Turning every show into the next booking

Every audience contains future clients, and every host is a likely rebooking. Learn how to measure your spin-off rate, earn inquiries at a show without overstepping the host or planner, and run a post-show routine for content, reviews, referrals and rebookings.

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Turning every show into the next booking.

A performer's best advertising is a room full of people having a good time.

Somewhere in that room is a guest planning a wedding, an office manager organizing a holiday party or a parent with a birthday coming up.

Your spin-off rate.

Count how many new bookings come from people who saw you perform.

Ask every new client how they heard of you, and when the answer is that they saw you at an event, note which one.

At the show: be memorable, then be findable.

Guests remember the act and forget the name.

Fix that without handing out flyers at someone else's party.

Public shows work differently.

At festivals, markets, street fairs, public holiday celebrations and community events, the audience is the public and nobody owns the relationship but you.

That makes public shows the best lead source many performers have, provided they plan for it.

Capture content at every show.

Each show can supply a month of posts if you plan for it.

Agree in your contract whether you may photograph or film, then set up a simple routine.

The post-show routine.

Run the same steps after every booking.

Put them in a checklist or your CRM so they happen on busy weekends.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Measure your spin-off rate and the value of the bookings each show produces
• Create inquiries from guests at a show while respecting the host, the planner and the law
• Run a post-show routine that collects content, reviews, referrals and rebooking dates

A performer’s best advertising is a room full of people having a good time. Somewhere in that room is a guest planning a wedding, an office manager organizing a holiday party or a parent with a birthday coming up. The question is whether they leave knowing your name and how to find you, without you ever looking like you were selling.

Your spin-off rate

Count how many new bookings come from people who saw you perform. Ask every new client how they heard of you, and when the answer is that they saw you at an event, note which one. Then calculate your spin-off rate: spin-off bookings divided by shows performed.

Worked example. These figures are illustrative. A children’s entertainer in Whitby performs 120 birthday parties and 30 school and community events in a year, for 150 shows. From those shows come 27 new bookings from guests, plus 22 rebookings from hosts the following year. Her spin-off rate is 27 divided by 150, or 18 percent, and her rebooking rate is 22 divided by 120 parties, or about 18 percent.

At an average fee of $350, the 49 spin-off bookings and rebookings are worth $17,150 a year, with no advertising cost. If a better routine lifts the spin-off rate from 18 to 25 percent, that is about 10 more bookings, or $3,500, from shows she is already doing. Improving what happens at and after each show is usually cheaper than finding new audiences.

At the show: be memorable, then be findable

Guests remember the act and forget the name. Fix that without handing out flyers at someone else’s party.

• Say your name in the show. Work it naturally into the opening and the close. An MC introduction from your 75-word bio does the same job.
• Make it easy to look you up. Use the same act name on your website, Instagram and Google Business Profile, so that a guest who searches for the name finds you immediately.
• Have a discreet card. Carry cards, but give them only when a guest asks, and at a private event only if the host has agreed. A small sign on your table or equipment case with your name and a QR code to your site is usually acceptable; ask first.
• Leave something behind. A balloon artist’s creation, a caricature, a signed playing card or a photo prop carries your name home if it has a small sticker or stamp with your act name.
• Talk to the people who ask. When a guest says they are planning something, ask the date and type of event, then give them your card or the planner’s contact as appropriate.

At a planner’s event, the rules change. The client belongs to the planner. Give guests the planner’s details, or ask the planner whether you may share yours. Planners notice which acts protect them, and they book those acts again.

Public shows work differently

At festivals, markets, street fairs, public holiday celebrations and community events, the audience is the public and nobody owns the relationship but you. That makes public shows the best lead source many performers have, provided they plan for it.

• Name the act on stage, twice. Say who you are, that you perform at private and corporate events, and where to find you. Keep it to one sentence at the close; a sales pitch spoils the show.
• Put a sign in view. A clear banner with the act name and a QR code to a page built for festival audiences: your booking form, three photos of private events and your availability.
• Bring a sign-up sheet or form. Invite people who want to hear about upcoming public shows or book you for their own event to leave their email, with an unticked consent box.
• Follow up the same week. Write to everyone who asked, while they still remember the show.

Treat each festival as a test. Count the sign-ups and inquiries, and compare festivals by inquiries per hour on stage.

Capture content at every show

Each show can supply a month of posts if you plan for it. Agree in your contract whether you may photograph or film, then set up a simple routine.

1. Prop a phone on a small tripod at the side of the room for the main set, framed on you and the front rows’ reactions.
2. Ask the host or planner whether the event photographer could send you three or four images, and how they want them credited.
3. Record a ten-second clip of the set-up and the room before guests arrive; these shots never show guests’ faces.
4. Write two lines that evening about what worked, what got the biggest reaction and anything you would change. These notes become captions and improve the act.

Avoid posting close-ups of guests or children without permission. Wide shots, shots from behind and your own hands work well and keep you on the right side of the host.

The post-show routine

Run the same steps after every booking. Put them in a checklist or your CRM so they happen on busy weekends.

A review request you can copy: Thank you again for having me at Maya’s birthday on Saturday. If you have two minutes, a short Google review helps other parents find me: [link]. Whatever you write, honest feedback helps me improve the show.

Turning hosts into a calendar

Many events repeat: birthdays, anniversaries, annual galas, holiday parties, summer picnics, school fun fairs and cultural festivals. Record the date and type of every event in your CRM. Two to three months before it comes round again, send a short note offering the date and something new, such as a different theme or a longer version of the show. Your rebooking rate will rise simply because you asked before a competitor did.

In Canada and the GTA

Reviews. Google’s policies allow you to ask customers for genuine reviews and to share a review link or QR code. They forbid offering incentives, such as a discount on the next show, for posting a review or for changing a negative one. They also forbid discouraging negative reviews or selectively asking only happy clients, which is known as review gating, and pressuring customers to review while you are on the premises. Ask every host in the same way, after the event. The Competition Bureau has warned that anyone who writes or permits reviews that give a false or misleading impression could be liable, and that employees must disclose their connection when they review their employer. Do not ask relatives or friends to post reviews of your act. Google’s review content policy lists the rules.

Emailing hosts and guests under CASL. A host who booked you has an existing business relationship with you for two years after the purchase, which gives implied consent to send them commercial messages, such as next year’s date offer. A guest who asks for your details and sends you an inquiry gives implied consent for six months from the inquiry. A guest who hands you a business card can support implied consent; the CRTC suggests a follow-up email that mentions where and when you met. For anyone you want to keep in touch with longer, ask for express consent, such as a box on your booking form that says they would like to hear about new shows and available dates. Every message needs your identification and a working unsubscribe link, and you must act on unsubscribes within 10 business days. The CRTC’s CASL questions and answers cover these requirements.

Photos of guests and children. Under PIPEDA, the photos and videos you take of identifiable people are generally personal information, so be clear in your contract about filming and keep close-ups of guests out of your marketing unless they agree. Many GTA schools and community organizations have their own rules on photographing children; follow them, and if in doubt, film only your hands and props.

Photos from the event photographer. Since November 7, 2012, photographers own the copyright in the images they take by default, even when the host paid for them. A host forwarding you photos does not give you the right to use them in marketing. Ask the photographer, credit them, and keep the permission email.

Local rhythm of repeat events. The GTA’s repeat events cluster around predictable dates: corporate holiday parties from late November to January, Lunar New Year, Holi, Eid, Diwali and Christmas celebrations, school and community fun fairs in May and June, summer festivals and company picnics from June to August, Halloween and fall fairs in October, and a steady base of children’s birthday parties all year with a peak on winter weekends when outdoor options are limited. Set your rebooking reminders to reach clients two to three months before each one. Community and cultural events often book through committees that change each year, so ask who the next organizer will be before you leave. Municipal festivals and city-run events in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA cities often choose performers months in advance through calls for performers or vendor applications, so a strong public show this summer is the best evidence for next year’s application.

Referral rewards. If you thank clients for referrals with a gift or a discount, be aware that Ad Standards treats refer-a-friend programs as a material connection when the person earns a benefit. If a client posts about you because of a referral reward, they should disclose it.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the official source or a lawyer for your own situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)