Running a bar or nightclub can be either the most profitable business you ever operate or the biggest money trap you ever stumble upon. The margins are very high on alcohol sales, but staying competitive in such a dog-eat-dog industry can really test the depths of your abilities as an entrepreneur. It should be considered a prerequisite to have a few years of bar or nightclub operations experience under your belt before you even consider starting your own business within the industry, but there are other skills that need to be present in order to own and operate a bar or nightclub yourself.

Assuming you know the ins and outs of the industry, bringing in more business can still be a challenge for anyone without a marketing degree. Marketing your business takes special skills and knowledge regardless of what industry you happen to be in, and the bar and nightclub industry is no different. Here are a few bar gimmicks that work well to bring in a large crowd. You’ll still have to get the word out through your regular marketing channels, but at least this will help you to figure out exactly what it is you want to promote.

Glow Sticks

Though you can’t simply promote glow sticks and bring in business, you can definitely hire a DJ and hand out free glow sticks to create a fun party environment. I usually recommend having recurring schedule with a few events each month so that you can build up a consistent and loyal group that will show up on a regular basis. You can order your glow stick wholesale save money, but they are incredibly cheap to begin with.

LED Items

LED items are by far one of the hippest and trendiest movements to hit the bar and nightclub scene. If seems like no matter what an object happens to be, you can easily make it cool by adding a few LEDs to the mix. LED items are a little more expensive than the disposable glow sticks, but many of your guests will leave their LED items behind when they head home. This means you can reuse many of your LED items while also giving the customers who took their home a fun toy that will last for many uses.

Bottle Sparklers

Bars offering bottle service has become a very popular trend in recent years, but offering bottle service and completing sales are two very different things. You can advertise a product or service until you’re blue in the face, but you need to really make it special and seem like a great value in order to make it work. Consider using some club sparklers on your bottles when you sell bottle service to make it even better. You can buy traditional bottle sparklers that shoot out sparks or you can buy an LED version that’s reusable and safe to use indoors.

Ladies Night

This is one of the oldest bar gimmicks in the book, and that’s because it actually works. The key is having good things setup for your lady customers which will draws them into your establishment for the evening. Then, a lot of guys will show up to buy drinks for the ladies and everyone wins. Whenever you see a gimmick that is used by a lot of bars in your area, embrace because that’s a key indicator that it works to make money.