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After chatting with hundreds of venues, and looking at hundreds of booking emails sent to me, I can tell you the top 5 reasons your emails don’t get a response.

Your emails are:

  1. too long
  2. off target
  3. impersonal
  4. confusing
  5. they don’t ask a simple question

Let’s look at each one of these in more detail.

Too Long:
People are busy, and people who book house concerts, clubs, and other venues are even busier. Short and friendly emails are the ones that get read and replied to most often.

Off Target:
Most venues and house concerts provide information about what they are looking for, and how they should be contacted. If you ignore this information and fail to point out how you fit their needs, it discourages the booker and they will often not respond.

Impersonal:
It’s funny how many artists think that they deserve personal responses to email blasts. You should put as much care into what you send out as you’d like to see in what you get back. Use the persons name, the venue name, and mention something that connects you - similar artists who’ve played there, you have family in that town… whatever. One sentence can turn you from a no-personality gig-hunter into a human being that deserves a response.

Confusing:
Get to the point quickly. Do you want to play there? Say so, and early. When do you want to play there? Why are you a good fit? Stick to the basics, and provide links for the rest.

Ask the question:
It’s common to see an artist talk about who they are, where they’ve played, who likes their record, and never get around to asking a question that elicits a reply. “I’ll be in your area March 14th and again on July 6th… would either of these dates work for you?”

If you want answers - ask questions.

Sometimes it’s not the email:

It’s quite possible that your recordings, your videos, your bio, or your lack of experience and reputation are the main thing holding you back. Some bookers, especially house concert hosts, have a tough time “saying no” for fear of hurting an artist’s feelings. We’ll keep doing what we can to encourage them to respond.

It’s also possible that the booker is going through some personal issues, moving, etc.. and the timing of your email was the only thing wrong. That’s why professionals don’t take it personally and try again after a few weeks.

It’s worth the extra effort.
It’s very unlikely that you’ll get 100% response rate, even if you do things perfectly. But if you follow the 5 tips above, it’s quite possible to double or even triple your response rate, and land significantly more bookings as a result.

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