Hiring An Assistant

Hiring an assistant to help move your career may be the next best thing to do even before getting an agent.

I feel that this addition to your team, even if you are a solo performer, may be the perfect solution to allowing you to concentrate on the most essential things you can do to grow your touring career-like book gigs.

Once again, using our template to drill down and look at what results we are after when considering adding this expense to the business, ask yourself the following questions and make a list:

1. What income producing activities should I be doing?
2. What non-income producing activities can someone else do?

Once you have established a list of these activities, and I’ve covered this in depth in a previous Biz Booster, then you are able to define the results you are after when hiring an assistant to help you reach certain goals.

Here are some of the benefits and potential results hiring an assistant may add to your business.

1. Having a contact person available while you may be touring or performing.
2. Having someone to take on in-house publicity duties like: arranging interviews, contacting media outlets and checking with media sources in tour markets to insure coverage. They may also check to make sure materials needed for marketing upcoming dates are sent and have arrived in a timely manner.
3. Having someone to research potential markets and venues so that you may simply make the contact and negotiate the dates.
4. Having someone to do follow-up with venues after dates have been played to get testimonials, reviews, and referrals to future potential venues.

These are measurable results that will impact your ability to concentrate on the activities that produce income and allow you to be more creative.

When you calculate the costs of hiring an assistant, you have to be realistic once again taking into account how many dates per month you currently play and the gig income you are currently generating. You cannot afford to hire someone for $200 per week if you are only playing once a month and getting $150 per gig.

So, first do the numbers. How many gigs per month do you play and what is the income? Then figure out how many days per week and how many hours per day make sense for you to hire someone and get started. When I hired an assistant, I started with just 3 hours per day for 2 days a week at $10.00 per hour. It worked for us both and made a huge difference in our media coverage and my ability to book more gigs.

When you set the days of the week for them to work, keep Monday’s and Fridays for yourself in case you are returning from a weekend tour or setting out for dates. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are great mid-week dates for an assistant to be able to reach potential venues for research and media outlets for marketing.

When you plan for the results you want from hiring an assistant, you are able to track the progress and weigh the value of your decision based upon your goals. This process will also help you be more directive in guiding your assistant with weekly meetings to set objectives both short-term and long-term rather than dumping an unorganized mess in their lap and hoping for the best.

 

Hiring an assistant for the above tasks may be a great way to train your own in-house agent eventually. More about that in another Biz Booster.

Have you ever thought about hiring an assistant? Do you have an assistant? What has your experience been? 
Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PerformingbizSuccessStrategies.

I can’t wait to hear about your success.

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