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Yes, they're free! Here are some good ways to get your message out to the public that won't cost you a dime.

Customize the Signature on Your E-mail

How many e-mails do you and your staff send out during a week? And those e-mails often get forwarded to other people. Make sure every e-mail is an advertisement for your organization.

Every E-Mail Should Have Your Group Name in the Signature Line

Insert the name of your group, your website address and your phone number in every single e-mail. Include your logo. This is critical if your e-mail is coming from your personal e-mail address or your group's name is not in the e-mail address.

Here's an example that would be at the bottom of every e-mail that goes out:

Susan Smith
Gateway Theatre Group
www.gatewaytheatregroup.com
314-555-5555

Every E-Mail Should Promote Your Calendar or Your Organization

What's the next event for your organization? What is a benefit of membership? Did you get great reviews on your present show? Here are several examples:

Susan Smith
Gateway Theatre Group
www.gatewaytheatregroup.com
314-555-5555

"Hamlet by the Gateway Theatre Group is Brilliant" said the Post-Dispatch. Go to the website for tickets today!

Susan Smith
Gateway Theatre Group
www.gatewaytheatregroup.com
314-555-5555

Get half-price tickets when you join Friends of the Gateway Theatre Group. Go to the website for information today!

Susan Smith
Gateway Theatre Group
www.gatewaytheatregroup.com
314-555-5555

Barefoot in the Park - October1 through 15
Hamlet - January 10 through 24
The Producers - March 15 through 30

Promote Your Website Address on Everything!

Your website will have the most information about you possible. And anybody can get to it at any time. So you want to promote it constantly! Put your website address on:

• Brochures
• Programs
• Business cards
• Letterhead and envelopes
• Ticket stubs
• Posters and flyers
• Postcards
• Signs and Banners

E-mail Good Reviews as Soon as they Come Out

Get a good review in the media? Send it out in an e-mail to everyone on your list. Use the subject line to promote it: POST DISPATCH RAVES ABOUT "HAMLET". Include quotes from the review (or if it's short, the entire review) and then provide a link to the actual review.

Join "Critical Mass" or Other List Serves that Your Audience Reads

A "list serve" is a kind of communal e-mail, generally created for people with similar interest and needs. People sign up to be part of the list-serve and everyone on the list gets every e-mail from everybody who is signed up.

Critical Mass is a St. Louis-based list serve for people in the arts. It's a great way to get the word out about your organization to hundreds of people who you know are interested in the arts.

It's very easy to sign up: send a blank e-mail to criticalmass-subscribe@egroups.com. They will e-mail you some questions about why you want to join (want to be sure you are in an arts-oriented field). It's just that simple.

Trade Advertising with Other St. Louis Arts Organizations

Do you have a program that is distributed at your performances? Do you carry advertising? Think about other arts groups that are reaching an audience with similar tastes (e.g. St. Louis Bach Society and St. Louis Choral Group). Talk to the executive director to discuss the possibility of trading advertising in each other's programs. (Use the Arts Directory on the RAC website to find the phone number of the organization.)

Trade Mailing Lists

Think about which other arts groups that are reaching an audience with similar tastes (e.g. St. Louis Bach Society and St. Louis Choral Group). Talk to the executive director to discuss the possibility of trading mailing lists.