As I write, 1450
pieces of 170 gsm-thickness A5 paper with my face on are wending their way
through the letterboxes of 1450 homes in St Albans, just like 1450 pieces of
170 gsm-thickness A5 paper should.
The reason for
this is advertising, more specifically for our forthcoming St Albans
Mostly Comedy dates, which start at the Maltings Arts Theatre this week. We’ve
paid for this leaflet drop in the hope it will help spread the word and
increase interest in our shows, or at the very least to act as a breakwater
between all the usual fast-food menus.
In an ideal world
we would have opted for a bigger delivery, but this was the most we could
afford initially. While our flyers are only going to a fraction of the city’s
homes, I’m optimistic they’ll have a positive effect, as we only need a little
take-up to make a difference, plus the line-ups are more than good enough to
entice the odd comedy fan to a venue that's practically in their same postcode.
It’s all about
building an audience while being mindful that these things take time. We’ve
been spoilt for interest in Hitchin recently, but it’s worth remembering this
growth has been gradual; while we’ve gone straight into a new venue with
big names, that doesn’t necessarily instantly equate to a sellout if people don’t
know about it, but if everyone who comes to the first few has a good time, that will hopefully
spread to more people, then to more still if we’re patient.
Of course, the
trick is to do this while not making a loss, or to at least being as close as we
can to breaking even. As long as we’re careful, we can afford a few
near-to-the-mark dates just to get things started; that’s why it’s worth doing
the occasional bit of leafleting like today’s just to get the ball rolling; I
just hope 1450 pictures of my face won’t put people off.