You want to Promote yourself. You wish to Perform.
Whatever your talent, promotion of yourself or your event is on-going.
Unless you have someone who is out there promoting you or your group day-in, day-out, other avenues of advertising must be persued to put you in front of the public eye. An ambitious group who promotes themselves beats out the word-of-mouth gang every time. Budget not withstanding, advertising pays off. You can do it on the cheap, too. It just takes a little time and effort.
The $450 Plan.
You say, "Four hundred and fifty bucks, forget it". I hear ya, but give me a few minutes. There are steps you can take which will hasten your career. You can use one or all of the steps below to start, but eventually you will be using what I am saying in one variation or the other.
1. Get a decent business card, not a cheapo. You are dealing with business people and your card will be their first impression of your organization. Go on-line and design your own. Vista Print is excellent.
http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/splash/splash_businesscards.aspx?dr=1&GP=9%2F11%2F2006+2%3A17%3A54+PM
For forty dollars, you can end up with something which is impressive and professional. (Tip: Do not place a photo on it. Lame. A logo, yes. Vista Print has plenty of designs to choose from or use your own.)
2. Let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages to check out what entertainment organizations are out there. Knock on doors. Get your name on lists of promoters and event organizations. Call on bars and clubs, dropping your elegant business card. (Tip: Dress appropriately when doing business. If the businessman has upscale clientel, the appearance of the group is exemplified by you.)
3. But with the talk you have to have something tangible for the potential client to see to keep their interest, something that will convince them that you can do the job. That's where a website comes in, the cheapest advertising on the planet.
If you don't have one already, it costs about $100 for space and goodies and you can build it yourself with no experience. Check out Blue Voda.
http://www.bluevoda.com/
One weekend will have you up and running. So great, you are going to be listed in a directory pointing everyone to visit your place of advertising and you are excited. The whole world is going to come see you, you hope. And maybe, just maybe, some fat cat chewing on a big cigar is going to visit your site and say,
"I like that klutz. Get ahold of that guy."
4. So what do you put on your website to interest the businessman? Photos, bios, lots of graphics, schedules, maybe something homey such as your mother's cheesecake recipe, audio clips, even how to purchase your CD. Anything creative which might catch the eye. But use caution with your content. Your site is primarily set up to get you jobs. Your fans are secondary at this point.
Video says it all.
If you have video (assuming it is a clear representation of your talent), this is the primary interest, the focus of the information a business man is searching for. After seeing the video, then he browses the other items if he is hooked. Say the money has been spent to make a CD and it is for sale on your site; the video will directly affect that, too.
In today's world, the website of established and ambitious entertainers alike should revolve around video. This saves a producer the time and effort to hunt for it. It's a stretch for him to attend a live performance, so this makes it easy for him. It's also possible a lack of video is an inconvienience to him. You could be passed over because he was unable to locate what he wanted and he surfed on to another site.
Frustrated, you throw up your hands. "But video is so expensive. I have to hire a good studio (I want it done right), and pay all these people. It's beyond my means. And then I have to find someone to put it on the website. There is just no way."
That's how it used to be. Things have changed. This site follows the adage, "Persue the Basics." Nothing fancy, just talent. The time has come that one may have footage shot, edited, authored onto DVDs, and the self-loading finished product posted on a website in high quality, very inexpensively.
$300 could make your career. That is the expense of having a high quality website video that you can point to that strongly demostrates your prowess. People remember best what they hear AND see.
People in power are expecting more and more out of sites dedicated to their interest. A few minutes of video provides tremendous impact to your site, and the Business Man can see that you are the real deal.
Remember, video is not placed on your site to entertain. You are working to meet the requirements of the Man: Talent, Showmanship and Crowd Appeal.
Afterall, his bottom line is: 'Can I make money with this guy?'
Let's add it up:
$ 40 - business cards
$100 - website
$300 - website video.
$440 - Total Hey, that's under budget! And one heck of a boost to your career.
Unless you have someone who is out there promoting you or your group day-in, day-out, other avenues of advertising must be persued to put you in front of the public eye. An ambitious group who promotes themselves beats out the word-of-mouth gang every time. Budget not withstanding, advertising pays off. You can do it on the cheap, too. It just takes a little time and effort.
The $450 Plan.
You say, "Four hundred and fifty bucks, forget it". I hear ya, but give me a few minutes. There are steps you can take which will hasten your career. You can use one or all of the steps below to start, but eventually you will be using what I am saying in one variation or the other.
1. Get a decent business card, not a cheapo. You are dealing with business people and your card will be their first impression of your organization. Go on-line and design your own. Vista Print is excellent.
http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/splash/splash_businesscards.aspx?dr=1&GP=9%2F11%2F2006+2%3A17%3A54+PM
For forty dollars, you can end up with something which is impressive and professional. (Tip: Do not place a photo on it. Lame. A logo, yes. Vista Print has plenty of designs to choose from or use your own.)
2. Let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages to check out what entertainment organizations are out there. Knock on doors. Get your name on lists of promoters and event organizations. Call on bars and clubs, dropping your elegant business card. (Tip: Dress appropriately when doing business. If the businessman has upscale clientel, the appearance of the group is exemplified by you.)
3. But with the talk you have to have something tangible for the potential client to see to keep their interest, something that will convince them that you can do the job. That's where a website comes in, the cheapest advertising on the planet.
If you don't have one already, it costs about $100 for space and goodies and you can build it yourself with no experience. Check out Blue Voda.
http://www.bluevoda.com/
One weekend will have you up and running. So great, you are going to be listed in a directory pointing everyone to visit your place of advertising and you are excited. The whole world is going to come see you, you hope. And maybe, just maybe, some fat cat chewing on a big cigar is going to visit your site and say,
"I like that klutz. Get ahold of that guy."
4. So what do you put on your website to interest the businessman? Photos, bios, lots of graphics, schedules, maybe something homey such as your mother's cheesecake recipe, audio clips, even how to purchase your CD. Anything creative which might catch the eye. But use caution with your content. Your site is primarily set up to get you jobs. Your fans are secondary at this point.
Video says it all.
If you have video (assuming it is a clear representation of your talent), this is the primary interest, the focus of the information a business man is searching for. After seeing the video, then he browses the other items if he is hooked. Say the money has been spent to make a CD and it is for sale on your site; the video will directly affect that, too.
In today's world, the website of established and ambitious entertainers alike should revolve around video. This saves a producer the time and effort to hunt for it. It's a stretch for him to attend a live performance, so this makes it easy for him. It's also possible a lack of video is an inconvienience to him. You could be passed over because he was unable to locate what he wanted and he surfed on to another site.
Frustrated, you throw up your hands. "But video is so expensive. I have to hire a good studio (I want it done right), and pay all these people. It's beyond my means. And then I have to find someone to put it on the website. There is just no way."
That's how it used to be. Things have changed. This site follows the adage, "Persue the Basics." Nothing fancy, just talent. The time has come that one may have footage shot, edited, authored onto DVDs, and the self-loading finished product posted on a website in high quality, very inexpensively.
$300 could make your career. That is the expense of having a high quality website video that you can point to that strongly demostrates your prowess. People remember best what they hear AND see.
People in power are expecting more and more out of sites dedicated to their interest. A few minutes of video provides tremendous impact to your site, and the Business Man can see that you are the real deal.
Remember, video is not placed on your site to entertain. You are working to meet the requirements of the Man: Talent, Showmanship and Crowd Appeal.
Afterall, his bottom line is: 'Can I make money with this guy?'
Let's add it up:
$ 40 - business cards
$100 - website
$300 - website video.
$440 - Total Hey, that's under budget! And one heck of a boost to your career.
To demonstrate it’s expertise, this site has initially placed Rhythm & Blues Bands as examples because musicians are the most difficult to shoot live. Live is the best representation of how you perform in front of an audience. All the razzle-dazzle of a canned performance doesn’t mean much. A pro sees through it right away. Yet videotaping musicians is done under the worst possible conditions: clubs with dim lighting, bouncing audio, patrons who pass in front of the camera, or think nothing of bumping into the cameraman. (If you note a jiggle or jump, that’s what happened). Some locations are so packed the cameraman cannot move or has just one position to shoot from, and that may be too far away.
Note: More video clip postings and additional genre categories are on their way as time permits. All companies referenced above are people we have had satisfactory dealings with and that have convinced us as to their quality and integrity.
Okay, you've heard the Pitch. Now enjoy the sample videos.
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