How To Open A Successful Selfie Museum In 7 Easy Steps

In 2018, 82% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 to 34 had shared a selfie on social media. With inventions like the selfie stick and body positivity movements, the number of people sharing selfies has continued to grow.

As people continue to seek the perfect selfie for their social media accounts, mainly Instagram, they become hungrier for opportunities that allow them the perfect selfie moment. What better opportunity than at a selfie museum! If you want to help people achieve their dream of taking the perfect selfie, here is how you do it.

Table of Contents

1. Find an Idea for Your Selfie Museum
2. Find A Supplier for Your Selfie Museum
3. Pick Your Museum Location
4. Build Your Selfie Museum
5. Find A Ticketing Solution
6. Create Your Selfie Museum Website
7. Promote Your Selfie Museum

1. Find an Idea for Your Selfie Museum

Museum Of Dream Space

You need an idea of how your selfie museum is going to look because not all selfie museums are the same. The fact that they all differ is what makes them so fun to go to. So, you need to come up with a fun and exciting idea that makes your museum stand out from the rest.

Overall, there are three different types of selfie museums to consider opening. Once you decide on the type you want to open, then you can get creative with how it will differ from museums that also fall into that category.

Selfie Museum with Backgrounds and Props

Your first option is to open a selfie museum that utilizes unique backgrounds and props to create a fun and exciting experience. You can think of a few different themes and then bring your customers into a whole new world that emphasizes the fun of that theme.

The Museum of Selfies in Vegas utilizes this approach with its number of creative rooms filled with interactive props. From beds on the wall to bathtubs full of gold, they have it all.

Selfie Museum with Lights and Projections

The second kind of selfie museum involves using lights and projections to create a fully immersive world of wonder.

Museum of Dream Space is an excellent example of a museum that utilizes this technique. Their selfie opportunities are centered around digital art inspired by Yayoi Kusama. Every room brings you into a world of wonder and magic, perfect for taking the best selfie for your Instagram.

Selfie Museum That Combines It All

Your third option is to combine both prior techniques into one epic selfie museum. These museums feature props and backgrounds, as well as projections and lights! They tend to attract a wide audience of selfie-takers if they are done right.

A great example of a museum that pulls this technique off well is Selfie WRLD. Their unforgettable experience features rooms that combine everything into one, rooms that feature only backgrounds and props, and rooms that feature only lights and projections!

2. Find A Supplier for Your Selfie Museum

Museum Of Selfies

Once you decide on the idea for your museum, it is time to find a supplier that will provide all the necessary items to bring your museum to life. For example, you may need:

• Assorted props
• Neon lights
• Painted backdrops
• Projectors

Types of Suppliers

There are four different types of suppliers for you to consider buying your items from.

• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Independent craftspeople
• Import sources

Manufacturers create the products you are going to buy and are usually the cheapest option to go to unless they happen to be located far away from you. However, they may be limited in the type of products they can supply you.

Distributors, also known as wholesalers, buy from manufacturers to then sell to you. They are more expensive than manufacturers but can sell you a variety of products in small amounts from several different manufacturers. This could save you money if you only need a small amount of a certain product.

Independent craftspeople are a great option if you need very unique props for different parts of your museum. They offer exclusive distribution of uniquely created items that will help your museum stand out from the rest.

Your final option is to import your items from overseas either by going overseas or through a domestic importer.

Where To Find Your Supplier

Once you have decided what type of supplier you would like to work with, there are a few different ways to go about finding the best one for you. A few great places to search for suppliers are:

• Alibaba
• AliExpress
• Amazon Business 
• Global Sources
• Trade Shows

You should ensure that you research the suppliers you intend to work with and form a relationship that keeps both of you happy. It is also always good to get quotes from multiple suppliers before deciding which one is going to be best for your selfie museum.

3. Pick Your Museum Location

World Of Illusions

Choosing the location of your selfie museum is critical to its success. You need it to be somewhere easily accessible with high foot traffic to draw in a large number of people.

Many people place their museums within malls to catch more people’s attention as they walk by the entrance. Although malls have taken a hit in the last year, they are beginning to gain foot traffic back as the world starts to open back up, making them a great option for you to consider.

Another excellent consideration is on a main street that has lots of local shops already on it. Place your museum amongst the local shops that already draw in foot traffic and people will take notice and want to check your place out! Be sure to add lots of cool props or projections in the storefront windows to capture their attention and make them want to come inside.

Cities With the Highest Foot Traffic

If you can, you should try to place your selfie museum in an area that generally has a high level of foot traffic year-round. Beach locations in the northern part of the country (ie: Main, New Jersey, etc.) may be great during the summer months, but you will lose all your foot traffic in the winter months. Keep this in mind with any seasonal destination that you are considering (ie: ski towns).

Here are the top 5 most walkable cities in the United States according to CBS News. All of them would make great locations for a selfie museum since they generally have the highest amount of foot traffic year-round.

1. Washington, D.C.
2. New York City
3. Boston
4. San Francisco
5. Chicago

Other popular locations that selfie museums have started to startup in for you to consider are Vegas, Seattle, and Los Angeles.

4. Build Your Selfie Museum

Sneakertopia

Now that you have a location, the next step is to bring your museum to life! This step involves finding the perfect building or space for your selfie museum to be located in. It also involves constructing the different selfie rooms to ensure they can perfectly display your theme envisions.

The key to this step is to first get a reputable commercial realtor to work with who can find you the best space possible. Even if you plan to rent the space, you should hire a professional commercial broker to negotiate your terms to ensure you get the best deal possible.

You also need to find a reputable contractor that can build your gallery up to your standards.

Know The Costs of Building A Museum

Renting or buying the location is only a part of the battle. You will also need to work with a contractor to build each room to specifically fit your vision for how people will experience each theme. It is going to be a costly endeavor that you will need to budget out before you begin.

A few things to include in your budget are:

• Necessary permits
• Contractor fees
• Materials
• Unforeseen expenses
• Amount of time it will take

There are always extra expenses that you cannot fully predict. That is why you should always put aside extra money in your budget for when those extra costs appear. That way, you know you will have enough money to complete the project even if things do not go as planned.

You should also be ready for delays. As good as a contractor may be, they can’t always accurately forecast how long a project will take because there are almost always speedbumps. Therefore, it is best to plan for these delays ahead of time so that your opening date does not have to be pushed out due to construction delays.

5. Find A Ticketing Solution

Museum Of Dream Space

With your space built and ready for selfie-takers, it is time to find a way to sell tickets online. Foot traffic will bring in random passerby, but being able to sell your tickets online can bring in a wide range of people from all over that would prefer a digital transaction over an in-person interaction when buying tickets.

The best way to do this is with a ticketing platform.

Why You Need a Ticketing Platform

A ticketing platform provides you with all the tools you need to sell and manage your tickets. They allow you to create unique tickets for your event with scannable QR codes to prevent any fraud. There are several great ticketing platforms to consider, with the best being TicketsCandy, due to their low per ticket fees and a wide range of features to make selling tickets easy.

Adding A Merchant Account

To go along with your ticketing platform, you will also need a merchant account to process the payment information (i.e., credit cards, debit cards). Merchant accounts are essentially a bank account that makes it possible for you to accept your clients’ purchases. The most well-trusted and popular merchant account to consider is Square with its low fees and outstanding customer support.

6. Create Your Selfie Museum Website

Selfie WRLD

A ticketing platform is an amazing tool, but it needs a website to exist within. Therefore, you need to create a premium website to best showcase your event and ultimately sell lots of tickets.

There are multiple ways to go about building a website, but the best way is with a website development company like Atavion.

Creating A Website with Atavion

Here at Atavion, we custom-build unique websites that are designed to best showcase your event. With affordable website pricing options starting at just $149 a month, there is sure to be a plan that will work best for your selfie museum.

When you work with us, you don’t have to consider it work. Why? Because we do everything for you to bring your website to life and keep it updated and maintained as time goes on. You just need to give us a general idea of your business and some basic information and we go to work building you a premium website that is high performing.

Our ultimate goal is to help your selfie museum thrive. That is why every website we build is perfectly optimized for maximum sales of tickets. With our professional copywriters and award-winning designers, you can trust us to help grow your amazing business fast.

7. Promote Your Selfie Museum

Museum Of Selfies

Building your website is not the end of the process. A website on its own will attract a few customers but still needs to be advertised to attract the larger number of ticket buyers you are looking to get. Luckily for you, there is a large variety of marketing techniques for you to choose from.

Choosing the right techniques for your business can help to maximize the number of people who visit your website and ultimately buy tickets to your event. A few of these marketing techniques for you to consider include:

• Utilizing social media
• Working with Influencers
• Google Ads
• Using Podcasts

Using Social Media To Promote Your Selfie Museum

The best way to organically promote your selfie museum is with social media. By creating a social media account for your museum, you will be able to attract a wide range of potential customers.

The best social media platforms to advertise on for a selfie museum are:

• Instagram
• Tiktok
• Facebook

Selfie museums are built around taking the perfect Instagram selfie, so Instagram is a no-brainer if you use the right hashtags and post at the right times.

Tiktok is great for video creators who would love to shoot a video in such an interesting place. Plus, the general audience of Tiktok aligns with the target demographic of a selfie museum.

Facebook is noteworthy in general for all businesses to utilize due to your ability to create events and share them everywhere possible on the Facebook platform.

Getting Influencers to Post About Your Selfie Museum

An influencer can drive a lot of traffic to your museum with one simple post because their followers view them as trustworthy individuals. Sometimes you can get an influencer to promote your museum by simply asking them to do so or offering them a free visit. For some bigger influencers though, you may have to pay them to post about you.

Advertising Your Selfie Museum Via Google Ads

Google ads is an excellent way to pay to have your museum pop up on your target audience’s search engine page. Whenever someone is searching for a selfie museum in your area, you can pay to be at the very top of their search results, thus driving more traffic to your website.

Use Podcasts to Talk About Your Selfie Museum

In 2020, 49% of podcast listeners were between the ages of 12 and 34 according to Statista. As a selfie museum, that is your target audience’s age range. You can easily reach them with an interview on a popular podcast or via an ad. By doing so, you will drastically increase your reach and potential sale of tickets.

Opening a Successful Selfie Museum

Opening a successful selfie museum doesn’t happen overnight. It involves a lot of planning and action to get it going. As long as you follow the seven steps we have laid out for you above, you will be successfully running a selfie museum in no time!