Jeri Goldstein

This week, let’s examine the process of hiring a publicist. So often I hear artists talk about hiring a publicist as being the next move in their career. Perhaps you are at that place right now and think this is exactly the right move for your career. Using our template to think through this result-based career decision process, let’s examine this expense in relation to the results you might be after. First, keep in mind that there are a variety of types of publicity campaigns you might launch—a national campaign; a regional campaign; a very local campaign and an ongoing campaign that focuses on each tour date throughout the year.…

This week I’ll begin a multi-part series to help you make result-based career decisions. So often we make decisions just because we see others engaging in some particular activity. We think they’ve discovered something that works so we better get on board and do it as well. It must be the right thing to do, right? But how do you know it’s the right thing for you? How do you know it will produce the results you need? So over the next few Biz Boosters I’d like to offer some new ways to think about how to decide to engage in some very specific activities that may come up during…

Want to find some interesting places to play? Tired of the same old venues and fighting the competition for a gig? If you’ve run into too many other performers trying to get the same gigs you are trying to get, why not try something new, something off the beaten path. Here’s a list of interesting places to play where people gather for other events and where you might find a fresh new audience to sell your merchandise and sign your mailing list. Wineries: Summer and fall are their big seasons for tourists and tastings. Do you live in or near an area that has many wineries. You will be surprised…

Tend to your various lists separately ought to be your marketing mantra to really get results. As I was watering the vegetable garden, I noticed the tomatoes needed pruning, the cucumbers needed a bit more water, and the lettuce needed some harvesting. Each one needed something a bit different. Funny, how tending to my garden reminded me that it is very similar to tending to your fan list, your list of presenting organizations or bookers and your media list. Each one requires a bit of unique information from you in order satisfy their specific needs. So even though all of my plants are in my garden, I’ve planted them in…

Negotiating top festival spots is tough when prime festival performance slots are in high demand. You know the ones’ I’m talking about 8-10pm for festivals with night stages and 3-5 pm for daytime festivals. With headliners almost certain to take the bulk of those prime slots, there is very little room left for new performers or non-headliners to edge their way into prime time. So how can you quietly negotiate top festival spots for your act? If you are just beginning your association with the festival and this is your first time negotiating a gig there, I’ve found the following strategy is a great place to start. First, it helps…

Negotiating percentage gigs is this week's topic as so many artists have to make these sort of deals. I thought I'd offer some guidelines to help when you are faced with this type of negotiation. Playing for a percentage isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the right situation, you may have an opportunity to make more money than what would have been the guarantee. So, what’s a fair percentage? This will vary and again may be dependent upon your value in the market. If you are only getting a percentage, without any guarantee at all, you would most likely want to negotiate for the highest percent possible. If the venue…

Just how do you go from good to great as a performer? It occurred to me that this is something that might be of interest to you as your career evolves. I would put this topic under the heading, Goals For Your Show. I want to focus on one goal in particular that will help your show go from good to great. This topic is Responsibility—Responsibility for your audience's enjoyment of the event. Perhaps you haven't thought about it in this term, maybe you've never used the word Responsibility to define your job up there on the stage. And yet, isn't that exactly what you hold in your hands, within…

Defining success for your career and life must be based on your success parameters only. Let's get one thing straight from the start, everyone's definition of success is going to be different. And that really goes for musicians and performing artists. When it comes to touring, your definition of what makes a successful gig or tour could also be unlimited. Perhaps it was a success because you lost less money than you thought you would, or broke even. Perhaps you sold more CDs than you anticipated or even got more PR coverage than ever before. To define success you enter into an evolving process and each project requires you to…

Here are 4 steps to help you pitch your music from your website. You may have often thought that it would be great to get your songs covered by another artist or that your music would be great in a movie, on TV or even in an educational project. Before that can happen it might be useful to prepare your music offerings so they can be easily searched by those in need. To help you pitch your music from your website begin by doing the following 4 steps: Step 1. Organize all of your recorded music by category. For instance: Love songs, ballads, songs of loss, political songs, uplifting songs,…