How to get started and noticed

Part 2

What are some more ways to gather a fan base and keep building a Buzz around your band?

Like I had mentioned before in part 1 of this adventure, there are are hundreds of ways to do this. Some will work like gold, some will get you one or two fans here and there, and some will not work at all. It is a trial and error system till you find just the right mix for you and your band.

I am going to quickly cover two ideas that will help you and your band. One idea is about one part of live gig's/shows and the other fits along with it some.

We will start with a bit about gig's/shows. Sometimes booking a show or getting into a hot club is the toughest thing to do. You want to start with you research on the venues, find out who to talk to ad what they need from you to help make their decision. One of those things might be a press kit sent in or dropped off, if you are close by. No matter what always offer to get a press or media kit to the Booker. This will show some professionalism and that you are serious about your music. It will help them in the long run to get to know your band and your sound so that they have an easier time matching you up with other acts to fill a night.

One thing too look at is other places to play. You might not be able to get in to that club right of way and you want to keep playing and sharing your music. look for basically anything to start with like open mic nights, hall parties, frat parties, BB Q's, and other things like contests and battle of the bands. You don't want to be too picky at first until you can prove you have a reasonable draw to your shows.

Now the other idea I have been working myself for getting in to different bars and clubs is teaming up with other bands. Get together with one or two other bands that you like that are close to you sound wise. It will work better as a package deal to a Booker when you talk to them. If you can talk to a band Booker and say I am with a group of three bands looking to put on a show one evening, you will have better chances of getting that show. This will take a bunch of work off the Booker by giving him a whole night with out having to try and match up bands. It also makes it easier to head right into making your posters and fliers. You can basically have a template and just change the dates, place, time and if there is a cover charge.

The next next thing that ties into all of your shows has to do with building your fan base. You want to build that base by building a email list of of fans. Here again you can do probably 50 different things to build that list.
A few ideas I can offer are:

• Sign up sheets at your merchandise table
• Offer free down load of one of your songs
• use a down load card to offer a song at your shows for email sign ups
• Or say a down load with a T shirt sale and email sign up

Sometimes it is all about being creative with the approach of getting those email addresses. I once herd of  a band that had a email sign up list on their table that was framed by a toilet seat. It made people stop and think, it also worked for them. Some times it is the things one would not expect to see that grabs attention and makes people think about signing up.

Sometimes Random give aways during the show helps make people remember your band and want to stay up to date and add their email to your list. There is a story of Coldplay in the early days, they would give out mini chocolate bars at the end of their shows. It was a thank you that they did for people that stuck around to listen to their music. It seemed to work well for them because word slowly spread that they did this at their shows and it made them more human and approachable. By doing this it gave them a chance to connect closer to the fans. And connecting with fans is where it all starts.