Building a following: What works for you?

[OldGit]

If you are a band that plays places where you need to bring the audience you'll need a following.
So, what methods do you use and what works best?

Things I've used before include
- Email list for gig announcements
- Fliers handed out by attractive people at every gig with the website, next few dates, an invite to join the email list, email and phone number
- Same fliers given out to the audience leaving other people's gigs in the same venue or bands like ours in the same town.
- Fliers left in the flyer piles in the shops and clubs etc
- Posters for each gig in as many places as possible for a week before the gig
- Post cards in news agents close to music shops, bus stops and places close to venues and ion the student areas
- posters in workplaces especially where young people work and hang out eg college common rooms, halls of residence, 6 form notice boards, hospital staff rooms, (a team of marauding nurses on a night out is a really great audience )
- Poster and flyer downloads from the website and emailed announcement
- "discount on entrance tax with this flyer" deals
- Getting a good support band who bring a good crowd (who are then possible future followers for our band)
- Publicising gigs on online "what's on" websites
- Publicising gigs in local paper "what's on" listings, Time Out style local magazines
- Running spoof "I saw you" ads in the local paper "I saw you at the "band name" gig last week, you were tall and blond and our eyes met. Will you go to their gig on 2nd of Feb at the Rose and crown? I'll wear the red hat again"
- Running "Audience wanted" ads in the musicians wanted free ads section
- Press releases and news items for all "interesting" gigs and events
- Charity/fundraiser ticket deals - "Buy them at cost, sell them for a bit more and donate the difference to your charity"
- "Bring a team" marketing into clubs and societies such as rugby and hockey clubs, nurses homes with a bulk purchase ticket deals - "buy 10 get one free" etc
- Prizes for joining the emailing list "Free t shirt for one lucky winner drawn from each month's signups"
- Bribing mates to come along and bring a friend
- Free coaches to important gigs
- Christmas gig prize draws to win a tee shirt - to enter we require your email/postal address


What I've not used are
- Facebook/Myspace/Bebo automated gig announcements
- A street team as defined by the BBC [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/1xmusic/promotion/streetp01.shtml"]Street Team stuff on BBC Radio 1xtra[/url]
, though there are elements in the list above
- give aways like picks or pens with the band name and url



So... what else do you do?

What actually works best in your experience?

Thanks,
Simon

[Musky]

I've found Myspace and listing mags have worked best in terms of pulling in people who've not seen us before (at least from the feedback we've had at gigs). I found out the other day that our drummer has been using a web based service that sends out gig details to all the listings mags, but I've no idea what it's called I'm afraid. Myspace can be hard work though - I'm not convinced that bulletins work very well - and best results can be had by trying to build a relationship with people on there.

Another thing I've heard about but not tried is using a bluetooth enabled laptop to message people passing the venue. It can be done with a mobile phone, but it's a bit of a pain doing it that way apparently.

[BassBomber414]

Guitar Glen has a lot of useful gigging/band/promotion advice

see [url="http://www.angelfire.com/music2/guitarglen/gig.htm"]http://www.angelfire.com/music2/guitarglen/gig.htm[/url]


Click on the heading links on left margin.

Edited December 22, 2007 by BassBomber414

[s_u_y_*]

Tactics I like to use are those which have worked by bands on me:

- Facebook. Now you can have musician pages, especially in London where Facebook is very popular, I think this will be a key promotional tool in the future. Also you can upload unlimited music, but do also have to upload a copy of ID.
- Myspace is dying, but still in favour by some people. Bulletins are a nice way to send out mesages, without it being instrusive.
- Mailing list is key! It is still a great way to keep in contact with fans wherever they are. A few weeks ago, we got a message back from someone who signed up during our Austria gigs. It helps you keep positive when you know people out there still like you.
- General band flyers are good to hand out when they sign to the mailing list. It means they can check you out by their perogative later on.

Something I have yet to fully try is to put on a band night with bands with similar influences and attract audiences that way. With my band it is more trickier than most. Our frontman loves Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan. But I notice a few bands out in the suburbs do have similar influences with a common blues ancestry in the form of Pink Floyd, and the like. Also, I really like those bands so it helps.

OldGit, I may very well try out that "I saw you ad" in the local free morning London newspapers.

[OldGit]

[quote name='s_u_y_*' post='108086' date='Dec 22 2007, 12:21 PM']OldGit, I may very well try out that "I saw you ad" in the local free morning London newspapers. [/quote]


Don't over-do it through .. I got banned (with a big smile) from one paper .. I knew the editor thogh so it wasn't too bad. They just thought it was cheeky.

[quote]our drummer has been using a web based service that sends out gig details to all the listings mags,[/quote]

That sounds good Can you find the details?

[OldGit]

[quote name='BassBomber414' post='108084' date='Dec 22 2007, 12:15 PM']Guitar Glen has a lot of useful gigging/band/promotion advice

see [url="http://www.angelfire.com/music2/guitarglen/gig.htm"]<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/music2/guitarglen/gig.htm" target="_blank">http://www.angelfire.com/music2/guitarglen/gig.htm[/url]</a>


Click on the heading links on left margin.[/quote]


Thanks
But [b]what actually works[/b] for your band?

[theosd]

[quote name='OldGit' post='108197' date='Dec 22 2007, 04:02 PM']Thanks
But [b]what actually works[/b] for your band?[/quote]

Having a lot of friends, who have a lot of friends; all of whom work and so strive to get out and about.

Other than that I can't say, we've only had 8 or so gigs and haven't asked for any of them! We've done next to nothing, really; that's for next year when we have the new demo.

[ARGH]

What works?

Do something over the top...or Suck up to journos and Jo Whiley..

Failing that cut yourself onstage,every emo kid upon the globe will find you 'understand' them!


sorry Ive had a really sh*t day

[umph]

i guess just trying to gig with bands of a similar sound and being really good live to cater to your target audience other than that just post up fliers in places that would cater to your target audience etc, its all basic business ;o

[OldGit]

[quote name='theosd' post='108234' date='Dec 22 2007, 05:25 PM']Having a lot of friends, who have a lot of friends; all of whom work and so strive to get out and about.

Other than that I can't say, we've only had 8 or so gigs and haven't asked for any of them! We've done next to nothing, really; that's for next year when we have the new demo.[/quote]


How do you let your mates' friends know when you are playing?
Word of mouth or or posters or fliers?

Cheers

[Breakfast]

Once you have got your set down and you're playing somewhere you are happy with don't play too often in any one place.

As a guideline, occasional really well hyped gigs no less than six weeks apart in any one town (or area if you're in a city ) will do a much better job of bringing people in than playing more often. If you're playing three days a week and getting five people in each time that will do far less for your reputation than if you play from time to time but sell out every time. The first sounds workaday, the second sounds like a buzz.

Also it gives you a chance to potentially do your own promotion and get other good bands in so people know that if it's one of your nights they will have a good time.

Find similar bands who you think are really good and do gig swaps with them. Generally the music industry works off networking so just network like a bastard - just by being generally affable you can really help yourself out with finding more interesting gigs and whathaveyou.

[Russ]

Being good works best. Then word of mouth takes care of much of the rest. That's 75% of the battle, right there.

As for other ideas, Myspace still has a big (though declining) following, and has most of the tools you'll need to put together a half-decent electronic press kit. It's also a convenient point of reference for most people. Having your own website is also a definite plus, especially if you have forums, etc - helps build a sense of community around the band. Video memes are popular on the internet too - make a video of your band, and stick it on Youtube. Have live performances, but also have silly, more personal stuff too... makes people connect with you more on a personal level. Things like this can end up on Digg, or other such sites, bringing you a whole new set of listeners!

You've also got local, internet/cable and specialist radio stations who can promote you, and pretty much everything OldGit mentioned above.

[Musky]

[quote name='OldGit' post='108196' date='Dec 22 2007, 04:02 PM']That sounds good Can you find the details?[/quote]

Sorry, I totally forgot about this thread.

I haven't heard back from our drummer yet, but it might have been the Press Association - Entertainment. Newspapers have to subscribe to it to get the info, though obviously all the National ones definitely do.

Edited December 30, 2007 by Musky

[Breakfast]

[quote name='Russ' post='111092' date='Dec 30 2007, 07:27 PM']Being good works best. Then word of mouth takes care of much of the rest. That's 75% of the battle, right there.[/quote]
This is only too accurate. Of course, we [i]all[/i] think we're good and our mates say we are so it can actually be hard to judge...
[quote name='Russ' post='111092' date='Dec 30 2007, 07:27 PM']Having your own website is also a definite plus, especially if you have forums, etc - helps build a sense of community around the band.[/quote]
Can cut both ways though, if you have a forum and it's totally dead or only has three users...

[The Funk]

So far, nothing has worked for me. We are yet to have people come to our gigs who are not somehow connected to the band, either directly or indirectly.

The venues, other bands and some of their audience seem to like us though.

If we're only onstage for half an hour, and one of 5 bands, we don't have any control over the night and it's difficult to promote. We still harrass enough of our friends to get paid and booked back though.

In the new year we'll have a crack at putting on our own bills and see how that works out.

[s_u_y_*]

[quote name='The Funk' post='111290' date='Dec 31 2007, 06:03 AM']So far, nothing has worked for me. We are yet to have people come to our gigs who are not somehow connected to the band, either directly or indirectly.[/quote]

That is the challenge. Fantastically, strangers have come back on a number of occasions which is a great feeling. But it is to try on capitalise on any of that which is crucial. It is hard to say what it will take for strangers to come back consistently. Obviously mailing list, etc. I guess other factors come into play. Like suggested before, a crowd mentality is important. A large audience can create a great atmosphere, and people may want to come back and re-live that experience.

[The Funk]

I think the main problem is that we play places where you have to generate the entire audience yourself, so there's no chance to pick up any new people.

[s_u_y_*]

[quote name='The Funk' post='111436' date='Dec 31 2007, 12:32 PM']I think the main problem is that we play places where you have to generate the entire audience yourself, so there's no chance to pick up any new people.[/quote]

It's all about nicking all the other bands' audiences! lol

But seriously, we play those sort of venues too. It is pretty hard sometimes, especially when the other bands either don't bring any people or even show up!

Plug away at your mailing list, and you very well may bump into people who came to see someone else and like your style. Ideally, you'd want to join forces with bands in a similar vein to you. This away, people are more likely to like your stuff. I've experienced it, and it works! This is something I'm personally working on in 2008.

[The Funk]

That's the thing. I know several decent bands who cover the same kind of ground as us - I think it'd be better if we just started putting on nights ourselves at these same venues.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Russ' post='111092' date='Dec 30 2007, 07:27 PM']Being good works best. Then word of mouth takes care of much of the rest. That's 75% of the battle, right there.[/quote]

+1

The best marketing in the business will only get a punter to see you once.
Only being brilliantly entertaining will bring them back dragging their mates with them which is what we all need.

It's a kind of wake up call because if this isn't happening you need to re-assess what you are doing.
Being objctive is hard and getting good feedback is tough too as your mates won't want to tell you you are crap or your material is weak or you present it in a poor way. However if the evidence is there - ie no following - you need to ask them to be honest.

[The Funk]

[quote name='OldGit' post='111604' date='Dec 31 2007, 07:25 PM']getting good feedback is tough too as your mates won't want to tell you you are crap or your material is weak or you present it in a poor way[/quote]

After one gig that went well and got good reactions from the non-partisan members of the crowd, I asked a good friend of mine what he thought. He said "I only have 15 suggestions... but if you guys weren't good I wouldn't have any".

[OldGit]

[quote name='The Funk' post='111719' date='Jan 1 2008, 07:37 AM']After one gig that went well and got good reactions from the non-partisan members of the crowd, I asked a good friend of mine what he thought. He said "I only have 15 suggestions... but if you guys weren't good I wouldn't have any".[/quote]

Yes, I've been in that position - watching bands where a few tweaks would make a huge difference but others where the challenge to get them up to a good level would be so great that it probably wasn't worth it, or they just don't want to make the effort for various reasons...

So, what were the suggestions and did you try them?
Did they work?
As you still find it hard to draw a crowd, "So far, nothing has worked for me." what happened?

Rather than play gigs where you have to draw the whole crowd why not go for support slots at good venues in your area when more popular bands are playing? You still need to take 50 people along, of course, if you want to get booked back but you could impress people from their following...

[OldGit]

[quote name='Breakfast' post='111086' date='Dec 30 2007, 07:23 PM']Once you have got your set down and you're playing somewhere you are happy with don't play too often in any one place.[/quote]

+1
Make sure your mates only get dragged along to teh important gigs otherwise you spread them too thin.
75 people going wild for a support band will convince ther est of teh crowd that they too shoudl be cheering and demanding more so keep that quorum for the gigs where it matters.

Also don't do loads of free gigs in smaller places and then expect your friends/fans to shell out to see you play at the better venues or to travel to a Battle of the Bands or whatever. Lots will just say "I'll see them next week locally and for free" ..

[2wheeler]

I went to see [url="http://www.hugepartyband.co.uk/"]Huge[/url] last night (New Year's Eve). They are all teachers (I think) and now have a good few children between them. They are very good indeed. It's not hard to see where their following comes from: It seems that most people living in York either know them personally, or have children taught by them, or have children at the same schools as their children, etc.

Edited January 1, 2008 by 2wheeler

[OldGit]

[quote name='2wheeler' post='111856' date='Jan 1 2008, 04:47 PM']I went to see [url="http://www.hugepartyband.co.uk/"]Huge[/url] last night (New Year's Eve). They are all teachers (I think) and now have a good few children between them. They are very good indeed. It's not hard to see where their following comes from: It seems that most people living in York either know them personally, or have children taught by them, or have children at the same schools as their children, etc.[/quote]

Wow.. great to know so many people but it's that phrase: "They are very good indeed." that does the trick