You have committed yourself to perform, your costume is ready and you are excited to wow your audience. But wait, who is coming to this show? Unless you are hired for a private event, it is your job to inform your fan base of your upcoming performances.
Nowadays promoting doesn't just involve passing out handbills, it is a sophisticated combination of posters, handbills, online invites, and calendar listings. The easiest way for you to manage updating your fans could be creating an email list, fan page, or group. Without delving into each and every medium a little bit of basics you might apply to make everyone happy at your next show.
Each place you play, you will get new fans. How will you keep them informed among all the other event choices they have?
- First, make it easy for your new fans to follow you. I recommend you create a free blogsite that is easy to remember, something where your fans don't have to sign in to access (such as yahoo groups or facebook fan pages or groups, which are exclusive to sign-in/log-in.) Whether you do a hand typed list on your blog [http://missfrankietease.blogspot.com/2011/03/april-full-calendar-of-events-miss.html ] , or are doing something more sophisticated, remember keep it simple and easy to read the viatal facts.
- Always include the proper event name, venue name, the date of the show, the time of the show, the fee to get in, and what age is allowed at the show such at 18+ or 21+.
- Remember to consider sending this out a month early or at least three weeks early so your fans can make plans. Also if you have friends that work at the local or internet press, make sure to send them information as early as possible to get free editorial listings and write-ups. Most press work a minimum of three weeks in advance, and don't like last minute information. You can submit in plain text by email or by fax.
- Help create a buzz for your upcoming show by having conversations about it. You'd be surprised how many people are interested in what you're doing, if you just tell them.
- Bring fans, and don't ask for a ton of people to be put on the guest list. Do the math. If you are getting paid $50 dollars and the door fee is $10, then you need five attendees to pay for your portion of the show. If you see a partial responsibility here, it is more likely that you will be hired back.
The most common mistake of any performer is to say 'I'm not in charge of promotions or marketing, it's not my job'. No - it's not. But if you want to keep performing you will need to have fans that support you and will pay to get in to see you. It's one thing to see an advertisement. It's another thing for someone you like to actually tell you they are in the show and how fun it will be. Your chatting it up will endorse the advertisement and create the final push needed for the patron to want to come.
Some venues will even ask at the door 'who are you here to see?', and pay based upon this information. Avoid being left out in the cold when it's time to hire you again. Bring a turn-out!
Finally, if you are steadfast in informing your fans about upcoming events, there is more chance that they will come. Just from a logic stand-point, people are getting more advertisements and demands today then they ever did with almost 8,000 different advertisements put in front of the a day in all forms [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=56750].
To recap here are a few steps to success of getting people to your show!
a) Let 'em know early (at least three weeks). b) Sync up the name of event, venue, and times, don't get creative. The more things match, the more a customer believes the show is happening and will be great. c) Take a pro-active approach and get it done early via emails, lists, facebook invites. Coordinate with those who hire you to get it all lined up.
Making sure your people are informed will also keep them happy. Many a times I've seen correspondences about having missed their favorite performer because they weren't informed. Help your fans like you with simple stuff to keep them informed, hyped and ready to check out your next show.
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