By James Blakely
This is a very important time for bands. The new school
year is about to start. That means people will be flooding
college hot spots in college towns.
It is time for everyone to get new sets ready and
update their promotional materials, especially those
web sites! If you are looking to change your act,
look, sound, or whatever the time is now. When school
starts it is the chance to let new people hear and
see your band. This means back to work to get those
new fans.
You should also be looking at booking some gigs in
some college towns early in the semester. Get your
name out in those schools early so you can get some
recognition. This is also the time to get in with
the venues when they are planning for school to start.
You can make sure that your band is part of their
plan.
You should take this time to make a plan for the
school year. Make some goals that you want to fulfill
during this time. It is a great time to gig so make
a decision on how many shows you want to play.
Also think about making recordings during down periods
and not during the school year. Do them during christmas
break or summer. Schools are full of people who will
help market your band so make sure as many people
as possible see your shows. That means gigging as
much as you possible can.
Try and fill up your schedule with Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday nights when people are most likely blowing
off steam from class. These nights are the best to
play so try and get in on them.
Also find some other bands that play your kind of
music. Venues like to get a couple of bands to play
and you are more likely to get the better nights.
Working with other bands can really help because you
are enlarging your marketing team.
Make sure you also leverage the schools. Put up flyers
at the school. You have thousands of potential fans
in one place so make sure they know where to come
see you play.
Dorms are great places to pass out information about
the band. Students are coming home and are in a more
receptive mood. You can also post things in a center
entry way to catch more eyes on your name for branding.
Also take advantage of car lots to flyer people's
cars.
School is back so make sure your band is also. Don't
let this year slip away without getting some new fans.
