Flyers

For flyers, include the same information as you do on your poster and again you can print them yourself or go to a professional to do it. Flyers can be left in shops for people to pick up, handed out at the end of gigs etc. and distributed at every opportunity. As with postering there are some places where it is illegal to flyer so be careful and make sure that you are allowed to hand them out where ever you are. The advantage of flyering is that they are a bit more personal. Each individual gets one which they can keep. This gives them more time to digest the info and decide whether or not they want to go.

An alternative means of flyering which is becoming more common at the moment is to give out free CDR’s of the bands playing at the gig. This is a great way of letting people know what will be in store for them at the gig and will allow them to make an informed decision about whether or not to go to the gig. Obviously, to do this you need access to a cd writer and permission from the bands to distribute their material for free.

If you can arrange this, writable CDs are cheap and a very effective means of promotion. Be sure and write the gig details on the CD itself and the cover if you make one. You don’t want people to like what they hear and have no idea what it is or how to hear more!!

Newspapers. The press can provide you with free promotion to a large amount of people if you can get them to feature your event. Think about your gig. Is there a story to tell? If it is a fundraising event or perhaps the first time a certain band has played in the area then there is potential to make a story out of your gig. Think about what the selling point is and use that to create interest. Find out the best person to contact at each newspaper, most likely this will be the arts/entertainment editor

Once you have done this put together a small passage outlining your gig and any selling points you think it has and send/email this to the appropriate person at each newspaper. This is known as a press release and can help you get a feature or some kind of advertising in the press. For more info on how to write a press release, click here.

The above approach can be applied to radio stations as well. If any of the bands that you have booked have a recording send this to the radio station with a copy of your press release. They may play the CD or give your event a mention on one of their shows which will be of a great help to you in promotion.

Press and postering/flyering are two of the most effective methods of promotion but there are others that are worth a mention. If you know of any music websites run locally try and post your gig details on these. In fact, any website that receives a lot of traffic from your local area is a good place to post the details. Don’t be afraid to shamelessly plug your gig - if it gets people to come along then it has worked!

Remember to ask (hassle!) all of your friends (and their friends) to come along to the gig. You should hopefully be able to rely on your friends to come and support what you are doing. When you are first starting out they will play an important part in giving you an audience and being there when nobody else wants to listen. Get them to come and bring their friends and so on. If you have a good show then word will spread between these people and you will find that next time you put on a show the crowd will have grown a bit and there will be new faces there.

The above points are to get you started on promotion but remember you can employ any of your own methods instead of or in addition to those above. Whatever you do, make sure that you work and work at it right up until the gig. Keep hassling the papers, the radio and anybody you can think of to get as many folk out as possible and get as much coverage as you can. If you work as hard as you can it will pay off!!

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