So it’s very disappointing, after a venue has been set, activities finalised, speakers or performers booked and behind-scenes helpers arranged, to realise that nobody knows about your event.

That’s what happened recently when we were called in to help publicise a big community event just weeks before it started. Running over several days and with the potential to attract people from across the country, we realised that publicity should have been started months before to pull in the largest number of visitors.

Thanks to social media tools, including twitter and facebook, and some quick public relations, we were able to secure coverage in the regional press, a local radio interview and a regional TV mention on the day, but we could have achieved so much more if we’d been brought in earlier.

With planning and preparation in good time, there’s a lot you can do to publicise an event and attract lots of people to it. Here’s a brief guide to what you can do.

What do you need?

Work backwards to determine deadlines and create an activity schedule

Deciding how far in advance you need to publicise an event is one of the first tasks.

Depending on the type of event you’re organising, deadlines for each promotional activity will differ. For example, if you’re organising an international event aimed at visitors from other countries, you’ll need to take into account the time people need to make their travel arrangements and book accommodation. They probably won’t be able to jump on a plane and fly over at a moment’s notice, but will need to be targeted many months in advance. On the other hand, a small local event could require several weeks’ notice.

Publications all have deadlines and you need to send information to them in time for them to include it before printing and distribution. Some monthly magazines need information several months in advance, while newspapers and online media often work to shorter deadlines. Use these deadlines to create an activity schedule so that you know when each task needs to be completed.

Who do you want to attract?

If you’re staging a performance, the target audience is likely to be those people who like live entertainment. You can break this down further, depending on whether it’s music, theatre, comedy or another type of act. You can do the same for other activities, such as sports or hobbies.

With business events, your event could appeal to small or large businesses, those in a specific sector, people with similar job types, eg marketing or human resources, or other group.

Identifying the target market you want to attract is essential if you are to reach them through your publicity and advertising.

How much promotion do you need?

A one-off seminar with 10 places will probably need less publicity than a seven-day run of theatrical performances with an audience capacity of 3,500. Each event will have different requirements and so it’s best to determine the amount of promotion required. What budget do you need to reach this number of people? How many posters, flyers or other material will you need to print? How long will it take you to prepare and distribute material?

Your answers will help you to fine tune your activity schedule.

How do you reach your audience?

Find out what publications and media serve your target group. Anglers will read fishing magazines or visit specialist web sites, while lawyers will read the legal press and monitor web sites for legal professionals.

Advertising, press releases, events listings, newsletters and social media campaigns can all be used to promote your event. Advertise community events with posters in shop windows and banners in the street, and approach local television and radio stations. Promote business events through printed and email newsletters, and press releases sent to general or specialist business press. There are many media channels available.

Social media tools are ideal for promoting events and you can use these to talk about an event, where it is, what it’s about and what people will get out of it. You can also take advantage of viral opportunities for people to pass on details to all their family, friends or contacts. As well as press releases and written material, use videos of previous or similar events to show people exactly what they can expect.

How do you persuade people to book?

It’s easiest when you have a dedicated box office which people can phone to book tickets or an online booking service where they can reserve and pay for tickets at any time.

Make ticket booking phone numbers and web addresses prominent on all adverts and posters and in all press material. Make it as easy as possible for people to make a booking.

All forms of online promotion can link directly to the booking page. You can also post the event on twitter, facebook and online entertainment or event sites. There are services such as schmap.it which help you promote events on twitter, while you can create events listings in Facebook.

Of course, the description of your event has to be appealing and photographs and images always help to attract interest.

Is that everything?

There’s no end to what you can do to promote an event and the main limitations will be time and budget. It’s worth deciding how much time and money you want to spend promoting your event before you start organising it. If you’re looking to generate a profit, you don’t want to spend more advertising it than it will generate in ticket and other sales.

What is most important is that, whatever event you organise, you publicise it as widely as required in good time so that people who are interested do not miss it.

z2ztip3 – look out for further z2ztips at z2z.biz

Amazingly, high quality graphics, stunning photos and compelling headlines can all be pushed into the background by a single spelling mistake. It’s often the first thing a reader will notice.

What can a proofreader check?
Using a proofreader to check your publication or web site protects your marketing investment and ensures that readers do notice your graphics, your photos, your headlines.

A proofreader can not only check
> spelling
> grammar
> punctuation

but also
> page headers and footers
> page numbers
> headings

Other elements that can be proofread for consistency include
> use of capital letters
> names, titles and brands
> colours, positioning and size of graphics
> clickable web links

Don’t lose sales because of errors
It’s not only minor spelling mistakes that make people stop reading or put them off buying. If readers don’t understand text or find it confusing, they often give up and look elsewhere. If the purpose of your text is to sell, confusion could lose you sales. A proofreader can make sure that your text does make sense and can highlight any passages that are unclear or confusing.

People can also be stopped from buying if prices and other facts are incorrect or an advertised event day or date is wrong. If required, a proofreader can check that the day matches the date.

Depending on the brief, a proofreader can check
> facts, figures and prices
> postal and web addresses
> telephone numbers
> times, days and dates

Prevent problems before your deadline
Involving a proofreader early on can ensure you iron out any problems long before you get to the production stage. You’ll have less to worry about when pressure starts to build as your deadline approaches.

It’s better to flag and correct problems before you print your brochure or magazine rather than discover them when you’re looking at the printed version with 500, 1,000, 10,000 copies or more sitting in boxes, all with the same mistakes.

What does proofreading cost?
Proofreading will add a small amount to your overall production costs, but can increase the return on investment from your marketing by making it more effective.

Rather than quote you hourly rates, which mean nothing on their own, we can give you a final price so that you know the cost for each project before we start work on it.

Discuss your brief with a proofreader now
Whether you want to ensure that apostrophes are in the right places or need a catalogue checked for accurate prices, a proofreader can pick up errors and inconsistencies of every size, eliminating potential problems that you would have to deal with after publication.

To discuss how we can proofread your material,
please call Robert or Simon Zarywacz
0845 200 7830
or visit
proofreadingresources.co.uk

They can’t tell if you don’t have a good photograph. And many people in business still don’t have a decent photograph of themselves.

What do you need?

Why do you need good photos?
It no longer surprises me when someone has taken the effort to write and distribute a press release but hasn’t thought about an accompanying photo or image. They will probably spend hours trying to get in front of an important potential client, forgetting that they could also get noticed by having their photo published alongside an article.

When I do ask, often I receive a photo taken at low resolution with a mobile phone camera or a badly composed picture taken in an office with battered box files and piles of filing in the background.

How do you get a good photo?
I’d recommend a professionally taken photograph, but even a well composed shot at high resolution against an uncluttered background is a step in the right direction.

That means a JPEG file with a resolution of 300 dots per inch at a size of 500K to 1MB or more, depending on the efficiency of the camera and any photo editing software (if you use it).

What can you do with it?
Add it to your web site, online networking profiles, send it with press releases or articles. Before long, people will see your face popping up everywhere and be more aware of who you are.

More importantly, if you get a call out of the blue asking you to comment on a topic in the media, you’ll have a photo ready to send so that not only will you sound professional, you’ll look professional too.

And just to show that we practise what we preach, we’ve included a photo of z2z partners Robert (I’m on the left) and Simon.

z2ztip 1 – look out for further z2ztips.

What can we help you with?
Zarywacz can provide specific services . . .

• copywriting • blogging • editing • magazines • proofreading •
• public relations • social media • web site management •

. . . as and when you need them. You decide how much we do so that you maintain control over projects but get the back-up you need. We can assist your existing team or handle new projects.

Flexible resources
If you produce magazines, newsletters or reports on a regular basis, call us in specifically to work on these so you don’t need to employ additional staff or provide extra desk space or equipment. Because you only pay for the work we do, your budget will go further while maintaining your activity schedule.

We can also manage entire projects (eg producing a publication from start to finish), liaising with your own team and your other suppliers. This is useful where you experience occasional peaks of activity or if you need extra resources when your employees are on leave or absent.

Pay by day or project
Choose whether to pay a fixed price per project or by the day. Because we do not have the costly overheads of large agencies, we deliver a combination of quality and value for money.

We provide outsourced marketing services to large commercial corporations, public sector organisations and charities. This has included proofreading for a major UK supermarket chain, international insurance companies and a UK university, PR writing for a subsidiary of a global chemicals company, web site management for a UK charity and consumer magazine, business journalism for a local newspaper.

Fully equipped with computers, software, broadband internet and our own offices, we are ready to supply the service you require.

Please call Robert on
0845 200 7830
to discuss how our outsourced marketing services
can support your department
or visit
z2z.com
for our full range of services.