Did you know that Utah has bridal expos virtually every. single. month? As an #event violinist, #weddings account for a large number of my gigs. And it's only natural, since #Utah is #4 in the nation for weddings. I mean, what's not the love about this beautiful country? We have mountains, valleys, snow, sand... you name it, we can probably find it.
So, you might be asking, why don't I advertise at expos? Well, let me tell ya a little story.
I do some of my best thinking while laying in bed, late at night.
Something about staring up at the ceiling in a stupor unlocks the magic, apparently.
A few days ago, I had an idea pop into my head. "Hey," it said. "You should have a booth at one of the MILLION #bridal expos that Utah has every year."
"Oh, yeah?" I thought back.
"Yup. You could take your #violin and play as people walked by."
"Hmmm... I suppose I coul--"
"Yup. You could. Just do it."
"Okay, Nike. Calm down."
. . . . . .
Armed with my new determination, I started researching when the next bridal #expo was. I submitted a contact form for an expo next month, and then I came face-to-face with the prices.
Uh, yeah.
For the smallest booth possible, it was $400.
I researched some other expos and they were around $600+ for their smallest booths.
I started to sweat bullets and second guess my excitement. How was I going to do this affordably? I didn't have anything to PUT in my booth, for heaven's sake! That was going to be another couple hundred bucks, if I didn't miss my guess.
Having talked myself out of my genius expo-advertising plan, I then received a response from the initial expo that I had contacted. I explained my situation and that I would try to budget it in for next year. The coordinator was very kind and helpful, mentioning that they also offered a "tote stuffer" option.
What in the world is a tote stuffer, you ask?
Well, when a #bride goes to the expo, she gets a goodie bag, essentially. It's filled with advertisements and business cards and such. I could opt to have my fliers placed in the goodie bags without having to pay for a booth.
Sweet.
$150 for 400 bags is a lot better than $400+ for an empty booth. hahaha!
I feverishly began designing a flier and came across no fewer than 83,732 issues. I was so frustrated and wanted to give up. I'm definitely no designer, and it shows.
However, I'm far too stubborn to let a little photo shop get in my way, so I persevered late into the night. With some help from my handy husband, I was able to get on the right track and finally hit on a design concept I liked this morning.
What do you think? The finished size of the flier will be 4x3, and I'm thinking of stapling my business cards to the back.
If you take away anything from this long story, remember that hiring the right musician for your special event doesn't need to be difficult like my flier design. Honestly, it's as easy as clicking CONTACT.