How do you promote when you got no money?
I've found the internet to be a moderately useful tool for the few shows I've played in the past year, as long as I combine it with lots of nagging -- I mean follow-up e-mails and phone calls. I'm not certain putting my shows on various event calendars all around internet-land brings in anyone.
The Central Valley Blues Society has been helpful to me by putting up my shows and information without asking me for any money (Thanks guys!). (The Sacramento Blues Society said I could pay $50 to be listed on their website and a member of their "bands" or whatever. I tried to explain that I'm a BLUES musician, on a fixed income and therefore I have no money to spare, but I guess they think because I'm young and have all my teeth still that I must be a liar. Maybe I'll hock some teeth...hmmmm)
I haven't done much promotion via posters and flyers and such. Seems like a waste of paper to me, but I do try to put up things in strategic locations at venues. Right now things are so tight I might just tag some alleys for promotion. I went back to the Bay Area this weekend and gave away all the cash I had -- a lot of it to my parents, since my pops is out of work and my mom is worried they may lose their house.
Radio... radio is good. At least, I've heard people say to me "I heard about your show on KWhatever station" but not while I was at a gig... and those folks weren't at my gig...
We-yelll.... Food for thought (since the cupboard is nearly bare anyways)
The Central Valley Blues Society has been helpful to me by putting up my shows and information without asking me for any money (Thanks guys!). (The Sacramento Blues Society said I could pay $50 to be listed on their website and a member of their "bands" or whatever. I tried to explain that I'm a BLUES musician, on a fixed income and therefore I have no money to spare, but I guess they think because I'm young and have all my teeth still that I must be a liar. Maybe I'll hock some teeth...hmmmm)
I haven't done much promotion via posters and flyers and such. Seems like a waste of paper to me, but I do try to put up things in strategic locations at venues. Right now things are so tight I might just tag some alleys for promotion. I went back to the Bay Area this weekend and gave away all the cash I had -- a lot of it to my parents, since my pops is out of work and my mom is worried they may lose their house.
Radio... radio is good. At least, I've heard people say to me "I heard about your show on KWhatever station" but not while I was at a gig... and those folks weren't at my gig...
We-yelll.... Food for thought (since the cupboard is nearly bare anyways)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on -
It's been the old fashioned one-at-a-time method for me lately. I'm scheduled specifically during slow times at the clubs I'm working now. Not many people are there in the afternoon and it's basically my job to start getting them there. I volunteer to play for tips at times when people ARE there. I use a very small and simple set-up. Since the club isn't paying for the time I'm not obligated to play for any length of time. That's basically a way to use "promo" as a way to MAKE some money rather than spend it. It's been working to my advantage and the clubs appreciate it a lot.
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Permalink Reply by Johnny Full-Time on -
Chad, next time you make it to Evansville, I'd love to have you on my show. Been meaning to get over to one of your gigs at Ri-Ra's forever, but it just never works out the way I plan it.
- Johnny Full-Time
http://www.fulltimeblues.com
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Permalink Reply by Mary Anne McLaurin on -
There's a great article here for promotions from about a year ago on how to promote on the cheap that is well worth reading.
Putting yourself out there across the net is going to be to your advantage. We're getting international airplay from being HERE! Also, having your music on sites such as last.fm, Ilike and shows on calendars across the net is time consuming but a MUST DO. Reverbnation also has a kick ass EPK, which in these days, something every artist MUST have, and it's free. We use Sonicbids for our EPK because it's a little better pulled together, but there's a price behind it, and we're reconsidering using reverb's EPK instead.
For us, Twitter has been an effective tool for gig promotions and doesn't cost anything, but the drawback is that you've got to get your fans to sign up for twitter. Our favorites are the calendar on Reverbnation, because you can place the widget just about anywhere, and myspace for GRUVR. GRUVR picks up show dates from myspace. Myspace is dead aside from that. I think if GRUVR was better promoted, it'd be the single most effective tool you could use. Fans can pull up their favorite artists and have emails sent to them when that artist plays within a certan number of miles from the fan's zip code. It's something too that the artist has to promote to the fans.
I agree about the paper waste, but if you do print flyers, do so on LEGAL sized paper. It will set your "do it yourself" apart from the standard sized printed flyers.
Chad is right on about getting your foot in the door. The more people that see you play, the better for building your fan base.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Lusher on -
There's no need to spend a penny when posting gigs.
Pollstar is probably the largest of the Music Calendars
Send an email to route-book@pollstar.com with your show dates
List your shows in the following format
Day of Week MM/DD/YY CITY/STATE Venue
send a copy to tourdates@celebrityaccess.com this will list your show on dozens of other calendars
Reverb Nation sign up for free at http://www.reverbnation.com/
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Enter Your Shows Here
You can take their show widget, and paste it into Facebook, myspace and any other website.
This will allow all websites to be updated by entering them once
Reverb Nation will also update Jam Base automatically if you have a Jam Base and if the venue already
exists in the Jam Base database
http://www.jambase.com/ create a band page for free
There are a number of Yahoo Blues group(by location) that provide a gig calendar
IE: New_England_Blues_Society@yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/start
Use Radio Locator to find radio stations near your show http://www.radio-locator.com/
A) To Have your music played or
B) Many stations have event/calendar listings
National Gig Calendar at
http://www.stlblues.net/
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Permalink Reply by Coyote Slim on -
I dunno... If I sign-up for one of those things it'll probably be passe within a month. Stupid social network bullshit trends. Baaaaaad luuuuuck.....
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Permalink Reply by Coyote Slim on
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All kidding aside, Mr. Lusher, I'm sure your suggestions are valuable in an urban, internet-savy setting. Since I am nearly literally "out in the tules" (Tulare County, CA, population: moo!) our local communities rely more on "old-school" media such as flyers and newspapers. Print media costs... So your statement of "no need to spend a penny" is inaccurate in this setting.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Lusher on
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Polllstar & Jam Base are not social networks. You need to understand how they work on a national, regional , and local level. Keep in mind that newspapers are closing coast to coast on a weekly basis. If an artist is looking to break out beyond a local area, Pollstar & Jam Base are a must.
Type this in to get an idea
http://www.pollstar.com/resultsCity.aspx?ID=23546&SortBy=Date&a....
to select surrounding cities see options on the left, city & genre
Reverb Nation is a music promotion tool, and not a social network
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Permalink Reply by Coyote Slim on
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They may not be social networks, but they're still a form of media that doesn't reach a large portion of the community. It's one thing to be on top of the trends; but in a poverty-ridden, conservative, rural area you are leaving out a large portion of folks who 1. Don't have access to computers 2. Don't know how to use them and 3 Really enjoy local, live music. (Will the business trend analysts of the music world say these people are already behind the times and trends, so why bother to promote to them? Will they say "Coyote Slim, don't market to your local community, sell your soul to the Dark Lord, become a Blues-Rock Star shredding out solos faster than a Hummer depletes fossil fuels!"? Je ne sais pas!)
So I return to my original question... How do you promote to them when you can't afford to print flyers? My most successful method so far has been face-to-face.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Moody on
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Then you got no choice but knock on some doors. Social Networking is nothing more than knocking on a virtual door. Sorry your area seems to be cyber deprived so you actually have to go to them. Having a webpresence allows them to come to you. You can build an audience besides the folks that live in your town. You are limiting yourself by not being open to new marketing tequniques.
I will make a suggestion for your situation. Book a steady house gig somewhere. Every Saturday night and be consistant. The few people that see you will tell a few more if your any good and after a few months you should build an audience the old fashion way, by word of mouth.
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Permalink Reply by Johnny Full-Time on
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I think it helps to find other people who are passionate about the music, and about your product; like the folks who use this website.
At the risk of tooting my own horn, I bust my ass to show people that Blues music is still viable, and still available. I have spent a lot of money this past year (even after losing my job) to make my radio show better and open a website, because I want this music to reach more people's ears. I run a concert calendar on my website and my show, and try to have artists on with me as often as possible. I don't want anything from them, except maybe some music to play on the air.
Social networking is very fad-like, but it's completely free, so I take full advantage of that.
Other things you can look into are places like vistaprint.com - I got postcards printed up featuring info on my show, and they offer like 150 or so free every week it seems.
Cafepress.com - I created a t-shirt design and opened a free membership store. You set the markup and they take care of the rest. I only make two or three bucks per shirt, but I don't have to process, print, or ship orders.
I know it's a pain in the ass (and I personally get sick of it at times), but the internet is really the greatest marketing tool in the world, with so many free resources out there for people like us to promote the Blues as a whole and our individual products specifically.
Hopefully this is helpful. Good luck.
- Johnny Full-Time
http://www.fulltimeblues.com
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Permalink Reply by Coyote Slim on
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Yep... gotta bust your ass on it. I commend you on spending money on your radio show. I will check out the links when I get the time to do so.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Anne McLaurin on
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There's a great list of radio stations HERE. CHAD NORDHOFF started it, and our community has been steadily contributing. It's THE BEST radio list for blues musicians available on the internet.
One thing I can say is that having Jeff's music on LiveBluesWorld has done more for getting his music out there through radio airplay and inclusion on podcasts.
Johnny, you're right about the internet. Social Media is the greatest and cheapest way to get your word out. The future is here already, and you either need to get on with it or be left behind. One decision we've made in social media is to limit our sites. When you create a site, if it's going to be of benefit, you have to work it. Pick your favorites and stick with them. Make sure any sites outside your favorites direct back to your favorite sites.
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