The "How Old" Question...Answered

First, just wanted to start by apologizing for not posting more blogs in the past 2 months...i needed some time off to after a wild summer. I'm back to work on my promoting "busy season" and promise to update this blog every week from here on out.

Over the past few weeks, more and more people have been emailing me about getting started to be a promoter. With Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve and New Years Eve all within 3 months of each other, i guess people realize how much money there is to be made and people are eager to get started.

One of the most common questions that's been popping up in my email box is: "How old do I have to be to start promoting"

Some people are worried they are too young to start promoting....Others are worried they are too old to start promoting.

The answer is: There is no *right* age.

Being a party promoter is about pulling together groups of people, and bringing them to one place that pays you to fill their venue. You can be any age to do this...you just have to find what people your age want to do, set it up for them, and promote the party.

--You can be 18 and promote teen clubs or Prom After-Parties.

--You can be 30 and promote to single professional adults that want to meet other people in their situation but are too busy with work to go to happy hours every week.
...The possibilities are endless!


A common mistake that people interested in this business make is that they automatically think they are too young or too old for this business.

Or they think promoting is for hip-hop and techno crowds only.

Or just for wild college kids

...These are all totally false.

The fact is, anyone, any age, with any background, in any demographic, with ANY level of education can be a promoter... and make over six figures every year doing it.

It's just a matter of sitting down and thinking:
"what do my friends like to do?" or "what kind of party can I throw that would interest MY crowd"?

A fantastic example of this was sent to me by a female Party Promoter Guide reader that is "over 35, lives in the Bay Area, and is currently working at a big accounting firm". She recently started throwing her own parties for divorced people.
She said it was an untapped market and wanted parties to go to herself (a divorced mother) so she stepped up and threw them for her crowd.

Per her latest email to me, she's making an extra $1,500 a month on the side of her accounting job just for throwing 2 parties each month.

And, on the other side of the coin...

If you're under 21, stop telling yourself that you can't make money in this business since you are "under-age".

Many promoters started out throwing parties in high school and made a killing doing it!
Personally, I started in college, but I've worked with many guys and girls that made a ton in high school throwing those"18 to get in, 21 to drink" parties. They make all their money off the door fees. When you're 18 there aren't a ton of options for you, so these parties were always BIG TIME successes.

My advice to you this week...
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Anyone, any age, can be a promoter so it's NEVER too early, or too late, to get started in nightclub or party promoting...so get started right away because the sooner you start promoting, the faster you start building your list, making connections, and making some CASH!

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Make More Money Promoting

I want to let you in on a secret about promoting that you'll
only find out once you get big in this business....

Once you get big, once you become a "big-time promoter"--
(and this will happen when you promote more and more parties
and become a big name in YOUR nightlife scene), you're going
to get busier and busier.

Wait, before you get too nervous--when i say busy, i mean,
you'll be attending more parties, restaurant openings, sponsored
events, etc, etc.

....All cool stuff.


But if you're going to be out hitting up celebrity events or
hosting grand openings, you're going to be away from your day
to day business.

Trust me, this happened to me. I never realized this would
happen but i kept on getting invitations to amazing events
that i just couldn't pass up. The more events i attended,
the more invitations i got to other events. Soon i realized
i was a guest at more parties then i was THROWING!!!

And unless you're looking to make less money each week, (and
I seriously doubt that you are) you have two choices...

A) Work Harder

or

B) Work smarter

My Choice? Of course, B: I rather work less hours that
are more productive.


Sure you could always put in more hours during the days,
nights, or weekends to make up for the time that you are
away from your business when you are out attending these
other events.

And You could also skip these cool events altogether, but
i honestly wouldn't. They are a lot of fun and they are a
big perk of the job.

Not too many jobs allow you to go to red-carpet events
with models, celeb's, an open bar and free food--so i say
enjoy it!


Personally, i just rather work smarter...use the time
i do have to be much more productive.

There are a million ways to be more productive with your
time and I'll save most of those for the time management
experts...

But there is one time saving method I did want to discuss
because I'm a BIG fan of it and i use it when doing business
EVERY SINGLE DAY!

The method I'm talking about is the 80/20 rule of business,
and i strongly recommend you apply it to your daily promoting.

If you are unfamiliar with this method, here's how Wikipedia
defines the 80/20 rule: "The assumption is that most of the
results in any situation are determined by a small number
of causes".

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Basically this means that 80% of your business

is going to come from 20% of your clients.

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So, if you know that the majority of your money (80%) is
only coming from your bigger clients (these 20%) then
why not spend your valuable time focusing on these clients?

Here's the big question...and I'm answering it before you even
ask it....

How do you know who falls into this 20%?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help figure out
which clients fall into this 20%:
**Who comes to your parties on a consistent basis?
**Who brings lots of friends to your parties?
**Who stays at your parties the longest?
**Who celebrates all their big occasions at your venues?
(birthday's, graduations, promotions, engagements, etc, etc)

Once you identify who your key clients are...the 20% that
are going to bring in 80% of your money...then you can
focus your time with these clients and spend less time on
the other 80% that will bring in much less money (By no means
should you IGNORE that other group---they still are paying
customers that can put a lot of cash into your pocket!)



Here are 3 examples of ways that i use this 80/20 Rule to keep the money coming in every single week...

1) When i make my weekly phone calls to personally invite
people to come to my party, i will call the key 20% group.

I only have so much time to make calls so I rather spend
that time on the most important clients. I don't use it
to call my best friends, a guy that might come with one
other person, or even that cute girl that I'm hoping comes
back. (Well, maybe I'll call her if i have some extra
time).

Instead, i use this time to make sure the guys that buy
bottles of Grey Goose are coming. Those are my big hitters
and i want to make sure i have them in my lineup for the
night.


2) Handing out drink tickets or comps:
I only have a limited amount of these tickets to pass out
to clients so i make sure that they go to people that are
on my list of better clients.


3) My VIP Room:
In all my venues i like to have a VIP room or VIP area
for my better clients to feel, well, VIP.

I go into a lot more detail about this in my book, The Party Promoter Guide, but having a VIP area is a great way to make clients
feel like you appreciate their business, WITHOUT you
spending any money out of your pocket.

So, I fill this area with good looking people and all
of the people on my top 20% list.


There are many, many other ways to apply this method to
the promoting business (or any business for that matter)
so start thinking who's on your "Top 20% list" and focus
on them to maximize your time and profits!!!

June's Promoter Success Stories

I don't know about you, but nothing gets me more motivated to go out and earn some cash then reading about other people that are out there doing it.

I'm the kinda guy that likes to read success stories of other wealthy and powerful people. I don't mean just in the promoting world, but in all different types of businesses.

I like to read how people got rich with an idea or how they built their fortunes with a business...it makes me realize i can do it too if i stay focused and motivated.

So to keep everyone motivated (including myself), I'm going to continue to send out emails and post blogs of success stories from promoters that have gotten the Party Promoter Guide and have made money or thrown insane parties that are worth sharing with everyone...

Hopefully, these emails will either:

A) Stop you from procrastinating and start you promoting.
or
B) Motivate you to take your promoting business to the NEXT LEVEL!

Last month, I asked anyone that bought the guide to send in their success stories, and i got an overwhelming amount of responses.

I guess the Book is working!

But remember, The Party Promoter Guide will only help you IF:

...you actually read the book and take in the information. (there is a ton of good stuff in there and if you don't actually read it, you'll never learn from it.)

and

...you're willing to try some of the techniques that I teach in the book. (70% of the people that get the book will do nothing. Separate yourself from everyone else and take the steps to make the money that you desire.)

I got so many "Success Story" emails this month, that I decided to share 2 different Success Stories...
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June 2007 Success Story #1... DeMarcus V.
============================================
Just wanted to say:
Since buying the guide, I have been throwing parties every Wednesday night (College Night).
My first two parties was free to everyone, then I started charging $10 at the door. Made $800 the first night ($400 after paying everyone) and the $1200 the second week ($800 after paying everyone).
DeMarcus V.

...DeMarcus didn't mention what city or town he's from, but clearly he's doing this in a college town and promoting to the college kids, which is helping him to rake in the cash!
Awesome job!


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June 2007 Success Story #2... Johnny P. New Brunswick, NJ
============================================
Mr. Gold,
Thank you for your emails and thank you for writing your book!
I have always loved to go out at night and party late...so i wanted to throw my own parties to make money.
I never learned "the right way"...i tried a couple and lost money and the turn out wasn't successful...
I came across your site and read some of your emails...After reading some online...i didn't think twice of ordering it...
I just really wanted to learn it the right way and be mentored so i can make some real money in my promoting business.
My first few parties, i was spending too much money on passes and paying people to do things that weren't needed...
After reading your book, I tried your "tricks to promote without spending your own money" and this helped me throw a party without spending too much money...and I finally MADE some money...and the turn out was great. We had a line down the block!
I started a weekly Friday party that has been making money...every week! I'm going to start a Saturday party in July and then a Thursday party...
In the fall I'm going to have a Monday Night Football party...
Thanks guru,
Johnny P.

...Johnny didn't go into detail of how much money he was making each party, but if he was making a few hundred a week and was adding more parties, he is on the verge of breaking out! If you are able to fill a venue and get lines down the block it's only a matter of time until you are making BIG BUCKS!

I hope these couple of emails did the job and inspired you or motivated you to make some moves...these are normal people just like you and me, who got the guide, and took the steps to make some cash!

How to Grow Your Party and Promoting Business

Hope you had a relaxing, fun or profitable 4th of July (that's if you are located in the US--If you're not in the US, i hope you had a great Wednesday).

Lately, I've been writing a lot about "how to get people to your party" & "the Do's and Dont's of promotions", etc, etc.

But at this point, many of the people that have been reading the blog, my weekly emails and reading the Party Promoter Guide are ready to take their party to the next level.


They are throwing a weekly party or two and are making good money but they want to bring their party to a whole new level so they can start raking in the SIX FIGURE cash!

...I've been getting tons of emails asking me about this so I know many people are ready to find out how they can GROW THEIR PARTY and their income.

I've been doing this a long, long time and from my experience the best way to grow your party to another level is by focusing on people.

People?

Yes, people.

But in this case, I DON'T mean clients or party-goers.

If you're looking to grow your party, you're going to need more people to know about you and all of the hot parties you are throwing.

You want to get your name out there fast and to as many people as you can!

There are a number of ways to get your name out there so that every party-goer in town knows you who you are and what kind of party you throw---but most of them cost money (IE: radio commercials)

In my experience, they best way to really grow your party, without spending your money, is to focus on people.

...and by this I mean 3 things:
1) Get a Partner
2) Team up with other promoters
3) Get people to work for you

You could do all 3 of these options, or just one of these options, but these are they keys I've found to growing your party to another level.

I could talk about each of these topics for pages and pages, but to spare you the details, I'll just briefly touch on each of these...

1) Get a Partner:
Running a business can be a little work, and although running your own promoting business isn't much work, having a partner will make it that much easier.
But making the job easier isn't the best benefit of having a partner--the best thing about having a partner is that your partner will have access to 100's of people that you do not know.
(As i talk about in my guide, don't pick a partner with the same EXACT social circle--you want to expand your client reach)

So if you're looking to start promoting to a new type of crowd or to expand your reach of clients into another town or college, think of adding a partner for a quick and easy way to grow your party!

2) Team up with other promoters:
i know this sounds like a "partner" but it's not. I'm talking about working with another promoter on a few different events here or there, but NOT making them a partner in your business that splits all your profits and has access to all your clients and contacts.
Teaming up with another successful promoter is good if you want to promote a venue that is too big for your current party, but you feel promoting this venue will help out your name and reputation.
If you were to team up with another big-time promoter and together you can throw 1 HUGE party, both your reputations will expand to anew client base.

3) Get People to Work for YOU:
This is my favorite thing about promoting...Promoting is a job that actually has amazing fringe benefits and people are willing to help you out for free.
People will trade their time and services in exchange for free entry, VIP treatment, or a couple of free drinks.

Many young people love the social benefits involved with this job and will work for free just to be around it...which is great for us!

If for some reason you can't find people to work for free, then you can hire young and hungry promoters to pull people to your party for very cheap.

This is a common way people start out in the business...and it's EXACTLY how *I* started out in the business back in college. Someone paid me a flat fee to bust my butt and pull as many people as i could to their party.

I made very little money (I only realized this looking back since i know how much the main promoter was pulling in--at the time i thought it was pretty good money) and so did they other newbies like me, but we all learned a lot about how to be a promoter and how to run this business...and in exchange, the guy we worked for had his venue packed to the brim and made out with a ton of cash!

...In the end it was a good deal for both of us.

At the time i remember thinking it was unfair, but i had to earn my stripes just like many other promoters before me and i got to learn the business on the go and made some money doing it.
Well, you can do the same. Find some local college kids or hungry new promoters that want to crack into the business and offer to give them X amt for the night to pull all their friends and family to the party.

You do that with a bunch of kids, you're going to have a packed party without doing much work or spending too much money.

You could even offer them a list and give them a couple of dollars per person that comes on their list--this will motivate them to work harder!

As i mentioned earlier, you could use all of these ways together (get a partner, join forces with other promoters for a party or two and hire sub-promoters to help fill your venue) or you could use each one individually.

Either way, it's important to continue to grow your business and grow your list so that you can pull in the dollars you want and grow you overall bottom line.

Remember:
The bigger your parties get--the bigger your paychecks will get!

Why Promoters Make So Much Money

I wanted to discuss something that I think is very important but some promoters just aren't grasping...I want to make sure everyone understands this completely, that's why I'm taking the time to post this topic...

Some people new to this business seem a little skeptical as to how they can make a lot of money promoting. They just don't seem to understand how much money is involved in the club, bar and party business.

It's a multi-billion dollar business yet people seem to not fully understand how a promoter can make so much money.

I keep getting asked "how can promoters get paid so much"or "how can the clubs afford to pay them so well"
...and here's the one-word answer to "how can they afford to pay them so well?"...

Alcohol

Clubs, bars, pubs or any place that sells alcohol work on a tremendous markup--one of the biggest in any business.

If you don't believe me, just think of that bottle of beer you bought in the club--the one you paid $7 for...just for ONE BOTTLE!

But, if you went to your local grocery store, you could buy an entire six pack of that same beer for about the same price...AND the grocery store is making money on you.
The same goes for wine, mixed drinks, and shots!

If you really think about it, everything at a bar or club is marked way up. The soda's from the fountain are $3 and that bottle of water you want just to cool down...another $5.

Also, remember, they are getting a good deal on it because the venues are buying the beer, wine, and liquor in BULK!

....think about these profits!

Individual drinks are just one revenue stream alcohol brings to the club...another is bottle service.

Typically, these bottles are served at the tables when you "buy a table" and most of the time, to get these tables, there is a 2bottle minimum.

The bottles that are sold are often marked up almost 900%! A $40 bottle of Grey Goose sold at the liquor store is sold to a table of people eager to have a great seat for over $350. That's more then a $300 profit *per* bottle!

One of the clubs I used to promote in New York City, brought in very high end clients, and the bar tabs were often way over $2,000 per night for each table.
Multiply this out and think how much money the bar is raking in. And again, the profit margin is very high on liquor so most of that is going into the pockets of the owners!!

....So how does this effect promoters?

Well, owners will do anything, or should i say PAY ANYTHING, to get people into their venue.

They want it packed to the brim with people who are willing to fork over money for their pricey drinks. (With these mark-ups, can you blame them?)

Now, if you are able to pull in a high-end clientele, the kind of people that buy bottles of liquor, clubs will really love you.They'll pay even more to those promoters that can bring in the "high-end" clientele that are willing to pay for the bottle service.

Lets look at this quick from a numbers point of view...

- imagine if every person that came into your bar spent $50.

- you knew that you profited $30 from that $50 spent.

- you pay promoters $10 for each person they could bring in....

...you profit $20 for each person a promoter brings to your venue.

Would you give a person $10 if you knew it meant you'd make $20 in PROFIT? Of course you would--and the owners do!

I hope that you can see how easy it is for promoters to get paid for every person they bring to the venue. Owners want to pay you this money because it means they have a lot of people in their venue and THEY are making money.

So the more people you bring, the more money the owners make and the more money they are going to pay the promoters! It's pretty simple.

As long as alcohol is around (I don't think it's going away anytime soon--they tried that once and it didn't work out too well) there will be bars & clubs looking to fill their venue with thirsty clients willing to pay for their costly drinks...

...and that means there will ALWAYS be a need for promoters to fill these venues!!

The Do's and Dont's of Promotions

Everyday I get lots of emails from promoters asking me questions on how to get started, how to make their business better, and how to throw the best party in town.
Recently though, I've been getting another question, almost on a daily basis, so I figured it would benefit everyone to address it in this blog...


"What are the BEST promotions to use to make my
party the hottest party around?"

In order to address this question I want to lay out the different kind of promotions, so you know what I mean when I say "promotions"...

1) Party Promotions:
these are promotions that are often tied to a theme or party concept. An example would be "Pimp 'n Hoe's" party or the"White Party" (like P. Diddy throws annually)

2) Bar Promotions:
these are promotions designed to drive traffic to the bar of the venue, such as nickel beer night, buy 1 get 1, or happy hours.

3) Door Promotions:
These are commonly used to get people in the door, such as Ladies Night or reduced admission before 10pm etc.

But first, I want you to ask yourself "why am I using a promotion" and do I really think this will a) make me more money
b) make my party that much better or
c) will it solve a problem that I am having

DON'T JUST USE A PROMOTION, TO USE A PROMOTION...

Promotions are great. I'm a big fan of them.
....But I also know that the fastest way to lose a crowd is to use too many promotions. (or the wrong promotion)

I've found my crowd gets bored of too many promotions and gimmicks, so i save them for when i really need them. I keep them locked away and only bring them out on special occasions.

Promotions are a good way to help a slow night or to pad the register on "off nights". They can also be used when you're starting to throw a new party or if your looking to pull an earlier crowd.

The key is to decide what your problem is that makes you feel that you need a promotion. Then see if you can come up with a promotional idea that will help to solve the problem.

An example would be:
If your crowd is showing up very late each Thursday night then try a reduced admission before 10p promotion to see if you can draw them into the venue on the early side.

A couple of quick Do's and Don't for beginners using promotions:

Do's:
Do use promotions that are right for YOUR CROWD. Don't just try out a promotion that you read about online or saw at a party.Make sure the promotion fits your crowd well.
Do ask the venue to pick up the tab or split the costs of the promotion. (if there are any)
Do spread the promotional ideas throughout the year...try not to use more than 1 a month.
Do use them on your softer nights---the "off nights" like Sun-Wed.

Dont's
Do NOT use a promotion your first night at a venue...try the venue out first and see how it goes before you add a promotion. You might not need one at all when first starting out.
Do NOT over use promotions...too many and your crowd will get bored.
Do NOT use a promotion on a Friday or Saturday night. (unless you are desperate) These nights should be bringing in the cash without a promotion at all!
Do NOT get too focused and distracted with using catchy promotions.Focus your time more on building your list of clients...you'll make a lot more money in the long run if you do!


Bonus Golden Tip:
Just so you get an idea, here is when I will use promotions:
If I'm throwing a party on a off-night and I'm having trouble getting it going, i will try a promotion.

If I'm trying to get people to come to a venue that is out of the way or maybe a brand new spot that no one ever heard of, then I might try a promotion.

If I've been throwing parties that make good money, but I see that the money I've been making at this venue is leveling off (not increasing every week) then I'll try a promotion.


Using promotions can be a great way to increase traffic and awareness of your party, help solve problems on slow nights, or add some life back into your regular parties.

But before you use them, make sure to know why you are using a promotion and how it will help your business make more money (isn't that the key to everything we do?!?!)

Branching Out

Each year the New York Post does a special "Hampton's" section focusing on what's new and hot for the upcoming summer in the Hampton's. For those of you that don't know, the Hampton's is an ultra exclusive area out on Long Island, NY about an hour and a half outside of Manhattan, where many of the hippest and wealthiest people spend their summers. It's filled with beaches, clubs, and multi-million dollar homes owned by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Joel, and Howard Stern, to name a few.


It's also the location of P. Diddy's world famous "White Party" each summer...

In this years issue, the main article focuses on the new trend of "concierge services". These services basically provide clients with access to the hottest clubs, restaurants, or anything else that they want.

The people that run these concierge services basically know the right people and have pull at all the trendy spots to get their clients on the right list or into the hottest restaurant without a wait.

I happen to know the guy featured in this article, Tony Abrams, from back in the day when he was the door guy at Suite 16 in Manhattan. He was working the list when the club was hot and made some great connections from doing that. He then went on to work in other areas of nightlife, including promoting many of New York City's hot clubs and bars, eventually opening his own business using these connections.

According to the article, Tony has 15 clients already, each paying him $7,500 a year for his services. That means he's made$112,500 this year if he doesn't add one more client. That's not a bad living...


The reason i bring this up is because lots of people ask me if promoting is a dead-end job. I can tell you with 100% certainty, that it's NOT!

Promoting can lead to many other careers or jobs such as owning your own bar, club or restaurant, a job in Public Relations (P.R.), you could venture into concert/event promoting, or even run your own concierge service.

So, if you're worried about trying out promoting because you don't think it's a job that can lead to any real career, or you're afraid that making money in this business is only short-term, think again.

...You'll never know where this business (or any business) can lead you until you give it a try!