Before You Have An Agent

– Posted in: Biz Booster Hot Tip! Book the Gig Uncategorized
Before You Have An Agent
Before You Have An Agent - by Jeri Goldstein     

Before you have an agent and get ready to hand over your livelihood, here are some things that can help you prepare by building your business.

  1. Keep track of all your numbers:

    Tracking your numbers is so important if you want to pitch yourself to an agent. They will want to see proof of your market value. Nothing tells that story better than past ticket prices, fees you were paid, percentages over your guarantees and merchandise sales. These are the facts that tell your market value story. They are the numbers they and you can bank on and build upon. So, before you have an agent, if you’re not keeping track of these numbers yet, start with your next gig. Keep that information in a notebook, a spreadsheet or file you can access quickly.

  2. Get some help:

    Are you feeling overwhelmed with the day-to-day of sending out promo and researching new potential gigs. Are you exhausted working on your marketing and sending out CDs for review and planning for upcoming tours? You may be ready to get an office assistant before you have an agent.

         That’s right, it might be time to delegate some of the work and free up your time to focus on your               career-building tasks. You should concentrate on making the all-important booking calls and                     negotiate your contracts. I’m all for keeping control of the things that drive your livelihood.

         Here’s where you might ask  for help from a super fan or friend or someone you know who cares               about your success. Or group members might step in and help out with some of these tasks. By                   giving someone a couple of hours work on a couple of days each week, you can free up much                       needed time to concentrate on the backbone of building your livelihood—booking the gigs. Put this           kind of system in place before you have an agent and you will look even more professional.

3. Focus on building a regional following:

Book gigs close enough to your home base so that your fans can follow you from town to town and tell their friends about you in nearby towns. Documenting the numbers of your growing, loyal fan base, are important factors that impress agents. Growing your fan base in a concentrated region, means that you, and eventually an agent, can use that information to leverage better gig fees.

Before you have an agent, use the in-between time to gather the meaningful numbers you’ll need to make a powerful pitch. Look for some help to free up your time to do the work of booking your gigs. If and when the time comes for you to work with an agent, you’ll have the fan base and the help in place, so your agent can take you to the next level.

If you are planning to have an agent, what systems have you put in place to make your pitch more successful?

Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page

I can’t wait to hear about your success.

Thanks to Carol Ehrlich for this week’s graphic image. Check out her work at v360.com

Now, Thanks to the Band Curfew from the UK for providing the Biz Booster theme Music, “Future Dance.” Check them out at www.curfew.co.uk

And for more career boosting tips, articles, books, resources, tele-seminars and online courses, visit me at Performingbiz.com

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