Saturday, July 24, 2010

How to Make a Moment During A Performance



Here’s some really great information from my good friend and guest blogger, David Jackson, better known as “Jammin’ Dave Jackson” from his wildly popular podcast for musicians, The Musician’s Cooler.

As you read Dave’s post, think to yourself, “How can I create a special moment in my performance, whether it is at a wedding, a corporate gig, or even at a public concert?” Take this one step further and think about how you can make a moment in a conversation, bring something to light that will help people remember you. Enough food for thought. Here is Dave’s post:

“Making a moment” is technically is a phrase I’ve heard Tom Jackson use (and from what I hear his DVDs are awesome). When you are on stage there will be times when the audience decides to have their own show. An example of this is at a Pearl Jam concert in St. Louis where “Kim” was translating the lyrics into sign language. Eddie Veder decided to pull her on stage. This made a one of a kind moment that people will remember, “remember when Eddie pulled that chic on stage?”. Here is the video.

One of the things that can make you more endearing to the audience is to have a good sense of humor about yourself. Justin Timberlake has boosted his popularity through his appearances on Saturday Night Live. This boosted his popularity amongst men (a demographic he was probably lacking when he was in the boy band).

Michael Bolton was on the Jimmy Kimmel show and working with Jimmy, he produced a bit called “The Michael Bolton school of Michael Bolton.” It’s hilarious as Michael continues to steal the microphone from little kids. While I’m not a huge fan of Bolton, I do give him credit and think he’s “cooler” now that I see he’s not so uptight. You can watch the video here.

So when the audience throws you a curve ball, don’t get upset, laugh it off, and go with the flow. Chances are you will end up with a one of a kind moment that you’ll end up telling your grandchildren about.

Read more of Jammin’ Dave’s fantastic posts and hear his podcasts at musicianscooler.com. Thank you, Dave, for your contribution!!!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

How to use Facebook to Promote your Products or Services

Here’s some really great information for any gigging musicians, including wedding musicians! This article is from my virtual assistant and guest blogger, Christine Buffaloe of Serenity Virtual Assistant Services.

I currently manage and maintain several business pages for clients on Facebook. Over the past couple of years they have seen an increase in sales and interest in their services as well.

When using this tool it is important to remember that Facebook is just that, a tool. It is one of many, but I have found it to be extraordinarily useful.

Here are just a few ways in which you can use your business page to promote:

1. Post items to your status updates that pertain to your area of expertise using keywords in the content.

2. Set up Google Alerts to find content to share with your fans. This can be from blogs and other websites.

3. Use the Events function to create events that you are hosting or promoting.

4. If you have a blog, import your blog into your "Notes" on your business page and you will have ready-made content every time you post a new entry to your blog.

5. If you know Facebook Markup Language (Facebook's version of HTML) or know of someone that does, add your newsletter sign up box to your page. You can even add your products as well. See sidebar at http://www.facebook.com/TheMusiciansGuidetoBrides

6. Create a music library of your music and share with your fans.

7. Post your videos to your page. If you are a musician, post your music videos. If you are an artist, post videos of the creation of your art.

8. Post photos and lots of them. They are a great way of showing you at your gigs, book signings or gallery openings.

There are many ways in which to use Facebook to promote. For more ideas on missed opportunities on Facebook, go to Serenity Virtual Assistant Services to receive your free tutorial on how to create a Facebook profile or purchase the CD or transcript of "11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook".