house concerts and 21st century touring

My previous blog post is an excerpt of an email I sent out, which offered a free T-shirt to the first 3 acts who convinced me they’d done the basics.

This is an email conversation that followed, and put a big smile on my face, and sent a nice shirt out the door. I love my “job.”

On Feb 27, 2009, at 7:29 PM, Julie Sutton wrote:
1) Put the banner on myspace page (thanks for telling me how!)
2) Emailed a friend in St. Paul, where I’m traveling this summer, to suggest she and her husband host a house concert.
3) Accepted my first two house concert gigs!!! One is in March and the other is in June. Am now going to add them to my gig schedule on both myspace and reverbnation. I’m excited. :o)
Julie
p.s. Do I get the t-shirt? ;o)

On Feb 27, 2009, at 7:32 PM, Fran Snyder wrote:

That makes you #3. Congratulations! (Pause, while I spin in my chair.) Yahoo!
So, what size?  (M/L/XL/XXL)

Congrats on getting the house concerts… will they be your “firsts?”
And did you get them both through the site?
Can I reprint this fun email to inspire some more artists?

On Feb 27, 2009, at 9:29 PM, Julie Sutton wrote:

Yes, they are my first house concerts, and no, they actually weren’t through the site… except indirectly, because I probably wouldn’t have had the idea top of mind and brought it up in conversation [when I met the people who are doing the June concert] had I not been receiving your emails and newsletter.

The one in March is a musician friend who is not yet signed up to concertsinyourhome.com, but I mentioned it to her and also sent a link that you emailed the other day (the musician/cartoonist guy). They have just started doing this (once a month), and are already booked for the entire year.

So…we’re all connected and my joy is yours and vice versa! :o)

I wear a size Medium and yes, you may reprint the email. — Julie

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You go, girl. Check out Julie Sutton’s music, and pay attention to the lyrics.

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Booking house concerts…

I know it’s a challenge keeping up with all the things you “should” be doing to promote your act. I wrestle with it too. But if you’ve made an investment in us (CIYH) - I want you to succeed. More and more artists are realizing the growing importance of house concerts. Like Hans York says, “house concerts are the emotional anchors of every tour.”

So here’s a reminder, of 3 simple things you can do, right now, to create a few ripples out there.

1. Put a CIYH banner on your website and/or myspace page. People get gigs this way, they really do. It’s the easiest way to inspire your fans to visit us, and contact you.
2. Email/remind your fans that you are touring, and you want to delight them with a personal concert.
   Like this. Or, here’s another approach.
3. Take a non-musician friend to a house concert. Inspire them, inspire yourself. Check the house concert calendars in your area, and send an invitation request for a show that interests you.

If there aren’t any shows listed, bookmark the page. We continue to get 20+ new hosts each month, and new dates go up every day.

The number one reason that new hosts start up a series? They experience one somewhere else. Make it happen.

Thanks for being a part of this.

Your fan,

Fran Snyder
ConcertsInYourHome

PS - Ambitious? Here’s another tip.

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Since many of us just wrapped up the Folk Alliance Conference, I thought it would be a great time to send out some advice on how to get the most from the experience. I’d say 80% or more of the artists who attend conferences do very little or NO follow up once they get home. That’s a HUGE opportunity for you to stand out and connect. Here’s the best and most concise advice I’ve found on the subject, courtesy of Jeri Goldstein.

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Getting the Gig – After Conference Follow-Up

By Jeri Goldstein, Copyright 2009

Persistent and consistent follow-up is one of the key elements to a successful touring career. This holds true whether you are trying to book a gig, land an interview with a local or major paper, get a record deal or find an agent or a manager. This is certainly true if you’ve just returned from a conference where you handed out tons of promo, gave away CDs, swag and played your heart out at any number of showcases.

Now these next few weeks will separate the professionals from the party goers. Once you’ve recuperated from the late nights, the tour back home or just unpacking all the “stuff” you collected, it’s time to gather together the important contact lists of people who expressed interest in doing business with you.

If there is one thing you can count on, it’s that the festival, venue and house concert bookers are going through their lists and finalizing deals with the artists they remember and want on their stages. So, the longer you wait, the more likely it will be that those performance slots get filled.

If you are the one selling your act, you need to be the one making the follow-up calls without expecting calls from your prospective buyers in return. You are not the first and last thought on their mind, but they must be the first and last thought on yours if you want the gig, the interview, or the deal.

Follow-up should be done professionally. Your first follow-up calls should be to those whose cards you collected or who signed a list at your booth, table or showcase. This gives you a second chance to build your relationship with the main contact. Remind them of the circumstance in which you met. Perhaps it was at a showcase, or at a workshop or in the bar. Once you establish recognition, find out if they’ve had a chance to review any materials they picked up from you and when they intend on making final decisions. Make the appointment for the second follow-up call for no more than one or two weeks into the future unless they suggest something else. If it is very far off, get them to schedule an earlier date. If they are unsure of a time by which they will have reviewed the material or will be making final decisions, suggest a time approximately one week out when you will call back to check on their progress. They are alerted to the fact you will be checking back so that when you do call it won’t seem too soon or feel like you are hounding them.

There is an art to follow-up. You want to keep yourself pleasantly in the forefront of their mind, yet you don’t want to become a pest. This is why it is so important to establish an enjoyable, conversational relationship with your contact from the beginning. As each subsequent follow-up call is made, your contact will look forward to speaking with you and perhaps even move the process along more rapidly. Always ask your contact when you should check back to get them to commit to an upcoming date in the very near future. Since these dates are at your contact’s suggestion, you can always open your next conversation with, “You suggested that I call you today to discuss…” With this kind of opening, you will never seem to be a pest.

Why is follow-up so important? If you don’t follow-up after a conference, you could have wasted lots of money. Promoters, reviewers, editors, agents, labels are reviewing all the packets of materials collected at the conference. Those who follow-up with them are the ones to get their materials reviewed and get the gigs or make the deals. It jars your contact into action, eventually. I have heard such sad stories of artists who spent a ton of money to attend, showcase and exhibit at a conference. They had a great response, but didn’t walk away with signed contracts, just lots of cards and a list of interested bookers. When I ask, “How many gigs did you book from the conference?” They reply, “Not many, I never heard from anyone, they seemed so interested at the conference.” When I ask them if they had called to follow-up and they hadn’t, I just wanted to shake them. Instead, I remind them that they were not the only act who showcased or exhibited. They probably should have made a few follow-up calls right after the conference while they were still fresh in their contact’s mind.

One of the reasons that follow-up can become a daunting process is that too often artists attempt to contact too many prospects at once, decreasing their chances for effectively following-up in a timely manner. Set realistic goals for contacting buyers, media and industry professionals. Don’t attempt to make all of your follow-up calls in one day—space them out. Call five or ten at a time. You can make five or ten follow-up calls much more easily than attempting hundreds. Be consistent with each one and keep track of each one. Five or ten is very manageable. When you keep the numbers low, the rewards are much greater. And make sure you call the contacts who expressed interest in you, first. If you can get one hot prospect to act, they may consider referring you to another nearby venue to create a short tour and perhaps benefit from the collaboration.

I’ll leave you with some food for thought. When was the last time you attended a conference and then neglected to follow-up? What is stopping you from maintaining the connection? What is hampering you from completing the process? When you answer these questions and really consider the problem, you may be able to find new enthusiasm for the follow-up process and add to your success. Now get out your lists, your business cards, and your calendar and start getting back in touch this week, you may just land a few more gigs this year than you did last conference!

And, I invite you to learn more about this and other topics important to your career development and to sign up for free weekly audio Biz Booster Hot Tip! Every Monday you’ll get another valuable strategy and technique that you can put to use immediately. You’ll find helpful books, career development seminars, Booking & Touring Success Strategies & Secrets online course and information on booking tours, the music business and performing arts.

Jeri Goldstein is the author of How To Be Your Own Booking Agent - The Musician’s & Performing Artist’s Guide To Successful Touring 3rd Edition. She had been an agent and artist’s manager for 20 years. Currently she consults with artists, agents and managers through her consultation program Manager-In-A-Box. Contact Jeri: (434) 591-1335 or jg@performingbiz.com

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James Lee Stanley also has some great advice here.

Take a deep breath. Get to work.

Fran

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