If you’ve done all that you should, you can expect to make a success of your grand opening. Printing posters, flyers, invitations, and stickers, and having them distributed in strategic locations in the neighborhood, should ensure that your new customers are curious about your new shop and willing to take part of your hospitality.

Now, be hospitable!

Prepare the shop: popular music played at a reasonable volume, food and drink (not too messy), and, of course, your lovely merchandise all set the stage for new sales. Open the doors and welcome customers with open arms.

Add some extra incentives. Perhaps you will print out some raffle tickets and offer one to everyone who attends your grand opening event. The winner will receive some free merchandise from your shop. If you plan to hold such a prize draw, be certain to advertise this fact in advance: print it on your posters, flyers, invitations, and event tickets.

Be available to answer questions. Be certain that your new employees are knowledgeable and create the atmosphere you wish to present. Most importantly: be friendly. Get to know your new customers. Let them see that you are interested in them and they will like you. Teach them to like you and they will more certain to think of you and your business just as soon as they need your products or services.

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While you’re setting up for your grand opening, you want to continue to generate that buzz around your new shop. Extend your reach beyond foot traffic and word of mouth advertising with the right publicity.

Once you’ve chosen the day that you’ll open for business, you can begin to publicise the occasion. Be bold! Send out press releases to local news sources regarding your launch party. Invite your neighbors. You can print little invitations and hand deliver them to other local businesses. Some people may allow you to leave a small stack of invitations near their register, so that their customers will see them, bring them home, and remember to attend your grand opening event. You can even print event tickets, which are easily passed out, and will remind guests to attend.

If you already have a logo designed, make the most of it by adding it to print products: not just the above-mentioned invitations and any business cards you may choose to print, but also to some lovely stickers, which you can have printed for very little money, but which will provide you a great amount of publicity.

Stickers may also be left near the register at cooperative local businesses. You can hire students to spread them even further. They may be stuck (with permission) in a variety of places, or your army of young people might be asked to simply distribute them on street corners to interested parties. Be sure that your new helpers are articulate and well-dressed. You will want them to make a good impression!

Whoever you hire to do advance publicity, they will need to be well-informed about your business. The day of your big launch party, the hours you will be open, and a good range of details about your products or services will all be subject to discussion. Make sure you make the best impression by choosing helpers who can make the best impression for you!

Next week: Your Big Launch Party

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Despite the current state of the economy, many of us are still bravely (and optimistically) embarking on the business venture of our dreams. Starting a new business may be an act of faith, but you can take steps to increase your odds of success. Opening your shop is a grand event in your life! Make your grand opening a grand event in the lives of your new customers and start off on the right path.

While you are working to remodel your space and build your inventory, don’t neglect to build your customer base. How is one to create customers prior to the opening of the shop? You must generate a sense of anticipation so that the neighborhood begins to looks forward to your opening day.

You may not have your sign prepared, but you can easily print up some posters showcasing some tantalizing tastes of the services or merchandise you will be offering. Hang these in the windows of your shop as you remodel, and determine whether other local businesses would be willing to let you hang posters and flyers.

Don’t forget to talk to your neighbors! Let other business owners and employees know what you are doing. Speak with enthusiasm and create some word of mouth advertising. When regular patrons of the local pub wonder aloud, “What are they doing next door?” the answer will be forthcoming even when you’re not there to answer.

Another smart choice involves an enticing peak through your windows as you remodel. After you’ve printed and hung your posters, use soap or another easily-washable material to cover most of the glass from the inside, but leave a clear circle at eye level (if you intend to appeal to children, leave two circles—one at the height of an adult’s head, and one closer to the ground) so that curious passers-by can watch the transformation and imagine themselves shopping in your space.

Next week: Advance Publicity

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Your Volunteer Appreciation Event

You may spend the entire year working to court donors and raise money. It’s possible that all your events are gala fundraisers with large budgets, resulting in large donations. You might even have a paid staff in charge of operations. But most charitable organisations also depend on volunteers to some extent. They may cover your front desk or man the telephones, canvas the streets or proofread your newsletter, and expect nothing in return.

Yet, you should still offer them something in return!

The Volunteer Appreciation Event is, by definition, less ostentatious than your typical fundraisers. Indeed, many volunteers will be upset if you waste too much money thanking them. But they have provided immeasurable help. Now is your chance to offer some thanks.

Help them to feel special by printing customised invitations for the event. You can even provide an event ticket to each volunteer, or, if you can afford for them to bring guests, provide two event tickets for each volunteer.

You can host the party in your own venue. It should be a comfortable sort of gathering. Offer enough hot tea, or even coffee, if your volunteers prefer, for everyone to feel welcome. An assortment of cakes and biscuits, or, if your volunteers don’t tend to indulge in sweets, fruits and vegetables, completes your simple spread. Whatever you choose to offer, you can print it right on the body of the event ticket so they know what to expect.

All you really need to offer is a cozy gathering where you can express your appreciation to this group. They will enjoy sitting and chatting in a quiet atmosphere, enjoying your refreshments, and feeling the impact they’ve made to your cause!

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In the US, students completing high school are showered with praise and feted for weeks with formal matriculation, dances, parties, and other events that celebrate their achievement. According to School Standards Minister, David Miliband, “English teenagers could benefit from school graduation ceremonies.” Celebrating the completion of secondary school or Sixth Form can be a lovely way to motivate students to remain in school until their eighteenth birthday and should become more common as the new laws go into effect.

Even if you this tradition does not catch on, you can still help students celebrate their achievement with a graduation party for your accomplished teens. After all, anyone who makes it through their A levels deserves a party! Whether you hold it in a gymnasium or a pub, your students will enjoy a chance to relax after all their hard work!

And your school can earn a little money to cover the expense of the party and to tuck away for next year by selling tickets to the event. Simply book a popular local band or DJ, finances permitting, or else hire a teen with a loaded iPod to cover the music. Lay out some snacks and drink, clear the floor for dancing, and you’ve created a night they can remember forever.

Print your own event tickets with matching publicity posters to create a marketing strategy. Add to the excitement and the profits when you purchase matching raffle tickets for a prize draw to be held at the end of the party. The more interest you can raise, the more admission tickets you can sell, and the more money you can earn. Meanwhile, these young adults will be able to celebrate in a safe environment.

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Increase the reach of your fundraising arm with the event of the season. Selling tickets to your next charitable event is merely the start of your money-making potential. When you print you own event tickets online, remember, you’re printing the opening the salvo in the campaign of the year.

How can you increase your potential for success? By increasing your guests’ potential for enjoyment!

This is not a one-size solution. Your needs will vary based on your region, the age of your supporters, their particular interests, and may even change from year to year.

You will sell far more event tickets to an event that your community wants to attend due to the excitement factor than you will to one that your supporters attend out of a sense of duty. A high interest gala is in your best interest, and it is your responsibility to do your due diligence. If attendance has been falling off in recent years, it’s up to you to discover why.

Pick up the phone and ring those who are unafraid to speak their minds. Ask them if your annual gatherings have become stale. Ask them what activities they’d rather see.

And don’t stop with your tried and true supporters. If you are not attracting new members every year, your event is not reaching its full potential, and you are not selling as many tickets as you might. Brainstorm to identify new groups and reach out. Approach potential new members and learn what attracts them to an organisation. Update your organisation and your events and find your greatest financial success yet.

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Have you an amazing story to share? UK Ticket Printing wants to know! Starting soon, we shall begin featuring regular profiles of customers who’ve achieved success with their events and their print products. Your organization and event could appear in this space! Whether every last element fell into place, or things did not go precisely as planned, your story could inspire event planners across the UK.

Featured organizations and events will receive all the free publicity they can pack into one blog post, including backlinks to your own websites and other events, plus a forum to share pictures, and perhaps some valuable incentives from UK Ticket Printing.

Don’t have an event to share just yet? You can still find plenty of great idea for something you might want to do in the future. Learn from others’ success! Or, learn from their failures. Keep up with current local trends and discover new ideas to invigorate your guests or reinvent your event. Are you invested in staying ahead of the pack and standing out? Learn what everyone else is doing so you can do something else.

We’ll be contacting customers in the upcoming months to find out more, but if you already have a story you’d like to share, just comment on this blog and you could be among the first customer profiles to be featured in this space.

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Don’t despair! Winter’s end is nearly upon us. Soon the weather will turn, the rains will end, the sun will rise, and the first shoots of new life, bright and green, will emerge to wake us from a dull, grey, lethargy. Why not make the most of this season of hope by planning your next event?

Exciting springtime ideas include:

• Garden Party
• Barbecue
• Nature Walks
• Scavenger Hunts
• Book Fairs
• Music Festivals
• Children’s Parties

Perhaps your organisation already holds a regular springtime gathering or fundraiser. Perhaps you’d like to start a new tradition. Either way, you can fertilize your sales of Event Tickets by planning ahead. Printing your own Event Tickets and other publicity materials online allows you to bask in the sunlight of beautiful, lush, spring-themed designed while spreading some rays of light on your supporters.

Springtime is a time of hope, and your hopes for a successful event can be realized. Begin with the proper pre-event publicity, including Posters, Invitations, and Flyers, and choose matching Event Kits with designs that express your intentions. Flowers, leaves, and sunshine all communicate the rebirth of the year. Choose matching Event Tickets, plus Raffle Tickets and other useful print products, like Drink Tickets, VIP Passes, and Gift Certificates, to complete the collection.

Print your materials online and start selling tickets to your event sooner.

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Have you reached your audience?

Your advertising budget may be limited, but there’s no need to settle for limited event ticket sales. Consider where your energies are directed, evaluate the effect of past and current campaigns, and branch out to new markets whenever possible.

For many promoters, Facebook is a godsend. It allows you to send friendly reminders to a large group of followers at no cost. The limitations? You’re bound by the number of fans you already have on Facebook. If thousands of people have “liked” you, then you’ll reach a large percentage of those people with relatively little effort. If your fans number in the hundreds, you may want to invest some energy into increasing your online following so you can sell more event tickets in the future.

Have you considered advertising in university media? This is very often free, or inexpensive, and enables you to reach a large group of potential patrons with time and money to spend on entertainment. If there is a university near your venue, don’t overlook the importance of this crowd. Check the student calendar when you’re scheduling your event: students may be less likely to attend during their exam week, or may leave the area on holiday.

How about sponsorship? You may be able to reduce your own costs by finding a corporate sponsor. Add their logo to your advertising materials and they may provide you with some free advertising themselves. Look for organisations that already have a strong marketing machine in place, and consider whether you can create some sort of tie-in with their products or services for a mutuall beneficial relationship.

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The most romantic day of the year is fast approaching. Have you completed your Valentine’s Day plans?

For the younger set, a chaperoned dance is just the thing for Valentine’s Day. It provides teens with a place to go and have fun while adults can supervise. Schools, juice bars, and other venues that cater to adolescents can bring in some extra revenue by selling General Admission Tickets to these events. Advance Event Ticket sales provide a good estimate of how many participants to expect, so you know how much food to order.

For teens, you’ll want:

• A live band or a hot DJ
• Space for dancing
• Room to socialize
• Snacks and beverages
• Candy
• Some age-appropriate games
• A photographer

Consider ideas like a balloon drop, a machine that blows soap bubbles or fog, or (venue permitting) a foam party to create a fun atmospheres.

For adults, the best Valentine’s events tend to be more intimate. Upscale restaurants offering prix fixe menus, romantic music, and candlelight dining do especially well for themselves on February 14. Distributing Event Tickets with reservations can add an air of exclusivity to the evening. Offer champagne, fancy chocolates, strawberries, oysters, and, of course, white linen. A strolling photographer may also delight your clientele, particularly if he brings a romantic backdrop.

In either case, boost attendance with some pretty, Valentine-themed Posters or Flyers. Spreading the word in advance increases sales.

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