Marketing Plan

Santa For Events, or Santa4Events, is all about bringing the joy of Santa and the Christmas spirit into the lives of children and their families. With Santa Walter’s goal of providing up to 10 pro-bono or deeply discounted appearances for worthy causes each season, the considerable expenses of being Santa must be covered as overhead during the five to six-week season between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day from other clients. [See Break-Even Analysis elsewhere.]

Networking

Being Santa for any event is all about meeting the people who need Santa, discussing any extras desired, time frame, dates, numbers, location address, Santa’s Chair, logistics, contact person, email, phone, elves and helpers, etc. So, how do you find these people or how do they find Santa? Well, word-of-mouth is always one of the best ways. Once people ask their friends, “Do you know a good Santa?” your name comes up, and then the phone rings. But what about those people who need a Santa that do not have friends who can refer you? Well, that’s the easy part as well as the hard part, especially if you do not have the budget of a big company’s marketing department. Let people know about you.

Letting People Know About You

• One of the newest ways of connecting with people is through Social Networks, such as Facebook, Tweeter, Plaxo, Biznik, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, Multiply, Ning, and others, as well as all sorts of blogs available on the Internet. Even if the solopreneur is not terribly fluent with social networking, value can be achieved. The trick here is not be pushy-sales-oriented here. Rather than say, “Hire me to be your Santa” it might be better to say, “Several satisified clients from last Christmas have already booked for this coming year.” The first is in-your-face pushy-advertising, (which is out of place on Social Networks) which most people find offensive. The second approach is more informational, which still gets the same message across. The power of social networking is that the friends of your friends and their friends have an opportunity to see you message and find out about you.

• Have a blog and/or a webpage. If you are only up for doing one make it a blog;  you can do it on the cheap by creating a WordPress.COM blog or a BlogSpot for free. On it you need the equivalent of your resume, contact information, testimonials from satisified clients or character references. Update the blog regularly with folksy information that helps people to get to know you. Describe the solutions you ofer to people’s Christmas party problems. Santa4Events.com is a WordPress-powered site with software downloaded from WordPress.ORG.

• Attend networking meetings at the Chamber of Commerce, Biznik groups, Lyons, Kiwanis, as well as at church, school events, and other social occasions. Always be ready with your business cards and your “30 second elevator pitch” that describes who you are, or a question for your listener to help clarify their interest so you can address their potential need.

• Free Classified Ads is another source: Craig’s List, Kijii, as well as other local online classified (Here in the San Francisco Bay Area there are dozens offering free or inexpensive listings.) One Santa reported that he regularly advertised in the Penny Saver starting in early October with good success.

• Traditional mailers, especially post cards can be very effective. Santa Gary Casey from SantaAtlanta, uses 4 x 6 postcards printed up using HotCards.COM for a very reasonable $68 per 1,000, full color on both sides. He puts the same picture (his) on one side, and the contact information and mailing space on the other side. At this point, he has a personally developed and maintained mailing list. Buying a list from someone is problematic; Santa Walter says, “Do it right and develop your own list from scratch, one name at a time.”

• Develop a contact list, especially an email newsletter marketing list. Santa4Events uses MailChimp, since they give away a free account for you to try for up to 100 newsletters at a time with a 600 credit to start with. And their tools are really easy to use! On your website, your email opt-in is a low-key way for people to connect with you. And give them value with a regular newsletter. I find that more frequent contacts dulls the edge and risks boring the potential clients. You are welcome to sign up for Santa Walter’s as a case study.
  Sign up for our free newsletter!
  

There Is No Shortcut to Credibility

Take care of each client to the absolute best of your ability. Santa For Events even goes so far as to GUARANTEE 100% complete client satisfaction. We cannot afford a dissatisfied customer, so if they are not happy, they have complete freedom to adjust the bill, including 100% refund, even after the event is completed. Every person Santa Walter meets is a potential referral source or even a client. (He even drives better with more courtesy to others, even if they cut him off.) And every phone call could be a prospective client, so SMILE just before answering so the smile is in your friendly voice. Be consistent with who you are as a performer, in your web page(s), print materials, and in your very clear message of what you are all about. Build your connections gradually, over time, with consistency, without being brassy or pushy. Meet people and let them get to know you. When they or someone they know needs to contact a Santa, your phone will ring.