Fee or salary for promotions?

[Brian]

I have a question some of you may be able to give me some advice on. I've been working at a club that is one structure split into two different bars. One is a dance club and the other is a gentleman's club. It's now under new management and they are great. They are great operators and that's where alot of their focus is. I had opened a teen/after-hours club while in college and ran over 250 promotions. I have alot of great ideas that would not only increase traffic but encourage return visits on slower nights from our current base. I'm currently an emcee/dj and have a degree in Bus Admin/Marketing and would like to spearhead alot of the promotions. My question is how should I go about getting compensated for the time and effort that would go into these promotions? I would think writing up a proposal on what I had in mind over a 6 month peroid and what I would expect on a weekly basis would be fair. Maybe showing how gaining an additional 100 patrons over the week with an average of 2.5 drinks at standard pricing would more than cover my salary and show a profit with an amendment terminating the contract if there is no increase in new or repeat business. The other side is that I can try to charge it on a per promotion basis. Then I have to determine the value of every promotion. If anyone could let me know if you're approached by myself how you receive an offer of this type and how you'd go about compensating them that would be great. Thanks to everyone that replies and to those that continue to post great message and advice on a regular basis.

[steffen]

IMHO -

I would pay you a bit-lower than normal salary, but bonus you off of the door counts...

That way, you're not freeloading off of your club, and getting paid for your results. Not to mention, you'd have a budget for the event being thrown as well.

Hope that helps...

[David]

Steffens comment is more of what you will see as a norm.

To ask an owner for money for an in-house promo is like pulling teeth. It's almost impossible for you to show how you increased his business.

Let say that you do a really cool promo that appeals to the 21 to 29 year old demo. On that night, there are a lot of 21 to 29 year old customers in his club. Is that a result of your promo or is it his normal demo? You need to be able to track new customers and the return of his normal customers that are there because of his promo. Some promoters will hand out free passes for that night and all others will have to pay a cover. That 's just one way to gauge the success of the promo.

On the other hand. Let's say that his normal clientele is 21 to 29 and your promo is directed to the 29 plus group. You and the owner both see an increase in the older demo. This could be proof that those over 29 are the direct result of your promotion.

No matter what you decide to do, the promotion contract needs to be laid out for sixty days to six months. To say that your promotion will increase his traffic on one night, is a hit and miss proposal. There have been nights that we are so slow that even giving drinks away wouldn't have made the people come in. If your promo is really a good one, it might take a couple of weeks to see the effects. I feel that all promos have a trickle down effect. People see the promo for the first time, they tell their friends and so on. In effect, you are establishing a following.

Many of the beer and liquor companies have had great success with promotions that travel from club to club. This way, the people that like the promo will follow it as it moves to it's new location. This gives the sponsoring club a crowd that could be new and different then their current customer base.

The most difficult thing that I think that you will run into is how to track and prove that your promo is why the people are there. Once you come up with a way to do this, the rest will be a piece of cake. I'm in the process of doing an Industry Night. It will be held on a Sunday night when we are normally closed and be by invitation only. So, everyone that shows up will be a direct result of the promo.