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Posts Tagged ‘Entertainment’

Shopping can be fun especially when you buy something for less than its original cost. But getting something for less is not possible all the time. There might be times when you might end up with an expensive deal. One of the best ways to save your hard earned money is by using entertainment coupon book.

Entertainment coupon book is a book of discounts. This coupon book offers discounts on various entertainment stuffs like books, sports, vacations, restaurants, leisure activities and lots more. The basic idea of an entertainment coupon book is to help you save more money when you go out to enjoy with your dear ones. Most of the coupons in the coupon book are entertainment related and are good at restaurants, theme parks, theaters and more.

How to apply for an entertainment book
Entertainment coupon book has made online shopping far easier and cheap. There are number of sites that offer the service of an entertainment coupon book. All you have to do is simply input your zip code and the service will display the entertainment coupon book for your area.

Features of entertainment coupon book
o There is 00 in local savings in every book, to use these coupons, just present these coupons to participating business and get the discount. Save up to 50% and get 2-for-1 deals at top restaurants, shops, attractions, sporting events and more.
o Every Entertainment® Book comes with a complimentary membership card. Simply present your card at select restaurants, hotels and more to receive 20% savings.
o In addition to Entertainment Book coupons, you’ll find members-only online deals and printable coupons. You can print coupons right from your computer and get special online shopping discounts from top retailers. Plus, you can get unlimited movie ticket discounts, dining discounts, hotel discounts of up to 70% off rates, online coupons for travel discounts and much more.

Isabella Rodrigues writes for decorating-books.info,
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What sticks?

What makes a lasting memory? Think back over past vacation experiences.  What kinds of things stand out? Most likely it is the emotional highs, the relationships, the personalities encountered, the laughter and unexpected events, no?

Ok, before you start congratulating me on my tremendous grasp of the obvious…let me point out the most perplexing disconnect from my 25 years as a travel agency owner and cruise specialist. What leaves me scratching my head is this – things that are so important to the client prior to choosing a vacation package are almost entirely forgotten once the experience is complete!

Can’t get enough of what really doesn’t matter?

During the planning stage clients will spend hours, days, weeks, months tediously pouring over brochures, visiting cruise line websites, comparing prices, measuring the square footage of cabins, scouring online reviews totaling up the number of superlatives used to describe the food on this ship versus the food on that one – doing so as if the very success or failure of their cruise vacation was riding on these ultra-fine, hair splitting distinctions.

Then post vacation – in describing their experience – a whole new set of standards are called into play. As irrational as it may seem, there is value in understanding and adjusting for this bit of odd behavior.  Whether a leisure travel professional or simply planning a vacation for your self – keep in mind from the very beginning that success depends on the ratio of fun memories to the monotonous or prosaic. Too often we lose sight of the fact that our most precious commodity is time.  So, do you really want to invest time (and money) in any experience where opportunities for magical moments are not maximized?

A closer look: the cruise industry -

The chatter overheard in most post-cruise gatherings tends to be about the colorful characters met at dinner…the waiter who was also an accomplished close-up magician…the friendliness and caring attitude of staff who seemed to truly enjoy their work, the accessible entertainers who mingled with the hoi polloi.  But, by comparison, comments about food, service or cabin size often seem to be little more than brief asides – almost mundane.

Savvy cruise marketers understand this peculiarity and have had great success leveraging this dynamic into their advertising and marketing – as well as the on board experience itself. Within the industry there is one standout in this respect.

But first, a little background –

As you would expect, the “mass market’ segment of the cruise industry is by far the largest in terms of dollars spent, capitalization, passengers carried, etc. Within this segment, traditional standards of measurement for choosing one cruise over another have always been highly subjective, but lately with the advent of the new, state-of-art mega-ships distinctions are blurred even more. For instance the Big Three players – Carnival, Norwegian & Royal Caribbean – all tend to have similar itineraries, about the same prices, the same level of service and food – plus a constantly growing list of mind boggling activities and pimped up cabins, suites, penthouses, spas, showrooms and other “I-never-knew-they-had-that-on-a-ship” offerings.

And the winner is…

Of those three, Carnival Cruise Lines is the one that has gotten it right from the very beginning. It is no coincidence that CCL is the most financially successful cruise company to date.  Via aggressive acquisition Carnival now is the parent company of a growing number of brands, eleven to date – including Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Aida, P&O, Costa and Seabourn.  Of these, the Carnival brand itself remains the most successful – still the Cash Cow of Cruising.

The Chairman and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines is Mickey Arison – son of founder Ted Arison. His particular genius is relentlessly focusing on the real differentiator in the biggest market segment – fun.   The perennial ‘Fun Ships’ branding strategy has been wildly successful – planting seeds for effective post vacation word of mouth marketing for decades. The “fun” theme starts with their advertising and marketing and continues with the on board experience – one that rarely fails to deliver to its target audience. To paraphrase bank robber Willie Sutton, Carnival knows that fun “is where the money is”.

The Fun Ships –

Out of necessity Carnival Cruise Lines is highly competitive in food, service and on board activities but returning Carnival guests – more than any other brand – will inevitably regale their friends with tall tales about all the fun that was had…along with painfully unflattering photos of low brow events such as the Hairy Chest or Beer Drinking contests.  Thirty seven years ago, when he founded the company, the senior Mr. Arison knew instinctively that post cruise chatter about fun was money in the bank.

‘Back to the Future’ Marketing -

Could we as vacation planners, whether selling via traditional retail outlets, a virtual online presence – or some hybrid thereof – exert more influence over these critical post trip conversations? I’m not suggesting that we all become stage hypnotists or Hollywood script writers, but William Turner was on to something when he said “You may have heard that the world is made up of atoms and molecules, but it is really made up of stories.”

Never under estimate the power of a great story -

The modern day nomenclature for this little bit of marketing strategy is called “branding” – something the senior Mr. Arison understood long ago.  As a vacation planner, the question to ask yourself is – do you habitually look for ways to make customer contact more stimulating, interesting, or entertaining? Or, do you view yourself as primarily an order taker? Is the client left with a feeling of affinity – looking forward to future communication – in other words was the interaction memorable?

The power of FUN -

What can you do proactively to make client communications more interesting? Do you ask questions designed to focus on what truly counts – the memory – versus temporary obsessions? (See paragraph 3)

A little creative guidance can go a long way to motivate – to make interesting and fun what is normally be perceived to be a tedious bother. Here is a wonderful, real life illustration of my point. Pause for a moment to take a look at the http://TheFunTheory.com videos.

Branding yourself -

No one can write the script but you – you must be authentic. Take a look at subtle but creative ways for making client interactions more fun.  Maybe only a slight shift in attitude is required and the script writes itself. The game changing strategy could be as simple as reminding yourself as you pick up the phone, “Hey, the fun starts now!”  Like the people in The Fun Theory videos, whether motivating to take the stairs verses the escalator, to pick up trash and throw it into the proper receptacle – or reveal what really matters most in a vacation experience – training yourself to plant seeds for fun at first contact could mean a new level of success – even launch you on your way to becoming the next billionaire cruise line owner. – LEC

You may be a very talented musician, but if you don’t know where to find work you will be broke. Knowing this, it may be time for you to keep up with the times so you know where to find work as an entertainer. Right now that location happens to be in South Florida. 

In fact, it is not just musicians that are thriving in this location. As of summer 2007 it is reported that opportunity knocks in this location for songwriters, public relations personnel, radio stations, videographers, models, makeup artists, recording studios, and artists.

Disc jockeys and MCs have found their way around Southern and Southwest Florida as well. Cities in this region where they have found employment include Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, and Hollywood. These places as well as other nearby locations may also be a great location for freelance workers as well. Those employed in writing, animation, and graphic arts might be just as successful here as people working in the music and media industries.

One of the reasons that so many entertainment opportunities are available in South Florida locations is because of the great schools that people attend in this location, and elsewhere in Florida. Some of the best Florida entertainment schools Miami Academy of Performing Arts, The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and University of South Florida.

In addition to the great training provided in this location for both graduate and undergraduate students is the endless number of outlets offered to students who want to sharpen their skills. For instance, anyone who has some type of performing arts or entertainment degree might be employed as a singer in a family amusement park, disc jockey in a local cocktail lounge, or stage MC at a nearby theatre. Quite a few people also find work as a costume character at a place such as Disney World.

Names of companies through which entertainment jobs can be found include Busch Entertainment Corporation (i.e. at Sea World, Gaylord Entertainment, Roe Entertainment (for bar positions), and AMC Entertainment (theatre staff). Many other performing arts companies are also operating in the Florida and South Florida areas.

In addition to finding work in the entertainment fields it is also possible to find work as a supporting staff member. Openings are available for receptionists, cooks, spa workers, food prep workers, servers, and waitresses. Other opportunities are available to those who are looking for work in the janitorial industries.

In addition to all of the above, new entertainment industries are also springing up all over. For instance, more opportunities are available now in Florida for those who want to become eco-friendly makeup or costume artists. In fact, this industry is booming not only in Florida but several other major cities of the world. These products are very good for the body as well as the environment.

Hopefully this is great news for people who are wondering how to make a living in the entertainment during rough economic times. In fact, this is often refreshing news for people who are struggling to find work even during times when the economy is good. For those looking for employment, several online entertainment job resources are available.

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Just think about how much time college students spend getting an education, plus the money involved. It’s hard to imagine a school where you can learn just what you need to learn, and get a job as well.

The trend these days, especially during the economic downturn, is one Los Angeles film school that offers a production course curriculum that not opnly qualifies graduates for positions in the film industry, but that also for the television, music video and video industries.

Here’s how this works. Industry experts pass on their experience and know-how to the Film Connection classroom and provide an exciting atmosphere where they work openly between movie sets and sound stages as the classroom. The school provides training on real sets and under real life working conditions. You get to be trained one-on-one by a working professional. The mentor proactively teaches both professional and technical skills, helping to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace. When you are done, you will probably have a job. “With the Film Connection students learn more and are better prepared to get a job. The other more expensivefilm schools just do not work. You come out under-trained, unemployed and broke,” said Mars Callahan, writer, director and mentor.

Programs can be completed in approximately half the time of degrees obtained from other schools. Plus, no experience is required and you can start any time. Most schools have specific semesters. Some of the students even take classes part time during night or weekend sessions, so this way they can train around their current job schedule. The average course length is five to seven months, depending upon the schedule.

Locating a good school is not only about which school will provide an education that the industry will take seriously, but the cost for attendance also plays into the formula. Colleges and universities have formulas that they use — some charge applicants by the credit hour, by clock hour, or by the semester. With fees, books and supplies, it can all add up pretty quickly.

When it comes to learning about the entertainment arts, you should always look for a film, radio or music recording school that provides loans like SallieMae. It is a good idea to look for schools that help place their graduates into good jobs. you need to make sure the school offers an apprentice program with mentor teachers.

Quite the opposite in fact for the small business owner. There are many ways that you can market your business successfully without having to spend vast amounts of money to do so. If you have a low budget then there are low-cost strategies for you to use and some are even free.

What you’ll need to be spending though is time, and sometimes plenty of it. The time and persistence spent on your marketing activities will show a great return and more profitable income streams.

Firstly set yourself an action plan and try out as many marketing activities as you can for your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment business – but on a small-scale. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket and your energy into one marketing element because if it is no good and it flops then that will be a whole lot of wasted time.

You need to be doing many things all at once, and testing, measuring and recording the results on each and every one of them.

Here are just a few ideas to get you going:

Advertising – make sure that they are influential direct response adverts which will produce clear and measurable results

Direct Mail – send offers, promotions and incentives in the post to your existing customers and your researched target audience

Internet – ensure that your website is ranked as high as possible by using the correct keyword density and by having all your hidden meta tags and titles installed

Email – don’t let the opportunity of capturing a customers email address disappear otherwise you will be turning down the chance to keep in contact with them for weeks, months and even years to come

That’s a few for you to get going with, but there are of course many others.

If you try a couple of marketing strategies each month on a small scale basis over the next year then that will be approximately 24 areas that you would have tried, tested and measured. At the end of that time you should have at least 6 or so that you know are working, which you can continue with on an ongoing basis.

Be sure to write your marketing action plan from the off set so that you have a path to follow and remember to try everything out on a small scale basis. If a particular campaign was successful, keep doing it, and each time roll it out on a bigger scale.

Happy marketing!

Sherrill Church has been running a successful Face Painting business for 19 years and is an International Published Author.

Turn your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment hobby into a full-time business. With Sherrill Church’s step-by-step, home study guide – Face Painting For Profit – you too can have the income and the lifestyle you deserve from this creative industry. If you would like to receive chapter one for FREE, then please click this link http://www.mimicks.co.uk/chapter-one.htm

Grab a copy, by clicking the link, of her newly launched free report The Seven Wonders Of Your Business World http://www.mimicks.co.uk/report-su.htm

It must be rare to be in the home entertainment business these days without feeling the heat.  Firstly, the movie business is undergoing a major transformation. Gone are the days when studios were great movie idea incubators. Now they also need to be “brand businesses,” scouting for projects that can be transformed into successful franchises with worldwide appeal to boot.  Business process outsourcing could offer a solution.

Here’s an example of the heat. A great flick should translate into fantastic DVD sales. At the moment, however, DVD sales are down. Although the economic downturn has significantly reduced America’s overall appetite to spend, it was expected that the movie industry was least likely to be affected by the slowdown. However, consumers are now looking for discounts and using coupons whenever they can to save as much as they can. So buying DVDs, which is a discretionary spend, can be postponed or deferred.

According to the Digital Entertainment Group, DVD sales fell 9 percent in 2008, bringing total home video spending down by 5.5 percent to USD 22.4 billion – the first year in which overall consumer spend on home video has seen a decline. In 2009, according to the DEG, there has been a further 3.2 percent fall in disc revenues.

As a result of declining DVD sales, retail margins are impacting retailers’ franchisee decisions, stock replenishments, and eventually affecting the operating margins of big Hollywood studios. Talk about a vicious circle.

And the challenge compounds. A number of new distribution channels, technologies and formats are threatening to swamp the traditional DVD store distribution model. Consider Redbox, On-demand and Netflix just a few of the more successful new formats luring customers away from buying DVDs at a store. Redbox (a low-price rental service) has dealt a death blow to traditional DVD pricing while Netflix and On-Demand have created huge incentives for viewers to stay at home and watch movies without the need to buy DVDs at the store.

In these tough times, media and entertainment companies can draw important lessons from the branded consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.

As movie studios push to reorganize themselves as portfolios of brands, the home entertainment industry will continue to experience pressure on margins from new formats – no different from the razor-thin margins in the retail industry.

To survive, the best companies will have to create super efficient supply chains. And this is where the peculiarities of the home entertainment industry matter.

Unlike a CPG company’s portfolio which is comprised of a few brands with relatively long shelf lives, each movie is a new brand with an effective shelf life of a few weeks. About 70 percent of a movie’s lifetime sales take place in the first six to eight weeks. Add to that fickle consumer preferences and the challenges of efficiently managing the supply chain in the crucial first few weeks, and the problem becomes obvious.

Home entertainment companies are also competing with the CPG companies  for footfalls. Since the average wallet size         or spending   has reduced, retailers have begun to demand accurate forecasts and to optimize total available shelf space.

Read More at http://bit.ly/9oINsh

You need to fill yourself with a burning desire, and make it your goal, to add extra value to your Face Painting customer lives and you will then be perceived in a different light from the normal, average Children’s Entertainer and other allied small business owners.

So how can you make a big difference to the life of your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainer customer?

After a Face Painting birthday party or event stay around a bit and give a helping hand. Home-based parties are always fraught with 20 or so hyper kids, usually running amok, and the party parent will really appreciate a hand in the kitchen, tidying away mess from the floor or to assist in organising the games. Do this with no extra charge, of course.

On receiving a telephone enquiry from a new and prospective Face Painting or Entertainment customer, send them something of value in the post or by email. Your added-value pack could include party planning tips, URL’s of party sundry suppliers, a list of the local community halls and centres with contact information, party food ideas, cake suppliers and other local allied entertainers. The ideas for your added-value pack are endless.

Send little Johnny a birthday card in the post. Get your timings spot-on and ensure that it lands on the mat on his actual birthday. Inside the card you could include a personalised message about a previous birthday you spent with him, and as a nice touch, include a Face Painting or Entertainment logo branded photo of yourself. Prior to sending him this card, hopefully you would have sent his mum a gentle reminder to use your services again, six weeks earlier.

When you put your mind to it, you’ll be able to come up with loads of way to add value to the life of your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainer customer. A good way to do this is to think about the recent service providers you have used in your business or for a personal use and think about ways in which they could have added more value to you by making the experience by far a greater one.

The Seven Wonders Of Your Business World is Sherrill Church’s latest free report, which is full of inspiring ideas for your Face Painting or Children’s entertainment company. Grab yourself a copy today by clicking on this link http://www.mimicks.co.uk/report-su.htm

If you’re eager to learn more about how to run a successful and profitable Face Painting or Entertainment business then Sherrill Church has just launched her brand new step-by-step, home study guide ‘Face Painting For Profit’ and you can get the first chapter for free. Head over to http://www.mimicks.co.uk/chapter-one.htm for your free copy.

For some, running a small business can put a knot in your stomach, turn your legs to jelly and have you diving under the duvet when you think about how to effectively market your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment business.

So how do you initially get yourself going with this ‘marketing thingy’ and propel yourself into the same league like the big guys?

Well first and foremost for the moment, put down your face paints, your balloon twisters or your magic wand and take out a pen and pad instead. You now need to focus all of your creative energy into setting yourself a sound marketing plan.

Where to start – well here’s a little helping hand of some fundamental marketing tactics that you should be using in your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment business:

Your advertising. Scrutinise it. Are you doing influential direct response adverts with grabbing headlines and compelling call to actions?

Where is your target audience? Do you really know? What studies and surveys have you done to capture the complete demographical information on them?

Is your website working hard enough for you or is it in need of a workout? How good are your search engine rankings? Are all your meta tags installed effectively? Are you tracking and analysing your site visitors and do you know how many are converting?

Have you been building relationships with your customers lately? Do you keep in regular contact with them and are you continuing to source new reports, stories and articles to send out to them?

How many testimonials did you capture this month and to what advantage are you using this influential social proof. I hope they are not stuffed away in a drawer somewhere!

The big difference between a pocket-money existence to a full-time explosion is all about being the supreme marketer of your Face Painting or Entertainment business – not the doer of your service!

Maybe you’re at a stage now where you want, need and desire to take your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment business to the next level, to have more income streams and more profit in the bank, and to ‘give up your day job’ if you have one.

The one and only answer is to become a master marketer – it really is as simple as that!

Struggling to get customers into your Face Painting or Children’s Entertainment business and in need of inspiration on how to grow your business to its next level. Sherrill Church has just launched her ‘Face Painting For Profit’ series on how you to can go from a pocket money existence into a full-time explosion – just like her. Click here to get chapter on for FREE http://www.mimicks.co.uk/chapter-one.htm

Grab a copy, by clicking the link, of her newly launched, hot off the press free report – The Seven Wonders Of Your Business World http://www.mimicks.co.uk/report-su.htm

The definition for entertainment and recreation business is broad. It can be a fishing farm or a Kelong where you can fish for prawns; a karaoke lounge or nightclub; or a miniature golf park and more. If you are interested in starting such a business , you will have to first:

1.    Register your business first with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA). Your business must register as a sole proprietorship, partnership or a private limited company.

2.    Secure a premise for your business. The premise has to be zoned for commercial use and approved for entertainment and/or recreation use by URA.

Securing a Premise

Once you have secured a space, do make sure that it is current on building codes and fire safety measures. If the existing premise is not set up to accommodate an entertainment or recreation establishment, you can discuss with the landlord to apply for a Change of Use with the Urban Redevelopment Board. Depending on the type of recreation or entertainment business you plan to have, the facility may or may not have stringent guidelines in the design and layout, so it will be worthwhile for you to do the research for the specific entertainment or recreation business you intend to set up to avoid rejection when inspected.

Any major renovation of the premise requires an application for a building work permit through Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA). When the building works are complete, you will also need to obtain from BCA:  a Certificate of Statutory Completion and/or a Temporary Occupation Permit before you can occupy the space. All renovation works are to be performed by certified or licensed contractors including architects. A business signage that is to be placed on the building will require an application of an Advertisement License from BCA. You will also need a Fire Safety Certificate (FSC) prior to occupying the building. You can obtain an FSC from Singapore Civil Defense Force through a registered architect or engineer.

Additional Licenses & Permits

Depending on the type of business and how you plan to set up the premise, you may or may not need the following licenses and permits:

Two licenses are required to play recorded, copyrighted music on your business premise. You will need to apply for a Public Entertainment License  from Singapore Police Force (SPF) and a Copyright License from the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore.
If you plan to have TV, you will need to apply for a Non-residential TV License from Media Development Authority for each TV or broadcast devise on your premise. Playing of music or Karaoke videos requires a license from the Recording Industry Performance Singapore.

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How to Set Up an Entertainment or Recreation Business

The definition for entertainment and recreation business is broad. It can be a fishing farm or a Kelong where you can fish for prawns; a karaoke lounge or nightclub; or a miniature golf park and more. If you are interested in starting such a business , you will need to first secure a premise that is zoned for commercial use and approved for entertaiment and/or recreation use by Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA). You must then register your business with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA). Your business must register as a sole proprietorship, partnership or a private limited company.

Securing a Premise

Once you have secured a space, do make sure that it is current on building codes and fire safety measures. If the existing premise is not set up to accommodate an entertainment or recreation establishment, you can discuss with the landlord to apply for a Change of Use with the Urban Redevelopment Board. Depending on the type of recreation or entertainment business you plan to have, the facility may or may not have stringent guidelines in the design and layout, so it will be worthwhile for you to do the research for the specific entertainment or recreation business you intend to set up to avoid rejection when inspected. Read the rest of this entry »