I cook so I can have leftovers so I can make great things from leftovers. In fact I plan my meals with the intention of creating leftovers. Holidays offer a perfect opportunity for leftovers. I think about the holiday season as the leftovers of the prime time for touring. You have about a month and a half of time when booking personnel are either scrambling to finish their bookings or they are done and not taking any calls. You have returned from most of your intentional tours and are either playing holiday gigs or laying low, trying to book late year gigs for the coming winter. These are the leftover…
As booking agent, I liked to avoid unwelcome surprises when my acts were touring. Shouts of "Surprise!" may be fine for parties, but for tours, not so much. In fact, the last thing you want on the day of your first show of the tour is a surprise. Like when you discover they only have 2 mics and you needed 6, or that they never put up any of the 50 posters you sent. Or how about when you were depending on their publicity person to send out those press releases they promised and now you find out they did nothing. Big oops! Big Surprise! And the worst of it…
As the holiday’s approach I thought I would review some Holiday Gig Booking Tips on getting some last minute holiday gigs. This is where referrals from friends, family and business associates can come in handy. Concentrate on contacting people you know and with whom you do business, such as friends and family and their places of business or their affiliate organizations. Ask them if their office intends on having any holiday events or parties where they might need some entertainment. Ask for a contact referral to the party coordinator and make your pitch using your contact’s name. Also, Check with those on your local mailing list and suggest to some…
Have you got any gigs on the best gig weekend of the year? Have you booked your gigs for Thanksgiving Weekend yet? I know its early November. I was reminded of planning for Thanksgiving just the other day when a friend asked if they could bring another friend to thanksgiving dinner. I often do a Biz Booster tip about booking gigs around Thanksgiving weekend the week before Thanksgiving. So this year I thought I’d give you a head start in case you still have that weekend open. Yes, I know you may be traveling to visit friends and family-perfect! They will just love seeing you perform in their home or…
The Booking Dead Zone is approaching. As we head into the holiday season, we come to a time period that often feels like a last chance to do some bookings to close out the year. November and December may find you with some time on your hands after some feverish fall touring, but artist beware, you may only find frustration if you attempt end of the year bookings as you enter the Booking Dead Zone. Let me explain. I’ve talked about booking conferences in the past and those mostly occur in late August and September, with some following in October and then again in mid-winter. That schedule drives the booking…
Are you missing some potential opportunities for gigs in your own market because you are focused on touring two or three states or countries away from your home base? Some of the best gigs might just be surrounding your own home town. If you’ve been paying attention to the various types of events going on in your community, you might have noticed many of them feature music of some sort. Somebody is getting those gigs, why not you? Here’s a list of some possible gigs in your own market that happen on a regular basis—some during the warmer weather, others can happen any time of the year. Perhaps your town,…
Which comes first Creativity or Productivity? As a musician and performing artist, I would venture a guess that the creator in you was the driving force that led you to become a performing artist. OK, let’s back up a bit. First let me break open Webster’s Dictionary and define these two terms so we can be on the same page. Creativity: noun, 1. The use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work. Productivity: noun, 1. A measure relating a quantity or quality of output to the inputs required to produce it. Now with these definitions in mind, I’d like to make a few…
Are you in danger of playing too often in your chosen markets? We all want to gig more often, but have you really taken a look at how gigging too often in any given market might impact your ability to grow in that market? How can this be? Your audience dwindles Your pay never increases You can’t get prestigious gigs You are covered in the media less often Your CD or merchandise sales slump How can you avoid this unappetizing scenario? Keep track of your numbers- by tracking your sales, your audience counts and the size of the venues you are playing, you can see how much you are growing.…
Re-frame your communications to boost your bookings and career. Lately, I’ve been paying attention to how people express themselves in both written and verbal communications. I’ve been finding similarities among friends, family, and clients. What I am finding is that most emails, promo materials, negotiations and even conversations with family members are all self-focused or inward focused right from the start of each communication. I call it the, “Let me tell you about me first” syndrome. This kind of communication may be an offshoot of an attention to so many daily details that keep one inwardly focused and absorbed. A great example is when speaking on the phone with someone,…
Yes, it is conference season for performing arts centers—August, September, October, November, and of course January. This means booking conferences like Arts Northwest, + and Arts Midwest which just passed, and in January, the big conference in the US, Arts Presenters. In Europe there is Womex and in Canada, many province-wide conferences occur along with Capacoa and Cinars, a biennale conference. Along with the major conferences, many state and provincial arts councils also host conferences. So, if you are not yet ready for the bigger conferences, check out those closer to home by reviewing your state presenter's network or arts council website. If you have never attended a booking conference, then…
