,

 

Following is another article from my favorite marketing guru, Robert Middleton.  This one is targeted to people who don't feel comfortable promoting themselves. 

  

Have a look at this article, which takes under 4 minutes to read.  Please pass along this ezine to other consultants and vendors who work with nonprofits. 

 

See you next month.

 

Sincerely,

Rebecca L. Worters

 

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Too Proud to Market?
by Robert Middleton

 

I was talking to my friend Patrick last week about his wife's band.  Renee is a full time musician and one of the guitarists and lead singers in Hard Rain, a folk/rock band in Los Angeles.  And of course, the topic turned to marketing.

 

Bands need to market themselves as well.

 

Most bands are not rich and famous.  Renee's band works hard to get their gigs.  They play at several restaurants and clubs, but Patrick pointed out that events and private parties are much better gigs that pay two to three times as much.

 

Patrick has been working to help Renee get more of these kinds of gigs.  And in the course of our conversation, I shared some ideas of how I'd do it.

 

"Look, whenever Renee and the band have a gig, they need to make an announcement from the bandstand that they are available for events and private parties."

 

"Well they do that occasionally, but not consistently," said Patrick, "They don't do much more than a brief announcement, almost apologetically... 'Don't forget, we do private parties and events.'  The moment passes so quickly, most in the audience miss it."

 

"Then they need to do something that will get more attention," I continued.  "For instance, somewhere in the middle of each gig they could perform their 'parties and events song.'  It would go something like this..."

 

I won't embarrass myself by sharing my pathetic song-writing attempt, but imagine a short, fun and up-tempo song announcing that the band did events and private parties, from corporate gatherings to birthdays, retirement parties and weddings.

 

Not a hard thing to do (they are songwriters, after all).

 

And then they could hand out a nicely printed postcard with a picture of the band and a list of the kind of events and parties they did on the back, along with contact information and web site address. (http://www.andyandrenee.com/)

 

Want to see what such a simple promotion would accomplish?  Click here to read more . . .

 

This article is by Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Robert's web site is a comprehensive resource on marketing for Independent Professionals. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools, click here.