Promote Your Band and Connect with Fans: Part 1

There is nothing like playing music for a crowd of people. The rush is incredible, and it gets even better when your crowd of fans grows. I plan to write a series of articles on how to promote your band and grow your fan base.

If you don’t have a band yet, consider Bandmaking.com, where you can meet musicians, find band members and connect with fans.

How do you keep in contact with your fans? How do you find new fans?

Most bands start with a number of fans. Your mom, your friends from school… your co-workers. After that, using “social media” to promote your band is a great start. This allows you to advertise to a larger network of people. Unfortunately some of your fans will not always check your MySpace or Facebook page. They might not find out about your next gig in time, and they might even feel bad about missing it.

The next step your band should take is managing your own fan list. By having direct contact information for all your fans, you can be sure to let them know ahead of time. This is where you can use a website! It can cost as little as $5 or $10 a month to have your own band website. I would recommend choosing a hosting company that supports Wordpress or Joomla. They are pre-built websites that allow you to pick a template, add your own content and images, and even program (or hire a programmer) to add your own applications. Once you have a website, you should put a form on your home page that tells your fans something like “Sign up to find out where and when we are playing our next show” It should ask for a minimum of name and email. I would also recommend some optional fields such as phone number and city where they live.

Now, the next time you have a show booked, you can send out an email to all your fans and even text or phone them. The personal touch of a phone call can make your fans feel great and they will be more inclined to attend your show.

In Part 2 I will explain how you can get your own website up and running.

Feel free to contact me if you are ready to get your own band site, or you need a programmer to add some features to your site.

All the best for the New Year!

Frank Forte
www.bandmaking.com