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10 Things Bands Need To Do Every Single Day

When we wrote the blog 8 Reasons Why Your Gigs Aren't As Busy As You'd Like we got a huge amount of positive feedback on twitter and facebook

One comment stood out though and forgive me for not remembering who, it was a couple of months back now, but it essentially said "Everything in the 8 points related to lack of communication and it'ssomething bands are terrible at"

So here's 10 things your band should be doing every day and probably aren't

1. Check and Respond Emails

Last week we received an email from a band saying "Yes we'd love to do that gig" - we looked back when the original email was sent from ourselves and it was 3 weeks ago ... Believe it or not this happens allthe time!!!

If you're displaying an email address on your facebook page or website, have regular contact with local promoters then why wouldn't you check your email on a daily basis

Think back to your own life outside the band - how many times do you contact a company and get extreme dissatisfaction when they take days to respond or simply don't respond

Tip: Most email addresses, including hotmail which many bands are on, allow emails to be automatically forwarded to another account as well - if you're busy in the day job why not make sure every email to the bands email account is forwarded to at least one other band member so emails are dealt with in 24 hours

Tip: Have your bands email address on your facebook page - many bands don't as Radio DJ / Songwriter Tom Robinson told us after reading this

2. Touch Base With Your Band Mates

You start a band as us against the world and then suddenly a few months later you're rehearsing once a month in-between gigs and don't speak to the day of the gig itself when half the band don't know what time to get to the venue, what to bring or what time they're on

Communication with band members on a regular basis is key to pushing the band forward - don't worry we're not talking Metallica style group therapy sessions - but just keeping each other focused and motivated to making that next gig a success is vital

Tip: Facebook interest lists are a great way to stay in touch with band mates - look for info here

3. Update Your Social Media Profiles

Your fans should not be left hanging wondering when the bands next gig is and they certainly shouldn't be ignored if they try to interact with you - remember it is so hard on FB to find a bands next gig!!!

Log into any of your Social Media profiles and think - is that tweet or facebook status a week ago really visible?

Pre Social Media it was said people saw 3000 adverts a day so imagine now how much information they get at them each day

As a band you shouldn't constantly advertise at them, but let bands into your world and provide them with useful content (blogs / photos / vids) as well as more conventional gig adverts

If it doesn't look as if you care, then this rubs off on the fans and they won't care much longer

Tip: Look at the bigger bands you love and see what style updates get the best reaction - learn from them, but don't just copy

 

4. Connect Individually with all new attendees on facebook gig events

You've set up a facebook event, invited all the possible friends from that city and then it's kind of well just left there and presumed that the 30-40 people are coming

Sound familiar

Facebook now posts on the event wall who is attending and on which date they clicked attending which makes it really easy to keep track of

A fan or friend clicking attending is not confirmation they're coming, but chance to interact with them one on one to confirm attendance (and click that all important online ticket link or get physical tickets to them)

Tip: Also remember facebook events are great ways to remind people of new content on the event wall - sell everything about the event that's peripheral on there such as the Free pizza deal before gigs,aftershow party that goes on till 4am etc

5. Touch Base With Other Bands On Your Next Gig

Let's just say you want the ideal gig where every band gets on with each other, all the bands watch each other and their fans stay for the whole gig

In business there's a thing called Networking Meetings where people in suits get up at god-awful hours to help each other in business - so imagine your next gig as the best opportunity to push your band forward and get lots of new supporters

The first step is to connect with the bands playing the next gig and build online relationships so that when you meet physically at the gig you all support each other and every band has a great night

Tip: Don't just be about sharing your music with the band - share their music out to your friends and fans as well - givers gain!!

 

6. Touch Base With The Promoter Of Your Next Gig

It goes without saying promoters want a busy gig just like you, so work with them on a regular basis to make the gig as successful as possible

* If they ask for MP3s, bios and photos for press / radio - send them over
* When tweeting make sure you tag BOTH the promoter and the venue in a tweet so they can RT to their fanbase
* Get involved in discussions on their facebook page regardless of whether they're related to your specific gig - it pays to be visible

Of course it also helps to see how active or inactive the promoter of your gig is

Tip: If you're happy with the way a promoter works - remember to leave a testimonial on the recommendations section of facebook - it helps other bands to work with the right promoters

7. Contact At Least One blogger to help publicise your band

You have the fanbase, the promoters that work with you and bands in Manchester that support you

Next step you want the press and blogs writing about you

Do you research and check that the blog covers your genre / style of music, look if they're covering friends of yours in Manchester and send a personalised email rather than a mass bulk email - include links to soundcloud streams or facebook streams initially rather than attaching MP3s and don't force people to like your page so they can hear the music

Blogs get a lot of submissions every day so don't always expect a reply, but one a day and you'll get some success each week.

Utilise Hype Machine to check those blogs covering bands that you always get compared to

Tip: We allow all bands to write guest blogs on our website and we get around 27,000 page views a week - great exposure which not enough bands take advantage of the free publicity

8. Help one other local band out - Support The Scene

Like many other promoter and music website we often post out available slots for gigs or ask for recommendations for local bands

If you can't do a gig yourself why not recommend another band suitable for said slots - not only do you build a good relationship with the promoter as somebody who's always happy to help, you build stronger relationships with the bands that you recommend and in turn they'll send the recommendations back your way when appropriate

Tip: Look back over the last 3 months - write down a list of which other local bands have recommended you for gigs or shared your music - aim to support them and add new bands to the mix each week


9. Mention Your Band To At Least One Person You Never Have Before

The barber, barmaid in my local, postman, dentist, local chipshop, an architect I met at a meeting last week - what do all these people have in common? They all know I promote gigs!!

Why? Because I don't separate what I do at weekends during my gigs from what I do the rest of the week and generally every day I'll be speaking to somebody new and drop in what I do

Every day there are opportunities to tell new people about your band and you shouldn't just keep telling the same close circle of friends

Tip: Next time somebody new asks how you are? That's the opening to say something about the band

10. Aim to write a better song than the song that everybody says is your best

And last but definitely not least

You know that song that everybody says is your fave - you need to write 10 songs better than that as the song is king

Tip: I've said it many times at demo review sessions - don't have a 1 minute intro before the vocals kick in - happens with so many bands

 

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