# There's got to be an easier way!



## austin_specter (Jul 24, 2015)

Hey Haunters,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Austin. And I've been sober for 24 years. (haha).

But seriously, I'm assuming that the majority of us are Home Haunters. With some of us at a mid-level professional haunt. (i.e. We charge $5 or more for admissions). You want to know a pain in this industry? *Branding.*
Seriously, who has the time for that? Most of us just LOVE Halloween, so that's what we do. We Haunt, we scare, we leave. We build, we spook, we sleep. We make props, pop outs, haunt structures, and that's about it. However, once we've built the Haunt we just kind of expect people to come. And some do. But it could be better. Well, as an economist in behavioral markets I am just FASCINATED with our little haunted market. It's so unique! So outstandish. It's an outlier in the marketing world. Anyways, I'm here because I want to learn more about making local haunted marketing easier for the home (and prop) haunter. But would anyone be interested in having these discussions? Give me some feedback! These high end "Pro Blood-and-Guts Haunt Design" groups are WAY too expensive and focus way too much on jazzing up their poster boards and not enough time looking at the market data. Which is something I love! How can I help? Let's talk! Open discussion.


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

The go-to name for this is Chad Savage. He's awesome, dude. Google him. If that doesn't work for you, I freelance logos also. Don't know how much can be said here without breaking the rules though, so if interested please try Chad first and give me a shot if interested.


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## zombietoxin (Aug 3, 2010)

Hmmm... an economist in behavioral markets. Thats an interesting mouthful for a bunch of spooky enthusiasts.

I wonder what a typical work order for that sort of thing would be... It seems sooo... unquantifiable, I suppose.

Anyway, this is THE question for anyone pursuing a financial outcome from the spooky arts on our level, now isn't it.

You sort of surmised the situation in your post- anything below the expensive approach is "mystical". I guess I see the tie to your day job, now.

Sorry, not poking fun- but being at the extreme low end of the financial interest myself, and outside of your average 21st century networking options, I see no substantial way to market without monetary investment- and an ever-increasing one at that.

... to a point that is (maybe). I have witnessed those at, probably, the pinnacle of the financial interest publicly swear off expensive marketing permanently for their haunt. Opting to ride the wave they created forward, indefinitely. Is that possible? Hell, who knows- like you indicated this is not a typical market.

So... market data for everyday haunters... hmmm not particularly easily sourced. You really got to go to the edges of the tea leaves to scrape morsels together I think. Oooor, you can just continue to do it until you discover you really didn't want to spend your life doing this after all, or just stumble along onto the answers.

Perhaps the answer for those without the finances, but lots of heart and patience, is simply the old adage- Fake it till you make it!

Maybe you can enlighten us?


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Branding is a tough issue for many, because a majority of home haunters do a (no offense intended) hodge podge format, it becomes tough to have a solid identity or icon that lets you market your haunt to the masses with a logo or icon that accurately reflects your haunt. That being said, it is also tough for big, pro haunts to market themselves with anything but a basic name (i.e. Knott's ScaryFarm) and a good reputation because they have to change their haunt and it's theme(s) regularly to keep up with the trends/market. That is really difficult for small haunts and home haunts to achieve.
For me, I draw and typeset for a living, and do quite a bit of work for various haunts, and, from personal experience, I've found that trying to nail down an actual name and look for many is a major challenge all on it's own, let alone trying to work in representation for new props, scares, effects, and themes into the mix.


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