- Send a handwritten letter to fans along with business cards and stickers.
- Send a postcard or text message to local fans to promote your next show.
- Place an Ad in local playbills, newsletters, or mailing coupon booklets, shopping cart advertisements, receipt advertisements, bust stops, etc.
- Stand on a street corner or near a local venue and pass out free CDs. Use your giveaway CDs for this one.
- Create customized merchandise and give it away – notebooks, stickers, pens, koozies, water bottles.
- Offer to do a free lunchtime show at a local corporate office.
- Busk.
- Sponsor something. Sponsor a raffle prize at an event where your target market will be. Add your CD as a gift with the Raffle Prize.
- Host an event. You an do anything from a pizza night at the pizza parlor, or an exclusive fan appreciate night.
- Run for a charity race, coordinate a team and wear t-shirts with your name and website on them.
- Offer to perform at a charity event.
- Join meetup groups and go to meetup events. Always do something to broaden your horizon. Get to know people. Let your music come up naturally. Have an intriguing elevator pitch prepared.
- Put posters up advertising your services on local community boards and at coffee shops.
- Print your message on a car magnet sign and drive around.
- Create ‘Hire Me’ flyers and give them away at your shows.
- Send random thank you cards and gifts to new contacts, fans, etc.
- Make creative business cards with unique characteristics like die cuts, different shapes, etc. Always carry them with you. Give them out to any and everyone. Drop them in the fish bowl at local businesses. Leave them with your tip at restaurants.
- Do a series of Soft Launch Parties in your town. Ask your current friends, family and friends to host house concerts. Have them invite their friends and family, even if it’s just 10 people. The goal here is to get more exposure and meet new people. Do several of these each month especially if you’re just starting out. Try and book follow-up house shows at each one.
- Chalk sidewalks with your message (if legal).
- Sponsor a karaoke booth at a local outdoor event. Put your name on the booth. See if you can get e-mails and phone numbers when people sign up to perform. Perform a few songs of your own as the host. Make special announcements about your music and how you are available for private gigs. Heck, your karaoke booth might even be a smart side business of its own!
- Visit local venues and talk with managers about doing a show. Drop off physical CDs and press kits.
- Start or join a local musician networking group and attend events. It’s super important to network with local musicians because they know better than anyone else what local opportunities there are available for musicians. It’s beneficial to be well connected with other musicians in your town for support, encouragement, as a resource and for referrals and connections.
- Get your CDs sold in local shops.
- Print your logo and message on napkins, coasters, and coffee sleeves and give them as donations to local bars and coffee shops.
- Get in the newspaper. Submit a press release to local newspapers or get your live show reviewed by a music journalist. Or see if you can get a feature in your local newspapers or magazines.
Don’t just rely on online tactics to grab people’s attention. You can do a whole lot more offline. What ideas have you tried?
