Let’s face it. One look at Gary’s Guide and it’s pretty clear even in the summer time people can get “evented out”. 
Never fear, I have compiled a list of the most valuable event marketing sites on the web that can help you break through the clutter, create buzz and drive ticket sales.
5) Bernardo’s List - The bi-coastal list of who’s who in venture, media, and business. What started out as an email to friends grew in both reach and influence. Looking for the right exposure for your next event? Bernardo offers free posting on his site and cost-effective ad sponsorship in his newsletter, all for the cost of 1 ticket, with the minimum being $25 and a ceiling price of $100. Of course, Bernardo has a soft spot for start-ups and like many, lives and breathes by word of mouth marketing. If you have a large event but can’t afford paid exposure, he is willing to negotiate if you ask nicely.
4) Mashable – Yes, this one should be a no-brainer. I don’t think we need to number crunch how many visitors trail their Event Guide every day looking to get the inside scoop on conferences, workshops and festivals happening globally. Tamar Weinberg is the go to gal for ensuring that your event gets listed. A couple of important tips: 1) be sure to give at least 2 weeks notice 2) if the tickets are priced at more than $75, expect to offer a “Mashable reader” discount.
3) Eventlet - It’s Gary’s Guide 2.0. This site, which launched a few months ago, integrates your event with several social media and micro-blogging platforms. The option to sign up using your Twitter account makes it one less username and password to have to remember. The site is very intuitive, easy to upload free events and targets the tech and digerati crowd.
2) Happn.in - Another newly launched site, this one focuses solely on the hot micro-blogging sphere. The site essentially tracks what people are talking about, by city. With over 185,000 followers, that’s a lot of chatter! Advertise your event through a “sponsorship” - for a small fee and you can advertise an event that will get tweeted to all the followers of the city of your choice, once per day. Did I mention Jay Boice, founder of this hot site is also test friendly? Yes. This dynamic site great exposure to people who are specifically looking to find out what is “happn.in” in their city.
1) Good old-fashioned email – Never underestimate it’s power. Dedicated emails about an upcoming event are a sure fire way to conversion. Your audience has opted-in and poised to hear about the latest events. One smart acquisition strategy is to run a “refer a friend” promotion that encourages them to sign up and then be eligible for the companion discount.
Cheers to your next successful event!
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