Party organization

RIGHT PRICE = BETTER PARTIES

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You might want to organize a party to please the entire earth. Something like, I hope people will have a good time as I do like. 

You might indeed create some couples. Maybe you will help some dude get laid out. Or maybe you will help some friendships to be created.

But as with everything in life, this has a cost, and you shouldn’t be the one absorbing these costs.

It’s not capitalistic to say that, it’s realistic. That is why we want to teach you how to price your party.

Once you understand that, I can explain that RIGHT PRICE = BETTER PARTIES.

You’re not robbing people, chill out

If you’re like me, you might feel bad about asking for money from people. Not everyone is but my Christian influenced education makes me ashamed of asking for money in exchange for something.

Mostly when I wish that something should be free. 

In the best of the world, parties are free, and alcohol is cheap. There is good music everywhere and people do that through passion. In the best of the world only.

In the real world, those who don’t have solid finances behave like Titanic. They sink faster than expected.

So don’t be ashamed to ask people for compensation. We will see in this article that it is for the best of everyone. What you need to understand is that you always pay for shitty parties. 

So why not pay for yours? And yours won’t be bad with all the advice we are giving you!

So don’t be afraid to put the right price. People will save to come to your party instead of complaining. Believe me.

Pricing is a signal

Take a look at the last iPhone. We all know it’s too expensive, like any other through the years to be honest. Every time it’s the same.

But what does it says when one has the last iPhone? “Look I can afford it, I have money.”

At the same time, would you buy a 59$ phone out of nowhere? No, because you would think it’s crap. 

Well, that’s the same process with your parties.

A low price and people would think it’s crap, a high price and people would expect either a crazy experience or some really famous DJs.

So now you have to position yourself and explore what you really believe in. What value can you really bring to people?

If you think you’re playing crap music and it’s just a normal party, target low.

If you think you’re bringing a real experience to people, target normal or high.

It will tell them you are organizing a good event. It will also convince you and you’ll be able to finally make one.

Pricing will help you achieve your goals

Let’s say you’re organizing a concept of parties… Rap freestyle. 

You set up 4 or 5 mics in a room on a round table. One DJ mixes instrumentals and rappers from all over the neighborhood are coming to freestyle. 

You do it for 2 hours and the next two hours are only for dancing.

Let me tell you two scenarios you might follow to let you understand that RIGHT PRICE = BETTER PARTIES.

The first scenario – You are not charging or not charging enough

Even if your concept is dope, you are not charging.

  1. Anyone comes and bored people come to the party. They are not contributing to the general atmosphere and it feels like a retirement home.
  2. The owner gets mad because there are a lot of people but they don’t come to the party necessarily, they just stay there and don’t make numbers. More glasses are broken. It doesn’t feel like a win situation for him even if it’s slightly more crowded.
  3. The DJ who helped you didn’t get enough. Even if he played for 4 hours, he took the risk of bringing his own equipment and got nothing worth it in return. It was crowded and someone almost spill a glass on his laptop. Next time he will try to avoid coming and find excuses. He/she is talented and without her/him, there is no party.
  4. You have spent a quite amount of time for nothing. You even lost money organizing that. The DJ starts hating you and you can’t invest in anything to organize another one. You start wondering why you did all of that

As you can see, not pricing your work is not worth the effort. It brings mostly bad consequences. People don’t want to work with you and it starts to not be worth organizing something.

The second scenario – You are charging enough

  1. Only motivated people come to your party. They are not as much as if it was free, but the atmosphere is lit. Only passionate people who wish to listen to good rap and dance to good songs. Everyone is respectful and the word about this event will spread out easily.
  2. The owner is happy. Yes, it’s a small event but people have money to consume and because the atmosphere is great, they don’t hesitate to pay for more. Even if it’s not as crowded as other parties, he/she understands it’s the beginning and there is potential for more events.
  3. You can pay the DJ properly at the end. Enough for him/her to fill his hope of buying new turntables. She thinks – “If I work with him/her enough, I will get my new stuff in half a year. She will be motivated and stay serious.
  4. You have some money left to enjoy. You can reinvest in better sound, better lights, some Lesk, or decorations. You’ll be able to organize a new party and be able to invest for the next time.

As you can see, in this example, you see that money can actually help you to move further and solidify your concept. So don’t be scared of taking a fee for your work, it will only be a virtuous circle that can bring you only good things.

Pricing can help you achieve bigger objectives

One thing you need to have in mind is this.

Pricing can help you achieve bigger goals you can’t even imagine. It can be affording your dream turntables, becoming famous or any other thing you dream of.

Ok, I am exaggerating a bit but come on. You should price something fair for you and for your customers. It’s better to have the money in your pocket than in someone else’s. Because if you’re well-intentioned and you provide a good time to people, they’ll be happy.

How many times did you pay for something shitty? Was it the end of the world? No.

You remember the quality of something, not how much it cost (except if it was really really expensive but I hope you have some common sense).

What I mean is, by pricing the fair price, you’re opening the door to a bigger project. On something sustainable. Something that can grow.

You are opening the doors to the capacity to start a movement. Maybe, one day you’ll have the capacity to have the best performers in your town. The reason is you made enough parties to create a culture. You made enough parties because there was a financial motivation. There was a financial motivation because you priced well.

What to price then?

So you might wonder why RIGHT PRICE = BETTER PARTIES?

As we spoke about, the price is a psychological trigger. 

Too high and it seems exclusive, too low and people assume it’s bad.

You need to start from the source and ask yourself if you offer an exclusive experience?

What do I call an exclusive experience? 

Let’s say you’re renting special lights for a night. Something that can’t be accessed from kilometers/miles away. Or, you’re paying a big artist. This is an exclusive experience. 

This should cost more than a regular event. Hence, in this case, you’re offering an exclusive experience.

But if you read those lines I believe it’s not your case.

Is it a normal event?

In that case, you can price like your competitors. Technically, people won’t come to your or not because of the price, they will come for other reasons. 

Maybe they’re in town and it’s a nice place to come. Maybe it’s because their friends are there too.

If your party is like any other in town, you should play on other details than price. You can stay the same as your competitors and play on other details.

Is your event a bit better?

If your event is a bit better than your competitors, then the law of offer and demand can play. You can price your party a bit higher than the competition. If it’s worth it’s worth you shouldn’t be shy.

However, you need to make effort into marketing and let your target understand why your event is better. But this is another subject for another article. 

Are you starting? 

If yes, you can price a bit lower to attract people, to let them discover your concept.

However, the smartest way to do it is to add promotions. Coupled with a low price and you’ll be able to convince more people to discover something new.

Conclusion

1.Do not be afraid to price your event the same as your competitors.

It is not a reason for people to not come. Reasons for people to not come resides in others details such as your marketing, the fact you are new, or a word that did not spread.

2.Do not do free events if you start

Free brings problems if you are not backed up by special funding. So price a fair price according to the value you will provide and see what is happening.

I hope this will help you to run better events.

Cheers!

How to make money organizing parties?

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There are numerous ways of making money out there. You could import things from China, cut your neighbor’s grass, or even have a lemonade stand. But have you ever wondered how to make money in a fun way? 

In this article, we will investigate how to make money organizing parties.

Spoiler alert, it can be entertaining. Another spoiler alert, we base this article on our experience. We will provide you with all the tips we can. However, you will have to put in the effort. Once you understand that, you can follow along. 

Let’s go!

Find a concept

“Riches is in the niches” – is a famous marketing concept. You should follow it with care if you want to make money organizing parties.

You need to think of an innovative concept if you want to organize your own events. This can be a new type of party. A genre that is not often played or a location that sounds better.

The goal is to convince people to make parties in a better environment than where they actually do. Again, it can be a new place, a new type of music, or something people have never seen.

“But isn’t that risky?”

Yes, and this is why we will help you reduce the risks. A bit in this article, a lot if you follow along with the other articles on this website.

You need to create a concept that will attract the most courageous people. Or the ones who are bored with their routine. To do so, you need to find an idea that talks to them. But by definition, this concept would obviously be niched.

Do you know what type of concept to exploit? That is easy. You just need to analyze a bit.

The music you hear is always the same? Make something a layer deeper. From EDM to house or techno.

Is the queue always too long to enter? Make the same type of music in a smaller and easier-to-access place.

Do you need a dress code to enter? Make a party where you can come the way you want.

Find a concept of party

Check with your friends (and get help)

Have you ever wondered how to make money organizing parties? You’re at the right place. Because organizing your parties is fun. 

It is not fun like a video game where you finish a quest. It is fun as you can meet the love of your life. That is fun because the prettiest girls/boys can come to you and ask you if you are responsible. And then you can joke with them.

This is fun when people look at you and wish they could do the same.

It is fun as you become popular. You get attention and start create a network. The next day, considerably more people want to talk to you. (To whom you can sell some Lesk).

But you can not really do it alone. 

Hence, you need your friends implied for three reasons: A bit of help, spreading the word, and a bit of feedback.

A bit of help first.

There are a lot of things that should be done. From the marketing to handling the cash, the artists and the beverages. 

A lot of small tasks that we develop in other articles. 

All of that is to say that if you are forming a good team, you can handle it easily. But if you are alone, this might get harder.

Asking your friends is then a good thing to do. Mostly if you can be his/her wing(wo)man when the prettiest person might come to speak to you. Who knows, maybe some other want to make money organizing parties.

Spreading the word

People trust people. 

So the more people advertise, the more you can attract others. It is a kind of a network effect, not purely but still.

If you work with more people on this subject, you might be able to spread the word smoothly. Hence, having a squad with you is an advantage.

More importantly, you might forge great memories doing that with them.

So find some buddies that would be up for doing things with you. 

A bit of feedback

You might have a concept. It might be something crazy in your head.

You might have planned it out, reflected on it. You think it can be the best thing happening in a lifetime.

But if it doesn’t speak to anyone, you won’t attract nobody.

Well, that’s why friends are handy here. The more people you’ll expose your concept to, the more feedback you’ll have. Sometimes, you can spot that something is missing in terms of events. You can find a hole in the market. 

Some other times, an initiative can be a big flop as they start with assumptions. Getting feedback from friends is the first thing to do when we start.

Friends help for parties

Partner up with local venues

This is the most important concept as it will help you organize something for a few bucks (or even free). 

The business model I will talk about is the best if you don’t have a lot of money. It’s also the best if you hate responsibilities in life.

I mean you’ll still have some but you get me.

Ok, let’s focus.

The old business model

The idea of organizing an event is to find a place and rent it. Then you also rent all the music equipment. Then you pay the DJs. After that, you pay the people who will serve alcohol. You will need to buy alcohol. Then you pay someone at the entrance to take the jackets. Oh and did you think about  security? Blablabla

There seem to be a lot of things to do. You might not be a master at that. Like employing people as a bartender? Or ordering enough alcohol for the event? 

It’s really hard spending time on those. But you’re smart, you don’t need to do that, isn’t it?

Is that the image you had for how to make money organizing parties?

The new business model

Luckily, other people have done the work for you. Who are those other people? Bar or restaurant owners. Not all of them, those who have less business than others. Those who have a hard time advertising. Those who invested in a sound system already. 

Your goal will be to find them and ask if they are up for a partnership. You come with DJs. You advertise on social media and take a fee at the entrance.

In exchange, they make their profit on the alcohol sales and you can share the money at the entrance.

That way you won’t need to care (a lot) about security, alcohol, etc. Either way, they would open that night, isn’t it? So a little party wouldn’t hurt nobody.

Hence, you can eventually call some friends of yours who would love to DJ. If profit, you can negotiate to split it after depending on your profit.

And here it is.

This is how to make money organizing parties.

You have your events without needing to have a big budget to rent everything. 

This worked for us. We found a restaurant that opened under the condition to have at least 150 people. We didn’t spend one dollar on any organizational stuff. And we made 6 parties like that.  

Partner with venus to organize free parties

Contact local DJs

As a DJ myself, I have to admit that being able to play is a social experience.

If none of your friends ask you if you’re up for playing, you have few chances to do so. Even if you like to mix.

Even if there are strategies to find places where to mix, the ratio of DJ available vs opportunities is pretty weak. 

Hence, contacting your local DJs (or friends) can be an opportunity for them to just play somewhere else than alone in their room. Hence they might be happy when you’ll ask them to play if they are not superstars yet. 

That’s why you should definitely contact some local DJs to ask them about the opportunity you have.

Some of them will be dicks and will refuse, but others will be more than happy to help.

And how much should you pay them then?

When it comes to money, there are different schools. 

If your intention is to make more and better parties, you could negotiate to not pay people. If you’re a DJ reading it doesn’t get angry and let me explain. As I said I’m a DJ myself and for the good cause it’s ok to play for free.

But don’t fool people. If you keep the money for yourself, they’ll feel you’re a traitor and they’ll get mad at you. Your reputation will be tarnished and you’ll win nothing.

Another thing you can do is to pay a percentage of the profit. If you’re transparent with them and you’re only starting, they’ll understand. Negotiating is a way to respect the DJ’s time more than paying a great fee.

You should use this approach when you start and are not sure about your profitability.

However, if you’re making a lot of money, pay people accordingly. You’ll have a better reputation as well as better hopes for your future. 

Someone paid respectively will help spread the word about your party and business. While someone paid poorly won’t.

Contact local DJs

Respect the theme of the party

By the way, if you’re not paying the DJs, you should expect them to play the music they like, not the one you like.

Be careful when selecting them. As it might not fit with your concept or the vibes you want.

This is something you need to have in mind while organizing everything. You’re at risk to have arguments or problems. 

If you pay them, however, you pay for a service and technically they’re supposed to play what you want.

Advertise on Facebook and social media

One way to reduce costs is to advertise on social media.

Facebook is, from what I know, the best place to advertise something and we’ll see why.

Organize parties with social media

First, let’s focus and what’s free: Facebook groups.

On Facebook groups, you can publish a lot of information. The more groups you publish on, the more chances you have to spread the word. Yes, a lot of groups are dead. Yes, Facebook is a platform for boomers. But it’s still something where information transit. 

A lot of people discover things on Facebook, still. If they do not discover them, someone talks about it. And more importantly, it’s free!

Second, Facebook events

The same, FB events are basically free advertisements for your parties. You need to make one, invite your friends and ask your friends to invite their friends. 

The goal is just to send the information without sending one-by-one messages to people.

We’ll talk more about the way you can spread the word in other articles. 

Third, Instagram and Facebook events

Instagram and Facebook advertisements are a great way to spread the word about your party. 

Why? Cause for a few bucks (that you can easily get back) you will be able to be on the screen of thousands of people. 

Of course, you’ll have the be original and make it sort people can understand what you’re offering. But still, you can reach people who have an interest in your party, directly.

We could easily add TikTok for this but the only problem is that I am not so familiar with TikTok right now. So I think I would need to test before giving you a whole analysis.

Be serious and run a great event

Be serious when organizing events

The last thing you should do is to be serious are your event. Be respectful to the owner, and meet with him/her/them. Ask them how they want to do things, and make them feel you’re there for them. Don’t forget that if it’s going good, you’ll be able to make more parties. Hence, more frequently you’ll be able to make money organizing parties.

On your side, prepare everything with your crew. The sound system, what type of material people will have with them. Know in advance the cables you need.

Know also the decoration and the mood you want to have. The last day shouldn’t be the day you go and buy everything. It should be the day for emergencies.

On the D day, come earlier, bring food for everyone, and eventually drinks.

The night will not be a night for you where you can have fun. It will be a night where your vision will be accomplished and where you’ll get the money.

This money will serve to make bigger events or to make the DJ, you, your friends, and the owner richer. 

In any case, you’ll have to handle the cash for the entrance. Be ready to have everything official, don’t fraud the taxes. Be ready to produce receipts if needed. Get enough cash to give back for the change. 

Oh yeah, we did not speak about the pricing? It will be another subject. 

What I want to emphasize is that, be the person who is doing the boring tasks. It’s what is expected from the organizer.

I hope you liked this article. Do not hesitate to read more about this subject on our blog. If you have any questions, you can contact us by email, on Instagram, Facebook, or Tiktok. 

Thanks for reading.

Bisous et à bientôt!

Organize events – Do we agree with Phil Morse?

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Organize your own events – Do we agree with Phil Morse?

In his book “Rock the Dancefloor”, Phil Morse says that what has been a game-changer for him was to organize events. The reason for that was that he could earn more money than a simple gig and that he could play what he wanted. 

At Lesk, we believe that one who organize events on his/her own will enjoy the DJ journey even better. We think that the reasons why Phil organized his own parties were the same as ours. This is why we wanted to comment on all the recommendations he gives in his book. We will add some of our perspectives to help to have a better analysis.

event that displays confettis

You should start small

Why do we agree? 

It is a mistake to think that you will get the jackpot by organizing one party. Maybe you can spot a good gap and then get a lot of people. If you’re experienced enough, you will know how to market and get paid. Then you will be able to make quite a decent money out of that. But come on. You don’t do that for the money, do you?

What I am trying to explain is that you’re more likely to start slow than fast. It is a mistake to think the reverse. The only case you could start fast is that you have a network of people ready to party. This is what happened to us and why we started strong. It was an opportunity that we grabbed. That’s how we started to organize events.

Over the months, as we attracted people from our network and not people that liked the style, we declined. Because here is the thing:

Throwing parties is about creating a movement, not a one-shot.

People need to know you enough and be secure enough to go to your parties. In the beginning, you’ll have only the one who likes the type of music you’ll play. You won’t have the one who follows blindly. So you will have a restricted amount of people.

This is why you should start small when you organize events. Because maybe the first time all your friends will come and their friends. You will have this network effect of 200 people. But what about the other times? Where only 30 passionate people will show off?

So start small, cut your expenses, and build your local audience. It is better than starting big and failing directly.

Person reading a small book

Choose good night

Why do we agree?

We will have to know your calendar and people’s habits. This is what’s going to make the difference when you will organize events.

Public holidays are really interesting as people want to party at that time. So you have opportunities. But let’s go further in detail.

First, the experience will tell you everything. Don’t expect to know exactly how people will react precisely. Business is “guess something”, “work towards that guess” to achieve it, and then make conclusions. So my experience, you’ll know when night will be great or not.

For instance, we fucked up a party by throwing it on valentine’s day. Only 30 people came even if the concept was great. We also got good results at the beginning because we started just before the Christmas holidays when people were fed up with their studies. It varies a lot. And you will have to understand that.

What we want to add

You can never know what a good or bad night is. So try your best and hope everything will be fine. Look at your calendars and try to target well. If bigger events happen that night, you might be empty. If too big of an event happens also, people might be fed up with joining other too crowded parties and choosing you. You kind of never know. So be aware of that when you organize events.

night with a lot of stars

Do it yourself

Why we disagree (and then why we agree).

When you don’t know what one needs to do, doing it yourself might seem complicated. Between the marketing, the organization, the tickets, the jackets, the cash, and so on, doing it yourself is not the easiest. 

It all depends on which kind of deal you get when you organize events. If you’re going to a place where they already have people selling tickets and taking jackets: ok. If you need to do all that by yourself, you’ll need to hire, plan, or do that with friends.

So do it yourself, when you start, is not the best advice I believe.

Why we agree

However, here are the reasons why we agree.

I’m going to take my example, but what happened was that for our parties, everyone was asked to participate. Everyone wanted to join just to mix and be part of the night. I ended up sometimes having no time for my part and no one wanting to let me mix. Even if I was spending a lot of hours doing marketing and logistics. 

So if I would have to do it all over again, I would do it with the fewest number of people possible. Yes, you hear me, even alone if it could be possible. 

Because I spent a huge amount of work to get the thing running to at the end, get kicked out from my own movement. So yeah, do it alone and like that, fewer problems will arise.

Ps: If you don’t want to invite people, create some rules that will help you to manage everything. Believe me, it will help you sooner or later.

Events where people are dancing

Half of the people who say they would come won’t come

Why do we agree?

This statement is partially true. Partially because we had one-third of the people not coming in our case. Luckily, we had a list of people that we could track to see how many people came or not. At the same time, we had a portion of people that came from nowhere.

My advice here is to understand what is your ratio when you organize events. How many people are showing off vs how many people don’t? I guess there are plenty of ways to reduce the ratio. A bit more advertising at the right time and you’re good to go. But you need to be aware of the number.

people walking in the street

Build a brand, not a style of music

Why do we 100% agree?

People respond emotionally to brands. They might not like your style of music, but they might come anyway for the atmosphere. Even if they are just sat at the bar, it’s always good. 

As we said previously, you need to create a movement if you organize events. And brands are good to do so. One can associate a brand with a way of thinking, of acting, of living. Values can emanate from your brand and this is where you’ll make the best out of it.

If you just refer to your style of music, you might be limited in the type of people coming. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t choose a niche. It only means you should present it through a brand.

It’s also that you can educate people. Maybe people don’t like the type of music you play. But after one, or two or three events they will. They will be convinced that it’s better than what they are already listening to. A brand has the power of changing habits and perceptions. This is why you should use it.

advertisement and brands everywhere in a street

Negotiate the right deal

Why we agree

“You’re as big as the problem you’re resolving”. Always keep this in mind when you organize events.

If you visit a club that already has parties going on, you’re not resolving a big problem. So they won’t give you a huge credit. If you visit a place that is on the decline and is desperately looking for people organizing parties there, you have the advantage.

So keep that in mind when looking for a place and prepare your negotiation. State what you want in the future and see where you can meet the person. 

Don’t forget that a bad deal can ruin both your and your brand reputation. Also, don’t let people take advantage of you just because you want to play somewhere. It will frustrate you more than it will be beneficial. And if someone doesn’t want to take time to negotiate, then it’s a big no. Most of the time, they’ll lose more than you. Believe me.

negotiation between 2 people

Use every marketing trick available

True.

Marketing is about spreading the word, and the more you spread, the more people will come. My advice here is to see what you are capable of producing and how fast you can. Between copies, stories, posters, videos, and so on.

That could (and maybe will) be a whole course in itself but keep in mind that you need to advertise as much as you can. You also need to ask people to promote your event. Not selling tickets for it, but at least to share it on their social networks. No matter how many people follow them or not.

The more work you’re putting in, the more credible you will appear when you organize events.

marketing digital

Collect email address

True and not only that.

Marketing people are obsessed with numbers and data. And they are right. The more data you have, the more you can be sure of your activity. 

So we advise you to collect email. Try to make a base of people that might come every time to personally tell them that your next event will be that date. Try to reward people who are the first ones coming.

Those are the ones who will make your movement bigger, so don’t skip them. 

Marketing and good finances are what will help you to stay motivated in the long run. So get educated a minimum to be able to not lose what you’re building.

charts on a computer

If you’re successful, you’ll be able to book your favorite DJ

We don’t know if it’s true. But this is all we wish you if you decide to organize events. <3

I hope that you liked this article. Don’t hesitate to comment if you have anything to add.

Cheers! 

events where there is a big star
Benoit Dervieux mixing

The author

Benoit Dervieux is the initiator of Lesk. He started DJing around 14 years old, bought his first pair of vinyls at 22 and started organizing parties at 25. He has a master in entrepreneurship and is developing Lesk hoping the product will enter the market. You can contact him directly on instagram @lesklights.

Make your party viral

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Do you remember the movie Project X, which has shocked a whole generation of viewers? They were picturing the best party possible. But what makes this event so great in the movie? The answer: the number of people.

Actually, this is what makes your event remarkable, the number of people. Not too much, but mostly not too little. And everyone knows it is easier to get too little than too much.

So how do you make your event have too many people rather than too little? It has a name, and it is called “virality”. 

You’ve probably heard of a video that is “viral”, which means it’s so great that people share it with others easily, and it makes it famous. While this phenomenon in itself is hard to reach, some elements can be influenced to ensure virality. In this article, we will see how to make your party viral.

This article speaks about a subject of how to organize parties. We already treat this subject in a whole course that you can find here.

Disclaimer: This article can be applied to both house and club/bar parties. Just adjust it.

An event with a lot of people attending

The definition of virality

The concept of virality resides in the fact that existing users invite other people automatically. Those same people will then do the same, and exponential growth can be achieved. 

For instance, Facebook. There is no interest in using Facebook alone. This explains why it became so viral. People were telling their friends to use it, and it made a kind of snowball effect. It grew into the social network that we know today. 

Uber, at the same time, used discount codes or promotions. They applied if you were inviting your friends to the app. 

So virality is the tiny push that a brand will take to get the word out there. And this is what we will investigate right now in order to understand how to make your party viral.

A crazy event

What you need to have in mind for making your event viral

You can think of 3 metrics and one concept to understand how viral is your event?

The first is the number of people one person shares your event with and how. Let’s say a normal person shares your event on his/her story. Then, the number of people who will watch the story fully is the first metric. It’s just an example, but you understand the principle.

The second metric is the number of people who will interact with your event after one has shared. Now let’s take another example, word of mouth. Maybe one person will speak directly to five of his/her friends to come. Among those 5, 3 will be able to come and invite others. You have then a 60% virality in that case.

The third metric is how much time does it take for people to share the event? Do they need one week to convince others? Two weeks? Three months?

The last concept is, how do you make it a loop? How new people can invite new people? This is important also because if it stops with one person only inviting his/her friends, then it’s not that viral.

Ok, now that we have seen the basics, let’s understand how we can apply it.

Phone with a lot of apps

Understand your ravers

One thing you need to start doing is to understand how people come to your party. How do they get the word? How do they get excited about attending your events?

What you need to know is the story behind anyone who’s coming to your parties. 

By mapping your customer’s trip, you will be able to understand them better. Then you will find ways of going viral. You will have insights on how to make your party viral.

I personally know that I go to parties when I see the trailers of the events on Facebook. As long as I see “house” or “techno” I am starting to think about coming. Then I am asking my girlfriend, but no one else. Why no one else? I don’t know. Maybe because no one is suggesting it to me. Or because nothing tells me it’s also an event for people that don’t like this kind of music. 

In any case, this is how I experience going to an event.

People at a rave

Set up your viral goals

Why do you want your event to be viral? (or at least have virality?)

I spoke at the beginning about the number of people was crucial. But maybe for you, it will be something else? In any case, you need to set up your goals to be able to reach them.

If you have your own organization, maybe spreading the word could be a better strategy than having people right away. Maybe making something exclusive could be a long-term strategy. 

Set up goal for being viral

Don’t do too much

Finding a solution to make your party viral is a good step. But multiplying them to be sure to spread the word can be counter-intuitive for your ravers. 

So be prudent in what you’re doing and don’t try too hard. Maybe testing through the parties can be great, but not adding them.

The world is viral

The examples

Price reduction if you invite a friend

The price is a great incentive to make something viral. The only problem is the amount of reduction that you can give. Even if you market your party at 50% less, one will still save a relatively small amount of money. So the price here is not an important decision.

What is important, is to say that you’re pushed to invite a friend. This is how something can go viral as it reminds people to invite their friends. This is why it’s a good example

Something to win

I don’t know if you remember, but at one point, Instagram launched an update and encouraged people to make contests. Well, that became pretty popular, and this is a good way to think about it.

If you organize a contest and tell people that they could win something, this can be a reason for them to come and share. The only criteria you need to take into account is motivation. Is your prize enough?

If you have a shitty price, the incentive won’t be enough for them to make your event viral. At the same time, if your prize is too expensive, you might be broke. You then need to find something in between, and that’s hard.

In the same way, you need people who reshare your event and mostly come. You should then have your strategy between only sharing and no coming and only coming and not sharing.

Clubhouse style

Do you remember when Clubhouse started? What a hype. Everybody wanted an invitation, and the fact of not having access to it was stressful.

Well, there are lessons to take from it. Sometimes, not having something makes it even more appealing. Maybe your party can be viral in that sense. By being exclusive, you can become viral, and people might want to come just to feel they are part of the club too.

However, I would advise this strategy only if you have a strong enough community before. If you’re unknown, people might not even care that your party is private or not.

Invite anyone – Everyone is welcome

The same as the “invite your friends” style. By saying that everyone is welcome, you are pushing people to invite their friends and to feel that it’s a big gathering. By doing so, you’re spreading friendly feelings, and that might be what people want. 

So don’t hesitate to include everyone who can be concerned about your event.

Register on a list

Registering on the list is again, a process that we already know of. It’s not new and gives a little bit of exclusivity.

By pushing people to register, you send the message that coming is not that easy. They should earn their place. And this is usually what they want to do.

 

 

Ok, that’s it for today, I hope you enjoyed this article about how to make your party viral. 

If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate, I will try to update this article if I find new ways of making your event viral. 

Thanks et à bientôt !

Did you like the article and want to know more about organizing parties? We have a course for that!

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Benoit Dervieux mixing

The author

Benoit Dervieux is the initiator of Lesk. He started DJing around 14 years old, bought his first pair of vinyls at 22 and started organizing parties at 25. He has a master in entrepreneurship and is developing Lesk hoping the product will enter the market. You can contact him directly on instagram @lesklights.

Organize your parties – A simple guide

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Welcome into the article Organize your parties – A simple Guide. This post concerns all the DJs who wish to organize parties but never took action because of a lack of opportunity, fear, or imposter syndrome. I wrote it after organizing 10+ independent house and techno events on my campus in a Swedish city when I was studying for my Master’s.

I didn’t speak the language, we didn’t really have money, and I had weak DJ skills.

However, we managed to find an opportunity, we caught it, and we figured out it was not as complicated as we thought.

This is why I am sharing it with you right now. We have made a bigger course on it. And also, we have a dedicated Reddit. You won’t have excuses now.

joey-thompson-4zN_-PKsbWw-unsplash (Copy)

1) Ask people around you

Ask your friends or connections…

…if they want to organize events too. It’s a funny activity, you can eventually start earning money and it makes you a cool/active person.

The first and easiest step to do is to ask among your friends and/or to post a story on social media. “Who would start an organization for making parties” and you would be impressed by the number of people ready to do something.

If your close friends are not really up for that, start asking people around you that can be interested. Maybe at your school, work, university and so on. As this is work as well a passion, you don’t have to be friends with the people you’re organizing something.

Keep in mind that you should at least have compatible tastes for music. Once you have found people, you can start motivating each other.

People dancing in a club

2) Connect with local artists and local party people.

In this article Organize your parties – A simple guide, we advise to start connecting with local party people to localize opportunities. Send messages to see if you can connect or help them to organize events. If you are ready to work for free to get experience, you will start meeting people. Then, you will make connections and see opportunities everywhere.

Once you start frequenting those people, you will be in the world of party organizing. There, you will understand how everything works. More opportunities will pop up. The people you frequented might even help you organize other things.

DJs and promoters often have tons of ideas and tasks to do. If you help them to accomplish them, they might welcome you. Be careful, do not transform yourself into a slave. If you don’t find your pleasure in helping people, don’t. This is not the point.

The point is to get the contacts for artists, places, experiences, and anything worth taking.

Disco ball during a party

3) Create a “fictive” proper concept

Start ideating a concept or party you want to create. Write it on a piece of paper. Show this to your friends to see if it makes sense and if people would come. Then, find a name generate some beautiful aesthetics. You can create a logo, fonts, colors, and most importantly, a poster.

Finally, create your social media accounts that are useful, the ones where you can spread the word to the people you desire to invite.

You don’t need to be perfect. You need to exist, be understandable, be found, and be accessible. People need to project themselves into your event. Even if it’s not the reality yet.

Here, getting likes is not the goal. The goal is to show people that your thoughts start taking place.

To make it more professional, do not hesitate to generate your visuals with the help of Photoshop or Gimp tutorials. Or find free templates, you’ll find plenty.

Party in a club

4) Find a place to throw your party and negotiate a percentage

There are plenty of restaurants or bars that have sound systems but have a hard time attracting customers. They are craving to make money. Then, organizing an event is a perfect way to do so.

If you know enough artists to perform, If you know how to spread the word to attract enough people then they might be interested in you. (and with social media it can be really easy)

The goal here is to organize an event and take a fee out of it. This fee can be the entrance ticket or a percentage of all the sales during the night.

Why is that better than a simple gig? Because of the purpose, you will create. The hype will be bigger, people will come for the atmosphere you will create and this is where you can do something bigger than the bar/restaurant owner.

Take your concept with you and visit the clubs, bars, and restaurants. Ask them if you can work together. If they reject you, this is normal. Just don’t forget that you need only one “Yes” to organize your first party.

Be smart on the location you’re choosing, not too chic, not too far from people, something that makes sense.

Understand also which kind of place you’re dealing with. Sometimes, they already have people organizing events, and they don’t think you bring that much value.

Sometimes, they regret their ancient time and would love someone to reactivate their old soul. In any case, you need to understand why they want to do business with you. It will let you know how big of a fee you can take.

You’re half way in the article Organize your parties – A simple guide.

People dancing at an open air

5) Manage people and artists

Many local artists and people would love to promote their local scene, which means that you might find people interested in working with you…

…for artists, ask for their mixes and their style. Then, you will be able to understand the type of music they are playing. Depending on their energy, you will determine when they will play.

Understand which kind of energy they can bring depending on the place’s frequency.

Place the less skilled when people are not here and the most experienced when people are here, even if YOU are the least skilled.

For the people working with you, you will have to split the tasks. The best way to do so is to plan AHEAD.

If you’re leading, you will be the one organizing shifts and work. As you’re working with people, don’t forget that they might be late or lazy doing stuff. Prepare in advance and make them have an easy time while accomplishing it.

Understand why people are doing what they are doing. It will help you understand why they act the way they behave.

Someone who wants to become the next David Guetta might tell you the day before he won’t come if he finds a better gig.

Someone who wants to improve the local scene might help your competitors without seeing any problem.

If you understand that, you will avoid problems in the future.

PS: Bring AT LEAST food and drinks to your crew and DJs. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to show that you have considered.

People at an event

6) Market your party

To make your event credible, you will need to make several pieces of advertisement. This is what we advise in the article Organize your parties – A simple guide.

You already created a poster, which is good, but come on, you can do better.

Tell your story, make a video, a copy in addition and show people that it’s real. That your event will happen and that they should be hyped for that. It’s their blood boiling before entering the club that will make the difference.

Create a Facebook event and repost it in every group you can (the groups where people who are susceptible to come are part of).

Ask your friends to share the event. The merrier, the better. And mostly, it will make your event more credible.

Pay some Facebook ads as it’s very effective.

Post on Reddit or any social media that can convert people.

Sometimes, people are craving for the type of party that you will organize. They might just don’t know that someone is playing around them. So you’re actually helping more than anything else.

Someone under water

7) Prepare everything

Normally, working with a bar or a restaurant will avoid all the regulations, all the permits, and so on. You won’t need to think of everything. But still, you should always ask for:

Fire = Normally, the owner has it covered if it’s a legal place. (And this is why it’s easier to choose a bar or a restaurant)

Security = Often, the owner pays someone when they have events. Ask in case.

The noise disturbance = Try to avoid cops coming in the middle of the party to shut down everything. Ask the owner.

Handle cash= Find ways to handle cash and be paid surely. Be able to give recipes too. Find a way to have a simple accounting. Depending on your country, you might not need to start something, but it’s better if you keep track of the future.

The wardrobe= Find someone YOU TRUST for the wardrobe. Ask the owner also. He might already work with people.

Understand the sound system of the place. Be ready for any problem and see if your DJs can plug themselves. Come several times the week before your event to be sure that everything is smooth.

Organize meetings with your crew to be on point = It helps people to structure and speak out on the project. The more you let people show implications, the happier they will be.

Come before and stay after the party. Help to organize the room. You will gain credibility. Be careful, do not do someone else’s work.

Be easy to find. Nothing is more frustrating than not finding a party.

PS: here, if you have any other suggestions, I am down for getting them as we are never too careful.

Dark atmosphere at a club

8) Throw your party, enjoy and repeat

I applied this strategy when I was studying in Sweden. I started organizing parties from scratch in a country where I couldn’t even pronounce the alphabet. I also didn’t have good DJ skills by the time. I made lots of connections, got crazy memories with a lot of friends, and found my future wife. If it worked for me, it should work for you too.

I hope that you liked this article Organize your parties – A simple guide. Find all our articles here. Don’t hesitate to comment if you want more content.

Throw a party: 8 simple steps you can follow

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A small guide to people who desire to throw a party

To resume:

  • Contact your friends and connect with local artists

  • Create a concept visually and on social media

  • Find a place where you can throw a party in exchange for a fee

  • Find and manage artists according to their skills and when people are more likely to come

  • Prepare all the work to do in advance and spread it between all your co-worker to have a smooth work environment

  • Market your party on social media (both paid and not)

  • Prepare all the small details

  • Throw your party, enjoy and repeat

This is how you’ll organize great parties.

Organize great parties

This article is an introduction to a course we made on Lesk. If you want to know more about the course, you can click on the button under.

Discover the course

1) Ask your close circle

Ask your friends if they want to throw a party too. It’s a funny activity, and it makes you a cool/active person. The first and easiest step to do is to ask among your friends. They are the more likely to follow you. Ask them who would like to throw a party with you.

If your close friends are not really up for that, start asking people in your circle that can be interested. Maybe at your school, work, university and so on. As it is a work/passion, you don’t have to be friends with the people you’re organizing something. Keep in mind that you should at least have compatible tastes for music. Otherwise you might clash with them on the way.

Once you have found people, you can start motivating each other and plan what we’ll see in this article.

2) Connect with local artists and local party people. 

Send messages to see if you can connect or help them to throw a party. If you are ready to work for free, as a a volunteer, you will start meeting people. Then, you will make connections and see opportunities everywhere.

Once you start frequenting those people, you will be in the world of party organizing. There, you will understand how everything works. More opportunities will pop up. You will be able to know where and how you can throw a party. The people you will frequent might even help you organize events.

DJs and promoters often have tons of ideas and tasks to do. If you help them to accomplish them, they might welcome you. Be careful, do not transform into a slave. If you don’t find your pleasure in helping people, don’t. But if you can get the contacts for artists, places, and anything worth taking, don’t hesitate.

Connecting with people will help you going out of your comfort zone. The first step is painful but the next is only pleasure. Once you know enough people, the snowball effect is activated and possibilities are duplicating.

People enjoying a great party

3) Create a proper concept of events

Create a concept with a proper name that you would choose. Add some beautiful aesthetics. Such as logo, poster, banner etc. Finally, create your social media to help people understand what everything is all about. This should tell people that you intend to throw a party easily.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to exist, be understandable, and be reachable. People need to project themselves into the fact that you want to throw a party. Even if it’s not the reality yet, it all starts with playing with people’s imagination.

4) Find a place to throw a party

There are two ways to approach this. In this article we will see both.

Rent a place

To throw a party, you can start finding places that are made for that. It can be to privatize a club, to rent rooms or any option where you have a place. This is the common method that we don’t recommend and you will see why in our second solution. But let’s see what you need to think about:

  • Sound system – If the room doesn’t have one, you’ll need to rent one.
  • License and permits – You will need to unsure that your party is legit. Which means authorization for alcohol, protection against fire, security etc. Here is an example of what you can expect here.
  • Enough alcohol – Because, you throw a party, not a fair.

Partner with a business

There are plenty of restaurants or bars that have sound systems but have a hard time attracting customers. They are craving to make money. Then, you can partner with them if you want to throw a party.

If you know enough artists to perform. If you know how to spread the word to attract enough people, they might be interested in you. Then you can run an event and take a fee out of it. This fee can be the entrance ticket or a percentage of all the sales during the night. This exactly what we’re explaining in our course.

Take your concept with you and visit the clubs, bars, and restaurants. Ask them if you can work together. If they reject you, this is normal. Just don’t forget that you need only one Yes to throw a party for the first time.

Understand also which kind of place you’re dealing with. Sometimes, they already have people who organize events. Sometimes, they regret their old-time parties and would love someone to reactivate their old soul. In any case, you need to understand why they want to do business with you.

Day party

5) Manage people and artists

Many local artists and people would love to promote their local scene, which means that you might find people interested in working with you tp throw a party.

For artists, ask for their mixes and their style. Then, you will be able to understand the type of music they are playing. Depending on their energy, you will determine when they will play. Understand which kind of energy they can bring depending on the place’s frequentation.

Place the less skilled when people are not here and the most experienced when people are here, even if YOU are the least experimented. This will make the difference when you will throw a party.

For the people working with you, you will have to split the tasks between you. The best way to do so is to plan. Spread all the tasks between your crew before accomplishing them. 

If you are leading, you will be the one organizing shifts and work. As you’re working with people, don’t forget that they might be late doing stuff. Prepare the work in advance and make them have an easy time.

Understand why people are doing what they are doing. It will help you understand why they act the way they behave. Someone who wants to become the next David Guetta might tell you the day before he won’t come if he finds a better gig. Someone who wants to improve the local scene might help your competitors without seeing any problem. If you understand that, you will avoid problems in the future.

6) Market your party

To make your event credible and throw a party noticeably, you will need to make several pieces of advertisement. A poster is good, but come on, you can do better. Make a story, a video, a copy in addition and show people that it’s real.

Create a Facebook event and post it in every related group you can.

Ask your friends to share the event. The merrier, the better.

Pay some Facebook ads as it’s very effective.

Post on Reddit.

See how you can duplicate those same strategies to other platforms.

Different people enjoying a great party

7) Prepare everything

Fire

Normally, the owner has it covered if it’s a legal place. But be careful and be on point with all the legislation. This is why we advise to partner with a place already. They might know everything about it and have it ready. Then, you won’t need to care too much and focus on your strengths.

Security

You will need to pay some security person if you want to be sure that your party goes well. If you partner with a place, they might have contact with companies. But if you are alone, this responsibility is up to you.

The noise disturbance

Try to avoid cops coming in the middle of the party to shut down everything while you throw a party. Ask for the owner of the place if they had any problem previously.

Handle cash

Find ways to handle cash and be paid surely. Be able to give recipes too, like small invoices. Find a way to have a simple accounting. Depending on your country, you might not need to start something, but it’s better if you keep track of the future. Maybe tax offices might ask you for proof later on.

The wardrobe

Find someone YOU TRUST for the wardrobe. Either employ someone you know. Either ask the owner of the place (if you partner with him/her) if they have already someone.

Understand the sound system of the place

Be ready for any problem and see if your DJs can plug themselves. Come several times the week before your event to be sure that everything is smooth.

Bring food and drinks for the people working with you

It’s nothing, but it shows consideration. A small sandwich and some cans of soda and everybody is happy. Be careful to take anyone food restrictions in consideration.

Organize meetings

It helps people to structure and speak out on the project. The more you let people showing implications, the happier they will be.

Come before and stay after the party

Help to organize the room. You will gain credibility among everyone. Be careful, do not do someone else work if they are paid for that. An example is cleaning the place after if there are people paid for that.

Be easy to find

Nothing is more frustrating than not finding a party. So put your location on Google, your event and anywhere you can. Make it easy for others.

8) Throw your party, enjoy and repeat

This is the strategy I applied when I was studying in Sweden. I started organizing parties from scratch in a country where I couldn’t even pronounce the alphabet. I also didn’t have DJ skills by the time. So if it worked for me, it should work for you.

If you want to know more about party organizing, we have a forum and a course dedicated to lesk.club, don’t hesitate to check it out.

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