time, doormen and waitstaff who smile and are friendly, these are all necessary to help people have a good experience at your place and want to return with their friends.
4. Track your audience. How did they hear about you? Have they been there before? How often? Why did they come? (We're they just looking for an evening of entertainment? Is it a party?) Who are they with? Did they come alone, with friends, on a date? Encourage feedback from your audience. How? Talk to them! Stop them on the way out, ask them what they liked, what they didn't like. Just ask questions and listen. Don't overreact to what they're doing, but track the trends.
5. After you track your audience, play to the trends. Not necessarily on stage, but with your marketing. Lots of people coming on dates? Make sure your marketing message talks about how it's a fun night for a couple? Lots of bachelorette parties? Then advertise at Bridal shops and with wedding planners?
6. Empower your audience to spread the word. Somebody returns and brings a friend? Let them in free for once! Want them to come back and bring someone? Give them a 2 for 1.
7. Get a liquor license, if at all possible. If not, can you let them bring their own booze. Booze and comedy are best friends. If you have a liquor license, get a bar manager. Someone who is going to be creative and clever about driving up sales at the bar. The bar can be a cash cow run properly, or an expensive luxury when run improperly.
8. More booze tips: Have a fancy drink menu. No one is going to order an $8.00 Chocolate Martini unless you put that notion in their head. Trust me on that one. Don't be shy about your pricing. Encourage upselling by waitstaff.
9. DON'T COMPETE ON PRICE. Compete on the quality of your shows. People don't buy iPhones because they're cheap. They buy them because they're good and do what they promise, and do it well. You've got to price the show reasonably, but will people come see a show because it's cheap? No they come because it's funny, or a friend told them it about it. Give them a good show and you can charge what a movie charges, or possibly in the range of a traditional theater.
10. Exploit alternative revenue sources. It's a rough business and you're going to need every revenue stream you can generate. Try to get corporate shows, offer classes, sell t-shirts, snacks, whatever it takes. But, take a look at tip #11
11. Pull it all together. Your place should have a look & feel that reflects your marketing message. Is it a fun time out for a group of friends? Then don't make it look like a place where you might get mugged (black paint, poor lighting, surly staff, etc.) Is it edgy, off-off main street entertainment for the alternative indie kids? Then DO make it look like a place where you might get mugged. This look and feel, should tie into who's coming in and what they value. Couples in their 30s on dates or out with friends for post dinner entertainment, don't want edgy in your face attitude (so drop the Pabst and .25 cent chips, and replace it with a Martini menu and gourmet snack mix). Primarily a young hip crowd, give them the Pabst and cheap chips. Don't be so eager for every single dollar that your place loses its unique charm. See tip #12
12. You can't be all things to all people. You end up being nothing to everyone. Once you figure out your core audience work on getting them and all their friends just like them back in the joint. Do you buy the same music or movies that your grandparents and 10 year old neice buy? Probably not. So why would you try to build a place that caters to everyone? Look at how restaurants niche themselves and try and get a certain crowd - that's what you're after.
One final note: these are just my thoughts and experiences. There's nothing hard and fast here. You can probably do none of these 12 things and still survive. But you want to give yourself the easiest path forward. Innovate on stage - not in your ability to try and run a business without regard to marketing, or other business considerations.
Good luck, and have fun. Even if you fall flat on your face, you can always say that you had the balls to try it, and can look back on your days running the joint and take pride in doing it.
