At my subway station, I’ve got two newspaper guys competing to give away all of their free morning papers.  You know the ones I’m talking about right?

The news in them is just about the same, both papers are free . . . yet one guy always gets rid of his a little faster than the other.

How?

It’s all in their bark.

One guy shouts, “Free copy of NAME OF PAPER here!  Get your free copy of NAME OF PAPER!”

His rival, on the other hand, shouts something different every day.  Today it was, “Marathon speed record set!  Read all about it for free!  Jennifer Aniston spends $9mm on new apartment in Gramercy Park!  Read it here!”

Not once did this dude mention the name of the paper.

Ok, maybe it’s not the best branding, but he got more of his papers into the hands of commuters, and isn’t that his goal?

People read papers for what’s in them.  It’s the content that’s the most important.

And the same is true for shows.

Focus group after focus group has taught me that our audience desperately wants to know what your show is about before they make a decision to buy a ticket.

It’s your job to bark that story in every form of media you have . . . especially if your show is new, or if your title doesn’t help tell it for you (The Phantom of the Opera is an example of a great title that tells half of its story before you walk into the theater . . . or pick up the book).

Sell your story . . . and maybe you can get your show in the headlines soon enough.