More Tips on Self-Promotion

Hey! Here are some more self-promotion tips I think that one really needs to think about and implement. Playing your instrument well is great and often necessary, but promoting your talent is the "A and O" of your career.

* If you have a CD (regardless if it's "official" or self-produced) or a music cassette of your music - Give it away! Hand it out to your friends, family, colleagues, students, anyone who you'd think should hear it and could eventually help your name get around. If you've recorded a CD and had it reproduced say, 500 times, give about 50 of them away. Yes, 10%! Don't think of it as losing money, but as investing in your career.

* If you teach lessons, make special offers. For example, offer a block of 5 lessons and give the student 10% off the fifth lesson. If you hand out your own materials during your lessons, see to it that your name is on every sheet of paper. For example, I use a music notation program on my computer.

I print out my own manuscript paper with my name and my email address and telephone number ("Evan Tate - evan@evantate.de") on the bottom of every sheet. In case, that sheet of music paper should wander elsewhere, someone else has seen your name and can contact you in the future.

* Send out a regular newsletter to all your students and/or contacts. Inform them about your projects, concerts and activities. And I do mean regularly. It is extremely important that your contacts should see your name on a regular basis - weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, whatever you choose but DO IT!

Collect those mail addresses and Email addresses and get that information out.

* Produce flyers and postcards advertising your band, concerts and music lessons, and bring them by every music store you deal with personally. Build rapport with the clerks and storeowners. These people are an important source for repeat business. They recommend you to customers who ask about where to get music lessons, a band for a wedding, school dance, etc.

I hope that you find these tips very useful to you. Of course, there are many more things one can do to promote oneself. Brainstorm a few things and get going!

Evan Tate is a freelance musician/instructor and the author of "Way to Mastery: Saxophone". He holds a BM of Music from the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Joe Allard and has over 20 years of professional playing and teaching experience and has performed at various jazz festivals and radio broadcasts. Since 1993, He is an endorser for Julius Keilwerth saxophones.

http://www.evantate.de or mailto:evan@evantate.de