Important points to remember while contracting Event Venue

1) Whatever you negotiate, whatever that is offered to/by you or mutually agreed upon (including venue services, fees, items' cost, rules and restrictions), should be specified in a written format on a stamp paper duly signed by the parties who are entering into the contract and who are legally competent and authorized to enter into a contract. 

Never negotiate anything verbally. If the other party refuses to accept your proposal or their own promises in a written format, then don't do business with them. 

2) Decide the compensation in case your event is forced to shut down or cancelled because of: noise ordinance, venue staff strike, change in the management staff, change in the ownership of the venue, buy outs, bankruptcies or other guests housed by the venue who are not associated with your event.  

3) Make sure that the contract guarantees:

- The booked dates, time, venue space, return of deposits.

- Exact, itemized list of all the services promised and the fees associated with those promised services including maximum cost (i.e. the cost will not go over this amount)

- Promises and commitments discussed and agreed upon.

 4) Never sign a contract immediately after the venue inspection. Take a copy of the contract agreement home/office. Read it thoroughly several times and discuss it with your team members and attorney. Compare the contract with contracts of other venues and then accept/reject it. 

5) Always consult your personal attorney to review the contract for you and make sure that the contract protects your interests against forceful shutdown of the event, venue staff's strike/shortage, change in the management staff or ownership of the venue, buy outs, bankruptcies or violation of any agreement or clause.  

During contracting with the venue manager make sure that your contract contains the following clauses:

1) There should be no construction/repair work of the venue building or any of its parts without prior approval on the day of the event. (Decide the compensation with the venue manager if this clause is violated.) 

2) No other event can take place in the venue on the day of my event. (If this is not possible then make sure that the other event doesn’t affect the services provided to you by the venue like shortage of staff or parking space. It should not produce any party noise, music or announcement that affects your event's programs. Decide the compensation with the venue manager if this clause is violated.)

3) This contract is all inclusive and no other oral or written contract exists between the two parties stated in this agreement.

Some Advertising Ideas for Small Businesses

Newspaper advertising

Besides box ads and advertising inserts, local newspapers also often offer special advertising features showcasing particular businesses – all powerful small business advertising opportunities. Don’t overlook special interest newspapers as an advertising idea if they exist in your area. They may be delivered to exactly the audience you want to reach.

Direct mail

Direct mail can be very effective small business advertising – and is much more favourably received than other direct marketing media, such as email or telemarketing. And even if you don’t have a mailing list, you can still geographically target your mail.

Magazine advertising

This advertising idea can be a very effective way of reaching a target market. The trick is to choose the magazines or e-zines that best match the market you’re targeting.

Business cards

Sure, they’re advertising. Every time you hand one out to a prospective client or customer, you’re advertising your small business. But why not take this advertising idea further and Make Your Business Card a Marketing Vehicle?

Joining professional/business organizations

Every professional or business organization offers exclusive advertising opportunities for their members, ranging from free promotion on the organization’s website through special section newspaper advertising. And being a member can be good small business advertising in itself.

Vehicle advertising

The reason you see so many vehicles emblazoned with advertising is that it works; vehicle advertising is very visible small business advertising. If you’re not ready for custom graphics or a magnet quad sign that sit atop your vehicle, go for a magnetic sign that you can take off when you want.

Advertising Ideas You May Not Have Tried Yet

Sending promos with invoices

Little advertising ideas can be powerful, too. If you’re sending out an invoice, why not take the opportunity to include some small business advertising? To draw new customers, try something such as a “bring-a-friend” promotion.

Cable TV advertising

So you can’t afford to advertise your business during the Super Bowl. That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the household reach of TV. Cable TV companies offer advertising ideas within the budget of small businesses, from advertising on the TV Guide Listings or Real Estate channels through running infomercials.

Essentials for an RJ

Be yourself: Create your own image. Don’t try to imitate anyone. Be clear about your likes and dislikes.

Talk one to one: A Radio jockey should converse in such a way that one who is listening to him should feel as if The RJ is talking only to him. That means RJ should not address the masses but to a single person.

Get to the meat of the link: RJs who speak more become very boring so a good RJ should have an ability to convey his thoughts or whatever he want to say in minimum words that too impressively .He should be able to paint a picture before the audience with his words.

Some more essentials for being a good RJ

Music

RJ is all about music. Thus, Intensive knowledge of music is precondition to be RJ 

Personality

RJ should carry vivacious personality and should be young from heart and who loves talking to people and believe in its own performance. RJ is original and has own style. The language he speaks is very normal but he treys to spice it up so that what he presents comes out differently and sounds interesting to the listeners. The foremost condition of RJ nature is hanging your shyness, embarrassment, inhibition and reserve nature in your wardrobe. Simply come out of it and make yourself open. 

Voice

Modulating voice should be your style of speaking. Monotones speech in single flow without any ups and downs will make you to lose your audience. So sound different every time. A friendly and interesting voice is a necessary attribute, but not an all-sufficient one. 

Humor

Lifeline of radio chatting is humour. Jokes or mimicry helps you further. Saying something witty and very direct way to say will leave a mark on your audience. Do something that's normal and at the same time that has not been done in radio before. 

Resource

Radio jockeying is not only garrulous and whimsical remarks.So be resourceful about the information that people generally miss It is about delivering important news and keeps people well informed for the happenings. So always be resourceful. 

Be Friendly!

The listeners should be able to relate to you. Why would they want to listen to a stranger? Try to be one among them and always be a friend so that they can relate to you. You need to listen to somebody who is a friend of us. Be like how kids talk in schools and guys talk in colleges, how friends talk when they are going out to eat or drink. 

The competition is tough and it takes more than a good voice to woo the audience. There are some who believe that RJ is born and not made. General advice is to listen to a lot of radio, try to put yourself in the shoes of listeners, try and come up with innovative ideas, use oodles of wit and pack your voice with energy.

5 Lessons From Print Ads

Designers have been printing advertisements in newspapers, magazines, and circulars for years. Print advertising creates and reinforces a company’s brand. Successful print advertising motivates readers to call or act on the information. Print advertisers are adept at compressing their concepts to a single message.

Plan on repetition- Readers do not see advertisements immediately. They will subconsciously register the words, but they will not truly read them until the second, third, or tenth time seeing them. The print advertiser relies on repetition of their idea. They will run their ads in ten or twelve successive issues of a publication rather than in a single instance. These print designers realize that in order to reach the most readers, they need to take the long view.

Have a solid idea of company branding- When a print designer creates an advertisement, they are reinforcing the brand of that company. Everything that the company presents, including font selection, graphics, and verbiage, affect the brand within the reader’s eyes. There is limited space in an advertisement to convey both the advertised product and the company, so ad creators will have passion and purpose behind the logos that they create. The print designer has created the logo and the first campaign long before ink reaches the pages of the magazine.

Many print advertisers realize that a magazine or circular offers limited space with which to make a point. Instead, they will use snippets of information to make the reader curious enough to take action. These actions can range from calling, visiting the website or physically walking into the store. Business wonders realize that a lot of money is made from mailing lists and catalogs. Those catalogs offer great material about a variety of products where the readers are not immediately forced to purchase items. That lack of pressure draws in the reader, making them more likely to purchase.

Simplicity is paramount- Simple words are essential for the print designer. They wish to condense their message down to its most component parts while shying away from issuing direct orders to the reader. They use bulleted text, highlighting emphasized points with spot color. They will choose the small and simple words in their arsenal, rather than immediately reaching for the large ones. That simplicity allows the marketer to reach more of the readership.

Headlines are the most important part of the print ad- The advertiser needs something which will capture the reader’s eye. A cute and clever headline will draw readers to the advertisement and the simple body text will seal the deal. The print designer will aim for a title that is short and sweet, adequately conveying their client’s message in as few words as possible.

9 Steps to Successful Event Management

Event management is a union between project management and marketing. The secret to sensational events is early and detailed project planning. Additionally excellent communication, including keeping each key team member/stake holder informed regularly.

Planning should include 9 key elements for success:

1. Purpose - Why are you having the event? Is it a rare networking opportunity. To highlight exciting opportunities with new technology. To launch a new product or service.  
2. Outcomes - What do you want to achieve from the event especially for the audience? Each outcome statement suggests a different approach to strategy, content and marketing. An example might be: “delegates will have opportunities to sample suppliers’ products and services”.
3. Size - Target market analysis will help ascertain the number of candidates you might expect. Size dictates venue, catering and logistics required as well as marketing goals. How many numbers do you need to break even and how easy will it be to achieve this given the target market, are they receptive to events like this?
4. Strategies - Strategies are about how to achieve your outcomes. E.g.: the theme, speaker’s schedule and topics, hospitality, security, technology. Each strategy must be thoroughly planned and aligned with the purpose, the target market and key messages. Additionally a marketing strategy to attract both delegates and sponsors.
5. Timeline - Unlike many general projects, planning an event will have strict deadlines with little margin for error. For this reason it is vital that planning begin early.
6. Budget - Be realistic about how much you can afford and what you would like to receive for your investment. Research will help you identify where you can receive the best value for money. Many events engage sponsors who wish to promote their product / service in exchange for a fee to help cover the costs of the event. Sponsors can be pitched at varying levels, e.g. gold, silver and bronze sponsors with sponsor costs to reflect the level. Additionally offer a satchel insert to other participants and an entry level price.
7. Responsibilities - An often undervalued skill in event project management is the ability to delegate appropriately. The co-ordinator ensures there are people available when needed with skills to undertake all the tasks required to implement strategy.
8. Risk Assessment - No plan is complete without a detailed risk assessment and strategies to manage risks as they emerge.
9. Measurement - You will want to repeat a successful event, so include ways to effectively measure achievement of outcomes.