Have you ever sponsored an event and had a disappointing turnout?  Maybe you needed more promotion. Promoting an event, even in a small country like The Bahamas, can be a challenging task.

Here's four ways to make sure your event gets the attention it needs.

Online:
There are dozens of websites, locally and internationally that feature calendars, some are tailored to specific industries or interests. Unfortunately, it can be time-consuming to manually post your event to the various sites and some do not generate enough traffic to warrant the time invested. Facebook is among the sites that are worth the time. You can list your event and invite your friends, broadcast the event to fans of pages, or groups, and even advertise the event using Facebook's advertising interface. Depending on how many friends you have, paid advertising may be your only option to get enough people to notice your event.

The Bahamas Calendar on BahamasB2B.com is an excellent way to reach the local Bahamas market. With Number 1 search rankings and the highest traffic of any community site in The Bahamas, your Bahamian event will get the broadest coverage possible throughout the islands. Best of all... it's free!

e-Newsletters:
Another way to pump up the volume for your event is to get listed, or advertise, in a high-quality email newsletter specific to your target audience. There are dozens of e-mail newsletters for every subject and interest imaginable. The problem is, some of them are sent out as spam to people who never signed up for them in the first place. There are several newsletters in the Bahamas that fall into that undesirable category.  You'll want to avoid being associated with spammy newsletters because it reflects badly on your event. Other local newsletters don't seem to distribute to enough people to get you the audience you need.

The Bahamas Newsletter, published by BahamasB2B, is the oldest e-newsletter in The Bahamas. And we send it out to the largest opt-in e-newsletter list in the country. (Yeah, I know, another shameless plug.)  People always ask us if they can buy advertising for their event in our newsletter. We tell them, "No", because it is free!  Simply post your event on The Bahamas Calendar on BahamasB2B.com (also Free!) and your event will be featured in the Bahamas Newsletter the week preceeding the date of your event. Could it be better?

Newspapers:
Newspaper advertising can be effective. In fact, a full page ad in one of the local papers will go a long way towards getting your event noticed. But most of us don't have the budget for a full-page ad.  Some of don't even have the budget for any paid advertising. But that doesn't mean you can't get a little free publicity. All good newspapers have an events column or a place where they publish what's happening in the community. If you have an event that is open to the public, more than likely they'd be hapy to include your event in their listings. Create a short but descriptive press release and email it to the appropriate person at each publication. They are busy people and they get a lot of submissions, so be respectful of their time and don't spam them.

Handouts:
We've all seen those postcard-sized color promotional cards for club events. More and more event sponsors are turning to those mini-billboards to get exposure for all types of events. They can be left in stacks at cooperating merchants, but be sure to leave only a small amount and refill the stack when necessary. Otherwise, you end up wasting valuable money when promo cards get accidentally (or intentionally) thrown away. Unless you find a printer who is willing to sponsor your event by printing the promo cards for free, this can be a costly way to promote your event. But it is also quite effective.  if you have the budget it is worth the money.

It's best to use a combination (or all) of the methods above. The most important thing is to start promoting your event as soon as possible.  Too often, people wait until a day or two before the event to start promoting. It is best to get the word out ASAP, especially on web calendars like the Bahamas Calendar. Once you've announced the date online, you can start handing out your promo cards and finally,  submit press releases to newspapers.

Have an event coming up?  Get started promting it... now!

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