I tried to track a vocalist yesterday and could barely remember what the hell I was doing. It occurred to me I need to track musicians on a semi regular basis, because I’m literally starting to forget my workflow. So I figured I’d try and drum up some local business for low-stakes clients to keep my chops in shape.
I printed 50 of these things to hang on open mic night bulletin boards, in music stores, in private lesson studios, and places where bands play. (In South Carolina, people still hang mini-flyers on bulletin boards because we’re about 15 years behind the rest of the US).
These dumb little things cost me $9… anyone see any problems with it? I know the pictures is crooked, but I couldn’t figure out how to rotate it by like… 3 degrees.
Since my target is amateur musicians in my local area, I didn’t think it was worth having them professionally designed. Thoughts?
I think the business card looks slick. On the flyer, I might make “Recording Studio” bolder so that it stands out more. That’s probably the bit that will capture people’s attention, if they’re interested at all.
For the ones (not on bulletin boards) that music related business will allow to live on end tables in the waiting areas, do you think these would be a good idea? I always thought the torn-off shreds at the bottom made the things look sloppy (though I realize bulletin boards are a whole different animal). I really suck with marketing stuff. I have no idea!
What is it? I can’t read the text in the picture very well. If it’s not the website address or telephone number it might not be the end of the world. The idea is to get them to contact you.
I have heard several (at least) motivational speakers say if your business cards come out wrong, scratch through and correct it and get them out there. Obviously, you want things to look professional, but sh*t happens, right? I think the flyer looks pretty awesome. A crooked business card image is normally a bit “sketchy” IMO, but as I said above use them for now if you just have a handful and want to get moving. If nothing else, it would remove a “block” and help you get moving on to your next task. That is, if perfectionism won’t keep you awake at night knowing these were out in the public.
It was only 50 prints. I have no idea if these things are even going to be effective.
Its not the biz card image… its the flyer photo. But I can live with it. And you’re right about perfectionism keeping me from getting moving. I noticed that about myself with the website… I hated not having perfect photos, I wanted to have the ultimate video games up there, and I was in limbo for months waiting for two more films to get released. Finally I told the devs to go ahead and make it live… I had been paying them for almost 6 months while ‘waiting’ for the ‘right’ material to be in place.
Looks good to me. Although, for your intended clients… I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who might play at an open mic or a new band.
This brochure might be a little “clinical”, even intimidating. As a new musician, likely someone without much experience or income, not having a rate on there would be a hurdle I would have to overcome to pick up a phone and ask. Your studio probably kicks the crap out of any other local studio around, but to get some new talent in there, likely a pretty young person who perhaps has never recorded might be intimidated by the whole thing. I’d think a low-key and more casual approach might work better. Maybe even a really reasonable “first-time recording session” price listed? Just thinking out loud here… HTH
That’s been a constant line of (constructive) criticism from my friends in the local area. That I really have to kick it down a notch if I want my local non-professionals to pay attention. I have a friend at the top tier of one of the biggest web development agencies in the world, who happens to live in SC and work remote. He’s an accomplished drummer that’s also familiar with the local music scene. He said he thinks the website is positioned to connect with a pros, and its way over the head of local market. He said if I’m serious about taking a steady stream of local for a season, that I also need to realize that Florence is barely big enough to patron a studio, and definitely not big enough to patron a mixer. So I’ve got to adopt an appeal to artists that want to track. Even though my broadcast audio contracts are still my main source of revenue, I still need to learn how to reach this demographic if I want to work with them at all.
I’ve learned that I really have some growing to do in terms of music mixing and recording…and I’m not too arrogant to do what Roger Clemons (baseball pitcher) once did and go spend a some time in the minor leagues to make some changes to his game.
On the flip side though, once word gets out that you can record reasonably and locally (for a time) at a professional grade studio, I’d think local artists/bands would be falling all over themselves at the opportunity.
It’s not at all unusual for many entrepreneurs. Once it’s your name and reputation on something, it’s a higher level of pressure than being a face in the crowd. What seems to come up a lot in business coaching is that we have to learn that it’s now a V.U.C.A. World (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), and that things are changing so fast in technology and business that nobody can be an expert and have everything nearly perfect (or the image of it anyway) … as might have been the case in the past. Constant innovation is the theme of the day, and mistakes and failures actually show that you are taking risks and learning. It takes some getting used to that.
I’ve been orbiting central South Carolina for hours. Almost forgot what it was like to have to pound the pavement for work.
So I quickly realized that these bulletin boards are going to be a total waste. Just looking at the mess of shit piled up on top of other shit was like SMH. So. I made sure to introduce myself to whatever employees looked important and struck up a conversation. Most were pleasantly surprised to find out there is a recording studio in this region. I asked if I could leave a couple of those flyers and to keep me in mind if they have people ask if there’s a studio. The only shot in hell that little flyer has is going to come from an employee pointing a customer to it.
I went to 5 coffee houses with open mic nights, 7 music stores, and 3 music lesson studios. What was interesting was being approached by a several people mid-conversation about the services. I know this is improper, but I offered them a flyer in one hand and a business card in the other. They always reached for the flyer. Since is has the same contact info, I didn’t pass them a business card after they reached for the flyer.
The other thing I noticed was the picture of that damn mixer was TREMENDOUSLY important. I almost wish I had a graphic like that on the business card but it was probably smart not to put it there.
Yeah, personal networking and word of mouth. That could be tremendously helpful to you, but you never know. It’s hours invested with no quick payback, but if you do that once a week or once a month as a practice … make the ‘rounds’ and cruise the schmooze, people may get to know you and even recommend you. Some cliché marketing phrases: “Keep yourself top-of-mind” which means periodic connection and visibility, “it takes 7 contacts with a potential client to have a chance to get the business” which means persistence even in the face of rejection, and of course the old standard “people do business with people they know/like/trust”.
It probably does capture the general public and even musicians as it’s the visual icon of recording and mixing, sometimes all they really associate with those things. Many people who aren’t deep into audio don’t even know what DAW or In-The-Box mean, much less “virtual instruments”. So it’s clear your marketing has to be geared toward your audiences’ interests and needs, and not what you think they need to know.
