Ticket Industry Blog by Ticket Platform

Ticket Network Partner Sites

Ticket Platform has been the prominent ticket designer for Ticket Network affiliate and partner ticket sites for over 5 years running.   Why Ticket Platform?  Because Ticket Platform does not simply provide a static site to its users, static affiliate or partner sites that become obsolete in a matter of a couple of year.  Ticket platform designs web applications like the PXS application that is a powerful CMS (Content Management System) with many controls and modules that Ticket Platform keeps updated regularly.  So you never have to feel like your site is out of date when it comes to technology.  Ticket brokers or affiliates are speaking up about the benefits of using the Ticket Platform solutions, here are a few words from one of our user Aldo Giamusso, president and CEO of StubOrder.com

” Amir and Jesse at Ticket Platform have been very professional from the start to finish of the project.  They were willing to work with the design and programming i created to fit their ticket platform engine.  They are very easy to work with and even implemented many of my ideas beyond the scope of the initial project.  I really think the Ticket Platform engine is the best out there as of today to display your tickets on the web.”

Ticket Network Affiliates and Partners have trusted the name synonymous with better customer service, better technology and the leader in online ticket websites, the one, the only, Ticket Platform 

Ticket Network Affiliate Sites

Ticket Platform has been the prominent ticket designer for Ticket Network affiliate and partner ticket sites for over 5 years running.   Why Ticket Platform?  Because Ticket Platform does not simply provide a static site to its users, static affiliate or partner sites that become obsolete in a matter of a couple of year.  Ticket platform designs web applications like the PXS application that is a powerful CMS (Content Management System) with many controls and modules that Ticket Platform keeps updated regularly.  So you never have to feel like your site is out of date when it comes to technology.  Ticket brokers or affiliates are speaking up about the benefits of using the Ticket Platform solutions, here are a few words from one of our user Aldo Giamusso, president and CEO of StubOrder.com

” Amir and Jesse at Ticket Platform have been very professional from the start to finish of the project.  They were willing to work with the design and programming i created to fit their ticket platform engine.  They are very easy to work with and even implemented many of my ideas beyond the scope of the initial project.  I really think the Ticket Platform engine is the best out there as of today to display your tickets on the web.”

Ticket Network Affiliates and Partners have trusted the name synonymous with better customer service, better technology and the leader in online ticket websites, the one, the only, Ticket Platform 

Imagine a bucket of live crabs, whenever one crab attempts to escape the bucket by climbing out of it, the others reach up and pull it back down.  The crab theory, we see this clearly in ticket business, mostly from our competition and usually with people we associate with who want to do what we are doing but just don’t. They talk about the things we're doing, but never take action themselves, so when they see our success they try to bring us down. They sometimes go with negative jokes or jabs and other times blatantly lie and attack us.

We hear from clients who choose to do business with us that during their due diligence process, the competition has made it part of their pitch to somehow talk negatively about us. The trick becomes finding a way of letting go of what others, especially those who do not have your best interest in mind think of you and continue to do what you do best.

We get many new online ticket sellers ask us, why should I take the plunge and try to compete with people who are already on page 1 of Google for so long, how can the Ticket Platform online marketing programs help me? They almost talk themselves right out of it. Our answer is that there are more people not taking action than those taking action. 

Here are Ticket Platform's 7 Rules For A Successful Business 

1. Never compare yourself or your company to others.
2. Be original don't copy.
3. Never talk negatively about the competition.
4. Be innovative and progressive in what you do.
5. Take Action.
6. Think Win/Win.
7. Don’t hold grudges.

What constitutes a top ticket site? First and foremost like anything else in life that is worthwhile, your ticket site needs your time and attention. If you plan on getting an online ticket site, paying someone a few hundred dollars (which is impossible because integrating the data feed from an exchange is not an everyday task and they’ll just quit on you) and hoping it going to make your tens of thousands of dollars you’re going to waste your $300. Nor attempting to outsmart Google with fake landing page, you so called ticket site is going to be in for a rude awakening when Google slaps the hand cuffs on you.

Like anything else in life, the product you put out there has to be of substance and of use to others. This is one of the most ingenious aspects of Google’s algorithms; they look for what’s real. Write helpful content, get help if necessary but put something out there that has your point of view and of service to your clients.

In short, make sure you have a ticket site that is built with good integration to your exchange, has a powerful CMS with good useful modules and controls, is built for online marketing development and has unique and useful content. If you have a budget for an online marketing program like the ones we offer, great and finally make sure your site is built for conversion.

If you meet these criteria you will have a top ticket site, it may not garnish a huge market share but you’re on the right path.

Pace yourself, budget and get help from people you trust.

  

Well if you had the chance to go to this year’s Ticket Summit in Las Vegas at the Venetian hotel you made the right move.  Molly Martinez of Ticket Summit has successfully turned this event to a must appearance for all who are serious about doing business online as online ticket sellers.  Such great Exhibitors as Facebook, Stubhub, Mobile Ticket App and Ticket Platform (yours truly) were showing off their newest products and technology.  Ticket Platform's team of 6 was proactive in communicating all the products and services we offer trying to be of services to the mass 750 attendees at this year’s summit.  

We heard from many companies that visited our booth that they were appreciative of the fact that we spend our time talking about how we were going to help them, our products and services instead of bad mouthing the competition.  For the most part the many exhibitors at this year’s summit coexisted well with one another with the exception of a very small minority or exhibitors who decided to spend half their time explaining why their competition's products and services were not good.  In any case the comradery of the majority ruled, people shook hands, exchanged smiles and cards for the betterment of our industry.

Our own Amir Khalighi, CEO of Ticket Platform and Steve Nutt, CEO of Mobile Ticket App, spoke on the technology and the future of ticketing panel on Friday July 15th afternoon panel.  Great questions were asked about the future of ticketing and such topics were discussed as the growing role of phone apps in ticketing transactions and why it's better to subscribe to an application instead of owning a static site that will be outdated more quickly as speed of technology progresses.  

At the end of the Summit we met many of our happy users (keep an eye out for our video testimonials coming soon.) met and helped many new potential clients and walked away feeling that this industry that is yet ever evolving is still a viable and powerful industry to be involved in.    We can't wait until next year. 

iPhones and Android powered smart phones are here to stay.  People are using these devices more and more, everywhere you look, someone is providing a status update, checking in, finding a place to eat, and now planning their social calendar.  The front-page article of the USA Today Money section on 5/10/11 was about how the Federal Government is going to call in Executives from Google, Apple, and Microsoft to ask questions about privacy, and specifically about location tracking on the iPhones and Android powered smart phones.  If the government is getting involved, this is a sure sign to businesses that would like to sell more services, that they better get involved or get left behind.  Think about it, do you want to sell tickets on a mobile ticket site or not at all?

More than 44 Billion iPhones are in use and the Android powered smart phones (created by Google) are replacing BlackBerry phones so fast that Research In Motion has no idea what to do.  RIM has already released a tablet powered by Android, and now the rumor is that BlackBerry’s will begin running Android apps to try to reduce the hemorrhaging.  Having a mobile ticket website will insure that you can sell tickets on all smart phones and mobile operating systems, even if it is a BlackBerry.  Anyhow, Androids are replacing BlackBerrys as corporations are now allowing employees to make their own phone decisions, and lucky for Google, the Android is available on all cell phone carriers.

The point is, that buyers are using the smart phones all of the time, everywhere.  The question is, how do you sell your tickets or services to these users.  We believe that an Android app, iPhone app, and a mobile ticket site will cover all of your bases and provide a new opportunity to sell more tickets.

The biggest obstacle for today’s online ticket seller is learning that the ways of selling tickets from the past are over.  That is the biggest and the hardest message to digest, the way you used to sell ticket ARE OVER.  But that does not mean you can’t utilize all those great tools you’ve fine-tuned throughout the years and put them to work in this new online ticket selling environment.  You can still buy tickets!  That is one of the main things that still apply.  Buying inventory is still one of the key components in the online tickets sales world, the second is the dreaded two words for the old school ticket broker “online marketing”

First of all no one is asking you to be able to create your own SEO friendly website or know everything there is about web sales and marketing, there are companies like Ticket Platform that can help with that, but you do have to become willing to learn and change to adapt to this new environment.  The first thing you need to do is accept that the way you use to do business is done, and then be willing to venture out into the unknown.  You’re going to have to learn about the following topics and ask your selves the following questions:

What is “Organic search results” and “SEO” in relation to tickets–     

• What is SEO and how long does it take to work for my nitch?
• Do I have a nitch in this online ticket market?
• What are my most powerful ticket related keywords?
• Can I assemble a simple online marketing plan to sell tickets?
• Who are my competition in this ticket market?
• What tools can I use in studying my progress?
• What are my short term online marketing goals
• What are my long term online marketing goals

Pay Per Click to sell tickets

• Does it work and is it worth it
• How big or small should I start my campaign?

Social Network, is it worth is?

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Ticket Blogs

Networking Inbound Link Development
Do I get mass inbound links or industry specific?

• What is a Google PR?
• Do I get mass inbound links or industry specific?

Website Infrastructure

• Is my ticket web site build for seo development?
• Is it easy to use?
• Is my ticket site something I or my team can update?
• Does it have the right modules to help me compete?
• Is it affordable?
• Do I have good customer service with my the company that designed my website?

It’s a little overwhelming at first but you can recreate yourself and educate yourself in not time and compete in this new online environment of selling tickets.  Your online ticket website will start creating traffic and you will turn that traffic into sales.  We have hundreds of ticket companies that use our services and if they can do it so can you.  Private consultations are also available if you need someone to hold your hand and guide you thought this process, Ticket Platform is here to help.  For a private consultation call 877-411-PLATFORM (7528) ext 700.

 Is there really any money to be made having a ticket broker website now a day? The answer is yes.  Even though the market is saturated with thousands of ticket broker web sites the reality is that the top 5% are reaping 95% of the market share.  We are talking about a 6 billion dollar ticket industry.  The secondary ticket market is growing and has been growing every year for the past 10 years.  Online ticket broker or online ticket sellers are coming out of the woodworks to get a piece of this market share.  So having a ticket broker website is still worthwhile.  The reality is that you want to work on getting as close to the top 5% of online ticket sellers as you can, and as you forge your way forward you will come to find out that your online ticket sales correlating directly to how much time and effort you spend in optimizing your site.  Don’t be fooled that you will get a ticket broker site and the next day sales are going to come in, maybe from you friends and family but not from the general online market.  Refer to our previous blog about what constitutes a good online ticket site.

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  This is a question that all online ticket sellers that are going to or have a  ticket web site should be asking themselves.  First and foremost a ticket site should offer something of true value.  The days of getting a clone generic ticket site and raking up fake back links and hoping to climb the search engine ranks is over.  Your online ticket website should be of true value to the end user.  Well then the next logical question is how one does that.   Here are the top 10 ways to make your online ticket site succeed.

1. Customized Look and Feel – If your site looks like everyone else’s logically the end user will think your site is a robot generated ticket site and your drop rate will show for it.  Have a brand and a niche in what you specialize in
2. Have Something To Say – The content on your site or performer pages should be unique.  Have something of value to share with the end user
3. Make it Sticky – Create content like helpful or entertaining videos to keep the user on your site.  Statistics show that the longer you keep them on your site the higher the chances of them buying some tickets from your site
4. Make Pages Easy to Navigate – Don’t overdo your performer pages with too much distracting content.  Get them there, keep them interested and guide them to move forward in the purchase process
5. Work on your SEO Development – Don’t think just because you have a pretty ticket web site that people are just going to flock to your site and buy tickets from you.  You have to have a comprehensive strategy on developing your search engine optimization.
6. Develop your Affiliates – Start associating your new ticket web site with other sites that compliment your site with Good Google Page Ranking.
7. Solid Checkout Pages – Make sure your checkout pages are constantly conveying security, trust and a sense of commitment to the end user.  Your checkout pages should guide them towards a purchase.
8. Don’t worry about the competition – There will always be other online ticket sellers.  Don’t compare yourself with others just develop what you do best.  That’s how Ticket Platform became #1.  If we focused on bad mouthing our competition and much as they do us, we would be where they are.  Instead we don’t believe in a scarce mentality but think there is plenty for everyone.  Focus on your ticket site.  Before you know it the competition will be following you to see what you're doing that makes your succeed, and reading an article just like this.
9. Give Back – Find a way to give back to the community and watch great things happen. 
10. Develop you Social Network – It’s the waive of the future.  Don’t be afraid of learning this new way of communicating with your new potential clients.  It will pay huge dividends.

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