Marketing a minicon--please give your two cents!

[HouseofComics.Com]

I know there's an impressive wealth of experience and creativity on the boards so I thought I'd toss this out there. If you were going to start a small (very small!) show, how would you market it?

 

What I'm doing is a comic book and rock poster show at a rock poster gallery in downtown Berkeley. This means I skip a lot of the venue headaches of renting a place, etc. and can even load in the night before. Also, I hope there's a fun crossover between comics and rock posters, given that the posters are almost always illustrated. I'd like to get that 1970s or 1980s laid-back vibe going where you can drop by, talk comics, see cool comics, etc. I don't think there's been a show in Berkeley in the last ten years and there's only one annual east bay show, one big show in San Jose, and then Wondercon in San Francisco. There are toy shows in San Jose that have a real scattering of comic dealers. So the area is under-served compared to many other cities which have quarterly shows.

 

http://rockposters.dking-gallery.com/

 

I'm going to be able to bring a lot of books for once and there is room for two other comic dealers. I generally want another good vintage dealer and someone with lots of modern comics for variety. The first time we have Comic Relief, which is the powerhouse local LCS and another dealer who has a 5000 item ebay store who will bring a few expensive 10-centers and a lot of moderns. I hope to do 3-4 shows a year.

 

The inaugural show is in about a month so what does everyone suggest? Feel free to add insights to any of these or add your own categories.

 

1) Craigslist. Weekly postings leading up to the show, prize drawings if you send me your email.

They will stress the rotating dealers, what's news, what's fun, and ask for wantlists so dealers can bring what they specifically want to the show.

 

2) My own mailing list of local con goers which I've assiduously gathered over the past five years.

 

3) Local comic stores, if they will carry fliers or have something in the window. Same goes for Berkeley's famed record stores.

 

4) Possibly fliers at other student hangouts, libraries, etc.

 

5) Whatever kind of free listings I can get in the local free papers. There may be an advertising budget for the student newspaper and the free Berkeley paper (which is a weekly). I sort of consider the first show "practice" so am hesitent to make a giant push the first time.

 

6) In the future I'll try to have fliers at the other local shows during the year.

 

7) We'll also have a solid web page talking about parking, what's new, etc.

 

So what am I missing? What can I improve on? How would you be most likely to find out about a new show in your city?

 

Thanks,

Marc

[Tomega]

Marketing a minicon--please give your two cents!

 

 

 

When marketing a minicon, anticipate trouble with the Decepticon's. Better make sure there is a strong Autobot showing..................

[Transplant]

Go on TV and promise to give away a copy of Action 1. Tell the sucker when they get there that it's a reprint. Laugh all the way to the bank.

 

Seriously, I think you've got it really well covered Marc.

[DiceX]

Go on TV and promise to give away a copy of Action 1. Tell the sucker when they get there that it's a reprint. Laugh all the way to the bank.

 

Seriously, I think you've got it really well covered Marc.

 

That's actually a pretty good idea.

 

 

[aardvark88]

marc,

If your 1st show is successful and you wish to double your square footage in the future, here is a sample vendor solicitation from Craigslist.org in the Vancouver, BC area for your consideration:

 

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/clt/1064321546.html

[HouseofComics.Com]

Sweet, thank you!

[aardvark88]

marc,

I assume your 1st mini-con is on a Sunday, as a lot of students and some adults work Sat.

[innocuous]

Get the Cal student paper to write an article. Free advertising to thousands of college students. Repeat with other local schools.

[the blob]

yeah, seems like berkeley is a no brainer for that sort of thing other than venues nearby likely being pretty expensive

[HouseofComics.Com]

marc,

I assume your 1st mini-con is on a Sunday, as a lot of students and some adults work Sat.

 

Why is Saturday that much different from Sunday in that regard? If you're working retail you're probably working one of those two days anyway. I guess you could be working at all the events on Saturday. Anyway, we're going with Saturday because of parking concerns. Sunday is a giant movie-going day in Berkeley with about 18 screens just 1-2 blocks away. I think we need the turnover of parking spaces that a Saturday provides. Parking will be less of a consideration once an underground parking garage opens a 1/2 block away. Don't think that will happen by April 18th, our first date, but probably all future ones.

 

I do hope to experiment with Sundays as well, though in the fall you're competing with two pro football teams in the area. Of course on Saturdays you have Cal football.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Get the Cal student paper to write an article. Free advertising to thousands of college students. Repeat with other local schools.

 

Really glad you reminded me about that one. I've thought of it but shouldn't let it go. I'm still a bit stuck on whether it would be better to get an article about first one or the second one when all the kinks are worked out.

[HouseofComics.Com]

There are actually a couple of writers for the SF Chronicle that I will target as well. One has written very nice human interest stories on Wondercon before and the other does a lot of the pop culture reviewing for the paper. For other media coverage I'll probably lean on the music angle as it's more mainstream.

[catrick339]

Talk with any local science fiction, or comics or toy clubs in the area and ask them to link to your website from theirs. The more links the better the traffic.

 

I've seen flyer tables at many toy and comic shows over the years, antique shows too. Be sure to see if you can put out a stack of flyers.

 

 

[HouseofComics.Com]

That's a good one. I don't know of any comics clubs. How would I find the others? Or a rock music club for that matter?

[aardvark88]

Historically, Sat. pop culture or collectibles show in the Vancouver, BC area draw 1/2 the attendance of a Sunday con. Ppl are used to weekly Sunday fleamarkets or bi-monthly collectible swap meets on their "day of rest." Though, we don't have as many parking concerns since we don't get huge crowds out to support football or soccer.

[HouseofComics.Com]

half! :o :tonofbricks: :frustrated: :pullhair: ?

[HouseofComics.Com]

Sidenote: Why is Saturday the big day of the three-day cons? Because it's the first day that most people aren't working and it's such a big deal that they put it on their calendars and such?

 

I guess Saturday is a busier day if you have kids, more kids soccer etc. I know one customer has high school wrestling on Saturdays but that's going to be out of season.

 

The local one-day shows in Sacramento and Hayward are on Sundays.

[aardvark88]

marc,

I assume you have double checked the loading zone to make sure it does not have stairs (unless you were planning on throwing a 4 x 8 foot plank down to assist hand trucks toppling over with long boxes).

 

I guess Yahoo Groups or eBay also has vintage vinyl LP collectors newsgroup that you could post on. Seems like they send out emails weekly with topics of discussion or debate. May not be geographically segregated like Craigslist. Target market. (thumbs u

 

Not sure if you want to set up a hot dog stand surrounded by paper or vinyl collectibles. Dealers get hungry and if the collectors get a snack, they may browse longer (or spill a Coke Zero on your war comics).

[HouseofComics.Com]

I have never seen a single person with a Coke Zero in the wild ...

 

Loading is not going to be a problem as that was one of my prime considerations to make it easier on myself. Since we have control of the venue we can actually set up or load-in Friday night and then tidy up Sat. morning. There's no food on site but there's tons of food very close.

 

I think you're right--if I can just get hooked into one or two music people (possibly directly through the record stores or even the used record stores) I should be able to use their expertise. You're making me think further along those lines and I now think of two collector record stores to approach. Maybe it's even worthwhile to approach the big two concert promoters in the area.

[aardvark88]

marc,

You will probably get good leads on comic collections to buy, as the ex-hippies and post punk rockers I know, all have UGs, comics, posters, KISS, etc. for sale/trade.