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Post by tacostacostacos on Nov 25, 2011 3:25:57 GMT -5
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHpAIQlK24A#! This is just the most recent example. If you expect any non-diehard fans which, correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be about 15 people, to travel any sort of distance, IWA needs to: A) Book talent that isn't prone to regularly doing things like this...ie...actual professionals and/or B) Play along with this sort of thing. (from a PR standpoint, this would be my recommendation for a good starting point at this stage) This video came out last week and has 15,000+ views. I dunno if the IWA "brass" is aware of Botchamania and the internet in general (I'd guess "no") but there are 190+ of these and IWA is regularly featured. As a result of this, and other factors I don't think I need to bring up, IWA has become a laughing stock of stateside Indy feds. Only CZW/et-al gets mocked more than you..and they're still pulling decent crowds. You severely lack marketing. You severely lack internet savvy. This is the market you need to cater towards. Not locals, an increasingly shrinking pool of diehard fans, etc. IWA needs to embrace technology. Embrace social media, the internet, whatever. This message forum doesn't count. I offered to help you guys with this a while back (it's what I do for a rather decent living) and I was written off as a stuck up asshole. Maybe this will open your eyes a bit as to how the internet as a whole (ie - the people with cars and money) feel about your product. This is a harsh reality but if you don't do it, you will cease to exist...sooner rather than later. You can mass-flyer places. You might pull one or two good houses and get another handful of fans. If you want to actually grow your business, you need to think far larger outside of the area you are actually promoting in. For some reason, Ian failed to see that (or execute based upon it) and the new owners definitely don't see it. People will react to what they see on Twitter, Facebook, the web, etc far more than what somebody tries to hand them on paper. Guerilla-style street marketing is seen as passe and creepy in this day and age. You NEED a better online presence. Embrace it..or crumble. I know SCORES of people (myself included) that like to travel to see a good wrestling show. Based on the rep you and your product have created and failed to react to when called out for being..well..really fucking bad...savvy fans would rather sit at home.
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Post by olympus on Nov 25, 2011 7:29:56 GMT -5
RE: Botchamania... name me a wrestling company that isn't regularly featured. It's all in good fun anyway.
You were written off as a stuck up asshole because that's how you come off.
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Post by tboasad on Nov 25, 2011 11:39:32 GMT -5
I love botchamania! Except when they show guys landing straight on top of their skull.. And yeah - every fed in the galaxy gets ripped on there. At least we aren't talking geography this time
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Post by Crimefighter on Nov 25, 2011 19:41:30 GMT -5
You're talking as if Botchamania is SINGLING OUT IWA-MS....
Would you say the same thing if it was Chikara or CZW or ROH or Dragon Gate? Seriously. Everyone gets into the blooper reel sooner or later. I even made a video out of central Illinois clips...
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Post by localyocal on Nov 26, 2011 2:46:31 GMT -5
Hmmmm let me get this straight.You Mr. Tacos are offering basically marketing help which IWA-MS is so severely lacking.Yet the video insyallment and the one posted in particular. A clip meant to show floops...a highly interesting topic in which only known and big time companies will be singled out and used for recognition factor,by a third party might I add- which I am led to beleive was not incorporating your services . Said video addresses big time known compaies world wide such as WWE,TNA,WCW,CZW and actually goes as far as promoting the KOTDM 2011 again to what...15,000+ viewers and is reguarly mixed/used in again with other high profile names in the industry by that same 3rd party. Sounds like IWA-MS is doing pretty damn good with internet and "beyond local area"promoting...for free might I add. Promoting that leads to sells that in turn turn over profit( doesnt have to be ringside DVDS bring in the benjis also) to continue.Dont get me wrong more attendance would be great but spending or splitting profit w,someone doesnt sound practical or really needed as there is a lot more pushing going on than we know.Even bad press is good press,and your as good as the company you keep.IWA IWA IWA IWA
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Post by tacostacostacos on Nov 26, 2011 18:22:28 GMT -5
RE: Botchamania... name me a wrestling company that isn't regularly featured. It's all in good fun anyway. You were written off as a stuck up asshole because that's how you come off. well done. i am a stuck up asshole when it comes to this biz. been there, got the t-shirt. 'm also entirely way too good at what i do....ie - make people a shitload of money.  |
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Post by indymovieman on Nov 26, 2011 21:11:00 GMT -5
I didn't read the entire "geography" thread a while back. I read the first page and lost interest. Therefore, I can honestly say I have a neutral opinion of tacostacostacos. I strongly agree with his statement that IWA "severely lacks marketing."
Back when IWA was running in Plainfield, IN, I LITERALLY lived right across the street from the building IWA ran in. I walked to the shows. If I was not a long time IWA fan (since 2002), I would have never known they were running shows right across the street from my apartment. I lived in Plainfield for 2 years. I did not see 1 flyer, I did not see one newspaper ad, radio ad, television ad, etc. I had a gym membership at the Capitol Sports Center (the building IWA ran shows in) and I never saw one flyer or advertisement in that building.
I know IWA has Facebook and Twitter, yet they rarely use them to promote/hype up the shows. I don't understand this lack of using social media for promoting....especially since it is free.
I know promoting/advertising is a vicious circle. Without money you can't advertise, without people in the seats, you can't make money.
I also totally agree about people willing to travel to see a really good wrestling show. I know when IWA was running Clarksville, me and several friends would make the almost 6 hour round trip drive once a month from Lafayette to Clarksville. The cards were great and it was just a fun time. Now, I wouldn't walk across the street to see an IWA show.
Please, don't get me wrong, I hope Mike, Vince, and Scar can get this thing turned around. At this point in time, I would think IWA would be open to all ideas on how to improve attendance. If tacostacostacos offers his advice, what would it hurt for IWA management to at least listen to his ideas?
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Post by olympus on Nov 26, 2011 21:32:07 GMT -5
It's true that his rant this time was *slightly* more valid than last time, But you can't take a sandwich that's 98% shit and 2% ham and still call it a ham sandwich.
I disagree that they don't use Facebook. Not only does the IWA Facebook page have a decent amount of action leading up to shows, but a lot of the wrestlers post about it as well. Drake, Devon, B-Boy, and NDC mentioned it several times on their Facebook profiles.
And Mr. Tacos... I'd like to tell you that my net-worth is $200,000,000,000 and I'm also prime minister and ruler of all South America. You have to believe me, because I said it on the internet.
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Post by Crimefighter on Nov 27, 2011 21:04:52 GMT -5
Let's put it this way, if there's anyone to learn useful things from in the immediate area from a promoters standpoint...it's Dreamwave Wrestling out of LaSalle. They pack the place where draws run from 250-500 every month. So there's your "Gold Standard" for wrestling around here...
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Post by heavythundar on Nov 28, 2011 9:41:02 GMT -5
Back when IWA was running in Plainfield, IN, I LITERALLY lived right across the street from the building IWA ran in. I walked to the shows. If I was not a long time IWA fan (since 2002), I would have never known they were running shows right across the street from my apartment. I lived in Plainfield for 2 years. I did not see 1 flyer, I did not see one newspaper ad, radio ad, television ad, etc. I had a gym membership at the Capitol Sports Center (the building IWA ran shows in) and I never saw one flyer or advertisement in that building. this is shameful, but the exact reason why IWA-MS doesn't draw now (or before). new owners seem to be following in Ian's poor promotional footsteps. I more or less knew things were doomed when one of them said - on this very message board - that they had new delusions that they were a wrestling promoter. well, guess what, you ARE a wrestling promoter, so promote. flyers are not expensive. you can print about 200 of them for $20, and offer some local kids free tickets or DVDs to put them up if you don't want to do it yourself. Facebook/Twitter/Youtube: use them better. they're free. put up some matches or promos or highlight videos or podcasts (a la the Chikara ones, which are GREAT). the cost is minimal. free advertising, yo. |
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Post by BestMistyEVER on Nov 28, 2011 15:50:14 GMT -5
Guys... each show in Bellevue was flyered like crazy all over Bellevue AND in Peoria. Vince Jones printed up tons of flyers, as well as buy one get one tickets that were distributed to businesses in the area, and free passes that were given out around the neighborhood. Those of you claiming IWA didn't flyer for the shows; do you live in the area? If not, how could you know whether or not it was flyered? I personally SAW the flyers Vince made up. Not to mention others in the area who helped out flyering as well.
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Post by indymovieman on Nov 29, 2011 22:56:29 GMT -5
I never claimed IWA didn't flyer for the Bellevue shows. I'm just going on my personal experience of IWA in the past. I know IWA use to flyer....me and a friend have been kicked off more than one parking lot flyering for IWA when they were running shows in Lafayette.
If all this work went into flyering, passing out free tickets, etc. in Bellevue and Peoria and attendance didn't dramatically increase, its obviously time for a new venue. I know, easier said than done.
I know wrestling his its "politics" and IWA isn't welcome in several venues. I know IWA and IPW seem to share several workers, has IWA ever thought of partnering with IPW and running shows with them? Perhaps IWA could have a small show...3-4 matches....before the IPW shows. IWA could possibly run 4pm-6pm then the IPW show would start at 7pm. This would help IWA rebuild their fan base here in the Indy area.
As I stated in my previous post, I'm not here to bash IWA or anything like that. I truly hope they can get this thing turned around and rebuild the IWA name.
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Post by tacostacostacos on Dec 4, 2011 23:28:38 GMT -5
It's true that his rant this time was *slightly* more valid than last time, Slightly? Let's try entirely. I agree, I got shitty on the geography thread. My bad for the approach. Let's move forward, shall we? And if you're not a "friend" (and I use that term loosely?) with IWA or one of these performers, you won't hear about it. This is the shit I'm talking about. It may not be IWA MS's fault for not knowing how to use Facebook but when you are a brand, you make a PAGE - not a profile. That gives people the ability to like you and see what you have to offer without your approval. Why any brand would make a profile and not a page is beyond the realm of comprehension of any web marketing person. Quite honestly, in the eyes of the internet/general Facebook public, a brand that has a profile vs a page, usually has one because they have something to hide. That's not my personal opinion, that's prevailing social media marketing fact and basic logic. The only reason a company has to limit their exposure to potential customers is because they are afraid of what aforementioned potential customers are going to say. I realize IWA has a lot of naysayers. I realize the LAZY way to not have to deal with that is to have to approve each and every single person who views your information on Facebook. Successful marketing through evasive, or perceived evasive, actions is a futile effort. Social marketing thrives on engagement - whether it be good or bad. Sometimes you have to swallow shit and say "Yeah, we fucked up." or "Yeah, the guys before us fucked up". How you react to that and the plan you publicly present regarding what you're GOING TO DO to resolve these issues and prevent them in the future is what adds value to your product. I can't believe I even need to explain this. Well done sir. I would like to contract your firm to carve me several wooden models of Commodore 64 consoles. Upon delivery of an appropriate scale model balsa wood proof, I will wire transfer you $4,700,000 US as a good faith investment in your work and the completion of my requested product. PS - Die in a fire, mark. Seriously though. If I'm looking for information on the IWA-MS, the first places I'm going are: 1) Your webpage - Not updated since...2008(?) 2) Your Facebook - Can't really interact with you since everything has to be approved, including even following your product. 3) Twitter - What? I've received several messages from people here, ie - your fans - that tell me I'm wasting my time. That they've also tried to help you and have received an equally cold response. What does that tell your diehard fans about your product? Seriously. The new ownership, much like the old one, is outstanding at burning bridges (before they can even be built, in some cases) or just doing wtf ever they want and "hoping shit works out." How you can ever expect to be successful or even operational based on pure luck in the current social and economic environment is flabbergasting. It really is. Look, IWA. I am offering to help you. I will rebuild your webpage. I will make it attractive, interactive and easy for a 4 year old that may or may not require a helmet to leave their house to update. I will make you a fun, interactive engaging Facebook fan page. I will help you set up (and even run) your Twitter to engage people that are interested in coming to your shows (or buying your DVD's) and make the "haytein ass marks" (that's in my best Louisville language) at least laugh and say "hey..these dudes aren't so bad". You can flyer parking lots until your feet bleed. Nobody gives a I have a potty mouth about that. You can't generate a buzz with a piece of paper or a message board that is populated by the same dozen or so haplessly faithful fans (props to you guys, btw). You need help. I want to help you and I CAN help you. Take it or leave it. I think I've been pretty civil and reasonable here. Everything I've said in this post is proven, not just by me, but by the vast majority of businesses that are successful in this country (and beyond). I will do this for free. What do you have to lose? Ignore me, if you want - you can't even run shows. When you do run shows, you pull - what? A dozen people. Is that doing your fans, your talent or the legacy of IWA any justice? I have a potty mouth no it's not. I expect to hear from somebody in ownership soon..if you give half a shit about this company. You can pick apart this post bit by bit if you wish - I would encourage anyone who has successfully marketed a product or service to a mass audience in the past few years to do so. Look at what I'm offering for the price (ie - the price is zero) and tell me that it isn't worth a shit. You can sit on your laurels and be happy to get the check from Highspots/Smartmark/Whoever...that's a silent "I have a potty mouth YOU" to your fans - whether you or they realize it or not. Fact. Ignoring me provides proof to me, to your fans and to the internet and public at large that you don't. Talk to you soon.  |
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Post by bigvicvonerich on Dec 4, 2011 23:59:41 GMT -5
Why do you act like they don't have a twitter? You acknowledge everything else but act like their twitter doesn't exist?
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Post by tacostacostacos on Dec 5, 2011 14:19:46 GMT -5
Good question.
Answer - last Tweet was on October 26th. Twitter is something that thrives on daily (or at least regular) interaction/engagement. The less you tweet, the more your follower-base will shrink. IWA Mid South has slightly more followers than my personal Twitter account and I don't even sell anything.
In short and kind of tying in with my "big picture" idea here, I didn't mention it because it's not relevant.
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