210. New Strategies To Book Paid Gigs in 2020 with Tara B

Female Entrepreneur Musician with Bree Noble

I'm glad to have Tara B back on the show. I met her in 2015 and she has been a partner in the Academy since then. She has her own courses and trainings. She knows a lot about booking and has always been scrappy and proactive. Since she has the same experience as everyone else this year, I know she will share a lot of insights when it comes to booking in 2020.

Tara has an upcoming event called 3 Days to Book Like A Boss from September 29th, 2020. Being in these types of challenges is a great way to keep you accountable and keep you going on your booking. Go to femusician.com/tara and sign up for her free challenge.

2020 has been crazy for musicians especially about booking. Tara previously had 10-12 gigs a month and due to the pandemic, she experienced 50% cancellations. How was she able to bring in income during the pandemic? First, she started calling people right away to offer virtual concerts. Second, she explored different ways of virtual events. She believes there are ways in the midst of hardship.

Tara's Tips on Bookings

• Build and maintain relationships with the people in venues. How we are connecting or approaching people in the venues is important. Make sure that you're in a relationship with places you have events on so that when you contact them in the future you can easily offer bookings (in person or virtual). She called venues and asked if there is a possibility of doing a virtual gig or even an in-person event.
• Have the right mindset. Mindset is also very important before we approach opportunities for bookings. An approach I learned from Beth Matthew is that before you make booking calls, sit down and sing a song to remind you how much you like it and put you in the mood. Also, when you get turned down or feel frustrated, make sure to vent out only when you're off the phone or email.
• Don't think of the person doing the booking with as your enemy. In reality, venues are struggling in this situation, too, so they're not the enemy. Try to think of how you can come together and find solutions. They're just people too who are trying to make a living for their family.
• Remind yourself how much value you can bring to people. Get out of that negative spiral. There is still a lot of preparation and energy you put into a virtual show so make sure to put the right pricing for yourself.

How Bookings Changed in 2020

New things opened up. Big names and even shows like The Voice are doing virtual now. Facebook Live, Instragram Live, YouTube, Pre-recorded Concerts on YT, Zoom meetings, Twitch, Sessions Live -- there are just so many choices now. Online events are now normalized. So many people are used to it now, even going to church is now done online.

There are now so many ways to get tip jars online like Venmo, Paypal, Cash App, Zelle, etc. Allow people to give you gratitude to give you the gift of money to support you.

Some venues are closing down due to the pandemic but some venues that previously didn't have bookings are now opening up. There are definitely people who are going to find solutions and who value music so don't assume that they do not want to work with you.

Diversifying Income for Tara

I have always been stressing the point of diversifying your income. How has Tara dealt with losing 50% of her income through cancellation of events during the onset of the pandemic?

1. She did have other income streams such as teaching private lessons for piano and voice. She was even able to get more students.
2. Airgigs and Fiverr among others. You do need to set up equipment for offerings you can do on these platforms. However, it is now much easier and cheaper to have a home studio set up as compared to before and there are free apps you can use too.
3. Online courses also bring in income. You can teach whatever you are good at online.
4. Affiliate marketing. You can promote products on your website and get a percentage from it.

Always look at possibilities. There are always people who are going to give up and those are who are going to find ways. Let us be a part of those that bring solutions. Think about what alternatives you can offer and be that go to person that they want to book.

How 3 Days to Book Like A Boss will be different this year

A. Learn how to approach people and how you are going to say it

B. Learn about pricing

C. Dig in and find ways to get gigs during 2020

Go to femusician.com/tara and sign up. It will start on September 29, 2020. I highly recommend it.

Link mentioned in this episode: femusician.com/tara