PublicityFeteBookSale

Publicity for Fete and Book Sale

Real estate agents will make up, erect and remove billboards at no cost. You provide a jpeg or pdf of the image you want on the sign, they add a header or footer advertising their support, and do the rest. We have used a number of different agents and they are all keen. We put a sign on the church grounds.
Council also allow signs to be erected on public space, but this is carefully controlled - certain corners only, and you must first pre-book the site with them. Do do this, contact the Local Laws Admin ( [email protected] ) to request the place and date. It may take more than one email/call to organise (not the best organised dept!). They will send you a letter detailing the location and when the sign may be displayed. Include this in the arrangements with the real estate agent and they will do the rest.
I use different artwork for each sign (one says “HERE”, the other gives the address) and the agents are happy with that.

We print 13000 (for Fete) and 5000 (for Book Sale) A5 flyers, and church members letterbox assigned areas around the church. Donations of items often have the flyer attached, indicating that these are an effective way of getting the message out there.
Until last year, these were printed in the church office in B&W. Last year for the Fete, a real estate agent offered to print and distribute colour flyers and this seemed like a great deal. However, the distribution was as part of a junk mail package, with the flyer buried inside retail catalogs. It looked fantastic, but few saw it! For the 2017 book sale, our agent was happy to print the flyers and our members distributed them as in the past and this seemed much more effective.

Flyers can be put up in shopping centres (Coles and Kmart have boards, so do the Centre Management but these are hidden down alleyways, usually outside the management office). The Library has a board. Many smaller shops are happy to display a flyer on their window. Schools and other public facilities are another option. Encourage church members to take some flyers and display them in shops/community centres/ schools etc.

Crosslight will advertise coming events at no cost (just don’t ask for a classified advert - they do cost!!). Email [email protected] well in advance as it is only a monthly publication.
The local paper (eg Monash Leader) will carry a ‘garage sale’ listing, but they are very expensive and we are not convinced that it is worth it. Multiple newspapers (ie in neighbouring areas as well) are a good deal compared with a single paper but even more expensive. However, a listing in “What’s on” is free and widely read. Email [email protected] with a copy to the editor [email protected] . The best outcome is to come up with a human-interest angle and approach the paper to see if they will print an article. This will usually mean they will send the photographer for a photo. It is great publicity, but not always taken up - you need to find a ‘quirky’ point of interest.
Radio stations have the ability to register an event online, and they will/may advertise it on the day. These ads have been heard by others, so it must work, and they often sent a friendly reply indicating that they will advertise the event.
LightFM http://lightfm.com.au/calendar/community/add 3AW email Darren James < [email protected] >
Online databases
Every organisation now seems to have one of these, and I am not sure how widely read they are. However, a site which has many events listed, and a large email list, is http://www.weekendnotes.com Another I have used: http://www.aroundyou.com.au

Sue Morgan, March 2017. A document containing similar information is here.