Your Fear of Band Booking

You might know exactly what you need to do to get that band booking. You won't be alone though if you've been putting off making calls to potential gig venues.

 
We all sometimes make excuses to ourselves and try to put off having to  actually making the call or pitch.

The technical term for this amongst sales people is "Call reluctance" and here are a some tips for dealing with it when you're band booking.

 
1. Realise Band Booking Call reluctance is happening to you.
You'll find yourself making what seem perfectly reasonable excuses ("he probably won't be there if I call now" / "I need to do something else first" / "I don't feel 100% today" ) etc. The first step is realising this is happening - before you can put a stop to it.

 
2. Set appointments with yourself
You don't need to spend a lot of time in any one week to get band bookings. If you're doing it right an hour a week is all it takes to get some new gigs coming in regularly.

 
3. Use a script
We're not talking chapter and verse here but just some bullet points or reminders of the things you want to make sure you mention on the call. Whatever else you say, always check early on that the person you're calling has a few seconds to talk.

 
4. Remind yourself what's in it for them
One of the big lessons I learnt early on in my career is that if you focus on what you could get when you're trying to make a sale - its a recipe for stress and nerves. Instead, keep your mind fixed on what you and your band could do for the venue by playing there.

Give them new faces to freshen up things for their customers? Bring new drinkers into their bar? (even if all you take are a couple of cars full of friends to the gig). Give their regulars a night to remember maybe- (especially if audience interaction or the visual side of things are a part of what you do). 

Maybe you're going to offer a "trial price gig" for your first band booking at the venue you're calling or you've played in some name venues that might be worth dropping when you talk.

Keep in mind that ultimately any live music venue lives or dies on the strength of the acts it books. It they had the same band on every week people would soon stop going there. Fresh acts are vital to most band venues.

 
5. Think about what you'll do AFTER the calls
If nerves a re getting the better of you and you're dreading having to make the call stop and think for a moment. Remind yourself how good you'll feel about yourself when these calls are done. When they're out of the way for another week. Think about the euphoria of actually getting that booking, how you feel when you let the other band members know what you've been able to do etc.

If you're really struggling you can reward yourself when you've made those calls. Have that drink watch that favourite TV programme but only after you've made those calls.

More band booking tips

Band Booking and "Job" Security

A drummer emailed me this week about a side-benefit of becoming the band booking "guru" for your band.

He hadn't been in his band long, and as perhaps the least technically accomplished of all his band members (and the last one to join), he'd always felt a little insecure about his place. 

Learning how to get band bookings has changed all that.

I had to admit that this was something I wasn’t thinking about when I originally wrote Gig-Getter, making people more secure in their roles in a band. 

When I think about it though, I knew what he means.  When I first joined our band I had only recently learnt how to play bass and at the time, we had one date in the diary, several months ahead at a private party.

To try and get some bookings we invited numerous agents to come and see us at the rare appearances we did make. None of them ever showed up. We were all pretty disillusioned and soon on the verge of breaking up.  

Like my drummer friend mentioned above, I too realized I needed to do something about it and fast.

In my case, I put into practise what I’d learned over the years in my day career in sales & marketing. In a few weeks our gig diary was full for the year. After this other bands would ask how we managed it. We were no better than a lot of other bands, but a whole lot busier.

So Gig-Getter and then the free monthly newsletter were written and and launched as low-cost, quick and easy ways any part-time or amateur musicians could get band bookings for themselves.

You too might find something else happening when the band bookings you've made come rolling in. You can feel much more secure of your place in the band.

As the drummer who emailed me now says:
 

“I know now I could go to any band and offer them more than most drummers because of all the band bookings I know I can bring in”