In my band, wives and girlfriends (mostly my wife and the singer's fiancee) take pictures that we put up on the website and facebook page. I suppose that's not unusual. Some number of people will routinely ask where they can see the pictures. Sometimes they make a mental note. Sometimes they scrawl something down on a napkin or some other piece of scrap paper. I'm guessing that more often than not, they don't find us or necessarily remember to look. My wife had the idea that we should make some kind of handout/card with web info. They can carry them and give them to anyone who asks about the pictures. This might be a good tool to help to get new people connected and informed of future dates and build on draw a handful at a time. I guess we might also work with more intentionality to move around and get pictures of various people. Anyone doing this or similar? Any good results? Maybe a business card format? {}
That's a great idea. Such good promo too, 'cause you're not just reppin' your band... you're doing it in a way that appeals to crowd too. Everyone likes finding themselves in pictures Another way to do it too would be to lead them to the photos, and post them on Facebook. That way you can encourage them to tag themselves too.
Great thought! I can really envision tagging and commenting working well to make people feel engaged and building ties. Hey BTW, your band sounds great. Good stuff!
cool idea.... I have made postcard size schedules with a band pic /logo/website on 1 side and a 4 month schedule on the back. works pretty well.
Good to hear it's working for you. I was thinking something easy to pocket and find later would be good.
Yes we also have postcard sized sheets with a picture, bandname, and every website page of ours listed on the bottom, as well as the websites that sell our album/downloads. It's on our merch table and is also handed out. Even though our CD's are for sale at the show, another thing I do is buy an econo-pack of blank discs and make 2 or 3 song CD's to give as freebies. The freebies and sleeves have the band website stamped (yes we had a rubber stamp made) on them so no one has to go searching for us.
Good stuff for an originals situation [thumb] Curiosity question: how long have you been on facebook? Nice sites, good music and I like your fb post soliciting your likes to suggest you to friends.
You can never over market your band and the more clever and unique ways you do it stand out. I own a marketing, advertising, concert, and event management business and utilize many different ways to promote our group. I have access to many types of multi-media advertising but the basic "put something in their hands" approach always works well and is inexpensive. Some of the simpler things we do similar to what you mentioned are that my band hands out schedules with our web address as well as business cards. For much larger concert gigs, we distribute out flyers in conjunction with the event venue.
I was going to mention the band photo thing. Our memory tends to be more visual based so having a group pic of the band with the logo in the background or "watermarked" on it would be a great addition. The 4 month schedule you mentioned is awesome for being able to present yourself as a "real" band, especially if that 4 month schedule has more than 4 shows.
Oops I forgot something... business cards. I'm am currently bandless bawl but in one band I was in we had some very nice cards made up in 4 color printing on nice cardstock. Like any real business each member had their own cards made, not just a blanket band card. On our cards we listed all the usual; band name, contact and booking info, and such, but we also listed our name and what instruments we played. For example: Name - Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals. The reason for each of us having our own card is purely psychological for both the band and the people you give the card to. It makes you feel good to have YOUR card. It makes the band much more "real" in your own mind which in turn makes you a proud papa of something bigger than just another garage band. For the fan or contact it has an intimacy or familiarity to it. It's no longer "yeah I know that band". It becomes "Yeah I know their bass player". It gives them a sense of being an "insider". Get business cards made and put them in one of those metal card cases so they don't get munched up or beer stains on them. Having tacky looking shwag is 10 times worse than not having it in the first place. You need to have these on you at all times! You never know when you will have an opportunity to pass one of these bad boys out. In short anything you can do to make your band look like a pro act the better. Treat your band like a successful business and it will soon become one.
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