Event marketers have used tickets for centuries to give their events a special feel of exclusivity and as a way to know who to let in. Tickets are cost-effective attention-grabbers that (done right) can really add spice to your marketing. You can use tickets to fill events, seminars, webinars, teleseminars, even for pre-tradeshow marketing. However, as I’m going to show you in a moment, you don’t necessarily have to be hosting an event to be able to use this attention-grabbing marketing tactic. This means EVERYBODY reading this marketing how-to article, can use this tactic in their marketing.

One such company that used tickets in their marketing was a client of mine who was hosting a local seminar. We came up with the idea of including printed tickets to be sent in a direct mail package to a cold prospect (meaning we bought a list and they were not current clients of my client). We thought we did everything right, but the initial response was only around 1.1%, which we thought was low given the importance of the seminar topic and the fact it was free.

Then I had the idea of sending the package out again, but this time letting them know the tickets were in the envelope by adding a CopyDoodle® on the outside of the envelope. The result was a phenomenal bump in response (to 8.7%) and one of my first CopyDoodles success stories.

Recently, a number of other excellent examples of “ticket marketing” have come across my desk and I thought I would share them here. Probably one of the best examples of using tickets to fill an event (and fill it it did) comes from Mike Crow of Dallas, Texas. At the recent GKIC Info Summit(SM), Mike handed out these great0looking tickets inviting attendees to a special breakfast. They were printed on a high-quality metallic gold paper and they got attention. Notice the effective use of copy cosmetics and good “reason why” copywriting. Nice job Mike and his marketing guy, John!

Speaking of the GKIC Info Summit, GKIC sent out a great looking ticket to help fill that event.

James Malinchak, who spoke at the Info Summit created another great-looking, high-response ticket for his recent bootcamp that had over 600 people in the room.

And finally, to show one more example of using tickets to fill up events, here are the tickets Charlie McDermott and I are using to get business owners to attend our Business and Entrepreneurs Networking meetings (www.benphilly.com). We print these up and hand them out to members to allow them to invite their friends to our next meeting.

But what if you’re not hosting events, can you still use tickets in your marketing? Absolutely and one way to do this, would be to create a graphic that looks like a ticket and use it in your ezines, newsletters, sales letters, HTML emails, web site, etc. The idea is to use the ticket to get attention and get your recipients engaging with your marketing.

This month, I released a Ticket CopyTemplate for my CopyDoodles Access Club Platinum members and it contained a number of ticket templates and special ticket marketing CopyDoodles for our members. One such template was a ticket design just about any business owner could use (as you can see) as an attention-grabber.

So I hope I’ve triggered an idea or two on for you to consider how you can use tickets in your marketing. If you have any other ideas or ways you’ve used tickets in your marketing, leave me a comment below!

I just got back from the 2010 Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference in Dallas, Texas.  It was another four days of intense learning and powerful networking and as usual, it was great to see old friends and meet new ones.

At the 2009 GKIC SuperConference, I had the opportunity to be a presenter and this year my SuperConference participation continued with me leading a marketing round table and my company exhibiting for the first time ever.

For two hours I hosted a number of packed marketing round tables on the topic of “increasing conversion” – can you find me in the pic?

Many thanks to the hundreds of SuperConference attendees who stopped by and visited us during exhibit hours.  It was humbling to hear so many CopyDoodles success stories and get so many video testimonials!

And a very special congratulations to the following ten individuals who became CopyDoodles customers and won our Mastermind Experience Contest, which includes a one-day mastermind experience and attending a Philadelphia Phillies game with me in a private V.I.P. suite in July.

Mastermind & Phillies Game Winners!

Jeff Giagnocavo, Mitch Tublin, Rollie LaMarche, Traci Bild, Glenn Fukuda, Will Fishkin, Jill Wolforth, Greg Lake, Barbara Hales and Barry Wells.

Dan and Carla Kennedy stopped by to say hi to my wife Becky and I at the booth.

During the exhibit, we showed for the first time ever, the brand new CopyDoodles® Access Club.  Our fans are calling this “CopyDoodles 2.0” and it is indeed the future of all things CopyDoodles!

This exciting new advancement will allow existing and future CopyDoodles customers to access all our powerful, attention-grabbing content –  even faster and easier than EVER BEFORE!  This includes CopyDoodles, CopyComics, CopyFonts, CopyFlash, and our innovative CopyGenerators.

A sneak peak at the brand new CopyDoodles Access Club!

You will be hearing more the CopyDoodles Access Club over the next few weeks as we begin to roll it out, so stay tuned.

There are two things that made the 2010 SuperConference truly memorable for me.  The first has to do with the amazing generosity of SuperConference attendees and Bill and Karen Glazer.  In December of 2009, the GKIC world lost a master marketer and member when my friend and GKIC-Philly chapter member Eric Paul lost his battle to cancer.

Eric Paul

It was just two years ago Eric attended the 2008 SuperConference and predicted (and I agreed) he would be a future GKIC Marketer of the Year.  Unfortunately life threw a curveball and Eric is no longer with us.  He left behind four beautiful young children.

At the SuperConference, my friend Darin Spindler, created an emotional video and attendees donated over $10,000 to help Eric’s family as they deal this their loss.  It was amazing to see a line of hundreds of attendees as they turned in their contribution forms.

On a more upbeat note, GKIC-Philly member and my Elite Experience Mastermind member, Charlie McDermott, won the title of the 2010 GKIC Marketer of the Year!  It was during our February Elite Experience Mastermind meeting that our group suggested Charlie enter the contest and being a man of massive action Charlie accepted the challenge and won the entire contest!

Charlie McDermott getting feedback during our Elite Experience Mastermind meeting in February.

This is an amazing accomplishment for Charlie, especially since he’s only been a GKIC member since the fall of 2008.  Congratulations to Charlie and his team for their impressive presentation at the 2010 GKIC SuperConference!

And finally, I want to thank all the GKIC-Philly chapter members who attended the SuperConference (and stayed up late to get this photo).

GKIC-Philly in Dallas! Andrew Mazer, Becky Capuzzi, Dan Kennedy, Jeff Giagnocavo, myself, Jim Palmer, Bill Glazer, Charlie McDermott and Dave Frees