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Step 1: Create Your Host Profile
Your host profile is the foundation of everything on LampPost. It's the page attendees land on when they want to know more about who's behind an event, and a strong profile builds the kind of trust that turns curious browsers into ticket buyers.
What to include
Your host name. Use the name you want to be known by. This might be your own name, your brand, your company, or the name of your recurring event series. Keep it consistent with how you present yourself on social media so people can find you easily.
A profile photo or logo. People connect with faces and recognisable visuals. If you're a solo host, a clear, well-lit headshot goes a long way. If you're a brand or event company, your logo works well here. Avoid blurry images, dark photos, or anything that looks like a placeholder.
A bio that explains what you do. This doesn't need to be long, but it should answer two questions: who are you, and what kind of events do you put on? A couple of sentences that give people a feel for your style and what to expect from your events is enough. Think of it as your elevator pitch to someone who's never heard of you.
Links to your website and socials. If you have them, add them. Every connection point between LampPost and your broader presence online helps build credibility and makes it easier for attendees to follow you across platforms.
Take ten minutes on your profile before you publish your first listing. It's easy to skip in the excitement of getting an event live, but a complete profile signals professionalism and gives new attendees a reason to trust you.
Step 2: Publish Your First Event Listing
This is the part most hosts are eager to get to, and rightly so. A well-crafted event listing does a lot of the selling for you; it just needs to have the right ingredients.
The essentials
Every listing needs: a title, a description, a date and time, a location, a cover image, and a price (or a clear indication that the event is free). These aren't optional: a listing missing any of these will lose potential attendees before they've even considered buying a ticket.
Writing a title that works
Be specific. "Saturday Night Out" tells nobody anything. "Live Jazz Trio at The Fox: Late Bar, No Cover" tells people exactly what to expect and who it's for. The more descriptive your title, the more likely it is to catch the eye of someone scrolling through listings, and the more accurately it will surface in search results.
Writing a description that converts
This is where most new hosts leave the most value on the table. A weak description — a few vague sentences that don't paint a picture of the experience — is one of the single biggest reasons potential attendees click away without buying a ticket.
A strong event description answers four things:
What is this, exactly? Describe the event concretely. Not "a great night out" but "a three-course dinner paired with live acoustic sets from three local artists, in a 40-seat venue that sells out every month."
Who is it for? Help people self-select. "Perfect for date nights, jazz lovers, and anyone who wants a genuinely different Friday evening" is far more persuasive than a generic invitation aimed at everyone.
What will it feel like? Atmosphere matters. If your event is intimate, say so. If it's high energy, say so. If there's a particular vibe you've worked to create, describe it. People are buying an experience; give them a preview of what that experience is actually like.
Why should they come to this one specifically? Is this a one-off? Is the lineup particularly strong this month? Is it almost sold out? Give people a reason to act now rather than thinking "maybe next time."
Keep your description to two to four paragraphs. Longer isn't better; clearer is better.
Choosing your cover image
Your cover image is the first thing people see, and it does more work than any other element of your listing. A dark, blurry, or low-effort image will cost you attendees regardless of how good your event actually is.
The best event cover images show the experience in action: a crowd enjoying themselves, a performer mid-set, a beautifully set venue, or an atmospheric shot that captures the feel of the event. If you don't have photos from a previous event yet, a clean, well-composed image of your venue or a relevant visual works as a starting point. Just avoid generic stock photography, plain text on a background, or anything that looks like it was made in five minutes.
As you run more events and build up a photo library, your listings will naturally improve. In the meantime, even a well-lit phone photo of your venue beats a low-quality graphic.
Step 3: Set Up Ticketing Through Bloom
LampPost's ticketing is powered by Bloom Tickets, which integrates directly into your listing. You don't need a separate account on a separate platform: your event listing and your ticket sales live in the same place, which means less admin for you and a smoother experience for your attendees.
Connecting Bloom to your listing
When setting up your event, you'll have the option to enable ticketing through Bloom. The process is straightforward: connect via Stripe (LampPost uses Stripe Connect to handle payments securely), set up your ticket types, and you're done. Your attendees will be able to purchase tickets directly on LampPost without being redirected anywhere else.
Stripe Connect means your payouts go directly to your bank account. You're not waiting on a platform to release funds after the event: the money flows to you through Stripe's standard payout schedule.
Setting up your ticket types
Bloom supports multiple ticket types within a single event, which gives you flexibility to offer:
- General admission: A single ticket type at one price, the simplest setup for most events
- Tiered pricing: Early bird tickets at a lower price, standard tickets at full price. Early bird tiers create urgency and reward people who commit in advance; they also give you early revenue that helps confirm the event is viable
- VIP or premium options: A higher-priced tier for attendees who want something extra: reserved seating, a meet-and-greet, a drink on arrival, or any other addition that justifies the premium
Fees
LampPost's ticketing fees are transparent and straightforward:
- Stripe processing fee: 2.9% + $0.30 per ticket
- Platform fee: $0.75 flat per ticket
On a $25 ticket, that's roughly $1.78 in total fees. There are no hidden charges, no surprise deductions after the event, and no percentage-based platform cut beyond the flat fee.
The check-in app
Bloom includes a QR code check-in app for day-of event management. Every ticket generates a unique QR code that your team can scan at the door. It's fast, it prevents duplicate entry, and it gives you a real-time count of who's arrived as the event gets underway. Download the app before your event day and run a quick test scan so there are no surprises at the door.
Step 4: Understand Your Analytics
Once your event is live and tickets are moving, LampPost's analytics dashboard gives you a window into how things are performing. You don't need to be a data analyst to get value from it; you just need to know what to look for.
Ticket sales over time
This is the most immediately useful view. A healthy event typically sees a spike of early purchases when the listing goes live, a quiet middle period, and then a second spike in the final 48 to 72 hours as urgency builds. If you're seeing very flat sales with no late surge, it's usually a sign that your promotional activity needs more of a final push.
Traffic to your listing
How many people are viewing your listing, and what percentage of those visitors are buying tickets? If you're getting plenty of views but low conversions, the listing itself is the issue: the description, images, or price point needs attention. If you're getting very few views, the issue is promotion: not enough people are finding the listing in the first place.
Attendee data
Your attendee list is one of the most valuable things you'll build as a host. Every event adds names and emails to your list; that list becomes the foundation of your email marketing for future events. Treat it accordingly. Export it after every event and keep it somewhere safe.
What to do with what you learn
The most valuable thing you can do with your analytics is compare them across events over time. Your second event will teach you things your first one couldn't. Your fifth event will feel almost effortless compared to your first. Every data point you collect makes the next event a little easier to plan, promote, and fill.
The Two Things That Trip Up Most New Hosts
We've touched on both of these already, but they're worth calling out directly because they're the most common reasons a well-planned event underperforms.
1. Weak event descriptions and poor photos
These two elements are responsible for more missed ticket sales than anything else. A great event with a vague description and a dark, blurry cover image will be consistently outsold by a decent event with a vivid description and a compelling image. People cannot see your event in person before they decide to attend; your listing is the entire basis of their decision. Treat it with the same care you'd give any other part of the event.
If you're not confident in your writing, read your description out loud. If it doesn't make you want to attend your own event, rewrite it until it does.
2. Publishing and then going quiet
A lot of new hosts publish their listing and assume that being on the platform is enough. It helps, and LampPost's discovery puts you in front of people actively looking for events, but the hosts who consistently sell out are the ones who actively promote alongside their listing. Share it on social media, send it to your email list, post in local Facebook groups, and consider a newsletter sponsorship or featured placement if you have budget to put behind it. Your LampPost listing is the anchor; promotion is what drives people to it.
You're Ready
Getting started on LampPost doesn't require a big budget, a huge following, or years of hosting experience. It requires a complete, well-crafted listing, ticketing that works smoothly for your attendees, and enough promotion to get the right people in front of it.
The rest you'll learn by doing. And with every event, it gets easier.
Ready to publish your first event? Create your host profile on LampPost →
