Thursday, December 24, 2009

Four Print Advertising Vehicles to Promote your Wedding Services

1. The Yellow Pages of your local phone book.
Old-fashionedas it seems in this Internet age, this is one form of advertising you should not pass up. If you do not invest in any other print advertisement, you should invest in this one. The Yellow Pagesis the best-distributed print vehicle that you’ll find. They aren’t just found hanging from metal cords in phone booths (which are becoming obsolete with the high use of cell phones). TheYellow Pages are dropped off at the door of all local residents and businesses for free. They are inside hotel and motel rooms, and most businesses have one stashed somewhere. It reaches many, many people within a specific geographical area, and it exposes people to your ad for at least a year. (Some Yellow Pages are reprinted more frequently than others, so the length of exposure depends upon region).

2. Newspapers.
With newspaper advertising, you have some control over how long you want your ad to run. And like theYellow Pages, you can select a local regional newspaper to reach local brides. Newspapers are also like the Yellow Pages, because you reach a large, general population of readers who are not necessarily brides.

3. Magazines.
They are not published as frequently as newspapers, so the exposure your ad gets depends upon whether the reader hangs on to the magazine issue, passes it along to friends, or just throws it away.

4. Radio and Television.
Radio and television advertising is very cost-prohibitive, and commercials only work when they are run frequently when your target audience of brides are listening. Leave this advertising to bridal fair promoters, restaurants, and receptions halls that book weddings.

Copyright © 2008 by Anne Roos, excerpt from "The Musician's Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings", published by Hal Leonard Books. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Hundreds of additional tips, are available for musicians (and all entrepreneurs) in my book, "The Musician's Guide to Brides" available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, Sylvia Woods Harp Center catalog, and of course, at my website at http://www.celticharpmusic.com/.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Press Releases-They Lead to Free Advertising

A press release, or news release, is simply a bit of tantalizing information that you send off to the media. It tells them why they shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to mention you in their next newspaper or magazine edition, their next podcast, radio or TV broadcast, or their website
e-zine or blog. You write the press release, and you send it. If the recipient likes what you wrote, off it goes into print, broadcast, or over the worldwide web.

Your press releases can round up publicity that money simply cannot buy.

Here are six examples of what publicity can do for you:


1. Publicity brings you wedding business—
It has the power to increase traffic to your website, make your phone ring off the hook, and fill your email inbox with inquiries.


2. Publicity can get the word out about your musical abilities
cheaper than paying for advertisements (and often, withmore media coverage).

3. Publicity turns you into a wedding music expert.
Brides who read and hear about you will be convinced that you are a professional worth hiring. They will believe that you have a good reputation and shine above your competition.


4. Publicity gives your clients and your potential clients a chance to know more about you.
It gives them the opportunityto examine you and your talents beyond the carefully crafted information in your brochures.


5. Publicity for “ good works” makes you look good in your immediate community and among your musician peers.
Besides, brides like to hire nice people.


6. Publicity gives you credentials.
Forever after you appear in a column of “Modern Bride”, you can quote the writer directly in all your PR literature. Instant testimonials!


7. Publicity can bring you fantastic performing opportunities
that you would have never received without the media exposure.


Are you hesitant to get the word out that you are available to play at weddings? If you are new to performing for pay, it’s understandable that you may not feel comfortable tooting your own horn. The solutionis to think of things in this way: by sending out press releases, you are doing a great service for brides by helping them find you. You are also helping the media reach those brides—You’re supplying them with interesting information about you and your music.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

How to Use Photos for Your Business Cards or Brochures

The photos that you print on your brochures or business cards, or that you post on your website and save for press releases and paid advertisement, must all accomplish one thing: they visually must tell who you are. This snapshot of you needs to fit into the bride’s imaginary picture of her perfect wedding day. How can you visually make yourself fit into her picture?

Here are some general thoughts about photos:

1. A professional photo makes you look professional.
Shop for a photographer who has produced the “look” that you want. View their portfolio. A good photographer will be able to get the photo to reveal something about the subject’s personality.

2. Include your instruments in all your photos. The kinds of band shots you see on MySpace.com do not cut it here, where the band members are standing around, looking cool, without an instrument in sight. A bride wants to see exactly what you’ll look like when you
perform for her, which means she also needs to see what your instrument looks like. If you are in a band, your wedding PR photo should show everyone holding his or her instruments. It could be a still shot or an action shot, with everyone playing. It doesn’t matter as long as your instruments and your faces can be seen plainly.

3. Dress like you would dress when you are performing at a wedding. Look the part. A bride wants to see how you will show up at her wedding. Will you show up in a tux and cleanly shaven, or will you be wearing the trendiest shirt, unbuttoned to your waist, with your hair gelled so it sticks straight up? Which picture fits the bride’s fantasy the best?

4. Recruit the services of a make-up artist, if needed. Women should wear heavier make-up for photo sessions. With digital photography, you can see exactly what the camera sees right after the picture is snapped. You’ll have instant feedback about how your make-up looks. But when the photographer is snapping away, there won’t be any time to review your make-up in each shot.

5. Your band or ensemble must look like a cohesive group. This goes further than making sure everyone is dressed like they are in the same band. Facial expressions should be the same, too, with no one member looking off in a diff erent direction wearing a scowl when
everyone else is looking into the camera with a pleasant smile.

6. Update your photos anytime your appearance changes. These changes include changes of personnel in your band or ensemble, significant weight changes, dramatically
different hair styles or colors, wearing contact lenses instead of glasses, and so on.

7. Show that you love what you do. Your wedding PR photo is not one of those photos that are taken of models in high-fashion magazines, where they look posed with serious looks on their faces. Look like you love playing for weddings!

Publicity photos and graphics can help you double the coverage you're now getting.

Copyright © 2008 by Anne Roos, excerpt from "The Musician's Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings", published by Hal Leonard Books. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Hundreds of additional tips, are available for musicians (and all entrepreneurs) in my book, "The Musician's Guide to Brides" available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers including sheetmusicplus.com, amazon.com, Sylvia Woods Harp Center catalog, and of course, at my website at http://www.celticharpmusic.com/.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Thinking Outside the Box

My newest gig, recording music for the e-card company Banjo Bunny, landed a notice in Jammin Dave Jackson’s Musicians Cooler Podcast. Here are the show notes from this November 26, 2009 episode:

Thinking Outside the Box

One artist that is thinking outside the box is Anne Roos who is a Celtic harpist and author of the book “The Musician's Guide to Brides” (great book by the way). She loves E-cards. She happened to notice that one e-card company uses instrumental music. She contacted them about using her music. They liked her music so much they've invited her to record music exclusive music for their cards.

Other fabulous ideas about how to think differently than other musicians and gather notice are included in this fun informational podcast, just for musicians.

The Musicians Cooler Podcast is a weekly podcast to help musicians get more gigs, more fans, and more music sales by harnessing the power of the Internet through relentless marketing, efficient use of music promotion tools, and a driving desire to spread their music to the world.