Members TeleFromHelly Posted July 20, 2012 Members Share Posted July 20, 2012 Posted this in electric guitar but didn't get many responses, thought it might be a better fit here:idea: As the title proclaims, I got a marketing internship at a live music venue with about a 1000 person capacity, and bring in some pretty big name acts. It's a small group (5 people or so) that runs everything and I'll get hands on experience in all aspects, and they said they specifically need help/ideas with online marketing. I already graduated with a degree in business/finance, and it's not a paid position:eek:, but I don't rightly care! The internship is usually exclusively for people still in a marketing program at a 4 year. Obviously I won't work for free forever, but feel it's more than worth it to get my foot in the door. I've had multiple job interviews in industries that make money for paid positions, but just didn't want to start in an industry and get stuck. If I'm going to take a chance, now is the time. So am I stupid? (not that it will stop me if you say yes, just curious). I'll work nights off somewhere else, and I make almost enough money to survive buying/selling gear and other (legal) stuff. Sorry for the wall of text, any ideas/suggestions from people in (or out) of the industry? Any recommended reading on online/social media marketing? I have some ideas already but always great to hear more. I plan on working my arse off and making such a difference they can't live without me, or at the very least gain quality contacts, references, and experience. Thanks everyone for reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted July 20, 2012 Members Share Posted July 20, 2012 I spend most of my time making on line marketing collateral for people, usually in the form of websites. What kind of strategies and collateral are already in place? Usually, marketing is pretty boring, because there are generally things that work in a particular space and things that... don't work. But you shouldn't be doing too much experimentation... usually you just figure out what folks in your similar position do and copy (this isn't art, at least as far as general strategy goes). As to whether or not being an intern is a good idea, it prolly isn't; there are a ton of opportunities for learning more and better stuff that are pretty low paying, and usually if they can't find a capacity in which to pay you they probably aren't in a position to teach you much... but that's your call, of course. But that's not probably a problem: as to making yourself indispensable-- IMO, you'll find that raises are very difficult to wrassle out of folks, and that you almost always have to change companies or jobs to get significant gains, so I usually advise folks I know to always do amazing work but not plan on being anywhere for any very long time (unless there is good money or you own it). You'll prolly learn a lot working with a small group like that, but I suspect that it will be more of a general business ed bend-- i.e. how not to get screwed in business, the pathologies of small business folks, and the things people like to do to consistently shoot themselves in the foot. Or not. In any case, good luck. Music promotion is a fun game to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TeleFromHelly Posted July 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 20, 2012 What kind of strategies and collateral are already in place? Usually, marketing is pretty boring, because there are generally things that work in a particular space and things that... don't work. But you shouldn't be doing too much experimentation... usually you just figure out what folks in your similar position do and copy (this isn't art, at least as far as general strategy goes). They have facebook and twitter, but it is very unstructured without a clear goal. I think I can help in that regard. I've been looking at bigger venues twitter feeds to get ideas, and like I said I'm up for reading everything possible to gain more insight. Thanks again:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted July 21, 2012 Members Share Posted July 21, 2012 "Thanks for the response! As for what I quoted, what are some examples of the opportunities you speak of? My resume is severely lacking in the experience department" I'm near Austin TX, so maybe that is a bit skewed, but there are quite a few jobs at low pay rates for people doing various kinds of social media marketing, though mostly grunt work of posting crap on forums and basic, basic facebook response stuff. I don't know california, or where you are specifically, so I can't point you in a good direction there... " I wouldn't want to stay with this particular venue for life anyway, just thought it was a great start." It may well be a good start; I'd just be hesitant to think about turning any internship into a longer term employment, especially if it isn't reasonably well paying to being with. And I would operate accordingly with the idea that I would be exiting in 6-12 mos. "They have facebook and twitter, but it is very unstructured without a clear goal. I think I can help in that regard. I've been looking at bigger venues twitter feeds to get ideas, and like I said I'm up for reading everything possible to gain more insight. " IMO, FB/ Tw is okay stuff if you have a clear reason to engage people, and it is nice if people identify with your brand. My neighbor does luckenbach texas, and she has like 60k tw, 45k fb, and it seems to work pretty well for her. However, she is a bad ass at selling stuff and keeps on it day and night. But people really like Luckenbach Texas, so it's easy enough to get them to signup w/out ppc. I have better response with targeted marketing via email, which is something that translates across industries. You can do something as simple as setup your site with a mail chip widget and then figure out some incentives to get people to signup for a monthly email blast. You might also have some fun playing with metric-ing what you're doing-- you'd be surprised how much you can learn by figuring out how to track stuff with google analytics. For instance, you can tell how many people open your emails, and how many of those folks go on to go to the website from an email. If you go a bit further, you can create incentives that mark where people are getting their info about events from, such as coupon codes, but that's kind of involved. Still, email list building is pretty good. If they have an on-line ticketing system, then that makes it even easier to gather emails for a list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A. Einstein Posted July 21, 2012 Members Share Posted July 21, 2012 We always pay our internship a salary. That a person works for free is a total impossible idea and a humiliation.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted July 21, 2012 Members Share Posted July 21, 2012 We always pay our internship a salary. That a person works for free is a total impossible idea and a humiliation.. I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TeleFromHelly Posted July 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2012 Awesome thanks scarecrow. Einstein, like I said the position is generally reserved for people in the marketing program, so their "pay" is class credit. Since I've graduated, I don't get that perk. I won't do it for free forever, that's for sure! Thanks for the responses guys:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted July 28, 2012 Members Share Posted July 28, 2012 How large is the company that owns the club? If it's just a one venue company, I think there are probably better uses of your time. There's so many people, bands, businesses,etc. that need help with marketing, I don't see why someone with a degree needs to work for free unless you feel THEY can offer YOU something very tangible in the way of contacts, future employment opportunities, experience, etc. It's interesting that some industries can induce people to work for free while others cannot. My daughter also has a marketing degree and while in college she was the campus red bull rep. They paid her a few hundred a month but also sent her on trips to cool events and gave her all the red bull needed to supply any event she wanted to support. I got a few cases too :-) She is now 25 and her friends are starting to land good jobs in their various careers. She is working with me in our contracting business and has already had a lot of success. We are not in a glamour business and there is no chance of getting free labor. I think you should be realistic about how a few people running a club could view someone working for free. Not that you should bolt, but that you should understand you are there for yourself, and when the day comes when you've achieved what is possible in that capacity, your out the door, or demanding compensation. There's nothing wrong with making an investment in your future, just don't be a chump. Keep your eye on the ball and best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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