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Scoping out the Competition

Scoping out the Competition

“A range of hints, tips, suggestions and ideas about how can use ideas from others to better your own trivia night”

Welcome back to the blog and I hope you have been having a good week. I have certainly had some very positive feedback about the last few posts so I do hope the blog is continuing to help you in some way. As I have said, I am writing for your needs and giving tips and advice to help your trivia business grow so whenever there is something you want more information on in the world of trivia just ask.

Today, I am moving into a subject that is suitable to everyone no matter if you have been hosting trivia for 10 years or 10 days and that subjects is scoping out and visiting competition/rivals/friends who host trivia occasions . Now, if you are sitting here as a trivia host and you have not been to, or have rarely played in, a competitor’s trivia night then I ask you…..what are you doing? You need to get out there and sample as many trivia nights as possible.

  • For new hosts……yes trivia is lucrative, yes trivia is fun and yes you can make a good living out of hosting events but you need to have a good experience as a player first.
  • Don’t just think because you have watched a few TV game shows that you can become a profitable quiz host because you can’t.
  • You need to start off your journey from the other side of the table and build up a bank of experience as a player first.
  • I played in pub quizzes for around 10 years before I event thought of hosting my own and you should be looking at doing the same (not for 10 years, of course).
  • It is important to sample local quizzes before even thinking about embarking on your own.

Experienced trivia hosts:  Don’t stop reading just yet.  You also need to be making sure you keep your eye on the competition. I know what you are thinking….going to a trivia night is a bit like a busman’s holiday, but please do not view it that way. I tend to get to 8-9 other trivia nights a month other than my own as a player. Primarily because I love to be involved in quizzing but also to give me loads of new ideas. You will see on the blog how I have often mentioned about what I have seen in other places. Doing this gives me ideas and keeps me fresh. It also stirs me on to keep ahead of the competition!

I now hear what you are saying……am I telling you to steal other peoples ideas? Of course not. Obviously due to the nature of the business ideas will be stolen, themes will be copied and questions nicked. That happens….and if you as a trivia host say you have never stolen a question you have heard from either in a venue or on a tv show, then you are lying my friend. There is a difference hear though…

I was involved in quite a nasty case lately where a company I was providing questions for had totally and utterly ripped off the format of a national quiz company. Everything was identical and that is taking it to the extremes.

What I am encouraging you to do is perhaps just get a flavor of what people enjoy…..you need to have two different heads on when you are visiting rival.

  • First, you have to look at it from a hosts point of view….what does he do better than you?
  • What does she say you don’t?
  • How does she clamp down on cheating?
  • What does she do well and what does he do badly?

Look at it from that point of view by all means…

But you also need to look at it from the point of view of you as a player.

  • Put yourself in the position of your own customers….what bores you?
  • What narks you?
  • What excites you?
  • When you are playing the trivia which are the bits you really enjoy and which are the bits that make you want to leave?

Use this information to help your own quiz.  Utilizing technology like DigiGames Wireless Buzzers will help you gain a very distinctive edge over your pen-and-paper competitors.

I know this posts has sounded very obvious, and very straight forward, and more so than my usual insights but at the end of the day so many trivia hosts get so wrapped up in their own little world and so set on their own formats that they forget there is competition out there and the very best way to see that competition is get out and play. It is not as if you are trying to steal business and I have regular trivia hosts in my shows…….one each week and then I go to theirs the next….it all builds up a good community.

So that is it for another posts and although it has been a fairly obvious one today the overall message remains the same…if you want to be a good trivia host then get out there and be a trivia player. You should never attempt to host trivia events unless you have a good experience and have attended a fair few events yourself. Otherwise you are only asking for trouble.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

  • Do you, as a trivia host, attend other trivia nights?
  • Have you ever had your ideas stolen?
  • Do you like to play trivia yourself?
  • Are you aware of what rivals are doing?

We have a wide range of topics ready to hit the blog this week but as always if you ever have any ideas, tips or topic suggestions of your own then get them over to us and I will do the best I can to provide you with some insight. Until next time then, happy trivia hosting and remember to keep your eye on the ball otherwise your business will soon face the not so pleasant consequences.

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