How to Get Repeat Band Boookings on Gig Night

An email came in over the weekend from Shelly a new gig-getter who was a bit frustrated.

On the one hand she said she was pleased she'd managed to secure a number of initial gigs for her new band. On the other side of thing she was p*ssed that she was getting no follow-up phone calls about repeat bookings.

You may feel different, but I've always worked on the basis that venue bookers are at their most receptive to further bookings when you've just finished playing one for them.

Providing of course you haven't crashed and burned the performance...

I suggested Shelly look at part of the job on any gig as being booking multiple follow-up gigs.

When she goes to collect your cash she could ask:

"Was that alright for you then?"

When he/she answers in the affirmative (which most times they will) she could add:

"We're getting busy now for the next few months; do you want to put another couple of dates in the diary now?"

I've found you can get yourself 4 or 5 repeat bookings from the same place with one question if you do this right.

If the venue refuse to confirm the follow-up booking on gig night, Shelly should stay in touch with the venue anyhow. Schedule a regular call or email for when their situation changes and they're ready to book you again. Don't leave it to them to call you. You could wait forever no matter how great your band might be